Ask Dathomir The Dead Speak!

Iko Gark Lokan Jistos

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"Ventrik, I hope you receive this message as soon as possible, but just in case I'm sending a normal distress signal too: that idiot of my colleague managed to let loose an experimental virus we were working on, and is wreaking havoc around the ship. Linked to this message there are the coordinates of the ship's current position, and an emergency code you have to give to the first droid you'll meet. This droid will then activate an emergency protocol and give you a vaccine to make you immune to the airborne version of the virus. I'm not sure if it's already functional, so better safe than sorry. Once you arrive, you'll receive further instructions. Your fellow Order member, Iko-Gark-Lokan. May the Force be with you."

In the meantime, a SOS signal started beaming from the large star yacht owned by a multi-billionaire that owned a huge mining company on many of the most important planets in the galaxy. The ship was currently in the Dathomir system, but it remained fairly far away from the planet itself, maybe for safety reasons.

@Eden @Swain Mephisto
 
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Hiranikorssa

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Meanwhile, in hyperspace. . . .

Hir'anikorssa was on her way to respond to a distress call in the Ord Radama system, though her pilot seemed to be taking a very peculiar route to get there. Still, she trusted his guidance. He was Vha Morrn — an old Kel Dor who had seen his fair share of wanderers in his (very long) time ferrying travelers around the Outer Rim. He had taken a liking to her when they were first introduced, and was clearly thrilled at the prospect of helping a young Padawan on one of her first missions. Hirani was, of course, simply nervous to get to there as soon as possible.

Vha had likely been the second nicest part of the flight: mostly because he kept to himself. But the best bit was his droid, who couldn't shut up. An R-series astromech simply known as R2-U2, the little thing was pretty much an all encompassing in-flight entertainment system. Like the transport's pilot, R2-U2 was remarkably old — but the stories it could tell were wonderful, if you were one lucky enough to understand Binary. Apparently his previous owner had been a smuggler, and a fearless explorer with a short fuse. The droid even claimed to have met Rey Skywalker, though Hirani very much doubted it.

The transport lurched: an almost nauseating shift in the Force telling Hirani they'd exited hyperspace. With that, she stood up and scooted past the chattering R2 unit, out of the passenger bay, and into the cockpit.

"How're we flying, Vha?"

"Just passing through the Dathomir system. Less than fifteen jumps until Ord Radama. I'd recommend you return to the passenger bay, miss, I'm sure U2 will keep you company."

As the young Twi'lek was turning to leave, an annoying alarm began chirping out from the transport's main console. And there was something else, something horribly dark echoing out through the Force, but it disappeared as quickly as Hirani noticed it.

"Qa faho—" She started to say, before repeating the sentence in Basic. "What the hell is that?"

"Just a distress signal. All too common in these parts of the galaxy, not to worry, I'll switch it off for y—"

"Wait. Don't." She recalled to how the distress signal from Ord Radama came with a brief holomessage from Drow Venn, a fellow Jedi. Hirani sensed Morrn was keeping something from her. "Is there anything accompanying it?"

"Yes, but—" For a few seconds, the old pilot seemed to weigh up his options, staring half-blankly at the Padawan stood in front of him. Then there was a twinkle in his eye, as if knew what would happen if she saw the holorecording. "Alright, you asked. Don't tell your master I let you see this."

On the cockpit's holoreceptor, a pasty human figure fluttered chaotically through the static. He appeared to be hunched over, clinging a hand over a bloody wound in his stomach, obviously in immense pain.

"I... I'm Dr. Ri Feoan — our cruiser — kzzzskt — several, agh, several dying and many more dea — ktch — need immediate rescue. I repeat — chtk — they are coming — they- agghhhh — kchtszz — we are — kszzzztchchchch..."

The old pilot and the young Jedi looked at each other once more, and without saying anything, the pilot knew what Hirani was going to ask.

"As you wish, miss."

