Event Something Wicked

[Sah'ra Ryun]

Crumbling Ruins
​

Each rushed step was met with the pounding sounds of her heart racing in her ears. So loud was it that at first the echoes of whatever lay further down the tunnel were almost non-existent, reverberating in parallel with her own panicked pulse. The light, as little aid as it had proven to be, had been just enough for Sah’ra to catch momentary glimpses of what resided ahead up until this point, her haphazard and erratic turns within the overwhelming darkness. Coming into contact with the stone wall of the corridor system, there she would stay as she regathered both her breath once more as well as trying to regain control of her actions.

”Is anyone.... Is anyone out there!?” she called out into the inky black, but instead was met by the growingly powerful thump-thump of something making it’s way towards her. At this point, even the sight of the raven haired loudmouth would have been welcomed with delight. Well, almost.

Was she alone? What was it that had frightened the others so strongly? Was it that vile centipede or something far more sinister? Had any of them survived? Was it this creature that now seemed to hunt her through these halls? Would she even have the means to defend herself against whatever it was that had turned predator into prey?

Eyes wide as adrenaline coursed through her veins, Sah’ra quickly spun the torch from one direction to the next in a vain hope of catching a glimpse of whatever it was that was bearing down on her. Her chest heaved with each spin, a stray lock falling from her ear as sweat began to form and descend from her hairline, her worry only growing with the absence of whatever approached. And while she could not exactly make heads or tails of the direction the sounds came from, it soon seemed as though it was coming from all around her. Scurrying feet beyond the glow of her torch, be it man or beast, only further provoked the tension she felt.

”I’m not going to simply lay down and die here!” the woman shouted down the hall towards nothing entirely specific but merely the threatening sounds of something approaching. She had watched the Force turn back and devastate those who called on it, she had witnessed weapons falter and fail as soon as they were drawn. By all rights, she knew that any sort of offensive was likely to create more harm than good but she was not ready to be left to die in this tunnel system. With her free hand, the other still clinging desperately to the torch, the Sith fed on her fears and anxieties, of her hatred of this place, and poured it all into a last ditch effort of survival. If she succeeded, the power of lightning would spill forth from her fingertips and collide into whatever it was that was approaching. If she failed… then it seemed her destiny was not one of her own choosing after all...

@Mr. Teatime @Tom @LouJoVi @Versok @llamallove​

 

[Ripley Virago]

