Zeal is a Volcano

[Matsu Xiangu]

[SIZE=14pt]Ryoone[/SIZE]
[SIZE=14pt]Early Evening[/SIZE]
[SIZE=14pt]Planet-Side[/SIZE]

Matsu had been to dozens of planets for stays both short and long, and experiences both blissful and painful. She felt confident claiming she’d traveled more of the Galaxy than most as she’d made it her mission to see as much as possible, going to planets for no practical purpose other than to experience it and its people.

She had dedicated her life to the practice of protecting her own mind and breaking in to others, the pursuit of mental prowess controlled highly enough to shatter what was previously assumed to be unbreakable. In order to do that, she needed practice and she needed understanding. Practice only came through experimentation or direct use of her power on another and there was plenty of opportunity for that…but understanding…that came through observation. Matsu believed that the more she studied people, the more she learned of varied species and cultures, the easier it would be to take down any mental target laid out for her. The key to jailbreaking a mind was to find the weak spots, the spots that were soft enough to tear open – areas of fear, anger, jealousy, hatred, sadness, pain. All were distractions leaving her enough room to enter and take control. To people-watch was to learn to anticipate all possible outcomes and scenarios.

Of course, every person was their own island. Some individuals just had a naturally high resistance to her techniques…but she learned to break even them. And even when it seemed there was no one but an Epicanthix or the highest mentalist Lords to challenge her, she kept learning. She would never stop. She would make herself a bastion of the mind, of dreams, of others’ suffering.

But Ryoone was a strange case. It was one of the planets that ended up being purely for exploration, another venture she found worthwhile. It was idle exploration that had found the Ravager, idle exploration that had helped her discover quite a few friends. The volcanic planet had almost no native culture to speak of as its atmosphere did not facilitate permanent settlements. It was easy enough to breathe for a day or two, but any longer and a human’s lungs would be so packed with ashes they would asphyxiate.

After pressing through the layer of ash that comprised the planet’s upper atmosphere, Matsu had landed right outside a huge volcanic rise. One half of the planet was registering volcanic activity on a massive scale, geysers of lava giving way to sludgy rivers of cooling rock. She had landed just outside the calculated danger zone, watching the slow flow of magma until she felt the call to go inside.

One of the volcanoes appeared to have a cave cut in to its side, too evenly cut and precise to be natural. She couldn’t imagine what would make someone suicidal enough to cut in to the side of a volcano, but it could only be for a very good or very bad reason.

She intended to find out as she slunk inside, quiet and stealthy.

[member="Apos"]​

 

[Apos Xiangu]

Apos watched from behind cover as a worker from a nearby camp split away from his group to trek across the terrain and deliver a package to their base of operations. The contents of the package were irrelevant to Apos, his directed gaze focused on something else the alien possessed that Apos coveted very much. When he stops to rest, I'll take it, Apos promised, gripping his hand-hewn knife. He'd been on Ryoone for 3 days so far, unable to get off of the planet. He remained calm though, keeping his emotions in check to avoid festering fear and doubt from obscuring his departure. He'd laid out steps to be completed, and if everything went as planned he would be off of this planet soon enough.

For a long time, Apos watched from the cover of mounds of hardened volcanic terrain, watching the worker struggle with his heavy delivery. Apos found it odd that vehicles had such a hard time functioning out here, surely the higher levels of ash had something to do with it. When the Rodian finally stopped to drop the box and give his body a break, Apos stepped from behind his cover and walked towards the winded Rodian with an even stride. The green sentient looked up at the encroaching figure, asking; Who are you? What do you want? To which Apos remained silent as he closed within arms length of the alien and swiped his hand across the Rodian's throat, slicing flesh with his makeshift dagger. The Rodian clamped his hand to his neck in confusion before buckling to his knees and slinking to the ground, lifeless. Apos slid the dagger in between the band of his trousers and hip and reached down to pull the breathing unit out of the Rodian's clamped mouth.

Clipping the device to his belt, Apos pulled the pipe out of the unit and clamped it in between his own lips. He pulled, feeling cool, clean oxygen enter his lungs. Unsympathetic eyes looked down at the dead Rodian at his feet.

"Hmm. Was either you or me."

