Star Wars Roleplay: Chaos

Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

Private Yeah! Science bi**ch! (Beltran Rarr and Palm-Imer)



Things had happened so quickly that the beleaguered Ranger had trouble keeping up. One moment, he was struggling with one of the creatures who was about to take a large bite out of the Lorrdian's favorite face: his own. Then in a whirl of motion, it leapt off of him to face Palm-Imer Palm-Imer . The exchange of blows was quick, but even in the near darkness Beltran could tell from the shadow that he had identified as his ally that she'd been injured.

Without wasting any time, Beltran drew on the Force and kipped up to his feet. The deactivated hilt of his saber remained in his hand and he ignited it, ready to engage the creature. But in that instant he only found himself and a bleeding Palm left in the corridor. He reached out with the Force, but the intensity of the wrongness that permeated this place made it impossible for him to single out a single presence.

His mind returned to Palm's words about the lights as he turned to face her. "I agree," He told her verbally, as if their conversation hadn't just been interrupted by a creature from the deep. "We need to get the lights on." Stepping over to her, Beltran took her wrist and straightened her injured arm to look at the wound. In this moment, he was glad that he'd taken the Ranger medic course while in training.

"But first, we need to get this bleeding under control." He told her. Clipping his lightsaber to his belt, Beltran released Palm and drew his beskar sword from it's back scabbard. If his ally had time to wonder why he would pull a sword to help her with a wound, she would see a moment later when he opened a secret compartment in the hilt to reveal a miniaturized healing generator. Taking the tool, he activated it and began to run in over the woman's wound.

With each of a dozen passes, the wound would bleed a little less and the pain would lessen. "This dermal generator isn't strong enough to completely close the wound, but it should keep most of your blood inside your body," He told her. "We'll have to find a place to properly dress it soon though. Once we have light."

Putting his generator back into the hilt of his blade, he closed it and resheathed his sword. Drawing his hand-cannon, he nodded to Palm to take point on the journey to the light switch, indicating with his weapon that he would cover her.
 
Last edited:
ɢᴇᴍɪɴɪᴅᴀᴇ



Location: CrimaCorp's Headquarters Underground Levels, Adaarack City, Irith.
Wearing: XxX.
Armament: The Wraith Blades ~ Blasters (x2)
Tagging: Beltran Rarr Beltran Rarr

XoUVtE9.png


Between the darkness and the adrenaline it was a good thing that she could sense Beltran so clearly, otherwise she might have made a move against him when he reached for her wrist. Luckily this was not the case, and the geminaie allowed the Ranger to assess the wound while remaining as calm as possible given their current situation. The wound stung and her muscles complained, as the arm was fully stretched but she embraced the pain and ignored it. She was keeping an eye on their surroundings, which had gone eerily silent.

Palm nodded when he stated they needed to stop her bleeding. He was right, Palm could barely hold her own against these things with two good arms - a wounded one could leave her open to a lethal attack and even if it didn't, the bleeding would get to her eventually. "Yes," She mumbled, her ears and concentration still placed on the area. When he went for his sword her attention was momentarily shifted, but she made no move to back away, having no reason not to trust him.

From the hilt of the weapon he produced a healing device, and Palm remained still as Beltran tended to the slash. She could feel the pain lessen and her skin grow slightly tense as the wound retracted. By the time he stopped, she knew it wasn't completely closed but it was a lot better than it had been moments before. The Ranger's words confirmed this, and the softer but still present sensation of blood leaking out were a reaffirmation. "Thanks." Her voice was kept low but clear, enough for him to hear her while making as little noise as possible.

It was time to move again, as he had well put they would worry about patching her up properly once imminent death wasn't looming over their heads. Hell, maybe the creatures were climbing the walls and ready to get the drop on them and they would be none the wiser until the last second. And as fatigue and nervousness started the set on, eventually the last second would not be enough.

Following his nod, she steeled herself and braced once more for whatever was to come. Her grip on her guard shotos was firm and ready, and as she started to walk down the corridor towards the emergency light switch so begged to the Force that no more surprise attacks befell them before they had light. Moving silently and swiftly, she made it to the end, keeping an eye on Beltran to make sure he was still behind her and that nothing had snatched him away. Not being able to sense this creatures was putting her trust in her sense abilities on edge.

The Force had apparently heeded her silent request, for by the time her hand reached the switch nothing had attacked them again. But good things never last, and as the dim red light - that still seemed to burn as bright as the sun for a second while her eyes adjusted from the darkness - came on, the scene before them was one gut-wrenching. A thud was heard against a large transparisteel window as a deformed and horrible creature hit itself against it, trying to get out. It seemed like it was screaming or screeching, but no sound besides the thud could be heard from outside the containment room. They had just walked past it, mere meters away, and Palm had not sensed it.


 


Beltran came face to face with the monstrous horror of the creature trapped in the containment room. It appeared to have once been humanoid, Twi'lek perhaps. But now, it was a grotesque bloated thing, with multiple eyes in places were eyes really shouldn't go. It had grown something resembling a sucker where Beltran figured its mouth would have once been. It was difficult to ascertain the end goal of whatever had been going on down here.

In the creatures that had attacked them, Beltran sensed a kind of primitive predatory intelligence. In this thing, there just seemed to be agony without end. Beltran was not the most sentimental person, and truly he rarely thought much on matters of empathy. But the pain that had been inflicted on these beings, seemingly for no other reason than it could be done, that struck Beltran as wrong.

Morality aside, it was wasteful and dangerous.

"This place needs to be destroyed." He said to Palm. "Every ounce needs to be burned. There can be nothing left remaining. But first, we need to information. I need to know who is behind this."

