Ask Event An Instance of Fear

[Kavi Medah]

Kavi was having a bad time. Being rushed by three beings in tattered uniforms, she could only brace herself and prepare to be tackled. The Force betrayed no hint of motivation, nothing but a crushing madness that threatened to send Kavi right back down into her own mind. A growing ache within her, building up as she saw the flesh torn and hanging from snarling mouths. You can’t fix this. They are beyond help.

The beam of her activated lightsaber cast a blue glow, just as the first two creatures reached her. Kavi was thankful to see her fellow Jedi rush in and engage the final one. The first creature ran straight for her, and Kavi took hold of its shoulder with her left hand, using her considerable strength to keep it at bay, away from her face and chest. Nails clawed at her arm, no doubt leaving considerable scratches beneath her robes, but it was preferable to letting it get close. She was preparing to meet the other creature with her saber when Vanya helpfully pushed the creatures back a bit, giving Kavi more room to maneuver. Kavi would echo the other Jedi and reach through the force, once again ignoring all of the awfulness running through it, and push the second creature a bit farther away, hopefully into the line of sight of those firing from the doorway. She would then turn to that first creature, still relatively close to her. She’d hold her lightsaber across her body, in a two hand grip. When she looked at this being, hissing and gnawing at its own flesh, she felt pity. Who was this person? And why did their life culminate in this? And… would they want to be put down? There was no hope for this creature. But Kavi was a Jedi, and Jedi always, always offer a way out. Even when it seems like a really bad idea.

“Please, if you are sapient, stop fighting! I can see you're hurting. I want to help you.”

After saying this to the creature, Kavi would wait, lightsaber in a defensive position. If it moved to attack her, she was ready to bring the blade down.

Spoiler: Actions

1. Kavi draws her saber in one hand, then physically holds the first creature that reaches her first back, with the intent to stop it from getting at her face
2. Kavi makes sure the second creature gets pushed far away
3. Kavi tries to have a heart to heart with the creature attacking her, trying to get it to stop.
4. Kavi is ready to swing her blade down on the creature in case they don't want to talk

 

[Laeonas Tannaras]

​

He witnessed his will manifest with a grim focus, watching as the lesser abomination was slowly torn apart. The wires fought to keep themselves tangled together as the force pulled them apart on his behalf. Laeonas had been trained as a Jedi, had spent years honing his strength, and as he willed it, so did the creature’s upper tear down the middle.

And an instant later, electric power was careening towards him.

Laeo had been warned about electrical attacks during his training. It was a high level dark side technique, usually employed by the Sith. He’d been taught, like most every Jedi, that the best way to defend himself from such an onslaught was to block it with a lightsaber.

But his lightsaber was gone, stolen as a trophy of war by the Mandalorians he’d fought on Lothal, and the parts he’d scrounged together were incomplete without a crystal.

He’d have to remember to kill one of the Sith on his way out, but that wasn’t his chief concern right now.

On instinct, the force would flow down into his legs, and he’d kick off to the side, hoping to narrowly miss the attack or at least avoid most of the damage. Regardless of how successful he was, Laeo would scramble to his feet, looking at the foe he’d damaged and the larger abomination, still bearing down on them.

The kindred spirit he was fighting with had the bright idea of shooting it with stun bolts, and the man in robes who’d been conversing with the data pad seemed to be trying to distract it. The data pad in question screamed for them to head to the bridge.

The rage that had fueled his attack began to dissipate, and Laeo would suddenly realize that he and his “comrades” couldn’t fight these things off– not yet. His instincts and the words of his common all carried the same message– retreat.

“We need to get out of here!” he echoed, but not before his gaze fixed on the two abominations, focusing yet again on the smaller one. Whether or not it had reassembled itself, Laeonas would reach out with the force a second time. He didn’t focus on the abomination itself however, and instead, he’d send a wave of power that would SLAM into the creature hard enough to disorient it, and hopefully knock it back a few meters. He didn’t want to have to worry about any more lightning attacks as he began retreating down the hallway towards the bridge.