He said before he turned away, realizing it would be dark soon and shelter was something that had to be found within the hour. Coincidentally his eyes laid on what appeared to be the mouth of a cave in the side of the nearest volcano. His booted feet began to march a path towards it as he pulled a thick scarf up from his neck and wrapped it around his head and mouth, attempting to filter the ash from what he breathed in from his uncovered nose. He sucked and exhaled constantly into the breathing unit, hoping to clear his rasp and cough before getting inside. The mechanism was loud, and Apos was unsure of what the noise level was inside the cave.

[member="Matsu Xiangu"]

 

[Matsu Xiangu]

The air in the cave was slightly better – it almost smelled clean. She assumed the low hum of machinery was some kind of filtration system. She couldn’t imagine what would be so important on this wasteland of a planet that someone would take the trouble to build something she imagined had to be replaced frequently – all that ash had to collect pretty quickly.

It got her thinking…what was down here that someone wanted so badly?

She was still exploring, poking around the area and getting a feel for the layout, when she heard the low sound of voices up ahead. Masking her signature and moving on light feet she padded towards them, listening intently. It would be easy enough to simply take the information from their heads, but she was a firm believer in not settling for the easy route every time. It added a little spice to life. Besides, she couldn’t be sure they weren’t a species that would catch on to her probes and she didn’t want to risk revealing herself. (Not because she couldn’t kill them with a flick of her wrist, but because she was rather enjoying the peace of traveling by herself.)

“Got it working again.”​

“Good – one more slip-up and we’re all dead. And not choking on ashes.”​

“I know, don’t need to remind me.”​

“Speaking of ashes – where’s Sven with the shipment of rebreathers?”​

“Don’t know. He radioed he was bringing over the parts about 10 minutes ago, and I haven’t heard from him since then.”​

She could feel a spike of unease from both men once they realized one of the men was missing and wondered if this wasn’t something that occurred more often than normal – the anxiety wasn’t normal for a man that had been missing for only ten minutes.

She waited until she’d heard them walk off to continue her exploration, about to enter a large, vacant common room when she thought she heard something behind her. Pausing she stood up straight, lengthening her body to make herself a smaller target. She didn’t say a thing, just branched out with her mind to any in the immediate area. That way, if there was no one there she wouldn’t risk being heard from farther away saying something aloud but if there was someone…

Hello…​

​

[member="Apos"]​

 

[Apos Xiangu]

Apos pulled his scarf tighter, sucking on the breathing unit continuously, coughing with exerted strain and agitation as he attempted to clear his chest of mucus and debris. Oh, how he hated this planet. Taking a break from the rebreather, Apos pulled the unit from his mouth and took a few short breaths feeling his rasp lighten dramatically. If Apos would would have gone another day or two without a rebreather he might have collapsed and died at this rate. Faced with situations such as that, Apos found it more befitting of himself to acquire one from someone else, no matter the means. Apos' instincts most resembled an animal, as he moved and dealt with situations in aggressive manners. His need to survive was insurmountable and Apos knew this, which is why he simply could not apologize for his actions. Even now the lifeless body he left out in the middle of nowhere had completely left Apos' mind.

His booted feet moved across the dark, hardened lava on the surface of the terrain and moved inside the cave. Unraveling his makeshift scarf-filter, Apos moved with light steps as he assessed his new surroundings. It was cooler, albeit slightly, but most importantly the air smelled cleaner and was easier to breath. Collapsing his breathing unit into a smaller contraption he placed it on his left hip and lowered into a crouch before proceeding. Machinery? Apos pondered as he heard the low hum of what had to be a filtration system. A low growl reverberated from Apos throat as he broke down his circumstances. Machinery in this environment was almost surely maintained daily, which meant that there were other people here, at least 10 judging by the volume of the hum. The number of bodies ahead could be greater also. Who's to say that only the maintenance team was present?

The lighting system was minimal, allowing Apos to hug the shadows of the walls and corners as he moved deeper into the cave until he stopped. He could smell a woman, sweat, boots, leather and linen. The compilation varied drastically from the previous owner of his breathing unit and, frankly anyone he'd been within certain proximity with during his stay on Ryoone. She was an offworlder. Hello… And a force sensitive? The intrusive voice stilled Apos' body, yet countered negative responses with a nonthreatening tone. The art was foreign to Apos, but he would not run from it. His lips parted as if to say something, but he quieted himself not wanting to draw unwanted attention to this unconventional meeting.