A few minutes later, after they docked with the cruiser that had sent the distress signal, everything went silent. The massive (not to mention luxurious, and absurdly expensive) yacht seemed perfectly intact, with no exterior signs of damage.

"I have to check inside," Hirani grabbed her stun staff, and slipped her vibroblade into her free hand. "Please stay here, I won't be long."

"I'm coming with you." The elderly Kel Dor tried to stand, before starting to limp in her direction.

"Sorry, you'll only slow me down." She looked over at him caringly, and after briefly hesitating, he nodded. The pilot slipped back into his chair.

"Alright, just... be safe, kid."

"I will. Just try not to fall asleep, huh?" Hirani smirked as she disembarked, moving into the massive yacht. "I need you to keep an eye on things... let me know if anyone else turns up."
 
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Ventrik Storm

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"Clean up duty... of course..." Ventrik continued to grumble as he neared the beacon in his YT-1200, "Damn it all, why did he have to send out a distress beacon for the whole galaxy to see!?" Upon his arrival in the Dathomir system, however, Ventrik felt the presence of another. His skills were not refined enough to know the exact origins or alignment of this stranger though, so he decided not to take any chances. Immediately concentrating on his connection to the force, Ventrik buried his presence in an attempt to mask himself. Thankfully, (and ironically) due to the predicament that the Eternal found themselves in, Ventrik was becoming quite adept at this ability, often needing to mask his presence in public locations to avoid the risk of discovery. He begrudgingly made the decision to change out of his robes and into his often forgotten civilian attire, which was made up of a simple black tunic with matching black boots and gloves. It was the simple look that he preferred. His gaze then drifted to the black lightsaber at his side... "I hope I don't regret this..." He gathered his private belongings and stored them in a code-locked compartment, replacing his lightsaber with a simple long vibroblade, he looked at it with disdain and sighed. Better to not be seen with a lightsaber when another potential force-wielder was within the vicinity.

At last, the enormous MC80 Star Cruiser revealed itself in the empty void of space and Ventrik sped toward it. Ventrik inhaled and prepared himself, he spotted a transport shuttle in the open hangar, the engine still running, and decided to land several hundred meters away from it, best to investigate this unwelcome intruder as soon as possible. Upon landing, Ventrik swiftly exited his ship and quickly walked over to the transport shuttle, it appeared to be an old WTK model, nothing worth noting. The entrance was wide open, "The fool... they have made this too easy..." As he entered the beaten-down ship, Ventrik quickly hid around a corner just as a little astro-droid zoomed past towards the rear of the vessel, it appeared to be an R-series unit, thankfully he remained unnoticed. Slowly, Ventrik began moving towards the front of the ship, unsheathing his vibroblade in the process. As he neared the cockpit, he noticed the door was wide open. Edging ever closer, the sound of snoring filled the air around him, the fool was asleep! When he was mear inches away, Ventrik took a moment to identify his victim, he was a Kel Dor man, and an old one at that, there was also no trace of the force around him, this was clearly not the disturbance he had felt earlier. Without care nor caution, Ventrik covered the man's mouth and quickly slit his throat with his vibroblade, taking extra care not to make a mess on himself. Following the deed, Ventrik observed his surroundings, noticing nothing of value, save a worn blaster pistol. Taking the pistol and placing it in a small crevice on the rear of his belt and proceeded towards the rear of the ship. As he approached the engine he came across the little astro-droid. Upon spotting him it cautiously beeped and booped some nonsense about the Echani not being on the ship's records. "Greetings droid, I am here as... err a member of the security crew of this... uhh Star Cruiser. It is my responsibility to inform you that you are required to immediately board the neighbouring YT-1200 for inspection of your credentials, I will be with you momentarily after inspecting the remainder of this ship." Surprisingly, the little astro-droid was not the brightest he had encountered and beeped in acknowledgement before rolling off. After he was sure the droid was out of earshot, Ventrik entered the engine room and unsheathed the stolen blaster pistol. After giving the room a quick once-over, he began shooting it at anything that looked even slightly explosive until a small fire formed. He took a couple more shots before tossing the pistol into the flames and swiftly sprinting off the ship and as far away as he possibly could.