Turning to face down the remaining length of corridor, Beltran continued. "There must be an administrator's office around here somewhere." He didn't speak on the fact that if he had left the scientist they'd encountered above alive, they might have been able to learn what they needed to know from him. Beltran didn't count killing that man as a mistake, exactly, but he took it as a lesson in patience.

Next time, he would wait until he was sure before he pulled the trigger.

Still holding his hand-cannon at the ready, he would motion for Palm to continue first down the hallway. Her silent request for safety seemed to hold as they rounded the corner and found a door that had the words: Section 47B: Administration, embossed on the door. The sliding door appeared to be halfway open and beyond it, another emergency light flickered.

Stepping around Palm, Beltran held his weapon at the empty space as he approached. He reached out with his senses, but like Palm, he found nothing in the Force. Whether the creatures existed outside of it, or whether it was the sheer wrongness of this place that interfered with his burgeoning abilities remained unknown.

He was about two steps away from the opening with suddenly there was a terrible shriek of unnatural rage. One of the creatures was suddenly standing in that empty space, trying to squeeze itself through to get at time. A clawed arm lashed out at Beltran, causing the Lorrdian to take a step back to get out of its range. He then centered the being's head in his iron sights and pulled the trigger.

A loud bang! Sounded in the corridor as the depleted baradium slug made contact with the creature and turned it's head into a pile of festering sludge. It's torso and arm went limp and lodged itself between the door and the wall. Stepping forward, Beltran kicked the now headless corpse once, twice and a third time before he was able to dislodge it.

Looking back to Palm he nodded. "Watch my back," He said as he began to squeeze himself into the space.
 
ɢᴇᴍɪɴɪᴅᴀᴇ



Location: CrimaCorp's Headquarters Underground Levels, Adaarack City, Irith.
Wearing: XxX.
Armament: The Wraith Blades ~ Blasters (x2)
Tagging: Beltran Rarr Beltran Rarr

XoUVtE9.png


Palm had seen strange and dark things since she left her home-world.

The galaxy seemed to enjoy festering with abominations, but she had never crossed paths with...this. This was simply wrong. There was an unshakable feeling of dread in this place, one that hinted that this was only a grain of salt in a grand scheme. And as she looked at the creature locked within the containment room and back at Beltran, she felt a different ripple in the Force. Faint and unclear, barely there. But the one tiny hint it had granted her made her be reassured of her suspicions.

I need to know who is behind this.

Palm agreed. But for some reason she had the feeling that this would grow to be more important for the Ranger than it would be for her. Her hope to find the crew alive was dwindling if it was even there anymore, the thought brought a pang of grief to her heart but this was not the moment for grief. They didn't know where the creatures had gone, or even what other abilities they could have if it was practically impossible to sense them. She forced the feeling down until it disappeared, locked away within her.

"Whatever this place is, we'll tear it down." She agreed wholeheartedly with his opinion, her voice carrying on a calm sharpness. Composure was something she was capable of, but she was not a droid and even with her species' abilities to manipulate their own emotion not even her could make herself impervious to the ominous threat that seemed to loom in every corner.

As Beltran gestured for her to move forward she nodded and began finding her way down the corridor. Occasional pangs of pain shot up the wound in her arm and towards her shoulder, she could and did ignore it but it was also necessary to keep note of this new weakened spot in case of another attack. These creatures seemed to possess some form of intelligence, and now that they could be seen Palm suspected that they'd be more careful in their approach. The hunter and the hunted, it was still to be decided who would get which role.

As they neared the office, Palm took a defensive stance a few steps behind Beltran as he tried the door. The surprise of the sudden appearance of the creature was lessened by her state of alert, and Beltran's aim quickly took care of it. Finally, it was the first one they had managed to down. As the Ranger began to slip through the same opening that the creature had attempted to pass through, Palm nodded. "Go ahead." She spoke, low voice. Guard shotos at the ready, she was wary that the now-dead creature's noises could attract the others.

Only once Beltran had given her the all clear did she move forward to fit herself through the space like he had done. And just as she was doing so her senses once more became aflame in distress as she felt and saw a blur of a monster come at her. Now with the advantage of sight, she barely managed to dodge the attack and forcefully squeeze her way into the office before slamming the heavy door shut behind her using the Force to aid her strenght, they could cut through it when they needed to get out. Right now, this office was a respite.

Her chest heaved heavily with her breathing. That creature was not like the one in the containment room, it was one of the first ones that had attacked them. And it was karking fast. "I could barely see it, but now we know they are still there. And they are smart, it knew to wait for its moment." She switched her guard-shotos off and clipped them back to her belt before her healthy arm reached to the other until she could place her hand near the wound, rotating it slightly so that she could finally give it a good look. It was bad, but not terrible. Beltran's healing device had helped a lot.

There were desks, computers and several datapads around. "My slicing skills are basic but we can always bring some of those with us if there's anything we can't handle." She said, gesturing at the datapads and not mentioning her wound. In her eyes, securing the information was currently more important than her wound.


 


Beltran looked around the offices, sweeping them with his weapon from one corner to another. For the moment, it seemed that they had neutralized the only creature in this section. Slowly, he lowered his hand-cannon and holstered it. His cool eyes scanned the various datapads and computer terminals. It seemed that when they'd blown their way into this facility, they had damaged the power system, as all the terminals seemed inoperative.

That was less than ideal, but he nodded in concurrence with Palm's comment. "Agreed," He replied. "We'll gather whatever we can and move on. Concord Intelligence has found beings with far less in the past." Beltran would proceed to gather up all the datapads he could find, not wasting any time to see if they were operable or what might be on them.

