Somewhere on Jakku...
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Sariel woke up feeling as if she had been hit by a landspeeder at full speed. Her body throbbed with a soreness that burned and stung all the same. Where was she? Opening her eyes felt like lifting ten pound weights with her eyelids. Was she drugged? Had Aren found the same fate? That must have done the trick as Sariel gasped and shot her eyes open to see an alter before her, slathered in deep red blood that had dried and stained what would've been a beautiful stone sculpture. Behind it was a robed figure that seemed to be conducting a hideous choir of the damned.
Sariel looked to her left and right, finding that she had been tied up next to a line of other victims who were all wearing ragged clothing. Each breath she took seemed to get heavier and heavier as she scanned the group of soon-to-be sacrifices for her son. Aren wasn't present- but was he safe? Had they already done the deed?! Or was he hiding... Why couldn't Sariel remember what had happened within the past twenty-four hours? What had they done?...
"For the Animus who brought forth the reckoning of our Order!" Cried the cult fanatic as the choir continued on with their death-song. Then, someone from the shadows grabbed a man next to Sariel, cutting the binds to his pillar before dragging him to the alter.
"In the name of the Marrow, our Immortality, the Sinew, our Godskins, the Pulsaries, our Tumor, the Bled, our Children, and the Veins, our Destiny..." The man was slammed on top the alter as the choir reached the climax of their devil chanting.
"We so sacrifice you to our lord, the Animus, the Night-Father, the Doom!!"
The ceremonial knife plunged through the man's chest, and the cult leader gave a simple twist and pull, ending the sacrifice's life. The choir didn't stop and now Sariel could see them in the dim light. They were all of different races but predominately Orcolans and Zabraks, all wearing red and black face paint resembling that of a skull. Then, another cultist emerged from behind another victim and brought her to the same fate the other man faced. Sariel could still hear the ringing of the woman's screams after she passed. Terror began to take hold of the Matukai as she awaited the same doomed fate.
Who were these people and why were they doing this?
Open to any would-be rescuers of any faction, 48-hour posting limit.