Noticing a hallway leading away from the hangar, Ventrik sprinted through and sealed the blast doors before the transport ship finally exploded behind him. Ventrik began to head through the hallway, hoping to find what he came for before others arrived, "Well... let's hope that the remainder of this mission will be less exciting..."

He knew that it would not be.


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The huge star yacht's corridor were completely desert, except for the occasional mouse droid that skittered around. Then, Ventrik (@Swain Mephisto ) would be greeted by an old Imperial security droid that would say "GREETINGS. ARE YOU THE BEING MISTER JIS'TOS HAD ASKED TO COME?"

In the meantime, the Twi'lek Padawan reached one of the larger rooms of the deck she was currently on that was a large gym. It was, of course, empty, although it was clear that something happened, since there were objects scattered all over the place. The most haunting thing of all, however, it was that the speakers in the entire ship were still playing some relaxing music, quite the contrast to the creepy situation the two Force users were in.
 

Hiranikorssa

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There was someone else onboard. Hirani could see them, through one of the corridors. They just stood there, gazing out into space. Then, they bent over. Were they going to pick something up? No! They bolted, as fast as they could run, and the young Twi'lek knew she couldn't let them escape without holding them accountable for whatever they'd done to those aboard the cruiser. Staff in one hand, vibroblade in the other, she sprinted too, hoping to catch them before they made off around another corridor. Whirling around the corner, it took her only a few steps to realize that they'd stopped — and appeared to be celebrating?

Then, they dissolved into thin air before her eyes.

Oh. Kunta.

Bloody holograms. It was much easier to spot them in the slums of the Outer Rim, with their scan lines and the blue filter of crappy projectors — but here, on some pompous star yacht, the picture quality was virtually indistinguishable from an actual human being. She gussed it made sense though: what fun is racing against yourself? The Holo-Gym she was standing in had to be worth upwards of a million credits alone. Hirani had never seen a gym so... comprehensive. Scattered around the room was what appeared to be massive, shattered bits of full-technicolor holoprojectors. For those more fond of traditional fitness techniques, there were countless HyperGym- brand barbells, treadmills and muscular exciters.

Eyeing the room opposite, Hirani would find herself staring at the massive, empty space. Bright, golden chandeliers hung across the roof and lit up the room with an eerie cold light.

Qa faho... The room was decorated with high-end alien cuisine, though most of it barely touched, spattered in lumps on the floors. Great, long dining tables lined with hand-woven dreamsilk were upturned, and alabaster chairs were busted to splinters in all manner of shape and size. To her eye, it looked as if someone had intentionally made as much damage as possi—

BOOOM!

Oh god. What was that? Hirani swiveled on the toes of her boots, charging back towards the docking bay. Problem being, the corridors were more then a little confusing. Every corner she rounded she felt like someone was watching. She had no idea how much time she lost wandering, trying to find a way out.

When she came around one of the cirridors, catching a glimpse of the other *actual* human being on thr ship, she immediately greeted him with a smack over the head with her staff in an impusle sheer shock.

Of course, she was rather apologetic afterwards, but he missed out on most of that: being rather unconscious.
 
