Ask Event The Pit

[The Storyteller]

The metals that make up the asteroid shine and shimmer in the pale emergency lighting of the mining tunnel that the disparate travellers found themselves thoroughly trapped within. Far from the untapped potential that many scavengers had foolishly believed the asteroid to have been in the past, the tunnels that the asteroid was riddled with were only partially natural.

Walkways had been constructed in the distant past, their rusted and broken forms stretching as far as the eye could see in any of the myriad of directions. Although they may not have entered together, the travellers searching the asteroid would find themselves approaching the same destination, a junction of many different pathways through the rock and metal ores.

Dirty grey metal paths under their feet would groan underfoot as they would approach the junction. At the centre of the junction was another metal construction, made of the same old and browned material as the wrecked pathways. It was a worker's station, equipped with small tables, lockers and some mining equipment still hung up.

Age clung to every surface like a physical presence that weighed everything down.

Upon the small table sat something far newer; a tablet with a dimly blinking green notification light.

From the junction the asteroid's paths branched off into several different directions, some of them clearly branching but joining back up slightly further along the line. No, the directions on the horizontal plane were less important than the vertical ones; all of the pathways either sloped downward or upward. Both style of tunnel stretched on beyond what could be seen in the distance with those same worn and decaying metal walkways lining the way.

@Apollyon @The Good Doctor @Charles @Logan

 

[Aralan Delste]

Aralan bit down harshly on the lumen between his teeth, he held it in place the best he could has he rifled through the travel bag that contained his excavation and exploration gear. In truth, he wasn't sure what exactly he was looking for he was just hoping he had brought something with him to aid in this unexpected circumstance. He pushed the hilt of his lightsaber aside in the bag to give him a better view of what he had brought, a canteen of water, some rations, a thermal sleeping bag, a breather, some gauze, and a light disinfectant. All basic supplies for a trip that wasn't expected to have any real dangers involved.

"Fool." He mentally chided himself as he stood to his feet and looped his bag back over his shoulders.

Aralan brushed off the dust and debris that had settled on clothing, skin, and in his hair before glancing back at the wall of rubble behind him. It had been a narrow escape mere moments before, the Dark Side had warned him of this calamity that was to come. His hair had stood on end, his skin grew chilled, and a knot had formed in his gut moments before the cave in occurred. It was only thanks to his instinct to trust this warning that he had survived. Aralan glanced back and the glow of his lumen revealed a hand buried beneath the rubble, the scavenger that had been with him wasn't so lucky.

Aralan shook his head at the reminder and returned his gaze to the tunnel before him and the gaping void of the unknown it represented. He loosened his grip on the rubbery handle of his lumen and allowed it to fall freely into his open palm before he brushed his hair back and took the first step into the unknown. It was only after he had taken a hand full of steps and the initial shock of the situation had faded from his mind that Aralan comprehended the sheer magnitude of the situation he was in. The emptiness in his free hand, where his lightsaber should be, almost caused an ache within him. As such, he reached back and fished for the weapon to bring him some small measure of comfort as he continued into the depths.

After Aralan had followed rusted and decrepit walkways for an unknown measure of time, he found a junction. This center point spiderwebbed out to multiple tunnels leading in all directions and in the middle of all of them was the sad remnants of station of some sort.

"Beggars cannot be choosers I suppose." He thought to himself.

Aralan's first step onto the metal walkway caused him to physically wince as the metal clanged and groaned beneath his first foot fall. While the walkways had been clamorous on his descent to this point, this one seemed doubly so as the reverberations bounced and echoed off of countless walls and time worn supports. It caused Aralan to feel on edge and almost goaded him into picking up his pace from a cautious stalk to a seemingly nervous and tense gait. As he reached the door to the station, Aralan found himself rapid tapping on the button to give himself entry to the room and hopefully a reprieve from the oppressive atmosphere around him. As the door slid open with a distorted chime, relief was the last thing Aralan felt, his eyes were immediately drawn to the only out of place thing in the room.

The green blinking notification light of the dataslate that sat on the table.

"What the fu-?" Aralan muttered as he gazed onwards in a mixture of confusion and fear.​

 

[Aden Archer]

Aden has traveled a lot of the galaxy and never heard or seen something like this, an asteroid shrine. People usually just have those planetside he thought, but someone made one on an asteroid. Not only did Aden want to see this wonder in space for himself, there was also an opportunity for some credits as well. Aden was a hired pilot for the team of scavengers looking into this artifact - that is said to have some power - until afterwards he will fly them out. And then afterwards he was an armed escort for the duration of the expedition, rather than just wait on the ship for the duration. Aden was cautious as well, unsure how he feels of the others and the man-made construction seems to have aged.