He advanced further and took his time to search his surroundings for the owner of the voice. Approaching a boulder on the skirt of the cave floor, Apos slowly rounded the piece of rock to see [member="Matsu Xiangu"] on the other side.

"Hello." Apos said with a slightly-less-than-usual raspiness, although his baritone background remained. "I hear only ash-workers are allowed down here." Apos said with a hint of sarcasm.

 

[Matsu Xiangu]

Matsu was well aware that her ability to use telepathy was an intrusion – at least, somewhere in her mind. It often took until someone recoiled or she felt the slight ripple of confusion and panic after the brush of her mind however for her to remember. The mind was the most sacred place, often the one spot in the entire Galaxy one could feel completely safe.

So when a man – taller than her (though that wasn’t hard) and Atrisian as well – appeared around one of the boulders that served as part of the cave’s façade, she switched to speaking aloud. She wasn’t sure if his voice was naturally so strained but she thought perhaps he’d been a while on this planet and ash had settled in his chest. Questions, questions, questions.

“I won’t say anything if you don’t,” she said quietly, not wanting her voice to bounce off the rock to their ‘companions’. She didn’t sense malice in the stranger, though that often meant nothing. However she thought if he was hostile he might have just immediately come for her – she’d intruded, after all. Matsu had a questionable habit of falling in with complete strangers and didn’t feel out of place at all figuring this one in to her plans.

Nothing happened without a reason.

She moved without saying anything to him, figuring he would follow if he wanted to. For a while the caves were almost boring, brown and dark and broken only by the occasional computer terminal with read-outs that meant nothing to her. Also, eerily quiet. Although she doubted there was much more than a few people working down in the system the conversation she’d overheard made her believe there was more than ash-work going on down here…and even still, why go through all the trouble to make this system and keep the ash out in the first place? There was something of value down here, and she wanted it. (It wasn’t about the riches she could have – Matsu had more money than she knew what to do with, evidenced by the fine weave of what she wore despite the fact she was exploring, the way she carried herself. She just wanted – an adrenaline rush, something to prove she’d succeeded.)

It was just when she was getting bored that she stepped in to a room unremarkable on its own, but interesting in the sense that a window at the end opened up to a view of a room with a large bank of wiring and cables wound together going straight upwards in a pillar, and on the far side what she could only assume was the strongest glasteel available to hold back the lava on the other side. She looked over her shoulder, watching the stranger. “Can you speak to me with your mind only?”

If they wanted a look inside, it would be best if they could communicate silently.

[member="Apos"]​

 

[Apos Xiangu]

Apos watched her as she spoke, remaining inaudible when she sarcastically said that she wouldn't tell anyone if he didn't. Naturally, Apos didn't trust anyone, but this one he didn't trust at all. Something about the way she talked or moved, perhaps, was different. He didn't know why he simply didn't kill her now, but he'd learned to trust his instincts at this point in his life. There was a lethality about her that seemed more prominent than what he sensed from the random thugs he encountered on a daily basis - something extremely dangerous.

Takes one to know one, Apos thought mirthlessly, as he moved behind her when she turned to advance deeper into the cave. It would be completely quiet if not for the filtration system- but despite it's hum, the cave had a wet silence to it. Eery, and uncomfortable although the Acolyte doubted his nameless companion felt it. Judging from her body language, it appeared as though she looked forward to revealing dust-covered secrets as much as he did. Apos looked over the screens of the terminals they passed, which mostly consisted of orders, logs, and holorecordings with uninteresting subject titles. Apos would swipe through a couple pages of the first few terminals, before ignoring the rest.

This place was a cover for something. The worker's population was just as shady as the files they pasted onto the terminals. As they exited the entrance tunnel and stepped into the room they were currently in, Apos looked around the room, studying his surroundings. Everything looked foreign though, he didn't understand the pillar-like wiring nor the need to view lava from one side of the room. He assumed clarity would be found upon further investigation.

'Yea'

Came the response to Matsu's question. His grasp on the Force and it's techniques were widely vague to the Survivor, but he could use telepathy. Even then though, the audible was low. His voice may have came across as little more than a whisper in Matsu's mind. He wondered if she would sense his underdevelopment or assume he purposely sounded that way. He assumed it wouldn't be too difficult to figure out. His brown eyes moved back to the lava on the other side of the glass, before he moved to follow her into the room.


