SWRPF Archive Leá Monde

Mineshaft

In the darkness, the Jedi began to fight off the undead, catching hideous glimpses of their unholy foes only by the light of their sabers.

Vic Horkin stabbed downward through the head of the nearest corpse. The blade plunged deep through the gruesome flesh and thick skull and came out through the jaw. When the saber was sheared out, the corpse stood for a moment swaying, a hole gouged through its head, but still moving. It lashed out at Vic with clumsy, clubbing hands.

Kimara Odon tried to snap the back of the nearest dead body to her. There was a satisfying crunch. It seemed to work for a moment, as the undead creature simply writhed around, its back twisted at a horrific angle. But suddenly, as if lifted by an invisible puppetmaster, the body leapt to its feet, its spine still broken out of shape, and began moving towards Kimara, snarling.

Meanwhile the undead were swarming around Kara Dysar and Anengy Facefoot, attempting to pile on top of the pair.

Tag: Xan, nemisis, Despised, Trimaj

 

IC: Vic Horkin
~Mineshaft - Leá Monde~

"Not a chance Vic!" Kimara yelled angrily, her voice betraying her feelings of frustration towards the older Jedi Knight. "I was sent on this mission because I am as capable as the rest of you, deal with it." Vic was taken aback for a second. She then attempted to sort of Force Crush on one of the living corpses that arose, crushing its back with a nasty crunch that made Vic flinch. It was horrifying and would have been enough to cause Vic to take action had it been an actual living being. A brief thought passed through Vic's mind. Perhaps Kimara was not strong enough to withstand the temptation of the Dark Side, perhaps she had already fell pray to it's power. Vic became a bit worried, and knew he had to keep a close watch on her.

"I don't want to argue," he said quickly. "So I will go!" He stepped forward to go ahead of Kimara but was stopped dead in his tracks by an oncoming punch from one of the corpses. Vic was able to get a glimpse of the face, noticing it was the same exact corpses that he had plunged his blade into, due to the still scorching hole penetrating its face. Instinctively, Vic ducked the clubbing blow, bringing his saber around in a sweet that would slice the abomination in half. Hopefully that would finally do the trick.

The best possible solution Vic could think of was to run, in hopes of getting to a room that was more maneuverable. "Move!" He yelled up front towards Kara and Anengy, who were being swarmed by living corpses. The corpse that had it's back broken by Kimara had been able to survive that as well. These beasts did not seem to want to stay dead and Vic did not know exactly how to handle it. This, along with the swelling temptation of the Dark Side, was making the mission a little more difficult than he had planned.

TAG: Winged_Jedi, Despised1, Trimaj, DarthXan318

 

IC: Kara Dysar

Mineshaft

This section of the shaft would have been unremarkable had it not been carpeted in corpses. Kara nearly tripped over the first one they came across, but the quartet of Jedi continued through steadily, picking their footsteps with care.

Then, without warning, the swirling darkness around them seemed to abruptly thicken, flooding through the air and the Force. Caught off guard by the combined assault of the dark side and claustrophobia and panic, Kara staggered, her lightsaber wavering dangerously - frantically she tried to close her mind -

You will die here

We all die here

The Dark is everywhere

No! Kara clutched her head with her free hand, for the lot of good it would do. This was definitely a situation where natural emphatic ability was a very bad thing to have. Dimly, she registered that Vic had called out something, that Kimara had snarled a reply, that there was movement at her feet - movement? Something grabbed at her leg, clawing at her with surprising force. Instinctively, Kara lashed out with her lightsaber, catching that - thing - on the shoulder and shearing through.

Another slammed into her back, and this time Kara nearly went down. The Jedi Knight spun and slashed again. By now she had the darkness at bay and she could think again. And her mind finally registered that they weren't under attack by just anything - they were the very corpses that they had been stepping over.

Around her, the other Jedi were fighting as well. The corpses were everywhere, animated by some dark sorcery that kept them moving through what should have been fatal damage -

"Move!" Vic yelled. Kara, having arrived at the conclusion that they were dead if they stayed put, had no problems with that plan. Stabbing at the corpse that had tried to grab her arm, Kara shook it off and did her best to run forward, cutting through the undead in her way.

TAG: WJ, Nem, Trimaj, Despised

 

Mineshaft

The Jedi continued to try and battle off the undead in the blackness. Blues and green and purple provided blurring, blazing light as the saber-wielders attempted a fighting retreat.