Aden had his usual weapons, some basic supplies for himself to get him through what could be a long journey. Some food, some water, a med kit. Not only that, seeing as they were in an asteroid Aden was also wearing his flight gear, which if something goes wrong, he will have some protection against the vacuum. He would be wearing his helmet too as well, although with the rebreather detached plus on his person and in addition the visor up. Aden had his blaster carbine in hand while acting as a guard, being on the lookout for possible mynocks or other space-borne critters.

But this wasn't going to be an easy day. As Aden was keeping alert in front of the expedition, he hear noise as there was a cave in behind him. Aden would have saw some poor souls get crushed by heavy rocks if he wasn't shielding his eyes from dirt, dust, and debris with his arms. There was one hand sticking out, and the rest are probably dead as well. "What was that? Is everyone here alright?" he asked around on instinct as he would look around the area.. A few moments, the realization set in that it's most likely the age and with the visitors coming here is the straw that's breaking the camel's back here, should have expected this would happen...

Aden would follow the archeologist Aralan next - nothing else he could do at the moment -, going well enough behind, being sure to tread lightly, and be cautious lest any more accidents with this unstable pathways happen.

There was the station, could something be in there. A tablet that flashing green, a notification. Then he realized, that tablet looks new, and nobody else has been here. "Is someone trying to contact us?" this didn't make sense. He looked at Aralan's expression, he's not the only one who thinks this is very odd.

@Apollyon @Logan @Charles @Nefieslab

 

[Louis Lorsoni]

"Guys, I don't think this place is structurally sound..." Louis tried to explain to the scavengers that had hired him to run a few diagnostics on the old passageways. He decided that this job would've required his Heavy Duty Work suit, and he did bring his DH-17 just in case. The weathered metal creaked and groaned with every step Louis took. Honestly, Louis thought that you didn't need to be a genius to know that some of the corridors shouldn't be traveled. Like the one he was in right now.

"We just got here and we ain't leaving here without that prize." One of the scavengers complained. Louis was glad he had his helmet, because it hid the fear and skepticism that was plastered across his face. Why would anyone risk their lives for something that might be as withered away as the rest of these mining shafts? Louis probably never would understand, but what he did understand was that the shaft they were in was not safe.

"Hey! I think....I think I found something!" Said another scavenger that began tugging on something that Louis couldn't see to well in the dark. So, he grabbed his flashlight and turned it on to see what the scrapper was pulling on. Louis' heart nearly stopped when he saw that the Scavenger was pulling on the legs of a half buried, very dead, miner. Everyone jumped back, some squealing while others just got the jitters. Louis was frozen, and everything seemed to go quite as he stared at the half-corpse.

"Hey! You okay?"

Why was it so terrifying? Louis had seen dead bodies before...but this wasn't natural, somehow.

"We need to go! C'mon!"

No, this man had been here to work in the mines. Something must have happened. Did he have any friends? Why was he left like this?

"Louis!"

That was why it was so...scary. He was alone. He died alone. No one cared to come find him. That was what Louis feared most, and for the first time in a long time, he lost his smile.

"LOUIS!! We need to go! Now!" The lead scavenger, Malak or something, had snapped Louis back into reality. "What...what's going on?" The entire group was on the move. Where were they running to? The shaft made an eerie creak before the sound of snapping metal and the rumbling of rocks and debris caving in made everything perfectly clear. "You were right- sorry kid."

That was the last thing Louis could remember Malak telling him. They all began sprinting forward, because it was the only direction to run in, with the shaft falling apart behind them. Louis was faster than the rest, passing everyone by, but he refused to look behind him at the carnage. He knew what was happening, anyway, because where his eyes might not have been perfect, his ears worked perfectly fine. Cut off screams, the snapping of people's bodies under the weight of the debris, all told a very clear story that Louis wasn't so sure he was enjoying.

Louis could only run and hope for the best. It was terrifying to think that maybe Louis would end up like that miner that he still couldn't get out of his head.

Then...everything stopped. There were not anymore rocks falling on the Engineer. Everything was black, however. Oh God...I'm in Hell, aren't I? And an eerie flashing green light from the center of the room answered his question. Louis fell to his butt and sighed with relief, "Phew!...Aw man...That...that was...never doing that..." He tried catching his breath and began bouncing his leg to stimulate himself.