Crumbling Ruin: The Chamber
~~~
​

So much for splitting up, Ripley thought to herself, considering the raven haired man and his jester companion with disdain. For all of the former's bravado and coarse boasting, he hadn't lasted two minutes before tucking tail and chasing after the two women into the corridor.

The Arkanian would have made some snide remark, perhaps calling him a "scaredy-sark" or something along those lines, but all of the screaming muffled that possibility, and as she beheld exactly what he ran from, she no longer felt the desire to stick around and berate him.

Ripley recoiled at the sight, her white eyes wide and staring. She'd only caught a glimpse of the monster that chased after the three men, but a glimpse was all that was necessary to instill a new sense of dread and fear within her.

Turning, she discovered that her female companion had already absconded down the corridor. Ripley was not eager to be left behind with the others and did not hesitate to push one foot in front of the other. Eager to put distance between herself and whatever that thing was, her boots thundered against the stone flooring as she trailed after the emerald glow of the torch.

"Did... did you see that thing?" she asked Sah'ra Ryun, her intake of breath uneven as her heart pounded in her chest.

Sounds assaulted the Arkanian from every side, and not even her thermal vision was able to identify their sources. Metal scraped against metal. The promise of traps? A heart pounded, its steady rhythm reverberating through the hallways and reminding them that they were not alone. Ripley recalled the beating heart she had heard in the altar room earlier and wondered if they were one and the same. Behind her, the monster was searching. Hunting.

Ripley was terrified, and it was only the need for survival that kept her moving forward.

@Mr. Teatime @Tulos @Versok @LouJoVi @Tom​

 

[Felix]

Not-So-Abandoned Building​

Felix focused on his breathing trying to keep calm as the creature revealed itself but he didn't expect what he saw, it was much larger than any canine he had seen and with three heads, Felix knew he couldn't handle this creature alone for very long but a 'Jedi's life is sacrifice' are words that came to his mind to help steel his resolve.

as the creature lunged at him he would raise his free hand and from it, a blinding flash of light would be created, hoped the creature would be stunned enough by it to allow him to step forward with a thrust his saber into its central head that was going his throat, before pulling his shoto saber Into his other hand into defensive position across his body while his other saber pointed at the creature as he back way from the creature and into the hallway with others.

@Valen Pelora @Sreeya @Phoenix @Forsythe Crowholde @Altaris @SlagathorTheUnknown @Nefieslab @LilyNion

 

[Clove Vanhoop]

---

Abandoned Building
​

The sight of the massive creature peaking its three heads around the corner was enough for Clove's already pale skin to grow borderline translucent. It was a canine straight from hell, no question about it.

The half-Sephi lowered the Togruta on top of the bench as quickly as she could without hurting him and returned to Felix's side, who at that point was already prepared to fight the demon-spawn. She had no clue why he decided they had to fight it because running sounded like the best option, but there was no time to argue against him. Especially not when he was far better trained than her.

"Rangers, either join us in our fight or get the hell out of here for your own safety!" She called towards the two. In reality she really, really, REALLY wanted them to run because this was fight wouldn't be a pretty one. But that was also the reason why they needed all the help they could get. So the choice was theirs; Clove couldn't blame them if they decided to save their skin.

Because she would've done the same if she wasn't trained as a Jedi.

Clove knew that she'd be almost entirely useless with a training lightsaber, even after months of working her butt off. But the Force? That came more neutral to her than the blade. Especially after the training with Crix. "Felix. I'll go for its mind, Crix taught me a few tricks. That should distract it enough for you to land some hits." She told him with words so quick her tongue almost stumbled over itself.

The half-Sephi withdrew mentally back to her place of comfort, trusting Felix to distract the creature long enough for her to prepare. Thankfully, she sorta knew how to calm herself down under such tense situations and Felix's calm attitude aided greatly in not freaking out even further. For a moment he became her beacon of calm. And so, despite not fully succeeding in slipping into a proper meditation-like state, it was enough to channel the Force through her body, like water flowing through a riverbed. And when she felt ready, she released this Force, allowing it to swirl towards the three-headed creature.

The light side of the Force swirled over the creature and seeped into its mind and heart, curving and waving around its mental barriers but never breaking through them. If the creature would let her in, it'd feel a comforting warmth beckoning it to calm down and to run away as far as possible. If it didn't, it'd feel the light side of the Force circling around and in its head, giving off a distracting buzz, especially if the creature was dark sided by nature.

---

​

tag @SlagathorTheUnknown @Forsythe Crowholde @Sreeya @christhebetrayer @Altaris ​

 

[Darius Belari]

Abandoned Building​

Shoulder-to-shoulder with Livi, Darius kept his eyes fixated onto the Jedi infront of him, his left hand hovering a few inches above the holster of his blaster pistol. He watched as Ruz ate both of the stun bolts and slumped to the ground, followed by the other two Jedi turning to face them.