@Mr. Teatime @Akheron @AutoFox @Mythos

 

[Ferrin Sipal]

“I hate this place,” Ferrin grumbled, flexing his burnt fingers. It was unpleasant, but the Pantoran otherwise sported no serious injuries from being fried by the Droid. Nevertheless, it was a waste of his and everyone else’s time. A resource that they - presumably - couldn’t afford to lose much of. He took a sharp inhale through his nostrils, quickly moving to follow Vanya into then next corridor.

And received an answer to his previous question.

Without hesitation, Ferrin ignited the golden blade of his lightsaber - allowing its brilliant glow to fill the room and reflect off metallic walls. The Force thrummed powerfully through his entire being, enhancing his movements and agility at once.

He dashed forth and towards the corrupted human that Vanya sent flying backwards - seeking to capitalize on the Force Push. He carved his lightsaber upwards at a diagonal angle, aiming to cut the ‘human’ in half from hip to shoulder.

@Mr. Teatime

 

[The Gatekeeper]

Chronically Terminal
(@AutoFox @Rimrald @Mythos @LouJoVi @Shalken @PurpleDelta @Akheron @Tom)​

​

The air was alive, for a brief moment, with a storm.

Metal flew, lightning arced, Force was flung and beams of concentrated heat lanced through the air.

With the concentrated burst of Force that he threw out ahead of himself, Trodai (@Akheron) was able to send the metal shards back in the direction of the quadrupedal droid that had sent them originally. They slammed back into the flesh-covered droid at speed, sparks glinting off colliding metal as they tore at the flesh-coating but found little in the way of purchase in the droid's inner workings. The force accompanying the shards did stagger the droid slightly, forcing its head to one side as it was struck. A rising grinding sound began to emanate from the 'throat' of the droid as it turned its head back to glare at the retreating form of the Sith Pureblood. One of the shards was stuck between it's open maw of a mouth - it slowly snapped it's jaws shut, snapping the metal shard with purpose as it started to stalk towards Trodai as the pureblood was able to get Rivia (@PurpleDelta) to snap out of their shock long enough to start moving.

Alongside Trodai's own attempts, Spurius (@Rimrald) called out to those who had been caught unaware by the aggression of the droids and began to try and rally them toward the bridge. The datapad in his hand would vibrate as the bridge staff member sent through a short command sequence to enable the datapad to close internal security bulkheads.

"Imperial, I've sent you through a command that will let you override the internal bulkheads - there's one around the corner that leads towards the bridge! If you time it right you can get through and block their path... if you time it really right, you might be able to crush them!"

Indeed, as the crewmember suggested, those making their way away from the droid abominations would be able to see the seams in the metal of the floor, walls and ceilings that denoted that there was, indeed, a security bulkhead that could be engaged. As Skyshatter (@Mythos) started to head off in that direction, he would be joined by the diminutive Keck (@Shalken). Keck's attempts to keep the dreaded floor from attacking the cosplaying droid continued to keep the wire-droid raised up high, allowing it to be an easy target for Trini's (@AutoFox) blast from her weapon.

The droid recoiled from the beam, the heat of it scoring a red-hot line along the torso area of the droid in much the same way as a lightsaber might have done. Unlike the lightsaber cuts, however, this was not immediately adjusted for as the droid seemed to be caught surprised by the antiquated weapons used against it, just long enough for Laeonas' (@Tom) Force Push to send the droid teetering backward from its elevated perch.

It landed with a heavy crash of metal, blood and oil splashing out from its back as it stuck the landing very poorly indeed. With the original droid downed, the quadrupedal droid turned away from the group and seemed to scramble over to the droid made from wiring and twisted flesh - as it approached, the wires began to unspool from their current form, flowing over to the quadrupedal droid and pulling the upper body of the wire-droid with it. The group would be able to watch as the two droids began to merge into one being, metal twisting and grinding against itself as the wire-droid's upper body began to take over the place of the head of the other droid, forming a monstrous mixture akin to some form of metallic, fleshy, centaur.