@Apollyon @Nefieslab @Logan

 

[Vesper T'Rahm]

Sometimes, just sometimes, Vesper wished things in her life would go the way she planned them to go. This trip was supposed to be easy. A quick jaunt into some subterranean ruins, retrieve some artifacts from a shrine, bring them back to the Jedi, hopefully get some cash and some cache. Easy.

But noooo. The force-fucking shafts in this underground hellscape had to go on and collapse. Vesper had barely managed to make it far enough into the tunnels not to get crushed. Luckily, Vesper had brought her C4T droid, Miles, along with her in case she needed someone to translate old etchings or texts. It was lucky because, among the numerous things Miles could do, he could turn his eyes into flashlights.

Do you have any idea where we are going, Miles? Vesper asked, the annoyance in her voice obvious enough that even her droid could catch it.

We appear to be approaching a junction, Miles replied. Perhaps you can gather your bearings there.

Lets hope so.

As Vesper approached the junction in the pathways, she was surprised to find others gathered here as well. Her eyes were drawn to the blinking light of the datapad, and then to the curious expression on Arlan's face. With a shrug, Vesper approached the tablet and pressed the answer button.

No sense in not finding out what the weird blinky light has to say, She quipped, taking a step back as she waited to see what would happen.

@Nefieslab @Apollyon @The Good Doctor @Charles

 

[The Storyteller]

Each and every touch to the metal walkways resulted in an echoing creak that spread down the halls, almost acting like an alarm system. Thankfully for Aralan and Aden, there seemed to be no one there to respond to the noise at first and they were free to move on, to push on through into the station that had been set up so long ago. Both of them would be admitted to the station and both of them would immediately see the message-received notification on the dataslate.

Vesper would arrive slightly behind the expedition party of the Sith and his pilot, something that Louis would be able to see from where he had managed to avoid being crushed to death by the debris. The sounds of them all coming together to the centre of the junction rang out along the corroded metal pathways deeper into the asteroid.

As Vesper pressed the button to answer the dataslate the blank, black, screen was immediately illuminated by a single phrase in stark green font.

Hello World...​

It stayed there, ominiously, for a second before it was joined by the second part of the company slogan that played during activation.

Hello World... Hello Armathwaite Intergalactical. Here everyday, for you!​

Once the proper boot up sequence was completed, the message itself would be fully displayed for anyone close enough to see the screen to freely read. It started off as a simple electronic message that was due to be sent by a Rou'a Katar to their boss back on Chandrilla but it seemed that the message had never been sent. Instead the message started as a progress report on the renewed mining efforts around the shrine but quickly became more of a stream of consciousness as it seemed the device had stopped responding, only allowing Rou'a to type more into the message box.

It detailed the continue mining around the shrine for precious metals and the, hoped-for, historical data that could be retrieved from it and Rou'a even complained about the labourers that had been brought in by the company. Despite the proclivity for excavation droids to break down, Rou'a repeatedly stated that he preferred them to the Yevetha labour that had been arranged instead.

The last line of the journal, of sorts, didn't match the style and tone of the rest. No, instead of making more reports for his job, Rou'a instead seemed to begin repeating a phrase to himself in writing.

Sharp of claw and swift on wings,
Terror and fear he ever brings.​

Underneath the dataslate, a small physical map is marked with the location of the station they currently stand within and one of the tunnels is marked with the comment "to the shrine" in bright red marker. A stillness seems to descend upon the area as everything becomes silent as the dataslate begins to power down regardless of attempts to stop it, displaying its standard message.

Power Low. Goodbye, World.​

The silence would quickly becoming deafening if they did not fill it.

@Logan @Apollyon @The Good Doctor @Charles

 

[Aden Archer]

So there were others that gathered, other people that didn't look like they were scavengers that gathered. The lady just went up and pushed the button on the the dataslate. Curious on what it said, Aden moved close so he too can read the contents. There were some logs that seemed routine, and then there were cryptic lines being repeated.

"Power Low. Goodbye, World." was the last message on it, and then there was no power left for the device at all. Aden had a comment. "This thing only had enough power to just for us to see it, it couldn't have lasted any longer. Seems a bit odd..." he said once silence filled the air. There was the cave-in, the slate with only just enough power, and it's cryptic entries. Aden would then ask the team's resident archaeologist, or explorer, whichever it is, or really anyone who might be able to know. "Do you know what 'Sharp Claw', and 'Terror of fear' might mean?" the it's not very apparent to the pilot that's for sure.

Now that Aden thinks about it, the air tastes somewhat familiar, of heavy metals. Aden has spent most of his life on space craft, on space stations, or other with artificial environments, not something he forgets. But here it feels like swallowing blood with how dense the metals are here. More denser than usual that is.