Naturally, Darius was completely oblivious to the fact that Clove and Felix had hauled him around while unconscious, and his recent experience with the other Force Users had left the Lokkian with suspicion clearly etched into his features, despite the reassuring words that came from both of the Padawans.

“Try any more of that Force shit like your buddy over here,” He pointed to Ruz, “And I’ll pepper you both with stun bolts.”

His gaze then flicked over to Livi, regarding his fellow ranger for a few seconds. He could clearly see the fear etched into the girl’s features, blaster still raised towards the remaining Jedi. Slowly but surely, Darius brought a hand up from his side and gingerly placed it over the top of Livi’s blaster, gently easing it lower. “Easy.”

Of course, at the precise moment Darius was trying to ease her fears, something even more terrifying decided to appear from around the corner.

The intense smell of sulfur and burning flesh hit his nostrils first, practically making the Lokkian bend over and gag. The moment the three-headed creature rounded the corner, however, Darius would do nothing but stare in absolute horror – the color completely draining from his face.

"Oh, what the FUCK!?” Darius blurted out, fear clearly laced into his words.

His first, naturally instinct, was to trip Clove in front of the beast and book it back into the infirmary – giving himself precious seconds to get the hell out of dodge. Fortunately, the man had been a Ranger long enough to resist the urge, instead falling back upon hours of military training for these types of situations.

Without another word, Darius frantically yanked the blaster pistol from his hip and leveled it onto the monster just as it went to take a bite out of Felix, switching the weapon back to lethal before firing three plasma bolts towards its center head.

@Sreeya @Phoenix @SlagathorTheUnknown @christhebetrayer @Resonance @Valen Pelora @LilyNion @Forsythe Crowholde

 

[The Gatekeeper]

Abandoned Building​

In the infirmary, things were not going well. Felix's flash was all that saved him from being eviscerated by the central head. As he thrust his saber, the blade - typically known for piercing or cutting anything - came quite close to simply skidding off the beast. Instead of a pierce that entered the cranium, there was little more than a superficial laceration to the monster's head. Likewise, the blaster shots from Darius left some unpleasant looking burned scars, but still one of the heads turned to look at him with a snarl.

Clove's attempt to invade the creature's mind would quickly show that it was all but impervious to such actions. Pure and wanton aggression would flow back over her, coating her mind in a sickeningly noxious poison that would almost make her ill.

It was quite clear that this creature was more than a match for them, and that to remain in combat with it was to invite their own ends.

---​

There are some who call me that, but I am known by many names, she said to Arctus. She paused for a moment almost as if in thought about what Chrarlotte had said to her.

And what of the companions that you came with? Do you barter for their souls as well? she asked.

If I told you that you could leave but they must remain behind, would you go? she asked, voice still gentle.

@Sreeya @Altaris @christhebetrayer @Forsythe Crowholde @SlagathorTheUnknown @Nefieslab @LilyNion @Valen Pelora

 

[The Gatekeeper]

CRUMBLING RUINS
DARK CHAMBER
​

Ever onward the many-fingered hands stretched on impossibly long and multi-jointed arms, stretching around the corner to reach through the darkened doorway. Men and women ran for their lives into the black unknown ahead rather than face the certain terror that followed close behind.

The armoured man (@Drak Vúlfur) would find his shots staggered the hands and left burns behind. Flesh knit back together as quickly as it'd been blasted, his weapon only slowing the strange limbs' advance. @Senin Ravelo avoided them entirely with his scrambling retreat, the many souls within the ruins rushing to find the woman with the torch who was running with Virago into the distance.

Ryun had troubles of her own, thrumming and thumping, a steady rhythm that quickened with her heartbeats and rapid breathing. Emerald light from the torch only illuminated the twisting and natural-form hallways a short distance, leaving her and the archaeologist in the dark regarding what the sound really was. The Sith woman's volatile emotions were focused and channelled, running like burning rivers from her heart down her arm.

Thump-thump, thump-thump. Thump-thump, thump-thump​

She was panicked and fell back on what she knew best. Lightning flared in flashing streams down the corridor in a chaotic mass, randomly targeted bolts impacting the edges of the hall.

Thump-thump, thump-thump. Thump-thump, thump-thump​

What the lightning's light revealed was not a hallway. A pulsating mass of black flesh, corpses old and new embedded in wet walls that rang loud with that same sound, echoing like drums in the deep all around and burying itself in the ears of all. Thump-thump, thump-thump.

Thump-thump, thump-thump. Thump-thump, thump-thump​

Suddenly, screaming and crying faces muffled by the black membrane of the walls pressed urgently, desperately, against the surface that kept them at bay. Skeletal limbs dripping in crimson ichor began to tear through, dressed in ragged rips of the walls themselves. They rattled and shook, undulating with every movement of the living ruins they'd emerged from. As the flash from the lightning faded, kept in place against Ryun's will and intent, the ceiling above exploded toward her and Virago in a rain of distressed and ululating faces stretched to unnatural proportions that would, to Ryun especially, look and sound distantly familiar.