The time for sifting through data would come later. Once he had what he'd come for, he put the bounty of information in his duffle bag and slung it across his back once more. He was about to signal Palm to open the door once more when one of the computer monitors suddenly lit up. "Huh," Beltran murmured as he turned to face it. "What do you make of that?" He asked the woman.

The terminal, for whatever reason, seemed to be showing a real-time CCTV feed of a group of humanoids in what appeared to be a group prison cell. Some stood and paced about the room, while others sat against the walls or lay down curled up in a fetal position. All told, there were about seven of them and from what Beltran could see, they seemed to be normal.

In the bottom right corner of the feed, in white letters, were the words: SECTION 46: SPECIMEN PROCESSING.
 
ɢᴇᴍɪɴɪᴅᴀᴇ



Location: CrimaCorp's Headquarters Underground Levels, Adaarack City, Irith.
Wearing: XxX.
Armament: The Wraith Blades ~ Blasters (x2)
Tagging: Beltran Rarr Beltran Rarr

XoUVtE9.png


Palm moved forward and started gathering datapads too, fitting them into her own pack before safely strapping it once more to her back. In this moments of relative calmness, it was easier to feel the bite of tension and pain without the peak of adrenaline keeping her on high alert. Her right arm had suffered twice, the first during the attack of the first creature which had clashed against her saber with immense form, forcing her arm to absorb the hit and the second well, that one was more clearly seen. However, she was far from ready to complain. Palm could put up with a lot.

She had been readying herself to use the Force to heal the remaining of her wound, it should be possible now that her focus was not absolutely consumed by the task of sensing even the most diminute change in her surroundings and enhancing her strength and speed. However, the screen that came to life out of its own accord stopped her. Palm's amber eyes met Beltran's greens, a slight frown on her brow that showed her hesitance and suspicion.

Moving in to take a closer look, her widened as she began recognizes the faces and the shapes in the recording. These were the members of the trading ship's crew. These were the geminians that had been kidnapped. Her heart began beating in her heart with renewed vigor as a wave of both relief and anxiousness pushed to attempt to pass over her. She pushed it down, emotions would only cloud her mind right now, but it was easier said than done. If her people were alive, she would get them out of there. Palm could put up with a lot, yes, but for her people? She could do anything.

"Those are the geminian traders. I know their faces from the missing reports," She informed him, eyes still glued to the screen. When she finally turned around, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath in. She centered herself, tried to numb her thoughts and sensations and reach out through the Force. If they were alive, she had to find them. But her brow furrowed more and more as she realized she didn't. There was nothing.

"I can't sense them, at all..." Her voice was serious, but it did not hide her disappointment. The possible explanations that were running through her mind were not promising. "This floor is not big enough for me to not be able to sense them. They are either dead or in a room that wards off the Force. Or maybe they are...corrupted, maybe they had already began treatment to be turned into those things." She said, venom dripping from her in the last word. Hell, for all they new the video shown in the cctv was not current. The power outage could have messed with the system. And outside of this section, hell awaited them. Palm knew what she was going to do, the question was if Beltran would press on now that he had what he had come for. Nothing was stopping him from setting up another set of explosives and calling it a day.


 


Beltran looked at the feed, considering Palm's words. The feed said it was live, and a time and date stamp in the corner was correct as far as Beltran could tell. "Given that we've had trouble sensing much of anything in this place," He said after a moment. "I suspect that the reason is that something is blocking you're ability to feel them." There was a part of him that wanted the woman who'd aided him thus far to find what she'd come to this world for, but he would not have told her these things if he did not truly believe it.

There were several creatures and more than one material that could block the Force. If whoever was behind this was capable of manipulating the Force in such a way as to create the creatures that now hunted them, they probably had access to one or more of these things. "We'll need to make our way back to the elevator," He said. "And hope that the access code we got from the scientist upstairs will allow us to go down another level. Or we can take a minute and see if there's another code in one of these datapads."

Both options had their pro's and con's. If they went now and the code they had worked, they could get down to the next level perhaps before the creatures on this floor regrouped to attack them again. If it didn't work, though, they would be caught out in the open. If they waited here, they could look for the new code in the relative safety of the office, but in so doing give the creatures more time to find a way to get at them. It was a difficult decision, but one that Beltran was going to leave up to Palm.

These were her people and he would follow her lead.
 
ɢᴇᴍɪɴɪᴅᴀᴇ



Location: CrimaCorp's Headquarters Underground Levels, Adaarack City, Irith.
Wearing: XxX.
Armament: The Wraith Blades ~ Blasters (x2)
Tagging: Beltran Rarr Beltran Rarr

XoUVtE9.png


She considered his words. Initially, she had discarded that option because the first items that came to mind, like voidstones, or ysalamiri, those would have blocked her ability to feel and manipulate the Force entirely. However, she could still feel it with her and could draw on its powers. She could even feel Beltran, at least so far since they hadn't been forced to stray too far from each other. This wasn't something any one material she knew of could achieve...but if another force-sensitive had had part in this, then it might very well be a possibility.

Palm nodded, "You are right." With as little information as they had, good thinking would be their only saving grace. Her eyes hadn't left the screen yet, but she was listening to Beltran has he put their options out. It was a tough decision. The risk of either was great, and then again, they had no way of knowing if it would amount to something. If her people were already undergoing whatever...abhorrent experimentation this was, there was no telling if they would even be able to rescue them in time.

As she finally turned to him, she picked out a datapad from her backpack and brought it to life. Her eyes met his, "Go now if you have to, Beltran. I won't ask you to come with me nor would I hold it against you if you don't." Palm knew what she was going to do, and by the looks of it it was feeling more and more like a near suicidal mission for a goal that might not even be worth it. But these were her people and she would not abandon them here. "I will make sure to blow this place to pieces once I'm through." Or bring it down with me. She had her own explosives safely waiting in her bag, more than enough to come through with her promise.