“Get everyone through and slam the doors!” the crewmember urged them quickly, “The next elevator should be able to take you direct to the bridge - get in and I’ll divert as much of my control of the systems as I can to give you the express ride up.”

The group would have time to fall back toward the bulkhead that they had been given control over as further legs began to sprout from the lower body of the now conjoined droids. At the same time, the arms of the wire-based droid began to fuse together, forming scythe-like blades even as it added an additional four legs to the base of itself. With its transformation completed, the droid would turn to the party - before launching itself forward after them in a skittering sprint that seemed far too fast for a droid that size to move.

Like a demented spider, it sprinted towards its prey.

______


Scream Queens
(@Phoenix @Hastur @Altaris @Xorism @Logan @Versok @Javier esschoolbus @Altaris )​

Insanity was not a recommended solution to the kind of fear that was coursing through the veins of Cremek (@Hastur) but, at this point, that he had the sense to go insane after such an assault was something of an accomplishment. By harnessing his dementia, the man would be able to steel himself against the fear that would otherwise take the heart of him, freeing him from the paralysis of fear and granting him the clarity to seek to move forward.

Another who was moving forward, at great personal loss, was Butters (@Xorism) - saying goodbye to the food waiting in the fridge was a sorrowful, almost tearful, moment. After all, several of the team who used the breakroom were foodies and there was something to be said about the joys of stealing another sentient’s lunch. Instead Butters was able to rejoin the group just as things were coming to a head and the enemy were launching themselves at the invading forces.

Cutting down the ‘monsters’ was so easy, so simple. After all, they were only unarmed crewmembers.

Vanya (@Phoenix) darted forward, saber ready and swinging. Plasma effortlessly cleft the bloody man in two and both halves flopped to the floor. He screamed, gurgling, biting, and gnawing his own arms with a zealous frenzy even as he died. It didn't even seem to realize it was dying right up until it happened.

Two others were shoved back by the Force and targeted. Khalid (@Versok) and Beastmaster’s (@Javier esschoolbus) blaster shots cut them down as effortlessly as shooting fish in a barrel. Bolts struck center mass and sent the figures sprawling back, one dead and one dying. The latter writhed in agony, sobbing loud and ugly. Tears fell to the floor. They stopped only when her heart did the same.

Ferrin (@Altaris) cut down another man. There was no resistance, no weapon in his hands. Only the heavy, wet thump of their corpse as it hit the ground. The Jedi felt the life leave each one of them. These weren’t the walking dead like the time of the AMS plague. These people had been alive. Perhaps it help to think that their minds were dead.

But as Kavi (@Acceber) would see in her attempts at reason, far beyond any short-term help. As Kavi held the ‘creature’ at bay - a young twi’lek woman, from the look of things- she tried only to claw and bite at the hand, at Kavi, at anything in reach. Complete disregard for the threat of the lightsaber. A flailing arm swiped at Kavi and struck the saber, burning off half the offending hand and resulting in a fury-filled scream.

Her only choice was to bring the blade down. And so she did. Now these maddened crew were dead. What had done this to them? Why was this happening?

Could it happen to them, as well?

The way forward was clear, now. Lit signage and emergency lighting would guide them onward to the engineering section. Without the screeching and fighting, all the intrepid adventurers had to listen to were the passive sounds of a dying space station and their own thoughts. For a while, at least.

Strangely, the only bodies and droids they discovered along the way there were already dead or disabled.

AMBIENCE + SOUND​

Some sounds were strange. It could be their imagination. More glitched speakers and comm units. Metal rumbling from damage to the station, steel creaking against steel. Something about it all was wrong but the cause of this sensation was indecipherable.

In the distance, they would all perceive the bellow of something inscrutable echoing unfindable through the station’s central core.

Should they come to the engineering section they would find the main blast doors closed, but unlocked.

 

[Trodai Narat-iv-Adas]

Trodai looked as the creature contorted and then went to it's friend, molding together into a bigger beast. It wasn't looking favourable. Seeing the odds turning, Troda I figured it probably was time for a tactical retreat until they figured out a more permanent solution.