Thump-thump, thump-thump. Thump-thump, thump-thump
"YOU LEFT US!" "FORGOTTEN!" "COWARD!" "WHY!?" "UNWORTHY!" "Sister..?"
Thump-thump, thump-thump. Thump-thump, thump-thump​

Then each face and voice was gone and, as if it'd never happened at all, the hallway appeared just a hallway. Natural-form stone, ordinary gray and rough, illuminated by an emerald torch and now smelling of burnt ozone from the burst of electric energy. That sound was still there, all around those who walked within, ever-present.

Thump-thump, thump-thump. Thump-thump, thump-thump​

Drumming in their deep, the sounds of each person's heartbeat echoed in their ears. Exactly as quick, slow, even, or erratic. It was up to them to determine the truth of it.

Now far behind, the crickle-crack of the questing arms still carried down the hall.

@Versok @llamallove @LouJoVi @Tulos @Tom

@Versok @llamallove @LouJoVi @Tulos @Tom

 

[Charlotte Le'Anna]

OOC: Not-So-Abandoned Building

Arctus smartly asked the mysterious woman if she was the mother. Charlotte wasn’t sure she cared. Who was to say the doctor wasn’t the insane one? She had no idea what they were dealing with. Decades of training in the Darkside seemingly failing to prepare her for this moment. She knew the depth of Darkness the Force could produce and she had never seen anything like this. Charlotte simply could not master herself, no matter how hard she tried. The words that came next surprised her.

The hooded woman was the mother. The apparent ruler of this place…the boogeyman in the attic. Like any good monster, the Mother offered them a trade. Charlotte shot Arctus a look. They had been bound together by circumstance. A certain bond formed when faced with certain death and accompanying terror…but the Hapan Sith hadn’t suddenly changed in a handful of hours. Charlotte was a selfish bastard. What did she owe any of these people? Not a thing. “Yes.” The word hung for a moment. “You can have them…all of them…if I can go.” The grip on her saber tightened. Arctus could not possibly be so naïve. He must have seen her inevitable betrayal coming.

Charlotte was a Sith immersed in the Darkside piled on top of years of childhood trauma. She was not a good person. She desired power above all else and was afraid. Her only concern was herself and getting the kriff out of the mansion to return to her life. Temporary friends be damned.

@Phoenix @Forsythe Crowholde

 

[Arctus Friers]

[Not-so] Abandoned Building​

A Woman of many names, huh? Neat. Well, not really. The response to his question might have come off as cliché if they were on a horror holomovie, but as Arctus reminded himself that this was the real life he couldn't help another bout of apprehension creeping up the forefront of his mind as he digested what She'd just told him.

People who operated under different names were always a point of concern. And while the Woman didn't look like a criminal, Her cryptic words didn't calm the former smuggler despite the gentleness in Her voice. Hells, he was still shaken by what he and Charlie have experienced earlier, sans his self-blame for the doctor's death. Arctus just wished that the poor man had said anything substantial before succumbing to his injuries. Instead of answers he and Charlie were met with even more questions, and if anything Arctus hated facing the unknown.

The Woman spoke again, and the former smuggler's eyes widened when She began talking about bartering souls. Wait, wait. Neither him nor Charlie talked about souls, and now the Woman was calmly bringing that shit up? His confusion was visible on his face, frows furrowed and mouth opening once, twice, like a fish out of water. When the former smuggler found his voice, his words came out as a protest.

"Lady, no one's bartering souls here–"

Ah, but She wasn't done speaking, so Arctus closed his mouth and let Her continue.

They could leave? There was a way out for his friends? And all it would take was for them – for him – to remain behind?

A breathy chuckle, full of disbelief and even relief, slipped past the former smuggler's lips. The Padawan looked at the Sith woman and listened to her response. He didn't miss the way her grip tightened on her lightsaber's hilt. Kark, Arctus didn't even care if Charlie was more than prepared to strike him down if she assumed that he would overtly go against her desire to leave. All he cared about was that there was a way out of here for Clove, Felix, and Ruzaan. He had been deathly worried for the three long before the Dark Side taunted him that the might be dead.

He didn't believe it, and now there was a means for them to leave this nightmare of a place.

Arctus took a step back, holstering his blasters and raising his hands to chest level to show that he had no intention of fighting Charlie. He could see that she was afraid, and a sudden epiphany struck him. He didn't want to generalize, but were Sith like this, like her? Some of them, if not all of them? Desiring something but gripped by fear?

He was afraid, too, and he still was. But being presented with the chance to get his friends out of here gave him courage. Hazel grey eyes settling upon the Mother, the Padawan walked past the chair intended for him to approach Her, putting a little more distance between him and the Sith woman.

If Charlie wanted to leave, then who was he to stop her? He was a Jedi, but even then he knew he wasn't cut from the same cloth as those from the Order. Even from his fellow Padawans.