[member="Matsu Xiangu"]

 

[Matsu Xiangu]

His response was a whisper but that didn’t mean much to her either way. Telepathy had come naturally to her if only because she had used it so frequently to communicate with her closest companion, Kesare Salazar. As children the two had prowled the streets of their homeplanet like wolves, making plans in their silent communication. Often they forgot they could speak aloud, sitting together and not saying a word for an hour or two – though occasionally one would break the silence to laugh at something the other had said in silence. In hindsight it must have been highly unsettling to anyone else viewing them.

But had she not had someone with whom she’d forged such a deep connection in the Force she would never have had the immediate aptitude she’d been granted with. There was almost no power that came without some type of discovery, some clumsy stumbling before one could grasp and wield it with complete grace. So whoever this man was, she wasn’t here to judge.

Funny – too many different things in one woman.

His presence is feral, a strangely collected jittering of violence and composure that lie parallel to her ice-cool. He feels…she doesn’t want to use the word indifferent, but…waiting – like he’s dusting right underneath the surface and waiting for a reason to open and bloom violently. Let’s give you a reason.

Although the room itself gave no indication of its purpose, nor could she imagine the kind of operation worth taking on this planet, she was determined to find the answer even if it gave her no personal reward. Satisfaction in itself was a prize – blood on her hands, perhaps this stranger proving himself. If he didn’t she could always use him as an experiment. She was always looking for test subjects and she’d had fewer with the Force than without it. Access to power changed brain chemistry somewhat and to dissect a force-user was valuable information.

But she was getting ahead of herself.

She was about to speak again when the sound of doors hissing open caught her attention, no less than eight men entering the room from two different directions.

“Hey!”​

One shouted, though the others seemed to decide it wasn’t worth it and went right for the two, rifles up and bolts flying almost immediately. Shoot first, ask questions later. She pulled her sword from her side, spinning it to deflect any bolts and keeping a hold on the signature of the stranger, wanting to watch him bloom.

[member="Apos"]​

 

[Apos Xiangu]

Fists tightened as silence grew between the two - Apos' minuscule precognitive senses warning him of impending danger although nothing visibly, even seconds after his stomach began to house butterflies. Moving his dark eyes to his companion, Apos watched her as she stood still, unaffected by what would happen in the next few moments.

Hissing followed dual doors opening slowly, revealing 8 individuals. Without a moments notice, Apos moved forward, lowering his lower body as he sprinted, using pure agility to avoid the blaster bolts until he could get within striking distance of the guards. Pushing his right hand forward, Apos rose upwards with the strike, forcing his palm into the first workers face, a simple distraction executed to point his rifle to two men to his left and and slide his hand down to press the trigger and execute them.

Turning his attention back to the target in front of him, Apos grabbed the rifle and twisted it against his fingers, breaking them in the process. Allowing him to wallow in the pain of his broken digits, Apos lifted the rifle and turned to fire and run 3 holes through the chests of 3 more men before dropping the weapon and turning back to his project. He reached down and grabbed the screaming man's arm, lifted and slammed it down on his knee, breaking it at the elbow almost on contact and afterwards moved in front of him to line his foot with his head and rush it forward, slamming his head into the wall behind him. A crack of his skull could be heard, as a mist of blood escaped his ear and colored the wall to his right with a scarlet picture of violence.

The two remaining men had been firing upon Matsu during the engagement, and unbeknownst to Apos she'd been effortlessly deflecting their attacks. Taking the opportunity to capitalize on their drawn attention to the woman, Apos quickly advanced across the room and lifted himself into the air, using the momentum from his dash to deliver a roundhouse kick to the first guard's head that seemed to stun him. As he touched down on the ground he immediately lifted his right leg once more, a shot to the ribs that Apos was sure he felt bone shift and snap against his shin. Stepping forward, he eyed the last worker and slipped a knife from his waistband with his right hand, and lifted the guard's left arm as he fired upon Matsu. The next strike was quick, as he punched and stuck the knife into his armpit, pulled it out and stabbed downward to puncture his femoral artery within his leg, near the center of his thigh. He would bleed out within seconds.

Looking around, all the men lay lifeless except the guard that exclusively received kicks during the scene. A man left injured enough that he could not run, but could still speak. The perfect condition for extracting information.

[member="Matsu Xiangu"]​