Giving Rivia a couple of good slaps to the face, he hoped to wake her. He wouldn't usually strike a woman if she wasn't attacking him, but he didn't really have a choice. It worked. Seeing her move, he bolted for the door lightsaber in hand. Getting to the other side he waited for the others, despite not trusting them they had no choice but to work together. Although he couldn't say he did not respect some of their skills.

He spoke out.

"You heard him. Move out! Someone help me, see if we can crush this thing in the door."

He focused preparing a hand, the Magick (Force) coiled like a spring, ready to hold the beast with the assistance of the others and end the threat at hand.

Spoiler

OOC: Actions Taken -

1.Slapped Rivia to wake her up.

2.Bolted to the door and stood on the opposite side waiting for the others, to try and crush it under the door.

3.Prepared with the Force to hold the beast with assistance from the other Force-Users.

@Mr. Teatime @PurpleDelta @Mythos @Tom @Rimrald

 

[Spurius Livius Gaetulicus]

Rushing through the bulkhead, Spurius would trail Trodai by a few steps. Stopping to pivot and watch the abominations fuse into a somehow more unholy machine.

Stopping with the datapad in hand he would call out to the group "I'm going to close the door, move your butts - and whoever can use the force - hold this thing in place when it get's to the threshold!" Spurius would call out, hoping the smattering of force users would join his attempt to crush the abomination in it's expeditious attack.

They all served different masters, creeds, and convictions. But this was a matter of survival for them all.
(@AutoFox @Mythos @LouJoVi @Shalken @PurpleDelta @Akheron @Tom)

Spoiler: Actions Taken

Holding the datapad with his finger over the button to close the door, Spurius would hold his other hand out ready to hold the abomination in place under the bulkhead as it advanced. Hoping to close the bulkhead and crush the abomination under it.

 

[Cremek "Krayt" Candorus]

Cremek very quickly recollected himself after his little crisis, as the.. did it matter what they were, advanced, cremek would hold his hilt downwards, waiting for the right moment.. cremek ignites his brilliant orange saber, the flat katana like blade howling, the sound of a krayt dragons pearl focusing the blade into it's signature shape, it was a icon of a time when cremek was whole, slicing upwards in a samurai style quick draw, a tràkata flash strike, cleaving into a.. zombie?..

Huh.. they bleed all the same.. how exquisite! The mandalorian gave a cackle as he sliced the damn things head off when it fell to the floor..

"Ah.. now this is entertaining.."

Cremek lept back, prepared to do what was necessary for Victory, it was time to make a tactical plan..

@scream queens

Spoiler: Tldr

cremek flash strikes one before before falling back to asses the situation

 

[Vanya]

When silence finally fell over the room again, Vanya felt now pride or great victory in what had been achieved. She felt empty and disappointed at the deaths, and wondered if they could have been prevented. She doubted it, and she had acted only in defense of herself and those with her, but the gnawing in her chest didn't seem to take that as much of an excuse.

She stood over the dead for several moments, the humming of her lightsaber finally extinguishing as she looked at the gory mess at her feet. She was no stranger to violence or death, but she took no joy in this either. She whispered a quiet prayer to the Winged Spirit and the ancestors for the souls of the fallen before turning her attention back to the group and what needed to be done.

No one looked injured, though her mind lingered on the question of what had happened to these people. They were several deaths in and no closer to an answer. The fact that their path was clearly laid out in front of them was either a blessing or a curse.

The sounds playing from the speakers made her constantly feel the need to look over her shoulder, and she was grateful for others who were with her so that she wasn't alone.

I hate this place, she finally declared after a moment. She didn't know if anyone else would hear her, but it was the simple facts of things that this place was desipcable on every level.

Does anyone have any ideas of what is going on here? she asked. While she'd love to say she had some concept of it, she knew little about space stations and even less about droids. Whatever this was it seemed pretty awful, and she hoped someone a little more tech savvy had some idea of what was going on.

Either way, she would press onward toward their next door. She'd rather have turned back, but unfortunately, that wasn't an option because there was no way out, so she would trigger the opening sequence for the blast door ahead.