Vic ducked one corpse's clubbing blow, bringing his saber around, and slicing the foe clean in half. This time it did not get up. Vic had no time to enjoy the moment, however, as another three of the foul creatures were already upon him.

Kara was driving forward, spinning and slashing and cutting through the undead. Her strokes severed several limbs, but this did not seem to even slow her opponents. Those she decapitated or sliced in two were the only ones who stayed down.

Anengy and Kimara were battling hard a few feet away, forced onto the defensive by the seemingly neverending waves of living dead.

And though the Jedi might not have noticed it in the chaos, the ground beneath them had begun to tremble, ever so slightly.

Tag: Xan, nemisis, Despised, Trimaj

 

IC: Kimara Odon

Too lost in her own turmoil and frustration to continue her banter with Vic, Kimara could do nothing more than defend herself from the unyielding enemy before her. All around them came the horde of undead, some falling only once being cut clean in half, others pressing onward regardless of missing limbs or heads.

Something suddenly snapped her back to reality, she could have sworn that the entire world had begun to shake but shrugged it off as a delusion of the darkness and her mind, regardless of what it was she took the gift of clarity and while still defending herself from attack tried to calm herself.

Realizing almost too late that the most dangerous aspect of this mission was not the Sith cultists, or Jan Rosencrantz and the Imperial Knights...it was themselves. If she was not constantly aware of herself, and her presence of mind, she would become a victim and servant of the dark side itself.

With renewed vigor and a centered mind she looked toward those around her to access the situation and allow the force to guide her in the right direction, hopefully the answer would come fast lest they all perish in this very shaft. For now however, she would do all she could to simply survive.

Tag: WJ, Xan, Nemisis, Trimaj

 

IC: Anengy Facefoot/ Some distance from Leá Monde
Entering the Mines/ Right Fork

The sheer number of bodies was vaguely unnerving, and when combined with everything else nearly overwhelming for the Balosar Jedi. I can't let this get to me, I'm stronger than this. Stronger. Dead, all dead. Everything, no light, it must have died too. Are we going to die here as well? Attempting to walk around or over the bodies, stumbling as her discomfort continued to grow, was the least fun she had had in a very long time.

Almost in echo to her harried thoughts a voice spoke out of the dark straight into her head. You will die here. Anengy screamed, and suddenly the walls felt like they had trapped her in a small box. Falling to her knees she huddled against a wall dropping her lightsaber, it's purple light going out in the dark world. We all die here. Whimpering she, "Make it stop. Make it go away!" She knew that she would likely never live this sudden weakness down, but couldn't have cared less given the circumstances. The Dark is everywhere. The "voice" was like an echo of innumberable screams echoing through to her very soul. "MAKE IT STOP!" She started backing up the corridor again, her lightsaber forgotten for the moment.

When the bodies started rising her panic grew even worse. "WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE! GET ME OUT OF HERE! OUT! OUT, NEED OUT!" Her desperate cries likely competely overwhelmed by the sudden fighting that developed around her. Anengy groped around her needing the comfort of her dropped lightsaber, almost a sixth sense making her reach for it. Still that didn't stop her from continuing back the way that they'd come. Surely the other path couldn't have been this bad.

She heard nothing that Vic tried to tell her, nothing that any of the others said. All that she could hear was an imagined roaring. The next thing that the Balosar knew she was surrounded by groping limbs, all with a hideous strength. She tried to rise, tried to lash out with her blade knowing that doom could very easily be nigh. I NEED OUT! WON'T DIE HERE, WON'T! Almost unwittingly she reached for the Force, not feeling it roaring through her. All of the fear that had been coalescing within the claustrophobic Balosar finally came to a head, and found its release through the Force that now rushed to fill the suddenly receptive vessel. She was born back down to the ground under the crush of bodies, and as she lay there her instincts refusing to let her go without a fight everything released in a sudden shockwave born of desperation. The wave of Force energy poured off of her and struck everything around.

TAG: NEM, XAN, D1, WINGED

OOC: sorry about the wait all. hope it was worth it.

:snoopy

 

OOC: That's fine Trimaj, don't worry. The posting rate has been pretty solid so far, don't feel obliged to rush posts out. Like I've said before, as there's such a small group it should be fairly easy to catch up anyway.

Great posting by everyone so far, we've moved nice and quickly into the action and this is just the start!

