[S1E2] Atlantis Surfacing; E-Corp Archeology

[The Nameless One]

The Nameless One glanced up at the hologram as he regained his complete mental functions. He recognized Klate. The Nameless One himself had killed and feasted upon Klate. Several of the man's memories flashed in his head. He'd spent most his life on ships, preferring work over interaction with people. The other two bodies, however, the Nameless One had nothing to do with. He had to restrain himself from chuckling at the words "brain aneurysm" and "autopsy." An autopsy would reveal the man's brain to be absent. In fact, his entire upper skull would contain only empty space. The blood and cerebral fluids that had been there, we're now flowing through the Nameless One.

The Nameless One spoke, returning to his preferred method of telepathic communication. This was not for one individual, but would be able to be heard by all nearby. "The two injection victims must have been attacked by someone they knew, or had reason to trust. No one overpowered two seaworthy men with a needle, and I doubt they would let a stranger get that close. It is human nature to be weary of strangers. The wounds to the chest, suggest the attacker is either capable of swift enough motion to dose two men before they could react, or more likely, the attack was premeditated and he carried two needles. There's no evidence the victims were attacked at the same time, except that I think it would be difficult to hide one body and then attack another person and hide their body in the same location without being detected, especially on a ship this size."

The Captain had a word with Alastair, which the Nameless One did not overhear. As a result of that brief conversation, the Captain had walked away, his normal life-force, which appeared bright and strong had dulled considerably, suggesting a sadness.

Now, the E Corp group was walking. Alastair asked the Nameless One to keep an eye on the intern and the droid and he obliged. Soon after, the young Twi'lek and the intern left and he felt the hand of Alastair on his shoulders, pulling him back.

The Nameless One was very unused to being touched in this manner and as he turned to face Alastair, he bore into him with his black eyes. The Doctor didn't seem to notice at first, and asked him, "This is the first time you've spoken with your real voice. Is everything alright? I can't put my finger on it, but I am afraid there is something off with you since the creature attacked."

The Nameless One held his stare and allowed the question to hang in the air for a brief period. It was effort not to show the humor the Nameless One saw in the Doctors concern. Perhaps, however, the concern was a falsehood meant to gain leverage over the Nameless One or expose some weakness he thought may exist.

Either way, the Sentient Nightmare was not in the mood to play this game. His head and body still hurt from being banged around the ship when the creature attacked. He answered the Doctor with a brief statement and a question of his own.

"I simply saw some strange things in my unconsciousness and was shocked by my sudden return to reality. I was unsure whether or not I was actually awake and that is why I used my voice." The Sentient Nightmare responded telepathically to Alastair, "I have a question of my own, what are you expecting to find down here and are you prepared to get more than you are bargaining for? I think you will discover things that you will wish you hadn't."

Soon they caught up with the young Twi'lek and the others. Now the Doctor and the Twi'lek went away and he was left with the intern and the droid. The Intern looked uncomfortable in his presence. The droid asked him why he was here. His response is brief, "Like your boss, I am an avid seeker of opportunities to gain knowledge." This statement was followed by a short but sinister laugh from the Nameless One as he enjoyed the humor of the double meaning in his words. There were further questions, but the Nameless One ignored them as he turned his attention to the ship, watching vigilantly against any approaching trouble.

 

[Aero5314]

Stepping into the airlock Alora wondered what kinds of things they will see on the outside. The ship was damaged from the attack, but to what extent she was still unsure. The intern piped up "Alora, why are you here? You don't seem the type to want to find a long lost city. Would you say that you are in search of some sort of treasur..." the droid quickly interrupting, "That is leading Anthony. Alora, we imply wish to know, in your own words, what you are here for, if you are comfortable disclosing such information." She thought for a moment. "I'm not entirely sure myself. I'm here on orders of my master. He seems to be very interested in the professors research. Especially when it comes to ancient sith artifacts." Of course she knew more than she said. She was here to learn what she could about the Sith that used to exist on this planet. They had been known to have an extremely strong link to the force. If possible she was to try to access this power and share it with her master.

While she was talking Anthony's attention drifted to his harpoon. Alora found herself staring down the barrel and quickly she pushed it away. "Are you trying to kill me?" Anthony wasn't really sure what he had done but he knew he made the twilek upset.