Aden would wait to see if the others had any input or ideas on how to move forward, they need to get going, somewhere.

@Apollyon @Logan @Charles @Nefieslab

 

[Aralan Delste]

The unknown woman had walked forward and taken up the dataslate before Aralan could truly react. The information disseminated from the pad was at first boring and stereotypical corporate jargon that Aralan paid little interest in. However, as the device continued to relay what it's previous owner had written, things became much more interesting and horrifying.

Sharp of claw and swift on wings,
Terror and fear he ever brings.

"A truly fascinating descent into ma-" Aralan had started to say when something brushed against the edges of his senses and cut his words off.

He felt his body involuntarily tighten up as the light brush developed into a light tapping against his mental fortitude, as if testing the strength of the palisades he had constructed there. He couldn't immediately tell if this presence was hunting for a chink in armor he had constructed there or if it was preparing to overwhelm them through sheer brutality. However, as this fear settled over him like a cloak, another one draped itself over his shoulders, he could FEEL this presence through the Force itself.

Aralan felt every hair on his body stand on edge as he felt a weight place gently place itself on his shoulders. This presence no longer vied for his attentions now, instead it had fully encapsulated him. The gentle tap on his shoulder magnified into the sensation of pressure building, DEMANDING for him to turn and face whatever it was behind him. Adrenaline pumped through his system as Aralan slowly forced his head turn and his eyes to gaze back into the darkness.

He had expected to see some monstrosity loping towards the group with murderous intent, hungry for it's pound of flesh. The grip he held on his inactive lightsaber hilt tightened for the briefest moment in anticipation. But where he expected to see horror and fear made manifest, there was simply nothing. The pressure on his shoulders faded and the mounting tapping on his mental walls did was well, leaving behind barely the scantest traces of what had assaulted him merely moments before.

A visible shudder rippled upwards through Aralan, his skin grew cold, clammy, pale and his breathing had increased rapidly to something akin to a full blown panic attack in mere moments. The remnants that had been left from the test spoke of three things that pressed upon him, whatever had done this was ancient beyond measurement, was strong in the Force, and knew of their presence in it's lair.

"I don't think we are alone down here." Aralan managed to whisper out between chattering teeth. "And whatever it is, it knows we are here."

@Logan @Nefieslab @Charles @The Good Doctor

 

[Louis Lorsoni]

That transmission did not make Louis feel any better about his situation. However, he was glad he was with other people that seemed to be in the same situation as him. Maybe they were scared, too. Maybe they knew a little more about what they had gotten into. Whatever was happening, Louis didn't want to be alone in this place. All the engineer cared about was getting his ass back to Sullust. If this place had a million credits stashed away somewhere, Louis Lorsoni didn't care. This place was his hell.

Something was definitely off with Aralan. He looked terrified and confused- which was strange for Louis because he usually was so calm and stern. Whatever could shake a man like that up was definitely serious, especially if it made him draw the hilt of looked to be a lightsaber. A Jedi! Louis thought with relief. We're saved! Or he hoped so. He also hoped that Aralan was a Jedi and not a Sith. Maybe it wouldn't matter what he was right now. They were all in the same situation and maybe they'd benefit from working with each other.

"I...I want to go home, now. I don't care about getting paid- I just want out." This place had bad juju written all over it and Louis wanted no part in it. He took his helmet off so he could readjust his glasses, looking sheepishly as his feet. "Um...I can, maybe, assist in whatever I can...if, you know, that would help." Louis wished he was braver. Maybe if he was, he would've been able to face his father instead of run away. Maybe he wouldn't be in this mess to begin with.

@Logan @Apollyon @The Good Doctor @Nefieslab

 

[Vesper T'Rahm]

Vesper listened intently to the recording though was surprised at its brevity. She wracked her brain trying to think if she'd ever heard those strange lines before. Before she could really start jogging her memory, Vesper felt something tapping at the mental shields she subconsciously kept around her mind.

It was strange, though. It was almost more... inquisitive than something truly trying to weasel its way in. Like it was testing the wall to see what was there. Its caress was also frustratingly hazy, Vesper wasn't able to discern its presence in the force. Was it malevolent? For now, she couldn't be sure.

One thing Vesper did know for certain was that it was old, ancient in ways she subconsciously understood but couldn't adequately comprehend. The feeling ended as abruptly as it had started, leaving Vesper only with questions and even less answers than she had before pressing that play button.

Not sure leaving is really up to us anymore. Vesper said quietly, her eyes drifting towards Louis before turning back and settling on Aralan.