---

[blockquote]
[i]Mineshaft[/i]

A purple light went out in the darkness of the mineshaft.

[i]"WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE! GET ME OUT OF HERE! OUT! OUT, NEED OUT!"[/i] shrieked [b]Anengy Facefoot[/b]. Crushed underneath a heaving throng of living dead, she tapped into the Force...or perhaps The City tapped into her. The darkside became a thick and suffocating smog in the Force. A powerful telepathic attack borne out of fear and desperation surged outwards from the Balosar's body, hurling corpses back in the darkness. The shockwave was so strong that it might well have knocked [b]Vic[/b], [b]Kara[/b] and [b]Kimara[/b] to the ground...fortunately it also blasted away any foes in their immediate vicinity.

There was barely any time to recover, though, for Jedi or for undead. The ground, which had been lightly rumbling, began to shake violently and strongly.

It could well have been Anengy's blast that triggered it, or it could have been coming anyway, but there was no time to wonder. The corpses toppled and fell as the ground thundered beneath them. As the four Jedi struggled to regain their footing in the darkness, they could hear chunks of the ceiling beginning to crash down around them. They were experiencing a large quake and a small cave-in, and if they did not leave fast, they would be trapped. And of course they still had the undead clutching at their feet.

[b]Tag: Xan, nemisis, Despised, Trimaj[/b][/blockquote]

 

IC: Anengy Facefoot/ Under Leá Monde
The Mines/ Right Fork

Sobbing from sudden exhaustion and thankfulness Anengy was free from the press of the undead things that lay sprawled around her. She didn't know if the others had been knocked off their feet or not, and she didn't take the time to look as instinct still had control of her. Relighting her saber, it's purple fire blazing against the darkness, she slashed at anything that reached for her. Many hands would go missing from things that should have been corpses.

The slashing occured as she rushed to get to more solid ground, or at least a place where it felt like it wouldn't fall out from underneath leaving a gaping hole straight to the depths of hell. Beware the being that tried to reach for her during that frenzied, scrabbling flight back up the mine shaft. Many scores were left along the walls and floor until she finally reached the fork again, as well as many cuts on her hands and knees after having fallen and scrambling to regain her feet in the shaking world. She hadn't noticed but there was also a cut on her head from some rocks that knocked her off her feet. All in all a very wearing return trip.

Collapsing, dropping her saber, the Balosar leaned against the wall huddling in on her self racking sobs making her slight body tremble out of control. Her arms were wrapped around her knees, antenna shaking and trembling in time to her sobs. She didn't know if the others had made it back safe or not. Didn't know if maybe one of her errant swipes had maybe cut one of them down as they reached to help her. What's more, at that moment she didn't care. All she wanted was to be free from the crushing darkness that surrounded her, that reached for her soul.

TAG: NEM, D1, XAN, WINGED

OOC: if the rest of the game is anything like this we're in for quite the ride winged.

:snoopy

 

IC: Vic Horkin
~Mineshaft - Leá Monde~

Vic was glad to see that the corpse had been successfully sliced in two and was no longer moving. However, that moment of relief was soon thwarted by three other corpses. He thought about Force pushing one of them, but he began to feel the ground shake, and thought that any slight disruption through the Force could trap them all in. He held back, and, instead, brought his other lightsaber, igniting the violet blade. That moment of hesitation cost him though, as the three corpses advanced too far. One had latched on to him, and the other were walking around to surround him. He leaned his head back to make room for a lightsaber and sliced the corpses head clean off.

"WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE! GET ME OUT OF HERE! OUT! OUT, NEED OUT!" The cry seemed to come from all over, as it echoed off the wall. He instantly knew who it came from judging by the voice, as he looked back. It was Anengy, just as he had thought. Vic couldn't believe that the eldest of the Jedi had already broken down, falling into the trap set forth by the Dark Side. Vic was unable to see what happened to her as the numerous amounts of corpses surrounded her as well because the other two corpses began to send a barrage of heavy fists at Vic.

Then, suddenly, Vic felt a build up of the Force, as if it was centralized into one point. Then, Boom! It hit him like a sledgehammer to the chest, knocking him and the corpses around him to the ground. He was able to gather his footing far quicker than the corpses, but nearly lost them as the ground began to give way. He heard noises from above and behind him as if rocks were falling to the ground. A cave in!