Then she began exploring the datapad, accessing files and doing her best to sort through the security measures. Luckily for them, the owners seemed to have felt safe enough with the security measures of area 47 in itself to go to the trouble of setting up any too complex defenses on their software. After all, only authorized personnel with the right clearance had made it down here before them. It took her a moment, but at last a map with each area's clearance code came up. After looking at it enough to feel like she remembered the ones they would definitely need and those that looked important, she would pass it to Beltran.

Whether he chose to come with her or not, he could use the information too to get around the building.

She had everything she needed, the rest would be up to her own strength and destiny. Palm closed her eyes for a second and drew in the Force, taking the chance to heal herself now that her focus was not being kept on force sense or enhancing her strength. The pain in her arm lessened, and soon enough the wound didn't bleed anymore. That would have to do for now, she was about to head back into the fray and needed all the energy and concentration she had left.

"Are you ready?" The question came as she prepared herself to pull the door to the administrative section open again. Whether he had chosen to accompany her or not, she'd wait for the heads up before exposing them again to an area they knew for sure was dangerous. Once the door was open, Palm would immediately bring her sabers back to life and begin stalking down the hallway, backtracking towards the elevator.

That cursed screeches began plaguing the silent air once more.


 


Beltran shook his head in response to Palm's words. "Rangers don't run," He told her, borrowing on the mantra that he'd spoken to his men on Yurb. "And Rangers don't quit." Beltran was a lot of things, brutal being foremost among them. But he wasn't a coward and did not generally like to leave an ally in the lurch. Perhaps when he'd been younger, working as a hitman on Lorrd, he might have considered saving himself.

But not now.

He believed that the captives were still alive, and he also believed that with his help Palm could save them. Taking the datapad that she'd handed him, Beltran scanned the information, quickly memorizing the basic layout of the area and the clearance code that the woman had found. "Excellent," He told her, giving her the datapad back.

Next, Beltran drew his Hand-cannon and leveled it at the door. When Palm asked if he was ready, Beltran gave in a single nod. Then the door was open and they were moving down the corridor. The sudden screeches that sounded suggested to Beltran that he'd been correct. The creatures had been waiting for them, using the time they'd taken to find the information to create a trap for them.

"When you know you're walking into an ambush," Beltran said calmly, quoting a passage of the Ranger Handbook. "The best way to make it through is to attack directly, with maximum aggression. Cause the enemy to falter in the face of your violence."

As they got close to the elevator, a pair of the creatures jumped down from the ceiling and landed in front of them. Another pair jumped down and landed behind them. Turning to face the one's in the rear, Beltran fired his hand-cannon twice-hitting one in the shoulder and missing the other. The depleted Baradium slug that impacted the first creature essentially tore off its arm and most of its shoulder. As sickly black ichor leaked from it's wound, the creature screamed and charged the Lorrdian.

"Only three bullets left," Beltran muttered to himself as he drew his lightsaber in his left hand and activated it. He had more slugs in his bag, but it would take too much time to reload the gun. As the bleeding creature came close, it struck out with its clawed hands. Drawing on the Force, the Lorrdian swung his saber somewhat clumsily mimicking Schi-Cho movements with a single hand. What his swordsmanship lacked in finesse, it made up for with effectiveness as he cut both hands off at the wrist. He then thrust the blade forward and caught the creature in the torso, dropping it to the ground dead.

The second creature screeched loudly as it leapt up the side of the wall, sticking to it like an insect and crawling on all fours. It's joints cracked as it skittered toward the Lorrdian, just outside of the range of his lightsaber and spat a mucous like substance at him. Using the Force, Beltran managed to step out of the path of the substance, which landed on the metal floor and began to dissolve it.

"What out for their saliva!" Beltran called to Palm. "It appears extremely corrosive."
 
Last edited:
ɢᴇᴍɪɴɪᴅᴀᴇ



Location: CrimaCorp's Headquarters Underground Levels, Adaarack City, Irith.
Wearing: XxX.
Armament: The Wraith Blades ~ Blasters (x2)
Tagging: Beltran Rarr Beltran Rarr

XoUVtE9.png


Palm nodded, offering a small smile as a silent 'thank you'. She shared that same philosophy and had made it her mission to never turn her back on other unless it was inevitable or done for a greater good. However, Palm had stopped being an idealist a long time ago and knew not everyone held themselves up to that. She didn't judge them, Force knew how many wounds and sorrows she would have saved herself from if she had chosen to walk away. But again, today was not a day to walk away. Hopefully it wouldn't be a day for sorrows either.

As they walked through the corridors, Palm kept her eyes open and her stance ready. She heard Beltran's words attentively and found herself agreeing with his plan. The ambush was inevitable, might as well give the freaks a hard time with it. Palm no longer kept her full focus on sensing, seeing as how now she had her sight to follow the creature's movements. Once again, she drew on the force to strengthen herself and her reflexes, enough to match the creatures', since she had already had a taste of them. These things had been people, but they were no more. They would at least put them out of their misery.

When the four creatures came down on them, Palm prepared to face off against the two in the front. Not only would she be protecting herself but watching Beltran's back, as she trusted he would do for her. The geminaie noticed that one of the creatures had what seemed to be a burnt slash on its chest, and she recognized it to be the first one that had attacked her. Because of this, the creature knew to watch out for the sabers. The other one was the first one to lunge at her. Palm dodged its attack, kicking its flank as she moved to make it smash against its companion. She then moved forward, a slash of one of her sabers aimed at the creature while the other remained on the defense.