You felt it too? Vesper asked Aralan, her eyes narrowing slightly in concern. We need to find out what it is.

Looking around, Vesper was unsure of the best course of action, not a feeling she was used to. Looking one way and then the other, she shrugged and started walking further in, away from where she had come from.

@Apollyon @The Good Doctor @Nefieslab @Charles

 

[The Storyteller]

Those Force Sensitive would no longer be able to feel the presence which had demanded their attention prior. Instead they would find as they reached out with their senses that the area around them seemed to be muddled in the Force. Certain insights that Force Sensitives just naturally had were instead almost wholly missing as the walls around them seemed to be dampening their connection to the Force in some way. Not enough to stop them from using it, not, but enough to stop them from seeing beyond what was strictly in front of them.

Louis' desire to go home was a perfectly valid desire but Vesper was correct in that it was quite futile at this stage - the way back was blocked and they had no reliable way to move the obstructions without risking further obstructions. The way back was lost to them.

There was only the way down.

The silence of the tunnels was broken once again, this time by a sound further down, deeper, in the asteroid. Muffled explosions were beginning to sound from within the depths of the asteroid - the group wouldn't be able to pinpoint exactly where the explosions were coming from but they would be able to spot something from one of the main tunnels heading down.

From within the depths and darkness, they would be able to see an astromech droid as it wheeled up toward them. Spotting them, it began to beep frantically in garbled binary at them.

Spoiler: Binary

"01010000 01100101 01101111 01110000 01101100 01100101 00100001 00100000 01001111 01101000 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100001 01101110 01101011 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01001101 01100001 01101011 01100101 01110010 00100001 00100000 01010000 01101100 01100101 01100001 01110011 01100101 00101100 00100000 01101101 01111001 00100000 01100110 01110010 01101001 01100101 01101110 01100100 00100000 01101001 01110011 00100000 01100100 01101111 01110111 01101110 00100000 01101001 01101110 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01101101 01101001 01101110 01100101 00100001 00100000 01010011 01101000 01100101 00100111 01110011 00100000 01100010 01100101 01100101 01101110 00100000 01100011 01101111 01101110 01110110 01101001 01101110 01100011 01100101 01100100 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01101000 01100101 01101100 01110000 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 01101101 00100000 01110000 01101100 01100001 01100011 01100101 00100000 01100101 01111000 01110000 01101100 01101111 01110011 01101001 01110110 01100101 01110011 00100000 01100001 01110010 01101111 01110101 01101110 01100100 00100000 01110011 01101111 01101101 01100101 00100000 01101111 01101100 01100100 00100000 01110011 01110100 01100001 01110100 01110101 01100101 00100000 00101101 00100000 01110111 01100101 00100000 01101000 01100001 01110110 01100101 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01110011 01110100 01101111 01110000 00100000 01101000 01100101 01110010 00100000 01100001 01101110 01100100 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 01101101 00100000 01100010 01100101 01100110 01101111 01110010 01100101 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 01111001 00100000 01100010 01101100 01101111 01110111 00100000 01110101 01110011 00100000 01100001 01101100 01101100 00100000 01110101 01110000 00100001!"

@Logan @Apollyon @The Good Doctor @Charles

 

[Aralan Delste]

Aralan was pulled from the icy grip of raw fear by Louis’ words. His gaze fell on the man, Louis was just as afraid, that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, the human’s fear could be used to fuel Aralan’s own connection to the Force. He focused on that, churning his own fear into passion for the unknown and outrage for the mental disturbance he had just experienced. He combined in the delectable fear that Louis felt to further bolster that connection in preparation for whatever might be ahead.

However, Vesper’s voice interrupted this process, cutting short the potential power Aralan could have drawn from the Force. His gaze turned to her and he began to reply to her question but as his gaze fell from Louis and onto her something unexpected happened.

He felt nothingness.

Where he had once sensed Louis and the man’s fear at the compounding situation, now he felt nothing. A confused and perplexed look crossed Aralan’s face, his eyes hesitantly shifting back from Vesper and to Louis. The moment his gaze returned, the sensation of the man’s fear rolled back through the Force. Aralan blinked in utter shock at this development, it shouldn’t be possible, he should be able to feel and feed off of those feelings without issue, but he couldn’t.

“Fascinating.” Aralan thought to himself before returning his attentions to Vesper.

“I did. Something tested the shields around my mind.” He replied. “Are you having trouble…sensing things through Force as well?” He asked her, assuming now that she was a trained Force Sensative as well. “Things seem…muddled for me.”