"Move!" Vic yelled again, this time he hoped they listened. It was apparent that Anengy was, as she darted off. Vic ran forward as fast as he could, dodging falling rocks, holes in the ground and those horrifying dead bodies that came to life as he attempted to get his fellow Jedi to follow him. Along the way, he Force hurled a couple of corpses out of his way and the others; there was no point in holding back now since the mineshaft was already caving in. Hopefully, the Jedi would pull themselves together and get to a point that was clear of corpses and, more importantly, out of the way of the cave-in.

He looked back, hoping that Kimara and Kara weren't too far behind, and was prepared to do what he could to help them out. But, as he approached Anengy, he was shocked to see what she had been reduced to. She was huddled up against the wall, clutching her knees, her lightsaber hilt on the ground a few meters away from her. Vic immediately sent a surge of strength through the Force, attempting to bolster her spirits, but was unsure how well it would be received with the Dark Side floating so heavy like it was.

"Anengy!" He said, approaching her, keeping a close eye behind him, in case something happened to the other Jedi. "You need to pull it together! You were chosen for this mission for a reason, don't let the Council down!" He paused a moment. "Don't let Joshua down..." Vic was still astonished at how she was acting. First Kimara showed signs of aggression, now Anengy was breaking down. Kara and Vic seemed to be the only ones who were able to handle what was being thrown at them...So far. Perhaps Anengy was not the right Jedi for this mission. Vic hated to say it, but if worse came to worse, leaving Anengy behind might have to become an option...

TAG: Winged_Jedi, Trimaj, Despised1, DarthXan318

 

IC: Kara Dysar

Mineshaft

As if the walking dead weren't enough to contend with, Kara could sense Anengy's panic building. "WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE! GET ME OUT OF HERE! OUT! OUT, NEED OUT!" the Balosar shrieked in a voice entirely unlike her own. The dark side surged again suddenly, and then Force energy poured off Anengy in a powerful shockwave that blasted everything to the ground, Jedi and corpses alike.

Acting on instinct, the Zeltron Jedi rolled to soften the impact and scrambled back to her feet, her lightsaber still mercifully in her hand. But she barely had time to feel relieved; the small tremors Kara had ignored earlier had blossomed into a full-fledged groundquake that threatened to collapse the shaft around them. As if to drive that point home, a chunk of the ceiling above her broke off and fell to the ground - Kara dodged, but it clipped her on the shoulder anyway, tearing through her robes and sending her reeling into the wall.

"Move!" Vic yelled again. Wildly, Kara glanced around for her fellow Jedi. Kimara was fine, Vic was already moving forward, Anengy was nowhere to be seen - where was Anengy? No time for that. Kara swore and pushed off the wall, bounding forward in Force-assisted strides after Vic.

After what seemed like an eternity of dodging falling rocks and stumbling over the shifting ground, Kara found herself back at the fork. With an exhausted sigh, the Zeltron collapsed against the wall and slid to the ground. Her shoulder stung; she felt like she was bruised all over.

Now that she had a moment to breathe, she could see that Vic and Anengy too had made it out alive. But Anengy - Anengy was collapsed against the wall of the mineshaft, her lightsaber forgotten on the ground, sobbing into her arms. Vic was bending over her worriedly, trying to rouse her. "Anengy! You need to pull it together! You were chosen for this mission for a reason, don't let the Council down!" He paused, and added, "Don't let Joshua down..."

I doubt she cares about that at the moment. "Anengy," Kara said softly, hesitantly reaching over to place a hand on her shoulder. She had an inkling of what was wrong, so perhaps ... "It's alright. You're safe now. It's just this place - the darkness here amplifies our fears, that's all. It's nothing to be ashamed of."

TAG: WJ, Nem, Trimaj, Despised

 

(disregard this)

 

Yup, just got that ... *edits*

That's what I get for skimming posts. Sorry.

 

(please ignore)

 

I have no idea what you're talking about.

 

IC: Kimara Odon

As Kimara continued to defend herself against the undead Anengy completely broke down, her screams filled the room and her panic was obvious. Being completely tied up in the fight she had no way going to her aid, and to be honest even if she did Kimara doubted that the aid would actually help as she was still trying to regain control over her own emotions.

The situation quickly worsened as Anengy collapsed to the floor and was immediately buried under a pile of living dead, but before Kimara could react a shock wave came from pile of writhing bodies. Kimara had no chance of avoiding the brunt of the blow, nor could she control her landing and only stopped as she hit a wall hard then collapsed to the floor gasping to regain her breath.

