Illuminating the Darkness (Jedi mission)

[Will]

The small ship flitted through the blackness of space. Ahead, a solitary observation post waited. Huang guided the ship in, dodging the asteroids drifting about the observatory, built to spy on illegal shipping and secretly report back to specialised task forces.

Huang could tell something was wrong as he guided the ship in. The station seemed to be active, but was not transmitting. He noted that the small hanger was occupied with a pair of ships, the ships used by the crew of the station. More and more suspicion. If the ships were here, where were the crew?

These stations often had special docking airlocks for clandestine movement, which Huang took full advantage of. Manually, he clamped the ship to the observatory. He paused before opening the hatch.

''Padawan Pequentis, you have been briefed. Are you ready? We may need to kill on this mission.''

 

[FallenKeeper]

The Aleena stood up from his seat, well, hopped down would be more accurate. He pulled his hood down, revealing his elongated and striped blue-gray head. The entire trip he had been contemplating what he and Master Karasu would encounter. The thought of having to kill occurred more than a few times. As simple a concept as it was Axos knew he would live with the actions forever. With a firm nod he steeled himself for what was to come and answered with a, "Yes, Master Karasu, I am ready."

 

[Will]

Huang nodded, strapping on the last parts of his armour, made from scavenged parts of Taung suits. This time, he wore only the greaves, vambraces and cuirass.

''Good.''

He pulled open the hatch, the stale air of the base rushing into the ship. Huang dropped down, using the force to slow his descent, causing a silent landing. The lights were on, but on emergency power. There was no signs of firefight or...

Well, no signs of anything. Curious. Huang could have used his skills in psychometry to work out some details, but this was training for his padawan.

''Any ideas, Padawan Axos?''

 

[FallenKeeper]

While Huang Karasu attached armor onto his body, his apprentice quietly performed velocities with his still deactivated lightsaber. When Huang finished and opened the hatch the Aleena tucked away his weapon. Axos pulled his robe tight around himself as the stale air flooded the compartment of their ship. Simply looking through the opened hatch was enough to convey a sense of dread. The eerie silence was enough to send a chill down the Padawan's back.

Axos drew on the Force as he pushed out with his senses. He detected nothing as he quietly, yet quickly, climbed down after the Jedi Master. Hanging off the wall, he looked about the area. Their was no shift in the air pressure that he could feel, as if nothing were moving. And the only sound Axos could hear was of the stations machinery and lighting. From what he gathered there were no signs of a struggle.

"An unseen enemy, must have taken out communications to prevent a distress call."

 

[Will]

''Good deduction. Where shall we begin the investigation, then?''

Huang was pleased his padawan had slipped so easily into the role, accepting the gravity of the situation, remaining calm. Huang was carefully monitoring. He could sense something indistinct. A dark presence. No force users, at least. He was glad of that. But perhaps whatever had done this had left something. His hand rested on the pommel of his sword, ready to draw, remaining alert.

 

[FallenKeeper]

"The main control center," he asked more than decided. He tucked his right hand into his robe and gripped his lightsaber tightly in preparation. Though he did not sense anything himself he felt that it did not mean there wasn't. Master Karasu, however, seemed to have noticed something. Following his cue the Aleena pulled the small shoto-style hilt from his robe. He held the weapon in a reverse grip, ready to activate it in a moment's notice.

Drawing on the Force he imbued his body with heightened reflexes. He was prepared.

 

[Will]

''Very well, let's go.''

Huang padded forward, questing around himself with the force. Up ahead was a fork, A security locker jutting from the wall halfway down the corridor.

Huang sensed something off, and moved over to it. Cautiously, he opened the compartment.

Two bodies fell from the space, seemingly crammed in. One was flayed, her revealed musculature glistening with congealed blood in the half light. The other had a hole bored into its head, a look of horror etched onto his features forever. The smell pervaded everything. Not the smell of war, but the stench of murder. Viscera and numerous bodily fluids seeped from the locker.

Haung squatted, examining the gruesome scene.

''Interesting. Any ideas, padawan?''

Huang was master of his emotion. Fear was banished, only curiosity entered his mind. Such brutality.

 

[FallenKeeper]

Axos followed his master quietly. He kept his head on a swivel, keeping alert for any hidden threats. He trusted in the Force to warn him in any event, keeping his sword arm up and poised for attack. When Huang ventured down one path of the fork he followed. Though not as attuned to the Force as the master Jedi, he too sensed something off.

He could already smell the bodies before Huang opened the jutting security locker and they spilled out lifelessly to the floor. One was a woman who had been skinned like a game animal and the other was a man who seemed to have been executed. The manner of these deaths hinted at their murderers: Pirates. He'd only heard of them from his travels when with his family.

"Pirates." He answered in a hushed tone as he gripped his lightsaber tighter.

 

[Will]

''Perhaps, padawan. Come, we must investigate further.''

Huang continued to move forward, heading towards the control centre. As they passed down the corridor, they came upon more scenes of carnage. A pair of flayed bodies hanging from the ceiling by their feet, blood pooled in the discarded uniforms of the observation crew. Huang wrinkled his nose at the pointless brutality whatever had done this had used. There was no need for it, simply to satisfy some pathetic fetish. He moved past them, continuing down, the light in the command centre up ahead.