It was shortly after he finished his reply that the tunnels rocked, the echoes of explosions reached them. While Aralan couldn’t pinpoint where the series of detonations had come from, he knew it was deeper within the complex. He barely had time to process the explosions before another odd sight rolled out of the darkness, an Astromech droid.

It immediately began to excitedly unleash a garbled mess of binary at them. It took a moment for Aralan to process what the little droid had said, due to it speaking in three languages within the binary dialect, two of which were ancient and largely dead dialects. Thankfully however, Aralan spoke them all and he understood binary as well. A small smile appeared on his lips as he listened to this little droid spouting its plea for help.

“Absolutely fascinating.” He whispered to himself before addressing the group.

“This little droid is asking us for help.” Aralan stated simply. “It says that it’s friend is deeper within the mines helping the-“ Aralan started repeating to the rest of the group before stopping abruptly.

“Them. What did it mean by them?” He thought to himself

“Who are they?” He asked the little droid mixing his words between the two long disused dialects it had spoken earlier.

Only then would his gaze return to the rest of his companions. “It says that it’s friend has been convinced to help…them.” He explained. “It’s asking us to help it stop her and whoever they are from blowing up the shrine.” He explained.

@Nefieslab @Logan @The Good Doctor @Charles

 

[Aden Archer]

The only way out was down, this other person (@Louis) seems like he's going to be annoying real quick, no matter. Looks like the archeologist Aralan and the lady were sensing something, Aralan even mentioned about sensing things through the Force and the lady apparently has it too. What a condience they are both hear. Aden doesn't have the force, so them having that sense power may come in handy since this place seems very dangerous and the place is giving him the shivers real fast. Ugh

Into the darkness, Aden would find it prudent to stow away his carbine and instead move a stun glow rod to his hand, he would turn on it's light and hold it up, helping illuminate the place better as they would go. He would move his pistol to his other hand just in case.

There was an explosion or something in the background. it wasn't nearby, it appeared muffled, it was in the distance, somewhere. Aden instinctively had pistol leveled for case of trouble. Could it have been another cave-in somewhere else?

There was an astromech droid that appeared forth, it would speak and it wasn't intelligible to Aden, him squinting trying to understand it and failing. The pilot owns an astromech droid and can understand droidspeak, so he isn't sure how he is not able to understand this one. But then how is Aralan understanding it no problem? So, the astromech droid needs help, depper in the mines, helping 'them'.

Aden would have give his two credits in. "Who is 'them' again?" maybe Aden is just having a hard time keeping up here. "We did come all this way for the shrine, we should stop them" Aden said, in addition to wanting to get out of this rock alive, he would prefer that the shrine and the artifact associated with it be well intact so he can get paid.

@Logan @Charles @Apollyon @nefie

 

[The Storyteller]

Louis' fear began to almost immediately run away with him - the man's eyes began to widen as he looked around him quickly, gittery in a way he hadn't been before. Muttering to himself, Louis wandered away from the rest of the group, seemingly searching for something he had brought with him but couldn't find on him at all.

The droid interrupted most of the conversation, rushing toward them like they were its only hope of a lifeline in this entire Galaxy. Excitedly, it beeped its pleasure in its curious brand of binary - but even those unable to fully understand it would be able to tell from the tone of the beeps alone that the droid was happy to see them.

Spoiler: Binary

01010100 01101000 01100101 01101101 00111111 00100000 01010100 01101000 01100101 01111001 00100111 01110010 01100101 00100000 01110011 01101111 00100000 01101011 01101001 01101110 01100100 00100000 01101111 01100110 00100000 01100011 01110101 01101100 01110100 00100000 01101111 01110010 00100000 01110011 01101111 01101101 01100101 01110100 01101000 01101001 01101110 01100111 00100000 00101101 00100000 01001001 00100000 01100100 01101111 01101110 00100111 01110100 00100000 01101011 01101110 01101111 01110111 00101110 00100000 01010100 01101000 01100101 01111001 00100000 01101100 01101111 01101111 01101011 01100101 01100100 00100000 01101110 01101111 01110010 01101101 01100001 01101100 00100000 01110111 01101000 01100101 01101110 00100000 01101101 01100101 00100000 01100001 01101110 01100100 00100000 01101101 01111001 00100000 01100110 01110010 01101001 01100101 01101110 01100100 00100000 01100011 01100001 01101101 01100101 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01110100 01101000 01101001 01110011 00100000 01100001 01110011 01110100 01100101 01110010 01101111 01101001 01100100 00100000 01101001 01101110 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01100110 01101001 01110010 01110011 01110100 00100000 01110000 01101100 01100001 01100011 01100101 00100000 01100010 01110101 01110100 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 01101110 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 01111001 00100000 01110011 01110100 01100001 01110010 01110100 01100101 01100100 00100000 01100001 01100011 01110100 01101001 01101110 01100111 00100000 01101100 01101001 01101011 01100101 00100000 01110111 01100101 01101001 01110010 01100100 00100000 01100011 01110101 01101100 01110100 00100000 01110000 01100101 01101111 01110000 01101100 01100101 00101110 00100000 01001001 00100000 01110100 01101000 01101111 01110101 01100111 01101000 01110100 00100000 01110111 01100101 00100111 01100100 00100000 01101010 01110101 01110011 01110100 00100000 01101100 01100101 01100001 01110110 01100101 00100000 01100010 01110101 01110100 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 01101110 00100000 01101101 01111001 00100000 01100110 01110010 01101001 01100101 01101110 01100100 00100000 01110011 01110100 01100001 01110010 01110100 01100101 01100100 00100000 01100001 01100011 01110100 01101001 01101110 01100111 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01110011 01100001 01101101 01100101 00100001