The airlock filled with water and the cold could be felt through the suit surely more frigid without. The lights on the suit kicked on and once again a harpoon was aimed at Alora. The droid pushed it away and this time engaged the safety. Anthony kept rattling questions off most of which she just muttered a yes or no to. "Why do you think we were attacked? Is that creature going to come back?... do you think that The Nameless One is some sort of a monster in a mask kind of thing? Like a vampire or a were wolf? Or a zombie?! He sure as heck scares me like one of those things." The droid cut in. "..There is no alien on record that can shift between the two of them."

Alora pondered the question herself. He was a bit strange but then again Alora hadn't seen every creature in the galaxy. Soon enough she was rid of the constant questions that were plaguing her when the professor caught up to them.

Once regrouped the damage of the ship came into view. The bite marks of the creature were clear on the outside of the vessel. Though something was amiss the captain had sent a repair crew ahead but they were nowhere to be found.

 

[TheBeta]

Spoiler: OOC

SOrry about the wait on this reply. I meant to do it last night, but I got distracted.

Alastair couldn’t be certain, but logic would say that he offended the Nameless One. He was of a warrior’s culture, and implying that there was something wrong, whether there was or not, was an insult to him. Alastair realized that he may have very well overstepped his boundaries, and if something ever did trouble him, he would have to rely on his own willingness to share. Who knows, perhaps there was nothing to share anyway.

Truth be told though, Alastair was actually happy that he was asked what he thought was down there, “I’ve learned in my experiences that it is best not to expect anything, but to simply be prepared for it. Most cases, an archeological find of any significance isn’t common –rare even. It is better not to expect to get rich or to make a name for yourself with a single trip into the unknown. I have to say that I don’t expect anything but I can hope for things… Something that could benefit the people of Dac as a whole,” Alastair explained. It was years and countless fruitless trips and digs before Alastair even began to scratch the surface of finding anything of any value. In fact, the number of failed Missions that Alastair had partaken in well out numbers the quantity of Missions that he’s succeeded in. Even then, success is a relative term.

By the time they got out of the air lock, Alastair’s intern seemed to be getting yelled at by Alora. It seemed fitting that he’d intervene before his intern did any real damage. Unfortunately, that meant that he’d have to be… baby sit by the Nameless One, which Alastair sincerely hoped the Sith Warrior didn’t see it as such, or that he’d long before come to that very conclusion merely by description of his job. Protect the employees of the Eternity Corporation –That was the gist of it anyway.

Alastair directed the Nameless One, the droid and his intern to the top of the ship, where it scraped up against the top of the cavern upon entering this particular channel within the cave system. Alastair and Alora would go to the bite marks on the side of the ship, and inspect the damages there.

Going to the top of the ship, the damages would appear relatively insignificant to the eyes of an engineer, but to someone a bit unfamiliar to it they would seem quite bad. A lot of the equipment would be in shape, but a lot of the paneling protecting it would be in tact upon a closer inspection. In fact, upon looking close enough, the communications would appear to be in working order apart from one thing. Almost as if a man made knife was taken to it, a piece would have been cut off from the system, suggesting sabotage. Scratching upon the surface would support the theory that it was more difficult to initially get a hold on the device.

Furthermore, two objects would be floating at the surface of the water, approximately 20 meters above them. It would be difficult to see, but the light would work much better looking upward as much of the muck will have been settling from the top, allowing for a much clearer view. If they swam up to it, they would discover it to be fleshy, and almost as if it as an organ.

With Alastair and Alora, Alastair would be very much enjoying his job of examining the many teeth marks on the outer hull. IN fact, there was venom bleeding from it in which Alastair’s natural reaction was to throw out an arm to keep Alora from touching it, “That is venom from the sea monster. Touch it, and I don’t know what it could do to you in such a high concentration if it managed to get on you either through your suit or while taking it off. Best not to touch it at all.”

However, that could very well leave Alora looking for something to interest her. In fact, locating the other swim team that was supposed to have been examining the dorsal surface with the Nameless One and the Intern. Below her, the muck was settling unevenly on the bottom of the cavern. It was thick in two areas in particular. If she chose to swim down to it, it would reveal two dead bodies of crew members, giant gashes in their swim suits at their abdomens. Furthermore, there was a massive quantity of blood in the water at the bottom of the cavern, spreading quickly in the light current.