Having been forced out of their rudimentary formation, the blade cut through the head of the one that had attacked her while the remaining one barely managed to dodge the blade. It screeched, and just as Palm thought it would jump at her, the creature changed its course and went for the Ranger. Palm moved quickly, positioning herself between them to intercept the creature. This time it couldn't overpower her, the Geminaie blocked its attack with an ignited blade that burnt through the creature's hand before rotating her body and bringing down both sabers in a slashing motion, cutting off the creature's head in the process.

There was one left, the one that had spat acid at Beltran, and Palm positioned herself towards it. The geminaie jumped forward, her ability to jump so high and far apparently surprising the creature and forcing it into the ground again before it spat more acid, leaving it vulnerable to an attack from Beltran. They were intelligent, but apparently not great at quick thinking. So far they had had the upper hand when the darkness gave them time to prey on and plan. Luckily for them, that table had turned. But this did not mean they were safe. One bite from these things, and Palm was sure they'd have to say goodbye to whatever limb suffered had been wounded.

As soon as the creatures were dead, Palm began trotting the rest of the way towards the elevator, intending to make it there before their assailants could regroup. When Beltran was in the elevator too, she put in the clearance code, the same scientist's card and took them one floor below. Section 46 was here, and now they knew what way to go to find it. However, something had her brow furrowing. 7th under level, Section 46, Containment Plant.

As the doors to the elevator opened again, they were met with a gruesome sight. Another room with a clear window, but within it there was not one affected male twi-lek. There were about a dozen creatures that didn't even look remotely human anymore. Their bodies twisted and their behavior nothing short from bestial. Some of them lay dead, chunks of them missing indicating that the other had...eaten them. And as soon as they set sights on the two, they all run and hit themselves against the glass in a rampage which had Palm raising her sabers out of reflex. But the transparisteel held still, they couldn't come through. For now.

"We need to get out of here fast." Palm didn't want to stay around to find out how much longer that glass would hold, and so she began making her way towards section 46. Nervousness and anxiety began attempting to take over her again. She needed to know if her people where there. If they were still people.

Still on high alert, she occasionally looked back to make sure Beltran was still with her. And eventually they made it to the last corridor. Palm muttered something below her breath in Nexilis, a muffled plea to not be met with disfigured faces, fanged mouths and clawed hands. But instead, this glass was covered in what she though looked like pillow sheets, impeding them - or anything else - from looking within. Her eyes went to Beltran, questioning, as she raised her hands to knock on the glass thrice. Then she waited.


 


As the battle raged, Beltran allowed himself a spit-second to marvel at the efficiency of Palm's maneuvering. It was becoming obvious that she was an agile and deadly combatant. Holstering his hand-cannon, Beltran took his saber in the two-handed grip common to the Schii-Cho style. He focused himself, finding his center within the Force and prepared for the second creature's inevitable attack.

Behind him, he could hear-and see in a way-Palm as she dispatched the pair of creatures on her side with apparent ease. He was somewhat surprised when she immediately turned to attack the single remaining creature, jumping up at it with impossible speed and height. Apparently as startled as he, the creature fell to the ground in front of the Lorrdian. Years of being a soldier had taught Beltran not to squander the fortunes of war, so as the creature hit the deck he swung out and decapitated it with a single swing.

He then deactivated his sunset orange blade and turned to follow the woman to the elevator.

Once on the next floor, Beltran followed Palm as she searched for her people. Beltran had once heard that you could get used to anything, but the level of gruesomeness that greeted them in this laboratory of horrors had him questioning the veracity of that statement.

"We need to get out of here fast." Palm told him, and he nodded his agreement. If those things got free, they would block their only path back to the elevator. And while Beltran and Palm had been able to kill the creatures that had been hunting them above, it had not been without injury. To face more than double that number down here...well Beltran didn't see that ending well.

"Agreed," He replied before nodding down the hallway. "On you."

Beltran would follow the woman until they found the final room down the last corridor. The glass walls had been obscured with pillow cases, bed sheets and what appeared to be pieces of clothing. "Smart," Beltran said as Palm knocked thrice on the door. Because the room was ostensibly sealed, the creatures out here wouldn't be able to smell anyone inside. So without being able to see, they wouldn't know to try to get in.

With the buildup to this moment being as large as it was, it was almost anti-climactic when a small corner of one of the pillow cases was pulled away and a brown human looking eye replaced it. A second later, the pillow case was pulled away from the glass wall completely, revealing a small hole in which they could see inside.

As it turned out, this was the room that they'd seen on security camera feed. Inside were a dozen, perhaps more, of Palm's people. Glancing at the locked door, Beltran tilted his head. "Would you like to do the honors?" He asked.
 
ɢᴇᴍɪɴɪᴅᴀᴇ



Location: CrimaCorp's Headquarters Underground Levels, Adaarack City, Irith.
Wearing: XxX.
Armament: The Wraith Blades ~ Blasters (x2)
Tagging: Beltran Rarr Beltran Rarr

XoUVtE9.png


For someone who often found herself in situations that invoked tensions and dark feelings, Palm could never quite get used to the nervousness and the anxiety that bloomed within her whenever it was her people's lives on the line. It was her weakness and her strength, something that could fuel her to push herself well beyond her limit and achieve unbelievable feats but at the potential of leaving the deepest, possibly irreversible wounds. Such was the curse of loyalty and love, and right now she could feel her heart rise to block the base of her throat as her mind rushed between the creeping fear of what they could find behind that makeshift curtain and the looming threat that were those creatures in the containment room.