As the astromech was explaining the situation to Aralan, the one who could clearly understand him, it moved closer so that it could be seen more clearly. It was obvious to everyone that the droid was a rather odd model - though if they actually knew what model astromech was before them was debatable and would depend on their knowledge of astromech technology.

From behind however, there was a commotion as Louis seemed to have come back from where he had been muttering to himself.

And he came back with violence.

Vesper was caught unaware, crumpling in pain as the bespectacled man swung a length of metal straight into her kidney from the side - effectively sucker punching the Jedi with a debilitating blow. Immediately apparent was that Louis? Wasn't really in control anymore. His eyes had rolled into the back of his head and he was eerily silent, no more whimpering. He didn't even appear to be breathing as he held up the length of durasteel with one hand.

"Come and see."

The words tumbled out of the man's mouth without his tongue actually moving, sounding absolutely nothing like Louis. Instead the voice seemed to be made of at least five different voices, some male, some female and some clearly speaking basic through non-human vocal chords.

"Throw down your weapons and come and see."

@Apollyon @The Good Doctor

 

[Aden Archer]

Aden did notice that Louis wasn't with the group at first, seemingly wandered off after mumbling and muttering some stuff? That's... probably not a good move given how weird things are shaping up so far, but then again he was getting annoying and Aden wasn't going to go after him and it was too late for him to stop him, preferring to stay with the group and be alert.

The pilot still couldn't understand what the droid was saying. He's wondering what model of astromech droid it is, he can't identify it. Aden knows quite a bit of astromech droids from the present and some vintage ones here and there, but not this one. Has to be from before the Clone Wars though. Even the R2 or R3-like models are still around here and there in the present.

But then he would hear a metal clang and Vesper would crumple down. It was... the guy with glasses again. The glowrod Aden had lit up would make it impossible for the darkness to cover him up. Aden tensed up and pointed his blaster at Louis. Aden could see that his eyes were just wrong and he wasn't breathing or moving his mouth to talk, and the voice wasn't his. Aden is wondering if he somehow got himself into a horror holovid.

Feeling sufficiently threatened and definitely not throwing down his weapons, Aden would backpedal a couple steps then fire three blaster bolts into the Louis aiming for his center mass. Aden shouldn't be able to miss...

If the threat was neutralized, Aden would look over at the lady and it looks like she may be out just just a glance. Aden look back at archaeologist confused. "You have any idea what just happened with him?" he would wonder. Aden was both be withered and he would be no doubt wary with that having just happened.

@Apollyon @Nefieslab

 

[Aralan Delste]

Aralan listened intently to the stream of binary the droid happily whistled to him in reply. He half chuckled at how enthusiastic the small droid was to communicate with someone that understood it to a degree. Aralan found himself telling the droid to slow down or repeat what it had said a few times to fully understand the tale it was recanting to him. As such, he didn’t notice the sudden shift in Louis, that was until the crack of a metal pipe striking flesh caused the Sith to spin around, his lightsaber bursting to life with a sinister, crimson glow.

The other Force Sensitive was on the ground, she had been caught completely unaware by the assault that the previous mildly mannered Louis had unleashed upon her. Aralan initially moved to strike the fool down, but instead he immediately noticed that Louis’ eyes were rolled back into his head, his chest was still, he had grown completely still. Aralan’s blood when Louis’ mouth opened and out spilled a myriad of voices inviting them to bear witness to something. It took Aralan barely half a second to overcome his initial shock but when he did, he deactivated his lightsaber, the red glow immediately fading and returning the cavernous mouth back to the pitch of this unnatural darkness. He took a half step forward and made to speak to the entity when suddenly shots rang out to Aralan’s surprise.