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Ventrik Storm

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Although he had been expecting a droid, Ventrik was slightly surprised to notice that it was an Imperial design. More surprising was the clear damage that it had taken from some unknown third party. He inputted his emergency code, "Indeed I am, I believe that you owe me something?" He placed out his arm and the security droid administered the vaccine via a rather large needle. "CODE ACCEPTED, WELCOME LEGIONNAIRE. INITIATED EMERGENCY PROTOCOL SEQUENCE COMMENCING. PLEASE PROCEED TO THE COMMAND BRIDGE AND USE THIS CONSOLE OVERRIDE CODE TO DISABLE THE DISTRESS BEACON. FOLLOWING THIS PLEASE DOWNLOAD ALL SCIENTIFIC INFORMATION FILES FROM THE BRIDGE CONSOLE ONTO THIS DATAPAD." Ventrik couldn't help but wince as the droid spoke, its pitch was too high to bear at times, it seemed to have taken some damage to its vocal processing unit. He took the datapad and noted down the override code in case he forgot it, the droid also handed him two spare vials of the vaccine, he looked back up at the droid. "There may be an unwelcome individual onboard, I disposed of their ship and accomplice, however, I must maintain my cover for the duration of this mission, understood?" The droid seemed to understand what he was implying, "UNDERSTOOD. FOLLOWING OUR INTERACTIONS, THIS UNIT WILL COMMENCE A SELF-DESTRUCT SEQUENCE. PLEASE REMAIN WELL CLEAR OF THIS LOCATION. LEGIONNAIRE, IF IT IS CLEAR THAT ANY INFORMATION OF THE WORKINGS ABOARD THIS SHIP MAY BE LEAKED, THE SHIP MUST BE DISPOSED OF." It turned and began to slowly walk away along the hallway, "OH AND LEGIONNAIRE. KEEP YOUR WITS ABOUT YOU. THERE ROAMS THOSE WHICH SHOULD NOT BE ALIVE ABOARD THIS SHIP." Confused, Ventrik began to ask the droid what it was referring to before the self-destruct sequence began, noting this he immediately sprinted in the opposite direction with due haste. Ten seconds later, he heard a small explosion behind him and knew that the deed was done. Time to get to that command bridge then...

As he quickly navigated through the winding hallways, Ventrik began to think about the other being aboard the ship. I should probably avoid whoever it is for as long as possible... if I'm lucky they will perish along with the rest of this ship. Yes, I will definitely steer clear of unnecessary confrontation in the meantime... As he was thinking this he sprinted around another corner, straight into the edge of a staff that swiftly collected him over the top of his head. The last thing he remembered seeing before fading into unconsciousness was a thin female who looked all too familiar, Venus....?

Everything faded to black as he dropped to the floor.


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After the explosion of the security droid, Hirani would hear a series of loud screeches echo throughout the ship's corridors. They were seemingly human in nature, but they sounded... creepy. Inhuman. Otherworldly. The screeches repeated themselves for a few seconds, and then the ship fell again silent, only the background music filling the air... Until something opened a door on the other end of the corridor the two were in. It looked like a human, but its movements were... clumsy, jerky. It gave a long groan and some raspy sounds, like if it was trying to breathe even though it couldn't. For a few moments it remained there, seemingly looking at the two... and then it jerked forward into a surprisingly quick sprint towards the two! The creature was followed by another three, two Sullustans and a Rodian. The worst thing of all? That the creatures were wearing elegant clothes. They were clearly some of the yacht's guests! But before the creatures could reach half the distance that separated them from Hirani and Ventrik, a blast door closed with a loud CLANG!, blocking the way. Then, a hologram activated in front of the two. It looked like a Tiss'shar, but it had an oddly-shaped head, with several spikes and a pair of horns that usually weren't present on a member of the species. Perhaps a mutation? The hologram flickered for a moment, and then the dinosaur spoke. "Oh! Huh, hello there. I am doctor Iko-Gark-Lokan Jis'tos, a researcher. I see that, well, you've found our ship! Wouly you mind waking up the human? I won't speak twice" he politely asked the Twi'lek.
 