 

[Keck]

Keck's Force hold on the costumed droid diminished as it just suddenly fell apart; it seems the floor was even deadlier than he imagined, even one strike disintegrating the creature into a clump on the floor. At this point, Keck noticed the other canine-like creature, but his mind couldn't quite comprehend what he was seeing.

It was at this moment that the amphibian's stomach decided that it didn't agree with the hallucinogenic-laced sushi, causing him to regurgitate its contents onto the floor. Unsure of what was happening, Keck called upon the Force to return his body to homeostasis and expunge foreign toxins - a technique he unknowingly used many times in the wilds of Naboo. He looked up just in time to see the quadripedal flesh-droid merging with the felled one, contorting and twisting grossly into something almost bug-like. Definitely not a snack.

"GAH! Danger danger! Bad bug!!" Keck squeaked as he bolted for the elevator, preparing the Force alongside Trodai to hold the bug-metal-flesh-ew-thing from following them.

 

[Skyshatter]

The flashing lights leading to the bridge would lead to a thick bulkheaded door, causing to Lok to stop in place and investigate the door. The echo of the man across the datapad would reverberate down the hall as Lok turned to await the arrival of the others. As @Trodai Narat-iv-Adas, @Spurius Livius Gaetulicus and @Keck would make their arrival first, Lok would stretch out his non-dominate hand and allow the Force's current to flow through him into a focal point of escape as it's push would intensify in a steady stream, flowing upon the mechanation like a roaring river. His intent was to allow the Force to bare down upon it and slow it's scuttle, with hopefully enough time to allow the rest their escape.

As the natural Force would flow through him, the fear within would begin to subside and clarity would replace frantic confusion as his mind grew clearer.

Spoiler

Lok uses a steady flow of Force Push.

 

[Doorcuttah]

The horror and gore lay upon the floor, as the fighting subsided Butters was completely mesmerised by the facility, its horrors shaking him to the core.

Confronting the others, he simply shook his head as the strange woman asked what was going on. While he didn't know much about that, he would share the one bit of information that he had. "Would you like to know where the nearest food library is?" In his hand, the Orcolan offered a map of the facility for Vanya or any others who wished, to read and find out the locations for themselves.

After all, it would be quite rude to find a map and not share the information with your companions, wouldn't it? (@Phoenix)

He would of course join the group in their migration to the engineering room, but not before finding something big and heavy he could use to keep the spooky bois away should they encounter more. Engineers were avid tinkerers and it was highly likely they had some unique methods of making food hidden away in some compartments, Butters just had to figure out what they were in fact hiding.

 

[Raish]

All things considered, Raish was a little surprised that the creepy monster dudes all seemed to go down so easily. Horror vids always made it seem like the heroes were always just on the brink of death, that the monsters were all super strong and fast and could battle through anything.

It was her first real dose of things not always being like they were in the movies and at least in this instance, she was glad for that. Once everything had calmed down and the silence of the station returned, her eyes darted around to see who might have an idea for what their next steps should be.

Raish made a mental note not to dip her head into any unknown areas alone after what had happened with the screamers despite it being a little exciting. And it was nice to have something to focus her mind on outside of the desperately creepy vibes the place put off nearly constantly.

She didn’t think to mention the strange symbols she’d seen earlier as the group started heading for the engineering section, though Raish could still see them quite vividly in her mind. She wasn’t sure what they could possibly mean so it didn’t seem prudent to point them out - for all she knew they were just some odd graffiti or something and not worth anyone’s time to investigate.

I have absolutely no idea what is going on. Raish replied unhelpfully to Vanya, though she quickly turned her attention to the big green man when he mentioned food.

Finding food seems like a best plan. Someone shot me last time I made my own food, so I’ll follow the leader this time I guess.

Shrugging, Raish would shadow Vanya as she opened the unlocked door that headed into engineering, her big eyes open and scanning for anything that might jump out and try to kill them.

She really hoped that wouldn’t be the case.

Spoiler: tldr

Raish follows Vanya and gets ready for whatever is behind mystery engineering door.