“NO!” He shouted in response to the biggest shred of evidence given to them potentially being destroyed by his only remaining companion.

“You have any idea what just happened with him?” The man named Aden asked, his attention shifting to Aralan.

The very question made Aralan’s blood hot, for a fraction of a second the Sith toyed with the idea of cutting the man down where he stood for his foolishness. However, in the end Aralan recognized the short-sightedness of that impulse, at least he knew that Aden wouldn’t hesitate to pull the trigger if it was required, that was a grim comfort. Aralan allowed for a long and sharp exhale to escape between clenched teeth, he had to calm himself before he could reply. It was a process that took a few moments before the Sith had regained his own composure.

“I do not.” Aralan replied curtly. “Unfortunately, I think the likelihood of us finding out firsthand is rising.” He continued after giving an exasperated sigh. “We need to dispose of his corpse.” He stated, pointing to the body of Louis. “And ensure she is in a secured location.” He continued, pointed to the prone form of Vesper. “We should also take anything we might need from them. I have a feeling that this journey will be treacherous.”

 

[The Storyteller]

The possessed body of Louis did nothing to try and evade the shots that Aden fired, the three blaster bolts scorching and blasting holes in its torso. Jerking backward with the hits, the possessed man was flung to the ground by the force behind the blasts. Still, despite the damage, the body tried to pull itself up against the wall, tried to ignore the fact that the structural integrity of the body was compromised in a way that couldn't be overcome by sheer will.

Indeed, one of the blasts had taken a chunk of Louis' upper left arm with it and when the creature tried to use said arm to push itself back up, the arm snapped off entirely above the elbow and it fell to the ground again.

It remained entirely, eerily, silent as it glared sightlessly at Aden and Aralan as it bled out. The only sound from the body was of the rapidly gushing and pooling blood.

The silence was broken by the sound of several more, muted, explosions deeper into the tunnels. As if coming back to full functionality, the astromech beeped insistently at the two men, going so far as to try and tug at Aden's sleeve with one of its manipulator arms.

@The Good Doctor @Apollyon

 

[Aden Archer]

Aden fired despite Aralan's initial attempt to shut him down with a no. Louis, if that was really him, was too much of a threat and was going to be problematic. Louis would be dead, a bloody mess. It would attempt to get itself back up even though it should have been dead at this point, even an arm snapping off. It was alive, garling at them. Aden's initial thought was he was infected by AMS, someone forgot to get their vaccine maybe?

Aden could tell that Aralan was very annoyed, may not have been the brightest idea on his part, maybe he had plans, but he guesses it was too late now. There was no way Aden was going to drop his weapons with really fishy stuff going on.

After Aralan spoke to him, Aden would point his head towards the explosionings in the tunnels, and then the astromech droid would start rapidly pulling on him. Aden didn't need to understand it's broken binary to know that the droid wants them to get moving now. "Ok ok, Just a moment" he would say to the little astromech droid. With one glance at the broken corpse formerly known as Louis. "No way he's going to get up" but Vesper is probably still alive and needs to be safe. Taking Arlen's advice though, Aden would quickly swipe his mechanic tools and fusion cutter, being cautious about it too. Might need to be able to fix something later. Aden would drag Vesper back a few against a wall. She should be safe there.

---

After that business is all settled, Aden would proceed deeper into the mines, going at a steady pace, moving more quietly clearly not wanting to rush into things in this increasingly creepy and volatile asteroid mine. For a mine however, Aden is noticing although the walls are smooth, there is no mining equipment or marks anywhere. Then next it's down a slope that would be dark, if not for the glow rod still in Aden's hand. But deeper he would then see a group of six people up ahead with hammers, appearing to be bashing on a statue. As soon as he saw them, Aden would crouch down and turn off his glow rod, not wanting to be seen. There is a seventh person off to the side that appears to have explosives in their hand. It looks like they are too totally focused on that statue to notice the two. Maybe, but Aden thinks they are unnoticed.

Aden would whisper quietly to the archeologist. "Is that the shrine?" if he was within hearing distance. Focusing more on the statue, light-grey stone statue is in very bad condition. Aden would keep to the shadows for now, not wanting to attract the further ire of the saber-wielding archeologist.

@Apollyon @Nefieslab