"And if I stay here, Clove, Ruzaan, and Felix can leave?" asked Arctus like a kid seeking clarification. Then, with a quick glance at Charlie, he added, "And Charlie, I suppose, even if we just met. And those two Rangers, too." The Sith trooper could go screw himself, Arctus didn't care. "They can leave if I stay here with you? Be your boy toy or something? Nah, just kidding with the boy toy part, but... y'know. Does it work that way, me staying here gives them the clearance to leave and be safe from those undead outside?"

Charlie could call him an idiot. Hells, she could even call him an idiot for being so self-sacrificing. But what choice did Arctus have if it meant ensuring his fellow Padawans, his friends' safety? Clove, Felix, and Ruzaan each have a bright future ahead of them and they deserved to leave this fucking horror planet, and Arctus was just... well...

"Or is there another way for all of us out of here?"

Just because he's ready to sacrifice himself didn't mean that he wouldn't want to leave this place with his friends. He wasn't that idiotic, or so he liked to think.

@Phoenix @Valen Pelora

 

[The Gatekeeper]

Spoiler: Humble Town

HUMBLE TOWN

Ashla raced through the pages, reading what she could understand, ruefully ignoring the rest as her curiosity fought against necessity. But she did pull out her data pad and took pictures of some of the pages, specifically the ones that had any sort of legible text scrawled over them, and a few others at random.

Finally she reached the last page, eyes widening as she read through it. It seemed something bad had happened here, and Allery was at the heart of it all, which made Ashla wonder why she had brought them here. And for that matter if there was any way for them to get out. She remembered how the stairs had seemed to stretch on forever, and the hands that had emerged from the hallway. She wasn't sure what to make of it all, but the though did make her wonder about something.

Rounding the table, she walked towards the center of the room and came to a stop in front of a relatively empty patch of floor. She pulled out her lightsaber once more and brought it to life, plunging it into the floor and attempting to cut a hole through, wondering what, if anything, she would see on the other of such a hole.

@Logan @AutoFox

HUMBLE TOWN.

Trini studied the papers carefully, her eyes widening at some of the notes. The contents were shocking in themselves, but the little Amaran found special interest in the script itself, as well as some of the artifacts present.

"This is very old writing... proto-Aurebesh, if not older." The archaeologist shook her head. "Just how long has all this been sitting here? And what's this ritual they keep referring to? How-"

At that moment, Ashla began cutting into the floor with her saber. Trini jogged around the desk to stand next to her.

"What is it??"

@Logan @Eccles @Nor'baal @Nefieslab @Wit @DarkSaber

As Ashla dug her blade into the floor and started cutting her way through, she would notice that it didn't take much to carve out a nice neat hole that lead straight down to the first floor they had arrived in when entering the manor.

Should Ashla and Trini make the choice to jump through the hole, they'd find themselves alone on the first floor, the stairs they had taken that seemed to stretch for eons on the right.

The two compatriots were back where they had started with little to no indication of where the hell to go. That was, until, a tiny voice spoke in Ashla's mind. It didn't say much, and it was only barely a whisper, but she would feel the sudden urge to head down the hall as fast as she could.

Should the Togruta listen to the impulse, she'd find a set of stairs that went down. Down into darkness so she could not see where they ended, but something in her told her that this was not the time to be afraid.

Trini would have the opposite feeling. That whatever it was that was down there, down in the dark, was sinister, evil, a siren's song beckoning them to nothing but their own deaths. Of course, the alternative was wandering aimlessly through a manor that seemed to be trying to kill them at every turn.

The faintest sound of chanting could be heard echoing up from the darkness. At the very bottom of the stairs, should the two venture down, they would find a door locked up tight. Beyond it, a dark and sacred ritual was taking place.

They were starting to run out of time.

@AutoFox @Wit

 

[Drak Vúlfur]

Crumbling Ruins​

Blaster fire seemed to work properly, but it would not work forever, Drak knew all too well that he would need to reload at one point and doing so while running was out of the question, the hands weren't really gaining on him thanks to his blaster but just for how long could he outrun them while wearing such heavy armor? There was only something left to do.

Praying to no one in particular, Drak aimed his wrist rocket at the hands and fired away, he didn't know if the rocket would actually work, it could fail him like the flamethrower did, but if it worked, it would probably stagger the hands far more than his his blaster could. Hell, maybe it could actually kill it. But if it didn't work, running while shooting with his blaster would still be his best idea right until he joined the rest who would probably be recovering from their encounter with the wall of flesh, something the Mandalorian thankfully missed "Keep running!" He would shout at the others without stopping himself, right now the only way that didn't mean death was forward, and he was certainly not going to embrace their seemingly inevitable doom like that.

@Mr. Teatime @LouJoVi @Tulos @llamallove @Tom

 

[Ripley Virago]

Crumbling Ruin: Dark Chamber
~~~
​