 

[M'Akio Beastmaster]

Akio's creature didn't die quickly like the other one. It cried until it's suffering ended making the Padawan feel intense remorse. It was already dead. It was already dead. He would repeat to himself over and over to quell his mind. He stood there frozen until he noticed the others leaving.

His hands were shaking around the blaster. If he knew this would be the real deal he would've stayed home. Akio would follow the group to the next door. He was trying to stay aware of his surroundings so as to prevent being scared by something.

@screamqueens

 

[Khalid Din]

A devilish grin appeared on the Tiefling face as the creepy creatures were taken care of, they looked much more calmer dead, corpses that were not moving and screaming in anguish were something the bounty hunter was far more accustomed to "May not be able to fix everything with blaster fire" He quipped as he holstered his weapon "But at least it oughta take care of most problems" With how easily those things had fallen, suddenly Khalid felt a bit more confident and brave, at least for a short while.

"Well, the droid did talk about tinkerin' with the core or somethin' like that, so, going down engineerin' seems like the best idea" The Tiefling would simply explain. This was obviously droid related, so maybe there was some kind of rogue artificial intelligence screwing things up around here? He didn't know for sure, but all they knew was that the droid did something to the core of the station for whatever wanted it dead. So Khalid simply followed along, positioning himself in the middle, the safest position, his confidence starting to dwindle once more as they ventured deeper and deeper inside.

 

[Laeonas Tannaras]

​

The second the smaller droid hit the ground, Laeo had begun his retreat, approaching the door leading to the bridge as quickly as he could without the aid of the force. As he ran, his eyes fell on the Amaran, firing at the larger abomination. Turning his head, he’d watch the latest horror play out as the two abominations began to merge.

This thing wouldn’t go down. Not with the help of a vibrosword, blaster, heatbeam, lightsaber– nothing they individually had could kill it. In a flash, he would grab the Amaran by the collar. “MOVE!” He snapped, pulling her along with him as he bolted. His eyes wandered over to the door again, much of their group having reached it. Once through the threshold, he turned around, watching as the abomination bore down on them.

“CLOSE IT!” He shouted at the the man facing the door controls, before his eyes jumped to the side of him where the one in the mask had summoned some green mist or whatever, clearly the work of the force. He could feel power coming from him, directed towards their assailant.

He didn’t know who this guy was. Part of him wanted to scream that he was a kriffing idiot for risking the lot of them being killed if this thing didn’t die when the door shut. But survival was the goal, and when backed into a corner, rats have a tendency to bite.

Closing his eyes, Laeo would focus, calling on whatever serenity he could muster before outstretching his hands. The force shot out from him, trying to envelope around the massive creature, holding it steady and slowing it down alongside his “comrade.”

@Akheron @AutoFox @Mr. Teatime @Rimrald

 

[The Gatekeeper]

Chronically Terminal
(@AutoFox @Rimrald @Mythos @LouJoVi @Shalken @PurpleDelta @Akheron @Tom)​

Rivia (@PurpleDelta) would find herself shocked into action by the slaps from Trodai (@Akheron), the pureblood forcing Rivia into moving through the malaise of the shock she was in - some of which had come from the sheer audacity of Trodai to slap her like that. Likewise, Trini (@AutoFox) would find herself the subject of manhandling to such a degree that the Amaran would be bodily carried by Laeonas (@Tom) by her collar. Despite the light choking sensation, Trini’s journey through the doorway would mostly be characterized by the way she flailed in his grip as Laeonas ran.

Both Trodai (@Akheron) and Spurius (@Rimrald) had the same idea - to use their superior numbers, the environment and the Force to do everything they could to hold the creature in position long enough for it to be crushed by the door. Both of them were experienced in command in life or death situations but this was a unique moment for them both, holding the line against a robotic creature that seemed to be as capable as it was relentless.

The skittering sound of bug-like legs clattering against the metal of the corridor rang out like harsh rain on a tin roof. Launching itself towards its foes with reckless hate and speed, the creature seemed to bear down on the group like a monolithic monster from the prehistory of a deadly world.