It would only be at that point, that Alastair and Alora would be made aware of their danger. In the distant shadows, shapes nearly as big as a man swam with frightening speed in the muck, stirring it up all the more and veiling their trajectory through the water. Then a shadow of a crew member would go missing along the aft part of the ship, only barely visible, they could see the blood gush in the shadows of the murk and the bubbles released as his suit was depressurized, crushing him in the depths of the oceanic cavern.

@Vinn Esper @The Nameless One @Aero5314 @Rags

 

[The Nameless One]

The Nameless One had been preoccupied with the Doctor's response. He was an intriguing being. The Sentient Nightmare wanted to know why it was that Alastair made such an appealing meal. Was it his avid dedication to his pursuits? Was it his genuine desire to help people for the sake of helping? Was it a genuine desire? Was it perhaps a combination of these things?

The Nameless One swam behind Alastair's friend. He was mostly quiet, occasionally saying something to his droid. The Nameless One was pretty sure the child was disturbed by his presence. To be fair, The Sentient Nightmare had considered feeding on him more than once.

As they came to the top of the ship, The Nameless One broke the silence. He spoke to Richie telepathically, "You and your machine should check out the damages so you can tell Alastair what you find. I will remain on guard here."

The Sentient Nightmare gazed up. Two balls seemed to be floating at the top of the water. The Nameless One swam up to them. The closer he got to them, the stranger they appeared. Finally the Nameless One got close enough to determine the balls were actually some kind of organ. By the size of the organs, The Sentient Nightmare guessed they were human.

The Sentient Nightmare turned back toward Richie and the machine. "Expedition hour is going to abruptly be canceled." The Nameless One said telepathically to Richie. Even as he said it, dark shapes were appearing in the vicinity. "Get back inside the ship now."

The Nameless One swam towards Richie and the droid, spear gun ready to fire in his hands. He will swim on the outside, putting himself between the approaching predators, and the potential prey. As they got closer the shapes appeared to be shark like creatures, roughly the size of an average man. though they looked to be built differently than humans, "I hope you don't require me to stress the importance of haste," he told Richie telepathically.

 

[Aero5314]

Allistair seemed to be enjoying every aspect of searching the outside of the ship. without the threat of the giant creature he seemed to be in his element inspecting every inch of the tamage left behind. there seemed to be another liquid coming from the opening though. Inquisitively Alora reached out to touch it only stopped by the professors words “That is venom from the sea monster. Touch it, and I don’t know what it could do to you in such a high concentration if it managed to get on you either through your suit or while taking it off. Best not to touch it at all.”
Allistair continued with his investigation work and this left Alora to observe. Growing bored she started to look around her. as much as she didn't want to be submerged in the water this place was very beautiful the mud starting to settle gave her a chance to see a little more around her. The depths of the cavern seemed interesting as the mud settled on the uneven surface. She decided to swim downwards.
As she Approached the depths, what looked like a pile of mud revealed its self to be the body of a crewman. Lying not too far away another. Both of which had been cut at the abdomen through the suit. The blood still draining out into the ocean water was enough to make alora queasy. She needed to tell someone fast before this fate befell any other members of their party.

As she swam back to Allistair she called out to warn him. The coms weren't necessary though, because in the depths, manlike shapes began to appear. They swam with great speed in the murky water. The mud obscuring their view. In a flash Alora caught a glimse of another crewman fall to the depths bloody water and air bubbles coming from below. Harpoon aimed out into the depths, Alora saw a creature approaching her. She fired and missed, this being was much more adept at underwater mobility. The attacker altered its trajectory after the shot resulting in it swimming between Alora and the professor. The shark like creature turned around readying itself for another attack. Reloading would take too much time. "Professor, our investigations are over! Get back to the airlock!"

 

[TheBeta]

Alastair wasn't quite done with his work on the damages and inspecting what else was wrong with the ship's hull, but from what he could tell from his brief inspection was that the ship was in no serious danger. However, whatever was breached wasn't likely to be able to be used until the ship surfaced once again. He hadn't even noticed Alora's wandering off until she was too deep for him to see her through the muck.