Palm nodded at Beltran's comment, whoever or whatever was inside had been smart to cover the glass. All she could do was hope that doing so had served them well. Each tense second of silent nothing was drowning whatever hope she'd had, and just as her hand was finally falling from the glass back to her side, a corner of the pillow case was removed. And her amber eyes met a brown one, oval-pupil mirroring her own, and for the first time since her arrival in the dirtball that was Irith, a small smile crept onto her lips.

Her gaze met Beltran's, for a brief moment the stoicism and vacancy that characterized her focus replaced by a flicker of emotion, warmness. It would be short lived, of course, for in this scenario attention and sharp edge of a cold mind were everything. She moved her hand, reverse grip on her tonfa-saber, and after igniting the blade she aimed it towards the lock on the door, following the edges of it and after the top and bottom of the frame until all locks were cut through. Then the door gave, and she pushed it opened to be met with faces stricken with a mixture of disbelief, terror and hope.

Overall they looked fine, weathered and thin and clearly under the effects of long term stress, but at least initially there was no sign that they had been turned or were turning into whatever it was that those monsters had been twisted into. She could feel them through the Force, all of them, and this brought her relief. However, they didn't have time right now for questions, they had to move. Some whispers could be heard, apparently they had gotten used to speaking in hushed voices if they had to speak at all.

"That's Heir Palm-Imer."

"Yes, it is."

"Who's the other man? Is he a Jedi?"

Palm took note of their questions, but the answers would be best saved for when they weren't in danger. "We need to get you out of here. Stay together and follow our lead." If anyone fell behind for whatever reason, she could not promise they would be able to backtrack and get them. It had been difficult enough for the Ranger and her to make their way here without having to protect civilians. Unarmed and weakened civilians at that. She turned to Beltran, nodding once signalling they were ready.

"You take the front, I'll take the back." They would be better able to defend the group if they were split up. The walls would provide cover for the flanks, to some degree. More combat-able people would have been ideal, but there was no point in wasting time wishing for 'ideal' right now. Beltran would lead them back to the elevator, Palm would stay behind for defense. And hopefully not be met with breaking glass by the time they made it to the elevator.

"Let's set up these first." The Ambassador took out the timed explosives from her backpack, placing one near the corner of what looked to be a load-bearing wall. They had agreed that this place had to burn and it would, starting from its lower and last level.


 


Beltran nodded, accepting several of the explosive charges from Palm. Whatever it was that this place had been intended to be, it could not be allowed to survive. That fact was perhaps even more vital than their lives. Moving quickly, Beltran went about placing charges on various load bearing walls, and anywhere that appeared to have a large amount of electrical wiring. Essentially, anything that looked like it would make a good boom.

Once that was accomplished, Beltran took lead of the group of survivors. He had found enough time to reload his hand-cannon and now held the weapon in his left hand, while holding the hilt of his lightsaber in his right. Palm's people, despite the various stages of shock, malnutrition and otherwise generalized trauma they were in, fell in behind him. Several of them gripped pieces of pipe as weapons, once more impressing the Lorrdian with their spirit.

Taking point, Beltran moved down the corridors that they'd taken, retracing their steps back toward the elevator. As they passed the containment room, the grotesque-as Beltran had come to think of the large former humanoid creature held in there-smashed itself up against the glass, cracking it even further. Just by looking at it, Beltran knew that the wall would not survive another such attack.

As they reached the elevator, Beltran activated it using the code and waited. A moment later, it opened and Beltran let out a slight sigh. "I was afraid of that," He called back to Palm. "We can get six, maybe eight, people in here at one time. Maximum. Someone is going to have to go up with a group and someone else is going to have to stay here with a group."

Beltran considered volunteering to stay, but quickly realized that it really didn't matter. Whoever went up first would likely have to fight what remained of the facility's security force and whoever stayed would likely have to face off against one or more of the creatures that had infested these floors. Looking to the brown-eyed woman, Beltran could only shrug, saying silently.

It's up to you.
 
ɢᴇᴍɪɴɪᴅᴀᴇ



Location: CrimaCorp's Headquarters Underground Levels, Adaarack City, Irith.
Wearing: XxX.
Armament: The Wraith Blades ~ Blasters (x2)
Tagging: Beltran Rarr Beltran Rarr

XoUVtE9.png


Palm took out the blasters that she had not touched until now, and after asking who knew how to shoot one, she handed them to two of the crew’s security officials. She would do with her sabers and the Force. As they finally reached the elevator, Palm was more relieved to see that the glass hadn’t been broken yet than worried about it having nearly broken. Her main concern was to save as many as she could, she’d deal with whatever came after that.

“Go on, take as many as you can.” The geminaie would have better chances fighting against other sentients than against these monsters, she had seen Beltran fight and she trusted in him to know how to lead and protect them to the best of his ability. She’d stay down here, with the remaining five that could not fit into the elevator.

Once Beltran and his group were safe behind the closed elevator doors and began their ascent, Palm looked at those who had remained with her. “Run straight to the left, take the second turn you find to the left and run straight to the stairs. The combat able to the front, if something happens you backtrack to me. If you can’t, remain together and keep moving. I’ll find you.” The geminaie nodded, the ability to manipulate their own emotions staving off panic and making them ready to go up against this terrible experience.

Just as the group began running and Palm stayed behind, a slit in the grass broke. It was high-quality ballistic glass, and that meant that it didn’t shatter completely, much to her relief. Only one creature could slip out before the next began struggling to do the same. Having the advantage because the glass slowed them down, Palm went up against the first one. She dodged a slight to the right, slashing through the creatures middle in her step and ignoring the pain of the monster’s claws grazing against her own side, another wound, albeit she believed a superficial one. This monster had been faster.