Lightening shot forth from Sah'ra Ryun's hand, crackling and hot. Its blue bolts illuminated the hallway ahead of the pair, but Ripley wished it hadn't. Ripley had always hated the unknown, hated that there was knowledge she did not possess, but this time... this time she would have preferred not to know.

Their reality was so much worse than anything she could have imagined.

The hallways they had so willingly plunged themselves into were not made of stone and mortar at all, but of corpses. Corpses.
They surrounded Ripley on both sides, pulsating as if they had a life and a will of their own. The sound of their still beating hearts sent shivers down her spine, echoing in her mind and threatening to drive her mad. Black, rotting flesh now burned into her memory for an eternity, a small cry escaped her lips.

Instinctually, she drifted closer to the Sith beside her for safety, but it was no use. Blood cascaded down flesh and bone like some twisted, deviant nightmare. It made her stick, her stomach twisting and turning on itself. She prayed to the moons of Gozgo that she would awaken, but she knew she was not dreaming.

The hallway reeked of rotting flesh, and she reached a shaking hand to cover her mouth. Then, her worst fear became a reality. The corpses began to shift, bones rattling and shaking. Skeletons tore through the wall, desperate to reach the pair of women. Ripley did not need to wonder at their intent. Faces stretched to unnatural proportions leaned descended upon the women. Their faces and voices were familiar, but Ripley could not place them. Nor did she want to.

The Arkanian screamed, stumbling backward to escape the faces that would haunt her for the rest of her life. Loud cries pierced her ears, and she couldn't tell the difference between her own screams own and those of the macabre faces. As swiftly as they had appeared, the faces were gone, but nothing was the same for the Arkanian after that.

Ripley had already made the mistake of utilizing her thermal vision, and she would pay dearly for it. Reality bent inward toward her, and the historian that clung so desperately to facts could no longer tell the difference between fantasy and reality.

Stone walls flashed before her eyes, only to be replaced seconds later by the black, pulsating flesh again. Skulls with hollowed out eyes stared directly at her, taunting her. Blood continued to trickle downward. Was this real? Or was this all in her head? She wanted desperately to ask one of the others, but she was incapable of forming words.

The pounding of the Arkanian's heart drowned out the sound of her ragged, erratic breathing. Pressing her eyes shut to escape this nightmare, Ripley sunk to her knees and let out a small, faint whimper. Her shoulders shook uncontrollably, and her fingers clutched at her hair in desperation.

Spoiler

xD

@Mr. Teatime @Tulos @Tom @LouJoVi @Versok

 

[Laeonas Tannaras]

Crumbling Ruin
Dark Chamber



The sight of the others, for the first time, brought pleasant feelings to the man. Even as he saw the freakish hand thing that the Mandalorian was firing at, the mere presence of others was enough to make him at least slightly less terrified. The human felt no need to shout commands or requests; most had to do with "running" or "shooting," which was what everyone was already doing. Silent besides the rapid breathing that came with his running, Laeonas turned and ran back in the direction he'd come from.

And than, all at once, he'd stop.

Muscles froze up, jaw slackened, eyes bulged. But a scream didn't escape his lips. All Laeonas could produce when faced with the horrifying spectacle before him was a hoarse, rasped inhale. Even the horror of the previous room that stood in defiance of natural law hadn't driven him to such fear. How could it compare when faced with the screaming corpse of his mother? The broken body of his partner in that failed heist all those years ago? Or the wailing of Kamelle Skyler, and the tiny, rotting mound of flesh that was her unborn child?

Than, it was all gone. The corpse mound returned to stone, illuminated by lighting and green flame. Standing there was Laeonas, son of Saras and Andronikas, lord of the House Tannaras. Here he was in an ancient ruin that had carried in it horrors that made his worst nightmares look like children's stories. Was this all he'd do from now until his death? Run from chamber to chamber, just a few meters away from meeting a grizzly end at the hands of those he'd gotten killed, or the tentacles of some horror?

The seconds ticked by, and only after the albino started moving did the man summon will back into his legs. There was nothing left now but to continue. Even if the direction ahead had been proven to be just as infested as what was behind them. Laeonas felt his heart pounding in his chest, a drum that wouldn't stop as they moved further into the depths of this cursed place. He didn't understand how this was happening, how any of it was real.

If he had even a moment to begin thinking, a moment to just let his thoughts run without being interrupted by a hellspawn or ghosts of the past, he might be able to question any of it. He might be able to at least try and reason, come to a conclusion that might make some sense. None of what he'd seen had, and it only became more and more implausible as they'd gone on. A woman bursting into insects, a horde of wasps, and now incomprehensible abominations, and the bodies of people he'd left thousands of lightyears away?

None of this ran through the human's head, ofcourse. Functionally, his brain had been emptied of thought, reduced to an instinctive flight response. It wouldn't stop until he felt safe.

And he'd never feel safe until he was far, far away from this place.

​

@Mr. Teatime @llamallove @Tulos @Versok @LouJoVi

 

[Ashla Ti]

HUMBLE TOWN

Ashla stared down the hole she had managed to cut through the floor, not sure what she had been expecting given how long it had taken them to climb up those stairs. But the floor below was right there, and remembering the creepy darkness in the corridor outside the room she didn't think there was much of a choice here.

"Let's go!" She said to Trini as she jumped through the hole, landing in a roll in the floor below. As she came to a stop on her knees, she heard the whispers in her head, and feeling a little confident at her ability to get out of trouble given the ease with which she had gotten them out of the study, she followed the impulse.