Its rush was slowed, slightly, by the efforts of Skyshatter (@Mythos) - but pushing outward with a steady stream of the Force was a mighty endeavor. Even some of the Galaxy’s most powerful Force users used such techniques in quick, short, bursts of power. Sustaining it constantly would quickly become draining to the former Jedi Knight and his power would flee his control, leaving him gasping for breath after a half dozen of seconds.

Still, it was enough to dull the charge of the creature.

Moreover, it was enough to reduce the creature’s speed to such a degree that when it made its final lunge toward them, it was able to be caught by the collective might of the rest of the group. Keck (@Shalken) (fresh off his bad trip and rapidly being brought back to an unpleasant reality), Trodai (@Akheron) and Laeonas (@Tom) reached out in unison to squeeze. To beseech the Force to squeeze the creature tightly in place, to keep it from moving as Spurius (@Rimrald) hit the door controls and the blast doors began to spring forth.

With a sound of shearing metal, the doors closed, cutting the head off of the creature as it was caught mid-jump through the doorway. The head rolled at the feet of Keck, the head coming up to the poor Jedi’s knees as it seemed to seethe out a puff of steam and sparks.

A moment of silence passed as the creature’s head rolled… before the first CLANG was heard against the blast door. Before their eyes, the door would shake, rattle, but would seemingly hold true. Behind them, the elevators to the bridge awaited them - ahead of them the solid durasteel doors shook as something slammed heavily against them.

But it couldn’t possibly be the same creature… right?

______

Scream Queens
(@Phoenix @Hastur @Altaris @Xorism @Logan @Versok @Javier esschoolbus @Altaris )​

Cremek (@Hastur) cut a crewmember- one that was already dead and on the ground. He’d leapt back to ‘make a plan’, the sense of fear that’d seeded itself steadily driving him to madness. There was no longer anything to fight. As the others left, traveling through the station, Cremek was free to remain behind to combat his visions and plan his next move if he so chose.

Vanya (@Phoenix) whispered her prayer. It might have been her imagination, but the strange sounds that might have been from station speakers almost seemed to answer as she traveled the halls. A sensation of being watched was both elusive and pervasive. The faces of the dead crew seemed to haunt her thoughts, as if their vengeful ghosts might appear at any moment.

Butters (@Xorism) found a durasteel folding chair to heft around as a weapon. It was fairly heavy. His offered map helped lead the way and offered a sense of grounding to navigating a space station that otherwise seemed to hide threats around every corner. Of course, he still seemed to think this was all a very elaborate haunted house complete with a food treasure hunt. The sounds were only special effects, only this and nothing more.

But there never seemed to be anything once the corner was rounded. Just more shadows, corpses, and broken droids. Raish (@Logan) kept her eyes wide open the entire time, wary as ever. The further she walked, the more those symbols came to mind. The more she would feel as if the jaws of this vast, dead station were closing in around her. The more it felt like every shadow hid dripping claws, eyes that watched and laughed at her presence.

Yet when she looked, there was nothing. Not even before Beastmaster’s (@Javier esschoolbus) vigilance or Khalid’s (@Versok) wary, experienced eyes. Nothing much moved but the group along the way. It was like the station was a vast, dead star whale, and now they were all in its belly with all the dead things it had swallowed. But the feelings of being hunted refused to go away. It quickened breath and heart, darted eyes to check just in case. What had done this? Why did it want to kill them?

Then there was the engineering door. Vanya opened it easily; a button press, a hiss, a creaking of metal as began to open. Gears rumbled loudly, echoing down the empty halls as the door slowly, slowly slid down into the floor. And when it opened, it revealed-

An engineering control room illuminated by the sickly yellow-orange of emergency hazard lights. Dry blood streaked the floor, although there were no visible corpses or droids here. What had once been a large databank on one side had been reduced to a pile of scrap metal three men tall and twice as wide. Directly ahead, visible through the still-functioning control system’s borosilicate glass window, was the main reactor.