As her visioned blurred from pain the sudden collapse of the ceiling was lost upon the young Jedi, but being so close to the wall much of the larger debris fell out of harms way. A few smaller rocks rained down upon her causing minor cuts and tore at her robes, after a few more minutes....or seconds....she could not be sure, the cave in slowed enough for her to scramble toward the others who were now gathered around Anengy.

Looking worse for wear with minor cuts and scrapes on her face, and clothing torn and dusty. Kimara nonetheless set herself into a defensive position between the others and their previous location, her lightsaber was at the ready just in case any more of the undead rose to attack. Risking a glance down toward Vic and Kara she cautioned after a few deep gasps for air, "We can't linger too long," with a worried look to Anengy she added "even if we have to carry her we should get moving."

Tag: WJ, Xan, Nemisis, Trimaj

 

Fork in the Path, Mineshaft

The four Jedi had managed to escape the cave-in, and a glance back would show that the right hand path was now definitely blocked off. Fortunately, the collapsed ceiling appeared to have crushed the undead, as none of the foul creatures had emerged to continue the battle.

The Investigators gathered gasping for air, taking a moment to recover.

Anengy Facefoot remained slumped on the ground, clearly drained psychologically and physically by this first ordeal.

"Anengy!" said Vic, approaching his comrade. "You need to pull it together! You were chosen for this mission for a reason, don't let the Council down!" He paused. "Don't let Joshua down..."

"Anengy," said Kara, sitting beside her fellow Jedi and reaching out a hand to place on her shoulder."It's alright. You're safe now. It's just this place - the darkness here amplifies our fears, that's all. It's nothing to be ashamed of."

"We can't linger too long," added Kimara, warily guarding the others with her saber ready. "Even if we have to carry her we should get moving."

There was only one path to take now- the left fork. The hissing that had sounded from it previously seemed to have stopped, and it did not seem to have been affected by the quake.

It was then that he appeared. It was extremely sudden- the Force gave no warning sign.

Standing in the shadows on the path ahead, he stood with his back to them, exposing the huge cross tattoo that covered his back. It was distinctive, it was instantly recognisable. His arms were metallic, and dirty blonde hair fell to his upper back. The man turned his head, glancing over his shoulder at the Jedi. He caught their stunned eyes with his crystal blue ones, and he winked. And then he was gone, deep into the darkness as quickly as he had arrived.

The Jedi had just seen Sydney Losstarot for the first time.

Tag: Xan, nemisis, Despised, Trimaj

 

IC: Anengy Facefoot/ Under Leá Monde
The Mines/ Right Fork

It was several moments before any of the others escaped the collapsing tunnel. Sadly nothing about Anengy's condition had changed by then. The first to emerge was Vic, and though he tried to help the tone of voice only caused her to react in a way that was unbecoming. His words didn't precisely help matters either. "Anengy! You need to pull it together! You were chosen for this mission for a reason, don't let the Council down!" When he paused the Balosar almost replied, but his next comment bit a little as well. "Don't let Joshua down..." Tears streamed down her cheeks even more."Don't yell at me!" And she pulled away from him. "Do you think this is what I want?" Her voice was agonized, her emotional and mental pain almost palpable.

Kara seemed to have a greater idea of what was going on, her zeltron empathy proving useful for the first time in the dark enshrouded cave. "Anengy..." As the Zeltron set next to the weeping Jedi her tone managed to sooth were Vic's was abrassive. Anengy found herself turning the soft touch into a hug, clinging to Kara almost like a drowning woman to a life raft. "It's alright. You're safe now. It's just this place - the darkness here amplifies our fears, that's all. It's nothing to be ashamed of." It might not be something to be ashamed of, but her reaction to that fear arguably could be. The weakness that had managed to blindside her, that Anengy hadn't even known about crashing into the situation.

After several seconds her tears started to slow, and it seemed like the Zeltron was attempting to send soothing feelings. The distraught Anengy reached for them like a man dying of thirst. They allowed her to begin to regain control of herself. She knew Vic had meant no harm, but somehow he just hadn't realized what was going Jedi or no. Voice low, pitched so that only Kara could hear, "I've never been in so enclosed a place before... It terrifies me, the thought of being trapped here. Please don't let me be trapped here." Her last words are almost a whimper.