Hiranikorssa

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Hirani had felt something in the Force, a dark thing, almost imperceptible until just then. Until the screams began. It grew louder, like those vulgar sounds, until it physically hurt, until she crumbled to her knees near the man she had just knocked unconscious. When she lifted her eyes, the sight that they were met with horrified her more than near-anything she had seen in her life. They were not alive, but that was no matter. They stalked towards her with frightful pace nonetheless, twisted bodies limping and groaning in pain... Not that she thought they could feel. She reached out to them, and felt that they were hollow. There was no luminesce of the Force in the minds of the four creatures, if they could be called even that. Instead, a darkness ran thick through their cold blood.

In the metres between Hirani and the Hollows, an old blast door scraped shut. Out of seemingly nowhere, another remarkably-lifelike hologram sputtered into her vision, and it took Hirani a few moments for her to realize it was a live feed.

"Oh! Huh, hello there. I am doctor Iko-Gark-Lokan Jis'tos, a researcher. I see that, well, you've found our ship! Would you mind waking up the human? I won't speak twice..."

Hirani was in too much shock to think before obeying. She placed a hand on the human's wounded head, and, through the Force, spoke directly into his mind.

Awaken.

[ @Swain Mephisto @samdragon ]
 

Ventrik Storm

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Awaken.

Ventrik awoke with a sudden jerk, directly above him was a Twi'lek with her hand on his head. By the Force his head... The pain was both searing and constant but he didn't have time for that, he could feel the danger all around them, the overwhelming darkness was everywhere. It was only after this that he realised why the young Twi'lek had her hand on him, she was using the force to heal him, THIS IS THE INTRUDER he thought with instant panic. Ventrik hid his presence again as quickly and calmly as he could. Somehow, this.... Jedi(?) had not noticed the fact that he was force sensitive, he could only assume that the surrounding dangers had gripped her attention just enough.

Wincing in pain, he observed his assailant/saviour with curiosity, she was a tiny thing, there was something about her that reminded him of his late sister. No... she isn't Venus, I don't know why I'm even thinking about her... He shook his head and slowly stood up, raising himself to his full stature, towering over the Twi'lek girl. "I'd thank you for helping me, but I have a funny feeling that you're the reason I'm in this situation in the first place." Thinking quickly, he decided to add, "I take it that you're responding to the distress signal as well?"

Looking to his side, he finally noticed the hologram, Jistos, what in the hell have you dragged me into? He thought to himself as he waited for the hologram to speak.


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Iko Gark Lokan Jistos

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The holographic Tiss'shar sighed softly as he looked at the two. "So, I am in the security station of the ship where I'm able to see you wherever you are. You should thank me for saving your life from these... undead creatures" he said, and a few holoscreens appeared instead of Iko's figure, showing several rooms and corridors that were invaded by hundreds if not THOUSANDS of undead. "A friend of mine was working on some miracle cure against some severe forms of cancer, but instead he obtained... this. The serum seemingly kills and then revives them, making them into zombies. I won't dig into the details of the formula or such, but know that apparently it's extremely contagious and no quarantine measures work. But thankfully my friend managed to make that 'vaccine' that counteracts these... undesired effects. But it won't protect you from bites."
 

Hiranikorssa

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The human, whoever he was, jolted awake with a start, which, considering the circumstances, almost made Hirani jump. Thankfully she did not, though, and could save face in front of these two strangers. It took the man a second to get his bearing on things, before he could bring himself to ignore the pain enough to address her. Hopefully, she would be able to ignore the horror enough to muster a reply.

"I'd thank you for helping me, but I have a funny feeling that you're the reason I'm in this situation in the first place. I take it that you're responding to the distress signal as well?"

Hirani, still somewhat in shock about everything, slowly nodded, eyeing the reptilian who loomed impatiently by way of a hologram. Inside her head, what she had seen of the darkness, those undead beings, repeated over and over again. The girl had seen her fair share of horrors in the Outer Rim, perhaps even more than most, but this was altogether different, and altogether more sickly.