 

[FallenKeeper]

Axos continued behind his master, following him through the corridor. He kept close. Whatever had happened here, Axos felt that more than one creature was responsible. There was simply too many bodies and too few signs of struggle. It seemed as if almost all the bodies they encountered had been caught unaware.

A feeling of pity for the dead welled up in his stomache as the two neared the main control centre, passing more scenes of unecessary violence. These people didn't deserve this, not at all. He swore to himself he would ensure their remains would be handled with respect. Up ahead Axos could see that the blast doors to the main control center had been engaged, partially. There was a narrow opening that Huang could easily fit through and Axos merely had to keep walking.

 

[Project]

A cone of light---light that was tinted by an unusual and unsettling blood-red hue---eminated through the narrow crack that had been torn into the massive couple of blast doors by crude, untraceable devices that had been destroyed during the operation. Twisted echoes, like the whimpers of a Human child, dared to creep forward from the passage inside the doors.

With every step that the pair of Jedi took forward, they would have heard it become more audible---the twisted, sorry cry of a child filling their ears with pain and sorrow.

 

[Will]

Huang held up his hand, signifying for his padawan to stop. Silently, he pulled his blade from its sheath.

To employ the lure of a child was a sound tactic against normal soldiers. Those weak to their emotion. But the foe they hoped to snare here was the Sword Master of the Jedi order. Unhampered by emotion. He stretched his senses with the force.

A presence... An odd presence. Most certainly not a small child. Huang crept forward. He made sure to let the force flow through him. He was prepared for anything.

 

[FallenKeeper]

Axos readied his weapon, holding it up and over his left shoulder. Watching as Master Karasu drew his sword, the padawan resisted the urge to ignite the lightsaber in his hand. He too reached out with the Force. Unlike Huang, Axos could barely note the presence. The aleena did feel uneasy about the situation, the sound of a child crying would have prompted him to action but deferring to the Jedi Master's experience and holding himself in check.

He kept his postion as Huang crept forward, preemptively drawing the Force into himself to heighten his reflexes.

 

[Project]

With every step the Jedi took forward into the direction of the illusive, blood red, hue that tainted the metallic grey of the durasteel walls surrounding them, background humming grew louder and more discernible from the ratchet of countless machinery, still operating aboard the space hulk. Eminating on barely audible, yet discernible, levels the humming crept around the corners of the jagged edges that were witness to the cruelty, pain and destruction that had taken place aboard the station.

Finally, as the Councilors foot touched a pair of blood-soaked plates covering the floor infront of the blast doors, the Siren's call of child whimper had fainted into the darkness. Stopped, utterly, for no reason.

 

[Will]

Huang sprung around the door, blade flashing...

At nothing. The sound of the child, the presumed lure, stopped. There was nothing here. No blood. No viscera. The only sign of disturbance was the huge tear in the door. He paused, looking around himself, looking up.

There, a cover for a security weapon. Dormant, at the moment. Perhaps disabled by the attackers. But still dangerous.

Be wary, padawan.

Huang crept forward, still cautious, yet ready, blade drawn.

 

[FallenKeeper]

The child-like whimpering suddenly stopped and a red flag went up in Axos' mind. He felt a twist in the pit of his stomach and his skin was crawling with anxiety. This was his first mission and already he felt as if he'd encountered darkness, and not as in an absence of illumination. Every second he spent in the silence of the station made his senses scream, if only to fill the void.

The Aleena's tiny feet quietly pattered as he scampered in behind the Master Jedi, noting the very same things. The room was clean and almost pristine, save for the gaping hole in the blast doors, and there was the security weapon panel which seemed to have never been used. Axos held his lightsaber hilt tightly, ready to activate it in a moment's notice. His eyes darted very side to side, searching for any sign of movement.

 

[Will]

((I'm getting this moved along. I am doing the damned Aleena Punt!))

Huang pressed forward, getting closer and closer to the control centre.

A dark smell pressed into his nostrils, so powerful he could almost taste it. And there, the light shining from the door, the control room. It was still deathly silent.

He pushed the door open.

Bodies were arrayed all over the space, some flayed like common beasts. Viscera of all descriptions coated every surface, like some disgusting piece of modern artistry.

''Well, padawan, we know what happened to the crew.''

Huang turned slightly, his precognitive ability flaring.

There was an inhuman hiss. Something skittered across his vision in the corridoor.

From above, a massive beast dropped. It stood taller than Huang, a blade gripped in its vile claws. Trandoshan. But why had they struck here?

''Prepare for battle, Padawan.''

The Trandoshan charged, relying on brute force. It would work against most foes, the smaller opponents. But Huang wasn't a normal foe.

Huang sidestepped gracefully, the Trandoshan blade hissing past him as Huang pulled out his lightsabre. The Trandoshan connected with an outstretched arm, lightsabre hilt pressing into its gut.

With a hiss of power, the blade spewed from the hilt, pushing through the Trandoshan, eviscerating him in an expert show of Tràkata. The Trandoshan gurgled, slumping, slicing itself more as it fell. Huang twirled the blade, throwing orange light around the room, before turning the blade off.

Huang turned.

Out in the coridoor, were many Trandoshans. All big. All had the same blood thirst in their eyes.

''Well, we shall see how well I've trained you, padawan.''