The last of their party had taken a defensive stance, ready to protect them all should any of the undead things emerge. Kimara gave the others several moments as none of their attackers emerged, but they all knew time was short. She made sure this was known, as well as her loyalty to the group. "We can't linger too long, even if we have to carry her we should get moving." Even though it likely wouldn't be seen Anengy gave the Arakanian a watery smile of gratitude. At least she wouldn't have to worry about her worst fear.

Of course things couldn't stay quiet for long in this hellspawned cave as something entirely unexpected happened. From the lone path that was left to them there was no sound, nothing. No warning from the Force, no warning from any of them possessed. A being stood in the entrance to the cave, a broad cross tatooed across it's back. Anengy's already frayed nerves couldn't quite stand this sudden appearance, and she called out wordlessly. The dirty blonde hair combined with the mechanical arms left little doubt who was standing there before them. When the man turned his head, crystal blue peering at them all. There could be no doubt, this was the man they had been sent to find. The man who had kidnapped Joshua. Then Sydney Losstarot winked. What the feth... the only coherent thought that could form in her muddled mind. Then as suddenly as he'd arrived Sydney was gone, as though drawing them down the correct path to meet with him.

Most of her composure still shot, her voice shaky Anengy asked "What was that? How could he appear like that?" Swallowing almost audibily, and Kara would certainly feel it, "Suddenly... I'm very afraid." She wondered if she was echoing anything that the others felt. The Balosar felt sure that if they would truly admit to themselves their true feelings fear would be found within their hearts as well. Perhaps it was well

 

IC: Kara Dysar

Mineshaft

"Shh," Kara murmured, gently rubbing Anengy's back as the Balosar sobbed into her arms. She did her best to send her soothing feelings, and it seemed to help - after a few seconds, Anengy's tears began to slow. Kara felt a burst of relief herself. She wouldn't abandon a comrade in need, but Zeltrons tended to shy away from situations that involved counselling people in distress - the combination of empathy and the ability to project emotions could result in some really disastrous feedback loops if they weren't careful. As a Jedi, Kara had learnt to control her abilities well enough that that wouldn't happen here, but it was still ... not pleasant.

In a low voice that only Kara could hear, Anengy said, "I've never been in so enclosed a place before... It terrifies me, the thought of being trapped here. Please don't let me be trapped here." Her last words are almost a whimper.

Kimara couldn't have heard, but her next words did wonders for Anengy's state of mind. "We can't linger too long, even if we have to carry her we should get moving."

Suddenly, as if to drive that point home, he appeared in the tunnel ahead. Anengy cried out wordlessly; Kara tightened her grip on the other Jedi. There was no mistaking the distinctive figure of Sydney Losstarot - his arms were metal and a huge cross tattoo covered his back, not remotely covered by his long dirty blonde hair. As Kara stared, stunned, the man turned around and winked.

And then he was gone.

"What was that?" Anengy asked shakily. "How could he appear like that?" She swallowed. "Suddenly... I'm very afraid. How can something bring the dead back like that? Have any of you ever heard of that before?" Her voice fell to a whisper that would have been barely audible had the mineshaft not been completely silent. "What have we gotten ourselves into?"

Kara didn't have an answer. "It's the city," she said instead, but the uncertainty in her voice made it clear she wasn't convinced herself. Feedback loop, she reminded herself. Doing her best to sound confident, she continued, "Remember our briefing - Leá Monde is believed to be a nexus of the dark side. He's just - just feeding on that, trying to scare us. He might not even have been here physically."

Still, - they couldn't stay here. "Kimara's right, we should go. The sooner we get out of these blasted mines, the better." In a low voice, she added to Anengy, "We're all in this together, yeah? Nobody's going to get left behind." With that she stood and offered the Balosar Jedi a hand up as well.

TAG: WJ, Nem, Trimaj, Despised

 

IC: Vic Horkin
~Mineshaft - Leá Monde~

"Don't yell at me!" Anengy responded, her tone betraying her distraught feelings. "Do you think this is what I want?" Vic could sense her agony through the Force, and realized his voice may have been a bit harsh. He was simply only trying to be heard over the noise made by the quake, nothing more. He realized that Anengy may have taken it as criticism, but Vic meant nothing of the sort. He poured calm feelings through the Force in an attempt to sooth her agony, while Kara played the job of soothing her with speech and physical contact. Anengy whispered something to Kara, but Vic was unable to make it out.