Then before, the second one managed to slip through, the blade of one of her guard-shotos went through its skull, killing it and leaving its body lodged in the glass to keep the other from being able to go through. This was her chance, her shot to make a run for it. No one had backtracked, and that gave her hope that her people had made it to the stairs without major obstacles.

As she took the turn left, she saw the group just reaching the stairs, stopping in their tracks as they saw her. The screeches coming from behind her, followed by the final shattering noise, let her know that the monsters would be hot on her trail. Palm shouted in Nexilis, telling them to begin going up the stairs and not wait for her. As soon as she reached them, she slammed the door behind her and struggled with the creatures, using the Force to gain the strength to push it closed and lock the door. The bomb would take care of the rest.

Her group went up the stairs, now with her at the lead, and they kept going. Flights of stairs followed by flights of stairs. Every now an then, Palm would make sure to leave bombs behind. Finally, they reached the ground floor, and the Ambassador led the group towards the elevator to rendezvous with Beltran and the others. If the fight against the facility’s security was still going on, they would join it.


 


“Go on, take as many as you can.”

Beltran met Palm's eyes and held it for a long moment before nodding. "Alright," He replied. It was her choice to stay behind and Beltran understood it. Had it been his people, he too would have made the same decision. Ushering those he could fit into the elevator, the Ranger was the last one aboard. As he keyed the access code that would allow him to move up to the top level, he said. "See you on the other side."

As the doors closed and the elevator began moving, he could hear the uncertain whispers of the beings under his charge. "Quiet," He said, his voice firm but not harsh. "When these doors open, I'll go out first and clear the hallway. You'll stay inside until I tell you otherwise. Assuming I'm not killed, when we move you'll turn left and follow the corridor to the place where we entered."

Beltran could feel a few of them shift their feet nervously, but nobody challenged him. For better or worse, they knew he would be the only thing standing between them and a blaster-bolty death until Palm joined them. The Lorrdian would spend the next few seconds reloading his Hand-cannon with the powerful depleted baradium bullets it took.

A moment later, the elevator jerked to a halt and the door opened. Hazy billows of smoke entered the small space, obscuring vision and causing some of the others to begin coughing. It seemed that the explosion that they'd used as a distraction had caused a fire that had nearly reached this area. Over the din of alarm klaxons Beltran could hear the muffled shouts of the security response teams.

Letting out a deep breath, Beltran drew upon the Force to aid his speed, strength and senses. Then he stepped out of the elevator and into the hallway, raising his hand-cannon as he walked.


Even over the chaotic noise of the facility, the first boom! sounded, piercing the air. One of the guards, a Nikto in second-hand armor, just kind of disintegrated into a spray of blood and gore as the slug slammed into his torso. Not even breaking his stride, Beltran switched his aim to a human female. She had just enough time to blink before he sent splattered her deepest thoughts, dreams and desires on the wall behind her.

Through the Force, Beltran felt movement from behind him. Swinging around on the ball of his foot, he threw a powerful round house kick at another human, a man this time. The burly figure stumbled back, surprised by both the Lorrdian's speed and the strength of his blow. Firing from the hip, Beltran sent him on to the next life as well.

Moving quickly back to the open elevator, he waved his charges-indicating that they should follow him. For a brief second they hesitated, but when another pair of guards rounded the corner only to be turned into mince, they got the message and started moving.

Along the way, the group would run into the one led by Palm as they exited the stairwell. He levelled his cannon at yet another unlucky guard and fired, sending him on to the next life as well. His cannon now expended completely, Beltran holstered the weapon and drew his lightsaber.

"Everything okay?" He would ask the woman as they moved toward the exit.
 
Last edited:
ɢᴇᴍɪɴɪᴅᴀᴇ



Location: CrimaCorp's Headquarters Underground Levels, Adaarack City, Irith.
Wearing: XxX.
Armament: The Wraith Blades ~ Blasters (x2)
Tagging: Beltran Rarr Beltran Rarr

XoUVtE9.png


As soon as her eyes met Beltran's again, they quickly glided off to the side to look over the crewmembers. All there, none looked any worse for wear than they had been upon their initial meeting. Then her amber eyes met the Ranger's green ones once more, and for a moment a stinging feeling on her side made itself known. Her gaze shifted down to look at the wound, it was only a graze and not nearly as worrying as the slash to her shoulder had been. "Everything's alright. We need to hurry out." Her people had been rescued and the datapads they retrieved would have to be their way of uncovering more information on this...establishment.

The bombs were ready to go off, there was chaos because of the fire and Palm had no intentions of hanging around long enough to learn for how long the door to the underlevels would hold the creatures at bay. Their job here was done, and now it was time to move out and dispose of anyone that attempted to stand on their path. Beltran's handcannon had been doing an exemplary job at that.

Soon they were back on the move, together and followed by the group of confused but determined geminians. It seemed as though the uncontrolled fire was playing more in their favor than they realized, for the security forces that would cross their path were significantly less than the ones she had expected initially. When a volley of blaster fire came their way, Palm took the defensive used the blades of her lightsabers to divert the bolts from the civilians and allowed Beltran to be the one to move forward and deal with their assailants.

Finally, they had backtracked to the same door that had been their point of entry into the facility. And once again on the outside, the raging and tall tongues of fire that the first explosion had provoked rose high into the air of the still dark morning. This time Palm moved forward, using the thickness of the smoke in the air to their advantage to dispose of the guard nearby before they could see them and open fire on the group. This was open ground, and it would be harder to protect the group now that more angles were available for attack.

Once they reached the fences, she quickly cut through them with her saber and pulled it aside, instructing the people to run towards the alleys while searching for cover. Then her gaze locked on the Ranger once more, as she handed him the detonator for the bombs. "I'll lead them back to the safehouse." It was implied that she was trusting him to finish their task, and them meet him back at the place were this odyssey had started. "Be careful, Beltran." And with that, she'd follow the same direction her people had disappeared into, until they reached safety.