"Great, this was just great," he thought to himself, "The point of us sticking together was so that no one got lost or came into danger alone."

Of 'course, Alastair wasn't entirely too concerned about the well being of the Sith, but his own safety was at risk being alone. He didn't have the mystical powers of the Force nor even a weapon to protect himself. He'd left his harpoon inside the ship before entering the airlock. However, Alastair's worried mind soon drifted from what might go wrong while they were apart when an almost perfectly elliptical shadow seemed to grow from within the murky waters. For some reason, it seemed to shimmer as if the water caused the sharp profile of the shadow to wave with the flow of the water, only that there were no waves within the cavern. It was pulsating, and it was growing too. Soon enough, Alastair's comm beeped allowing the voices to come in, plagued by urgency, "Professor, our investigations are over! Get back to the airlock!"

At that exact moment, the shimmering elliptical shape quickly turned to reveal that it was something of a shark-like fish. With its abrupt alteration in trajectory though, Alastair followed it in horror as it found a distant target that Alastair could recognize as another crew member not too far from their position. Further below and out, a cloud of body parts and blood expanded in the water as another fish swam away to another victim in which it ripped apart in short order. They behaved like a swarm, two to a body, quickly killing as much as they can for what was likely to be a bigger feast. They acted less like sharks and more like piranhas.

Alastair immediately focused his underwater thrusters to propel himself towards the closest airlock much like he now saw the other surviving crew members attempting to do in the murky shadows of muck and blood. However, as much as Alastair kicked his flippers and pushed the throttle as far down as he could, he travelled at a desperate and agonizing pace. What was worse was that his urgency seemed to attract the attention of a nearby pair of giant piranhas. Each of the came from different angles towards Alastair, and without a spear gun, he was defenseless against them. And yet, he was somehow so close to the airlock it was bitter how fast the creatures were coming upon him. He was soon to be fish food!

***

Meanwhile...
At the top of the ship, Richie's hand was deep in the exposed mechanics of the hull in an attempt to fix the communications device, but he was yanked out with force by the droid at his side, "We Must move now. Didn't you hear the Sith Protector?"

Richie at first struggled for the droid to let go, "I can fix this before I go! Why don't you just trust me this one time?"

but even as he said it, the shadows of three of the shark-like creatures tore right through a distant body, causing the terrifying sight of the water becoming more murky from blood than muck. Richie grumbled as he realized that the droid was right. Even if he did have time to fix it, there certainly wasn't time any longer, and it was time to leave now! Richie threw the thruster down into full power, giving him a jerk as the fresher water towards the top of the submersible was certainly clearer and less inhibiting than the thicker, murkier, water where Alastair and Alora were located.

However, as Richie gained momentum, it was nothing in comparison to the speed and agility of the fish like creature approaching him. Richie turned around in mid swim to face the oncoming threat, pointing the spear gun towards the creature.

*Spheewww*

The spear shot out of the gun, but the flow of the current carried the already inaccurate spear through the water well off mark leaving the agile fish to avoid it with ease as it came upon Richie. In desperation, Richie attempted to reload the spear gun again, but the mechanics of the gun were crude, unfamiliar in all respects, and he was simply unable to do it with nearly enough haste at all to compete with the fish. Richie's arms flew up to defend himself just as a mechanical whirl jumped out in front of him just in time to catch the piranha before it got to Richie.

It all happened so fast that it was one big black blur taking on another black blur, but in the end, Richie was able to make sense of what had happened via the aftermath. Richie's droid twisted and contorted as limbs drifted in the current away from the main mass that seemed to spark in the water and the lights that illuminated the eyes of the droid slowly faded away. Richie shrieked, "Nooooo!!!!"

He even began to thrust away from the airlock towards the dead droid, the only thing left alive about him being the headlight still spiraling as the droid drifted away into the shadows. However, even though the droid saved Richie, the intern seemed to have completely forgotten that the fish that killed the droid was still very much alive and swimming away, spitting out the inorganic material that made up the droid's leg. On top of that, there were tow other creatures hunting him and the Nameless One still.

***

As the droid settled on the floor of the cavern, the headlamp illuminated some symbols on the sides of the cavern walls. They seemed old and certainly very eroded, but they were clearly present, even from the distance the Richie could observe them from. In his mind, he attempted to memorize what he saw. Something like that in the middle of some random cavern was certainly not to be ignored as they would no doubt have some sort of significance.