"We can't linger too long," Kimara added, doing excellent job of taking up a defensive stance so as to ward off any of those horrid corpses that may have survived. Vic thought for a moment how...strange that sounded to him. Had any of the corpses survived?...Strange, demented, unbelievable were some of the words that came to mind. "Even if we have to carry her we should get moving," Kimara added with a glance towards the weakened Jedi.

She was right, this waiting around was foolish, and very time consuming. This mission was best complete as quick as possible, as can be seen by the effects this mission was already having on Anengy, who was the oldest Jedi Knight amongst them. Unfortunately, the only path left to take was the left path, which previously had a strange hissing noise coming from it. It seemed to have stopped, leading Vic to wonder if the hissing had been a ploy used by the powers of the Dark Side to lure them into the right cave. If so, it certainly worked.

Vic did not see it right away, only out of the corner of his eye. It caused his stomach to drop, almost as if a 20 kilometer weight had been dropped in it. A man appeared seemingly out of nowhere, as if he had been hiding his presence in the Force. The form was immediately recognizable as the Cult leader, Sydney Losstarot. He gave a wink and headed off into the cave. Vic had to fight an urge to run after the man with his duel lightsabers. Vic may not be able to handle this Sith by himself, and he would only come to face the Sith if he passed through the cave unharmed, which would be unlikely.

He could feel the fear emanating off of the other Jedi. He would be lying to himself if he said he was not scared as this was a very scary situation. However, he realized that the Dark Side fed off these emotions, and quickly calmed himself down with the aid of a Jedi technique, a brief thought about his family and quickly stating the Jedi Code in his mind. The same could not be said for Anengy, who openly stated her fear.

"It's the city," Kara reminded. "Remember our briefing - Leá Monde is believed to be a nexus of the dark side. He's just - just feeding on that, trying to scare us. He might not even have been here physically."

She was right, and Vic would not allow this to phase him, no matter what. "We need to be strong. Suppress our fear, Losstarot is feeding off it; the city is feeding off that." He realized how ridiculous that sounded, but it was true. "Keep in mind, Sydney could have been an illusion," he reminded them. They were able to bring corpses to life, they would most certainly be able to create a Force Illusion. The fact they had not felt him through the Force would back that opinion.

"Kimara's right, we should go. The sooner we get out of these blasted mines, the better," said Kara. Vic gave a nod, and stepped forward to lead the group. It was apparent that Anengy was not up to it at the moment. He had to crouch to enter the pathway, and knew that this would be even worse for those who had a sense of claustrophobia, the path was so narrow he even had to crouch to walk. As he continued down the path, his awareness on high - all the while making sure he gave support to his Jedi teammates through the Force - he could only think of the question Anengy had posed. "What have we gotten ourselves into?" Vic could n

 

Mineshaft

The group proceeded, with no time to fully recover from recent events. Vic once again led the way, with Kimara following close behind. Kara brought up the rear, keeping a close eye on Anengy, who still seemed very shaken.

The rest of the mineshaft was poorly lit and the ground was treacherous in places, but they encountered no more undead horrors or violent quakes.

Eventually they again came to two pathways.

The left hand side led down a set of crumbling stairs and to two heavy iron doors lit by wall-mounted torches. Above the doors was a worn inscription reading 'CATACOMBS'. The path to the city was indeed said to lie through the catacombs, and therefore it seemed that this was the correct route. The doors were locked fast, though upon them was another inscription:

Now I might freely move from here to there
In winter I am strong and do not roam
In summer I fly up towards the air
Say my name to enter into death's home

As for the right hand pathway, it appeared to lead back into another area of the mineshaft and was therefore of little interest to the Jedi. To most of them, anyway. For Vic Horkin, it was of huge interest.

For standing there in the darkness of that path, visible to him alone, stood his departed wife, Kelia, looking as beautiful as she ever had in life. She beckoned to him to follow, and disappeared.

Tag: Xan, Trimaj, Despised, Nemisis

 

IC: Vic Horkin
~Mineshaft - Leá Monde~

Vic was relieved - to say the least - that he and his fellow Jedi did not run into any sort of problems as they passed through the mineshaft. There was very little light, but the lightsaber that Vic had held out in front of him gave off enough lighting so that they could see where they were walking. Along the way, Vic noticed many wholes and crevasses, but wondered if any of them were large enough for a creature that gave off that hissing sound earlier on. He had assumed that none of them were, which led him to believe that the hissing was only an illusion cast off by the Dark Side. There seemed to be a lot of those in here.