Walking down the hallway, she would reach the stairway and pause. She wanted to believe the voice that she would not be harmed, though she wasn't sure it was because of any insight on her side or whatever hold the thing might have gained on her when she offered it her hand. She had let it in, and she could not be sure how much she could trust herself. Ultimately making her mind, she started heading down the stairs, not waiting to see if the Amaran had followed her.

She came to a stop before the door, and having made up her mind to see this choice through, she wasted no time in pulling her lightsaber out once more and attempting to cut the lock to get to the other side of the door. Whatever waited there, she was ready to face it.

@Logan @AutoFox

 

[Trini Halrixien]

HUMBLE TOWN.

Trini followed reluctantly behind Ashla as the Force-wielder descended the stairs, having followed her through the floor and - very confusingly - into the same entrance hall they had left. Before they left the office, she had taken the time to snatch up the crumbling papers on the desk, which were now tucked under one arm, while her other wielded her mostly depleted stingbeam.

"We're not supposed to be here." The little Amaran muttered. Her ears swiveled as she strained to catch the sound of chanting. "Can you hear that??"

As Ashla attempted to slice the lock, Trini gritted her teeth, holding her weapon ready, for all the good it would likely do her. I need to start carrying something stronger than this. She thought to herself.

@Logan @Eccles @Nor'baal @Nefieslab @Wit @DarkSaber

 

[Sah'ra Ryun]

Crumbling Ruins​

This place, this night, these horrors were all things that would remain with Sah’ra for years to come, if not the rest of her life. Never before had she been so terrified, so unsure of what was coming next. Wicked witches disguised as kindly old women erupting into hordes of ravenous insects were terrifying in their own right but what was before the women now as arcs of lightning leapt from her fingers, illuminated by the glow of electricity, was beyond any realistic expectation. Rather, what she had believed to be perhaps an entombed beast or one of the other survivors had instead been so far from.

Faces protruded and contorted, hands outstretched and retracted, the walls of the tunnel were no longer what she had believed them to be. They displayed a life of their own, perhaps originating through the death of others, as the trapped souls clawed and begged for freedom and repense from their captor. Yet she felt oddly pulled towards them, as though the faces and voices had once had a place in her own life so long ago.

The vaguely familiar form of the man who called himself her father wailed and pleaded, desperate for an explanation as to why she had never come home. ”YOU LEFT US!” The face of the one who had claimed his love and attention away from her and her brother, a sly look of victory plastered across her slime-covered features. ”FORGOTTEN!” An assistant from the lab, a woman who had once given her a taste of the world of science, instead dismissed by Sah’ra as she pursued knowledge in the Force. ”COWARD!”

Sah’ra clenched her eyes shut, simultaneously shutting out the voices as best she could. When she finally opened them once more, her strength sapped from the volley of electrical energy, she found she was once more left in darkness save for the glow of her torch. Once more the walls were made of stone rather than black liquid, gone were the warped faces pleading for mercy. Nothing but a corridor, dark and ominous as the thumping of both her heart and whatever existed in the shadows filling the air around them.

The Sith stared ahead for some time, unsure if what she had seen was even real. Just as quickly as it had appeared, it was gone once more. Perhaps this was simply another amalgamation of attempted Force use commingled with the magics of this construct. Perhaps it had never even existed in the first place. Or perhaps she was simply going mad. The whimpers of Ripley at her feet soon told Sah’ra that while her own mental state was in question, it could get a lot worse.

”Get up!” she hissed as she knelt down to the archeologist’s level. If she was to find the source of these illusions, then she would undoubtedly require her assistance. But what if her mind was too far gone? What if the sharp intellect the woman had once possessed had been shattered by madness? ”Snap out of it!” Sah’ra continued, using her free hand to deliver a swift smack to the back of the young woman’s head. ”We need to move!”

She would only spend a moment trying to coax Ripley back to reality, unsure of what exactly it was that was afflicting her mind. PTSD, certainly, but the possibilities in this place were endless. Perhaps this was not even the Arkanian woman but another illusion all together. She wouldn’t be surprised. It seemed that every occurrence was stronger and more frightening than the last. The harder her heart beated, the faster her mind raced, the worse things became. As this thought crossed her mind, Sah’ra paused in her turn away from the Arkanian. Perhaps this was the key?

”Hmm…”

@Mr. Teatime @llamallove @Versok @LouJoVi @Tom​

 

[Senin Ravelo]

Crumbling Ruins


After having recovered from the fall and rising from the floor, Senin continued running away from the hands that were coming through what once was a doorway. He could hear the Mandalorian firing with his blaster against these things, but he didn’t turn to look at it.