@Aero5314 @The Nameless One @Vinn Esper @Rags

 

[The Nameless One]

The Nameless One couldn't swim fast enough to catch up to Richie and his robot companion. Before one of the shark monsters did. He was out of range to use the spear gun. Richie's fate would be up to the Force and his own natural abilities, for now.

By some miracle those abilities served him well. The Nameless One was nearly in range to fire when the shark creature snapped down on the robot. A spear from Richie's gun shot past the shark and came towards The Nameless One, ceasing to move forward in the water about a meter from his position.

The Nameless One swam towards the spear as the shark thing shook it's prey in futility. Finally it turned from the false meal and came for the Nameless One. The Sentient Nightmare held his position, allowing it to get closer. When it was within striking distance, he fired and scored contact with it. It broke off and swam away. The Nameless One grabbed the spear Richie had fired and loaded it into his gun as he used his legs to propel himself towards Richie and the entrance that would take him to safety.

 

[Flamjetxx]

With Alora’s protection, Alastair was able to get to the safety of the ship without missing any limbs or vital flesh. Although, with the commotion stirred in the process of his escape, he was able ot get a glimpse of the bodies that Alora had earlier found. Unfortunately, for all he tried, his concern with escape far outweighed his curiosity to their demise, especially if he was able to get the answers from Alora who he was sure had gotten a closer look than he did.

***​

As the droid’s head rested upon the floor of the cavern, it headlamp illuminated the cavern wall, revealing patterns of which Richie couldn’t quite distinguish, and as much as he would have liked to have tried, he needed to get closer in order to make them out. He didn’t know why, but they were calling to him. They were important, and despite every ounce of better judgment, Richie thrust himself deeper into the bloody waters towards the lit wall.

He could almost hear the annoyed, and perhaps concerned, voice of The Nameless One in his mind as he swam away, certainly making his job much more difficult. However, the call to the symbols was stronger than he would have been able to fight. Even out of his peripherals, he couldn’t register the approaching piranha like fish heading right towards him. All he needed was one more moment, a few more feet, and he would know what the symbols were. He was left to the mercy of The Nameless One’s skill in protection and his dedication to the job he was hired to do.

***​

However it happened, Alastair saw Richie and The Sentient Nightmare in the air lock, awaiting for the water to drain before they would be relieved to the protection of the ship. Outside the tiny window that allowed them to peer out into the cavern, only the thick red mist of blood flowed past them as bits and chunks of once living flesh drifted in the water. The shadowy blur of the shark-like creatures darted back and forth picking up the pieces in a feast. Who even knew how many crew members they’d lost. Alastair hoped they at least gained something from it.

Bent over on the bench with his head hanging and his swim gear half removed, Alastair’s face was in his palms. He knew, as the leader, he was supposed to say something, but he didn’t quite have the heart to do so. Laughably, he was in the company of two Sith, those who were likely seasoned in such events of gore and loss. They probably didn’t even bat an eye to the macabre.

However, he could hear the whimpering coming from around the corner in which he knew it was Richie. He did have to say something, even if he didn’t think he could.

“I… I know that what happened was… Well, we need to move past this, and although I would never suggest to pretend that nothing happened, we need to move past the parts that we’d rather forget forever, and we need to focus on the parts that can benefit us,” the professor started. He’d seen mass graves, been at the jumping end of such bloody pits, and he’s seen his life flash before his eyes on more than one occasion, but it never seemed to get any easier when he was forced to live through it again and again. It were days such as these that he wished he’d never stepped foot outside of a university. The only thing that kept him going was the phantom notion that there was actually something worth continuing on for on the other end of tragedy, and so he continued with his best plastic face worn high, “I know we’ve discovered things out there. Alora. You saw the bodies too, didn’t you. It was just before the attack, and in all honesty, it was likely the thing that drew those creatures to us. You must tell me what you saw.”

Alora’s answer, although vague, was still revealing of the nature of circumstances they found themselves in out there. She revealed that it wasn’t as if they were ripped open by the fish like creatures, a fact that Alastair had already concluded, but rather that they were gutted right through their swim suits into their flesh as if to cut something out of them. However, Alastair wouldn’t have been able to determine what could have been removed from them, not without going out there and searching for whatever it was. And without knowing what was removed, it would be next to impossible to determine why they were killed.