It appeared to have been heavily modified. Parts added for additional power generation and protective shielding stripped away. The console garbled a warning in emotionless tones: “Alert: Radiation leak detected. Priority 5 reactor overheat. Manual shutdown required.” A pair of lights by a power core access airlock illuminated a hazard suit locker. Within was gear suitable for any species to prevent radiation contamination. Several gauges indicated the reactor was very much not handling its modifications well.

Should anyone look through the window more closely they would be able to see the large lever-switch marked EMERGENCY SHUTDOWN. There'd be no lights without power, or life support, but nor would the hangar lockdown persist. They could escape this cursed place and be free.

Elsewhere in the room was an administrator’s console linked to a separate databank. It was still logged in, a fireable offense if the admin in question was even still alive anywhere. Visible on the screen was the very beginning of a report.

PROJECT ANIMUS, UPDATE 3.

The new data the array discovered is beyond anything we could have imagined. Our progress has been vastly accelerated by integrating...

CLICK TO SCROLL

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​

 

[Vanya]

Vanya looked over at the man who handed her a map of the area.

Thank you, she said, turning her attention down to look at the map to see if she found anything of use that stood out to her or a route to the control room. It didn't seem like anyone else had any better ideas of what was going on, which left "forward" as the only substantive option.

Even as they pressed onward, she couldn't shake the feeling of the spirits of the dead all around them. They seemed to pervade every step she took, and no matter how quickly she walked, there didn't seem to be any escaping them. She was fairly sure that if the door out of here were still open, she may have made a run for it. Shameful as it might have been to herself and her people. Whatever was here was gripping in its oppression. But leaving wasn't an option and neither was hiding.

Her eyes swept over the room as she opened the door to engineering, taking in the sight of everything there even as she held her lightsaber in hand. Blood stained the room, and it was clear that another massacre had taken place here, though she puzzled about where the bodies were.

She heard the warning and wondered for a moment if this meant someone would have to sacrifice themselves to shutdown the reactor, though her eyes settled on the reactor suits and she realized that probably wasn't the case. She continued to survey the room before her eyes fell on the report on screen. It seemed that curiosity got the better of her and she did go over to "continue scrolling." Getting out of here was important but being able to tell the galaxy why this happened was arguably almost as important.

 

[Keck]

As the head rolled towards him, Keck let out a spooked "EEEH!" as he reflexively ignited one of his shorter green sabers, slicing the gross meat-metal-thing into bite-size pieces. Not that anyone would want to take a bite of this thing, ew.

Stowing his saber, Keck waddled ahead into the elevator, plopping himself into a corner and pulling out one of the baggies of deep-fried insects he grabbed earlier. His stomach was growling now, and he needed to eat to keep up with all this effort. Keck definitely wasn't a stress eater, nooo. He crunched and munched away loudly, digging into a second bag already.

 

[Nor'baal Desilijic]

Nal Hutta.

Nor'baal was asleep.

He has no idea @Phoenix wanted his attention.

Snoring, he dreamt about cheese.

 

[Trodai Narat-iv-Adas]

Trodai was pleased the efforts worked, as the beast head was removed, although he had to be careful as the amphibious creature decided to pull out a lightsaber and start hacking away. With no regard for those around. He could feel the repulse of Light upon it. It felt like a Jedi. He ignored them for now...allowing the creature to be the pawn. To find out what lay ahead.

He didn't like whatever it was slamming against the durasteel doors. He was certain they dealt with the metal monstrosity, hadn't they? Unless what remained had found a alternative route or vent. Which was possible. He didn't like the idea of another encounter, even though he respected the sheer tenacity, unstoppable nature and aggression of the beast. It's uses and what it represented.

Cautious he too entered the elevator, but not before opening the hatch up top, and taking a look, just to make sure they would have no unexpected passengers if they used it and have to fight in the tight confines.

Spoiler

OOC: Actions -
1.Let Keck go first and potentially act as bait.

2.Entered the elevator but checked the elevator hatch for additional threats.

@Mr. Teatime @Mythos @Shalken @Rimrald @Tom @AutoFox @PurpleDelta