"I'm starting to think this isn't something I want to do often." The young Twi'lek was still shaking slightly as she spoke. There was something about the man that she recognized, but she couldn't quite pinpoint it. Regardless, he seemed kind enough for a stranger, and she immediately took a hesitant liking to him.

"There's no way to sugar coat this, so, if you haven't already discovered for yourself," She sighed. "The dead aboard this ship appear to be alive."

It was then that this mutated Tiss'shar began to speak of the undead. The hologram fizzed and flickered into something else: security feeds within the ship, and... Hirani wanted to vomit. There were hundreds upon hundreds of living dead in the rooms of the yacht. Most of them were clearly wealthy people aboard the ship during the initial outbreak, while others, like Hirani, had been baited in by the distress signal, and then ravaged by this horrific disease. She had barely begun her independence as a Padawan. And Hir'anikorssa was going to die without even reaching her first mission.

The Tiss'shar changed his tone, speaking of a protection against the disease, and that gave him Hirani's full attention.

"Where can we get it, this vaccine?" The Jedi asked. Despite their kindness so far, she sensed there was something the two men were keeping from her. If only she could work out what...

[ @Swain Mephisto @samdragon ]
 

Ventrik Storm

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Ventrik winced back the stinging pain he could feel coursing through his temple. The blow from the staff was indeed powerful, this little force-wielder was clearly trained, most likely one of the Order, I will need to be wary of her skills when the time for combat arrives, she will not be easy to dispose of... As she looked at the hologram of his Eternal ally, Ventrik observed the little Twi'lek. She showed no signs of heavy battle experiences and the force was still manifesting itself within her, most likely an apprentice or rookie Knight. This was a relief, he was in no condition to battle with a strong opponent just yet.

Ventrik resisted the urge to let out a sigh of relief as the Twi'lek visibly relaxed in his presence, she did not seem to believe he was a threat at this point, this would hopefully work in his favour. As he considered a plan of attack, she explained the situation to him and it dawned on the Legionnaire that he may not be capable of completing this mission on his own. Although she was only an apprentice, this Jedi would be a welcome addition if he were able to hide his presence from her.

Upon seeing the holo-recording of the countless 'dead' upon the ship, Ventrik clenched his fists in silent rage. Jistos had sent him to his death for the sake of a stupid cleanup mission. If he got out of this, the Tiss'shar would owe him big time for this one and Ventrik had no doubt that he would let him know of it. It occurred to Ventrik that he could simply allow the Jedi to perish at the hands of the virus onboard as he had already administered the vaccine for himself. Perfect, I can simply allow her to become infected as she assists me with the mission bef- it was at that moment that the Tiss'shar proved himself to be a pain yet again as he made mention of the vaccine. It took all of his willpower to not cry out in frustration.

With his mind racing, Ventrik had to act fast as he felt the mildly suspicious stare from the Jedi. Thinking quickly, he pulled out one of the vials for the vaccine that the droid had given him. "That explains why that droid gave me more than one sample, it must have known that there would be others aboard the ship." He turned to the Jedi and held out his hand, offering to inject the vaccine, "Here, give me your wrist and I'll administer it to you."

As he waited for her to stick her arm out, Ventrik decided that he would probe the Jedi into revealing her true nature, "It seems that we will be required to fight our way out of here at some point. I must admit that I only carry a large vibroblade on me, but even with that, I am not a very good warrior." He lied, "Do you have any experience in combat or are the two of us doomed to perish on this floating wreck?"



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Iko Gark Lokan Jistos

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Iko looked over the two. He had some doubts on the Twi'lek young woman to be honest, but perhaps these suspects were without foundations, and just a half paranoia due to the current situation. "What I'm asking you is to reach the main bridge and redirect the ship towards the star. In the meantime I'll see to return to the laboratory and recover as many materials as possible, and then we'll head to the hangar, hoping to survive" he said with a sigh... and a loud slamming could be heard in the background! "Dammit, how did they find me? I need to go, good luck" he said, abruptly closing the communications.
 
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