He turned to The Nameless One, “What did you find out about the communications systems at the top of the ship. How badly were they damaged when the ship hit the cave ceiling?” Even as Alastair questioned him though, he tried to determine just how effected he was by the events the rest of them found so traumatic.

However, it was Richie’s abnormal silence that was most eerie about their collective condition. He was likely in mourning about his lost droid. He was constantly blabbering on with it, and although the loss of it was the main reason he was quiet, it was also likely an emotional component that played a role in his silence. However, his silence was broken, “I saw something Alastair.”

Professor Conally turned his head to Richie. He actually found himself more confused by the tone of Richie’s statement that it wasn’t so horrified rather than it was the kind of tone of voice that stated that he was intrigued. It was a tone of voice that he himself has used more than a few times, “What did you see?”

“It was a sybol,” he said, whipping out a datapad and drawing it onto the screen before showing them, “I believe it is something that will help us find the missing civilization. Otherwise, why else would it be in the middle of these caves?”

Alastair bent over to give it a good look, before taking himself back in awe, “I know that. Well, I don’t necessarily know it, but I recognize it enough to know that those symbols are directions. Richie, I need you to look that up and see if you can interpret those symbols!”

Alastair then confronted Alora, “I need you to go to the med bay and check in with Sharm. We haven’t heard from him in a while, and you can confront the physician about what you’ve witnessed,” Alastair said before standing up out of his suit and facing Richie and the Nameless One, “We need to see the Captain.”

@The Nameless One

 

[The Nameless One]

When they finally got out of the water, The Sentient Nightmare was livid. Unlike others, he didn't lash out or act out. The Sentient Nightmare simmered in silence. His anger was not unnoticeable however. He cast brief but frequent intense stares in the direction of the stupid intern that had nearly gotten them killed.

The Sentient Nightmare had lost several food sources due to the excursion. He knew he couldn't blame Richie for that, but he also couldn't express his displeasure on the subject separately either. He was silent through the recounting of the professor's ordeal.

The professor turned to him and lit his fuse, “What did you find out about the communications systems at the top of the ship. How badly were they damaged when the ship hit the cave ceiling?”

The question was innocent and, of course, the Professor needed to know. What the professor could not have known was the response it would provoke in The Sentient Nightmare. The concentrated his Force ability an formed a solid connection with each of them. Assuming they didn't resist it, this would allow The Sentient Nightmare's voice to come through as clearly as if he were speaking directly into your ear. His voice would sound as his true voice did.

His true voice was very high pitched and shrill. In its normal form it naturally caused discomfort and irritation upon hearing it. In the mental form it was known to cause a mild pain in the form of something like a headache. It would be a headache that would be sustained during the rant they were about to receive.

The Sentient One began speaking, "I will tell you what I found. I found an area of the ship damaged by tooth marks, and then I saw some things floating near the water. Thinking they might be debris that could be refitted to the ship, I went to investigate, while he stayed behind to repair the ship."

"I arrived at the floating debris, to discover them to be floating organs," The Sentient Nightmare continued, "I immediately turned back for the infant and sent him a telepathic warning of the impending danger and told him in no uncertain terms to return to the ship."

"This child, choosing to follow his own superior plan, disregarded my warning and continued doing whatever it was that he had been doing," The Sentient Nightmare, "I continued to swim towards him, but the fish were faster. One was closing in on him, which wouldn't have happened if he'd just followed my advice in the first place! I was too far from it. By luck, which the Maritime Marvel seems to be undeservedly in excess of, the creature struck the robot."

The Sentient Nightmare wasn't finished, "The robot died, because of you. I wonder how many more crew are going to share that same fate. You certainly tried to get me to share in it when I had to chase you so you could look at pretty pictures on a wall!" After that, the Sentient Nightmare stood up abruptly and stormed away sending the final four words he would send before breaking his concentrated connection with each of them, "I'm going for a walk around the ship. I will regroup with you on my own terms." The truth was The Sentient Nightmare felt the urge to feed as a result of the extra vehicular expedition.