Hopefully, if the Mandalorian's firing didn't have any effect at the approaching hands, the young man hoped that after they reached the man, his dismembering would delay them. This would give him more time to escape. By this point, Senin didn’t care about what happened with the others. Maybe only with Laeonas, but his own survival was far more important.

Due to that, he would continue running down the corridor. He would pass through the white haired woman, totally ignoring her screams. Maybe if she stays behind, her death would also delay the hands long enough for him to flee.

Then, he finally noticed the reason why she was screaming. The light of the lightning that the other woman used illuminated the hallway, revealing how it seemed to be made by a mass of corpses, which suddenly started to scream and move. Senin didn't care what or who these dead people were. He only continued running, doing his best to escape from this damned place.

@Mr. Teatime @Tulos @Versok @llamallove @Tom

 

[Felix]

Not-So-Abandoned Building​

Felix's eyes went wide in surprise at the minor laceration the creature suffered from his stab at the creatures head and then blaster bolters minor burners too, they couldn't fight this creature, not with the weapons they had. he continued to back away, breathing in and out steadily focusing on his breathing to keep his cool. he had planned or at least the idea of one. he would copy what that other force had done but with something little extra

"Clove" his voice was raised so she could clearly hear him, it was calm, exceptionally calm, he final had come out the other side of his anxiousness to that point where you become composed, collected. "I need you to do something, I need you to collapse the roof above me on my mark. understood?"

his hands shift his grip on his lightsabers as he ready himself and to let clove process everything for a moment, "NOW!" he would shout before turning on his heel to face the group behind him in a low stance as he started sprinting dining his sabres into the floor for a few meters, he would stop his sprint once he got to clove turning to face back down the corridor towards where the creature was once.

He hoped the falling debris would either block the creature from advancing or it would create a hole in the floor to stop it. they needed time to get the unconscious out of the corridor, hopefully, it would provide some.

@Valen Pelora @Sreeya @Phoenix @Forsythe Crowholde @Altaris @SlagathorTheUnknown @Nefieslab @LilyNion

 

[Crix Aran]

Humble Town​

Crix had seen some really messed up shit in his relatively short time in the Galaxy but some of the stuff he was seeing today really kind of just made his day. He could tell that the pale Twi'lek was reaching the same level of freaked out that he was - the level you reached when you realized there was probably more so it was probably just better of to save all the energy from the mini-freak outs you wanted to have for the massive freak out that was definitely coming.

Because it was definitely gonna happen.

Touching the door had been intended to find a way to access some kind of control panel but it did have the side effect of letting him feel the Force through it. It pulsed closer to the center of the door in a way he had never experienced before, resulting in a pad of buttons coming up without any kind of clear indentations or notations.

"Alright..."

No markings on the pad but it was laid out like the pad would be if it had numbers... or if those numbers could be used to represent numbers. Like those old-school methods for typing using only numbers repeatedly pressed like old people used to do before datapads got better. He didn't have any numbers to hand that might be right.

But he had a name.

"A-L-L-E-R-Y." he typed into the pad as though it was some kind of old datapad phone screen, "Come on... please don't explode on me or something..."

@vamp @Eccles @Logan

 

[Lorcan]

Abandoned Building​

Coming to was an unpleasant experience to say the least.

He felt like his head had been trapped in an industrial vice and then used as a set of bongo drums for an all-Rancor percussion band. If he listened carefully he could still hear the drum solo from said All-Rancor band of drummers... or was that just his heartbeat? He didn't really want to comment either way because it felt like if he opened his mouth for too long his entire body would erupt out the front end, he felt that sick.

The last time he had felt like bad he had gone to a Ranger party and challenged Aran to a drinking contest. He didn't remember who won, he just remembered waking up with a black eye and a stomach in revolt just like it was right now. The weight on his back was new though... he grunted and pushed himself up to his hands and knees, unknowingly knocking Ruzaan off of his back where he had fallen.

"F-fuck I must have concussion..." he slurred even as he tapped a button on his armour's left bracer, "I'm seeing double here..."

He closed one eye as he raised his left arm, wavering as it was, toward the dog that seemed to be taking up an ungodly amount of space within the corridor. There were others in the corridor, true, but luckily for them the blast radius for wrist missiles was actually smaller than a grenade even if they did hit just as hard.

"Bloody fucking thing's got six heads..."

Aiming for the middle two heads, Lorcan launched the wrist rocket from his position on the ground.

With a concussion it seemed like a good idea at the time.

@Sreeya @Phoenix @Altaris @christhebetrayer @LilyNion