Ask Acolyte: Isolation

[Zoella Dorran]

A Bolo-Class Corvette floated through the Outer Rim Territory—aimless, adrift in space with no plausible course. The corvette, dubbed the Heart of Darkness, was an Imperial Research Ship. An older vessel, it had been utilized for the better part of three years by technologists in the Imperial Science Bureau, a subdivision of the Sith Empire dedicated to the study and development of new technology for the Empire.

All communication with the Heart of Darkness had ceased weeks ago, which, in and of itself, was not uncommon or unheard of. The corvette was known to go off the grid for long stretches at a time, whereabouts unknown to all but those high-ranking officers within the Imperial Security Bureau. Their work was carried out quietly, secretly, and on a strictly need-to-know basis. As far as the rest of the galaxy was concerned, they didn't exist, their work nonexistent. Just like every other group of technologists within the Science Bureau.

After over a month of radio silence, the Heart of Darkness had resurfaced, over two thousand kilometers south of Drongar. The vessel had missed its last two scheduled space station checkpoints and all transmissions remained unanswered. The ship's distress beacon had been activated, but no one knew for how long. Days? Weeks? A month? All signs pointed toward disaster.

"We're coming out of hyperspace," Petty Officer Gilthre announced from the pilot's chair.

Zoella's gaze lifted, away from the datapad that contained the mission file. Not that it had provided many details, other than the fact that a Sith research vessel had gone missing and they were supposed to board and investigate. Everything else had been redacted, like what the technologists had been studying, where they had been, and what was on board.

The Acolyte's gaze moved toward her companion, a Half-Sephi girl called Vahliri. Zoella had never met her before they'd been assigned to this mission, but she had seen her around. The blonde Acolyte suspected that this was the Half-Sephi her boy crazy roommate at the academy was always ranting about, the "short one who thinks she can steal all my boyfriends." But Zoella didn't lay much stock by anything her roommate said, particularly when it came to other girls.

Zoella leaned against the back of the pilot's chair, staring out the viewport to the drifting corvette as it came into view. "Kind of creepy," she muttered to Vahliri, green eyes fixed on the drifting vessel.

@Altaris

 

[Darth Tempest]

It wasn’t until their Transport Shuttle began to exit from hyperspace that Vahliri finally glanced up from the datapad in her hands, casting her honeyed gaze out the viewport window of the cockpit. The half-Anfynn had spent the majority of the flight from Dromund Kaas going over the mission brief that they had been provided, only to find the damn thing cryptically devoid of any substantive details that weren’t redacted from view.

The half-Anfynn couldn’t deny the fact that she wasn’t entirely keen on the mission, based upon what she knew. The entire situation seemed sketchy as hell, and had the makings of some creepy-ass HoloMovie written all over it. Her suspicions were only confirmed further as their shop dropped out of Hyperspace, her eyes narrowing on the ship that eerily floated, lifeless in space.

She turned her attention from the viewport when Zoella spoke. She briefly remembered the blonde-haired Acolyte from that Party Bus months ago, but if she remembered correctly the girl hadn’t stuck around until the end and Vahliri didn’t have the opportunity to get to know her since then.

“Yeaaahh.. Just a bit.” The half-Anfynn muttered, looking not-at-all enthusiastic at the prospect of exploring the vessel. Vahliri was dressed in her signature red-and-black Sith robes, the curved hilt of her lightsaber clipped to her belt. Her wavey black hair was pulled back into an intricate braid, while the air around her was heavily scented with her floral perfume.

Petty Officer Gilthre leaned forward in the pilot’s chair, flicking a switch to open a communications channel with the vessels. Even if all attempts at reaching the ship had gone unanswered, it was protocol to attempt a transmission one last time before attempting to board.

Several seconds passed with no results. Just as the Petty Officer reached to close the channel, however, the transmission was abruptly patched through - a holographic projector activiating on the control console. Strangely enough however, there was no researcher or crewmember waiting to address them. The hologram was completely empty - as if no one was there at all.

And yet someone that patched their transmission through.

Vahliri glanced over at Zoella, blinking a few times before rising out of her chair. “This is Acolyte Vahliri Kahtal aboard the Scimitar. Can you hear me?”

There was nothing but silent.

“Heart of Darkness, can anyone hear me—“

Vahliri was cut off, going completely silent at the sounds that began go come across the channel. Despite there being no figure visible, what began as static and quickly morphed into a distinct scratching sound began to echo across the transmission - as if long, sharp talons were dragging across metal. Just beneath the scratching, the three of them could faintly hear the sounds of music being played across the bridge - the faintest sounds of piano keys echoing in the background.

“..Hello?—“

Without warning, the transmission abruptly cut itself off, leaving the trio in complete silence.

@llamallove