Back in the safehouse, and with the adrenaline level dropping, a slight tremble and the general tell-tale symptoms of having gone through a traumatic expierence settled on the geminain crew. Palm passed around water bottles and iron pills, but food and warmer clothing would have to wait until they were on board the Stygian Vagabond and en route back to Geminidae. As she moved about the group, conversing quietly and offering words of comfort, her mind kept going back to the Ranger, awaiting his return. If he didn't show for a while longer, Palm would go back to look for him. It was the least she could do.


 



Beltran nodded, watching for a second as Palm-Imer Palm-Imer led her people away from the now engulfed facility. Turning back to the turbulent building, Beltran walked forward. He had the detonator in his right hand and held the hilt of his father's lightsaber in his left. It was true that he could have simply activated the detonator from where he stood, but what would have been the fun in that?

Using the Force to sharpen his senses, Beltran listened. A moment later, he heard the wonderful cacophony of otherworldly shrieks, panicked yells and sporadic blaster fire. It seemed that the creatures had found their way up to the main level and were gorging themselves on the few guards who still remained.

"Yes," He murmured as he heard the last of the guards leave this world, screaming all the way. Then he raised the detonator and pushed the button. The first boom! sounded immediately and was quickly followed by a dozen others in quick succession. A massive pile of dust spewed out from the building and then the sounds of groaning and creaking came as the walls began to fall inside on itself.

Beltran would stand there watching for a long moment, leaving only when the sirens of the responding city judiciary speeders were almost on top of him. Returning to the safe-house was a relatively simple matter, since the city's attention was now thoroughly captured by the destruction in the industrial quarter.

As he stepped inside, he saw the small apartment was filled with the survivors. Scanning the faces, he quickly found Palm's honey colored eyes. "It's done." He told her. "Near as I can tell, there will be no survivors. Guards, scientists or....otherwise."

Taking a seat, Beltran poured himself a drink from a bottle of cheap whiskey that he'd had on the table. All of a sudden, the Ranger was feeling weary. "I can arrange transport for you and your people off world, if you need." He told the woman while raising the bottle to her in offering.
 
ɢᴇᴍɪɴɪᴅᴀᴇ



Location: Safehouse, Adaarack City, Irith.
Wearing: XxX.
Armament: The Wraith Blades ~ Blasters (x2)
Tagging: Beltran Rarr Beltran Rarr

XoUVtE9.png


She could see it in their face, the fear and the shock. It inspired within her a very particular kind of anger and despair, soothed only because of the fact that she was there now to help her people. It was often that Palm wondered if this nurturing instinct, this need to protect those who depended on her and her caste was a result of her breeding, another code in her genome, or if it was personal. It didn't really matter one way or the other, for she had embraced it. Along with all the difficulties and the worries that it put on her shoulders to carry.

Her amber gaze drifted to a nearby clock on a lonely stand, two more minutes left of waiting in accordance to the time limit she had set for herself before going to look for the Ranger. Palm steeled her mind was once, readying herself to go once again into the fray when she heard the explosions and felt the whole building tremble in response to the expansive wave. It seemed as though things had gone okay...or so she hoped, fearing that Beltran might have gotten caught in the explosion.

She was one second away from alerting her people that she was leaving she felt the Ranger draw near. As soon as he was within the safehouse and within view, Palm looked at him to confirm he hadn't sustained any injuries. Luckily, he seemed to be in one piece and the end of their impromtu and terrifying mission on Irith had been successful. Right when she was about to run out of nightmare fuel, this had come to pass. The galaxy certainly had a dark way of keeping everyone on their toes.

"Good. Although I fear with that level of organization, I would be surprised if they were the only cell out there." If geminian people weren't involved, Palm was required to steer clear of intervening in others affairs. It was at times like this when she disagreed with her orders, but it was not her place to question. This CrimaCorp, or whoever was behind it, would probably remain to be a problem...one for others to face.

She avoided talking details of what had just transpired, if only to not upset the crew more than they already were. A soft, grateful smile stretched her lips at his offer. "It won't be necessary, but I thank you for the offer. There is enough space in my ship for them, now its time to get them back home." The nods and hopeful eyes in the crew were enough to determine one thing: the geminaie did not want to stay a second longer on Irith.

Palm then turned towards Beltran again and walked until she was closer to him. Now, with the light beginning to increase as the sun rose up, it was easy to see the tired look on her face and the general disarray of her clothes. Dirtied, blood drying around her shoulder and on her side. She didn't seem to mind, or at least her attention was not placed on her appearance at the moment. One of her hands went to a pocket in her backpack, and from it she took what looked to be a small, solid and transparent card. Once it entered in contact with skin, bright light-blue letters lit up displaying the insignia of the consors system, her name and a comlink frequency. She extended it to Beltran.

"I can't thank you enough, Beltran." Palm knew she could not have pulled this off on her own. If the Force had not willed the two to cross paths, that wretched facility would have become her tomb. "If you ever need help, don't hesitate to reach out." She could not go into a lot of detail lest she betray her code of secrecy, but the tone in her voice implied that there was more to the help she could provide than hacking down monstrosities with a saber. The geminaie began getting ready for going into the streets again. It would not take them long to reach the freighter and depart from Irith.

As they began filing out, following the directions that the Ambassador had previously given, she nodded her head once and offered her hand to the Ranger to shake.

"Take care, Beltran Rarr. And may the Force be with you."

//End Thread.


 
Last edited:

Users who are viewing this thread

Top Bottom