Eventually, the path led to yet another fork in the road. He first looked to the left, which was not very inviting, but he had not expected anything else. He could see a set of doors down the stairs which was below an inscription that read "CATACOMBS". If he could remember correctly, he had heard that the city lay just beyond the catacombs, so that seemed like the obvious choice. However, perhaps unfortunately for Vic, he managed a glance towards the right path. His heart sank. Standing there, just as beautiful as he had last seen her, was Kelia Logana, the love of his life who was the mother of his child. She stood there, staring at him, her beautiful brown eyes searing a whole through his heart as they always had, her gorgeous features blinding him with love. But, how could this be real? She had died years ago, five years ago to be exact. How was it possible that she stood in front of him?

Kelia motioned Vic to follow her as she disappeared through the darkness of the right path. Vic made no thought of it, he did not even say anything to the other Jedi as he simply began following his beautiful wife as memories flooded his mind. What if this was real? Would he be able to touch her again? Feel her hand upon his face, her lips upon his as she had done so many years ago? He could only hope.

TAG: Winged_Jedi, Trimaj, DarthXan318, Despised1

 

OOC: o jgyt s[to; gpp;d fsu.

also, why in the world does my thing keep changing back to the right fork? i've changed it in two posts now. *mutters*

IC: Anengy Facefoot/ Under Leá Monde
The Mines/ First Fork

Anengy nodded at the comment about this place being a nexus of the darkside. She hadn't really forgotten, but it wasn't like it was in the forefront of her mind either. That's how life tended to work, vaguely important details pushed to the background in the face of mindnumbing realities. She accepted the Kara's offered hand up, and stood still uneasy about the whole situation.

There was precisely one legit way for them to go no, as backwards wasn't an option. She watched vic go forward, and still holding tightly to the Zeltron's hand followed. Hanging onto the others hand didn't last long, as the cave proved to be even smaller than it's entrance had appeared. Her unease at the tight space increased, but was nowhere near as bad as the attack had been. Thanks to Kara she'd managed to regain her composure, at least somewhat. Kara and whoever else had been sending feelings of reassurane to her.

The tightly wrapped tunnel was enough to make anyone want out, as there were always overhangs for one to hit a head on, rocks and stalagtites littered the ground making every step a treacherous proposal. Several times Anengy stumbled and cracked her head on the ceiling when attempting to balance herself, or landed on a sharp rock causing further bruising of her alreayd sore knees. Did the Jedi get paid she would have demanded a bonus.

Finally they arrived at another split at which they could all stand. There was a very old door to the left down a brief flight of stairs, torches lit the way. A word was carved over the door, nearly illegible. CATACOMBS it stated. That's the way we have to go... at least we should be able to stand up. Anengy hated mazes, always had since she was a little Balosar. But one that you were actually walking through? That would prove to be evil in the extreme most likely. Irksomely there was another inscription on the doors, and this one was a riddle. Oh grand!

She really didn't pay that much attention to the other path, as it wasn't really of any concern to them... until Vic started walking that way. "Vic? Where are you going? That's the wrong way!" She walked towards him and tried to physically restrain him from walking down that path. An unlikely prospect do to her slight stature.

TAG: NEM, DESPISED, XAN, WINGED

:snoopy

 

IC: Kara Dysar

Left Fork, Mineshaft

The left fork proved to be much easier than the right had been. Sure, the lighting was lousy and the ground occasionally treacherous - but there were no bodies to rise up and attack them, or groundquakes to collapse the shaft on their heads. By the standards of this place so far, it was a walk in the park.

Eventually they again came to two pathways. The right side looked like it led back into the mines, but the left led down a crumbling flight of stairs to a pair of ancient iron doors. 'CATACOMBS' was inscribed on them in large, though worn, lettering, along with some smaller writing below. Finally, a break, Kara thought, carefully picking her way down the stairs. The path to the city was said to lie through the catacombs, so they were definitely going the right way -

"Vic? Where are you going? That's the wrong way!" Anengy's voice rang out. Startled, Kara turned - to see Vic starting down the right path. Anengy was trying to stop him, but small as she was in comparison to the human male it wasn't working so well - especially since Vic seemed intent on going that way. What was he doing?

"Hey!" Kara called, starting back up the stairs to the junction to help pull him back, if it came to that. "Come on, Vic, that just leads back to the mines -"

TAG: WJ, Nem, Trimaj, Despised


Not doing much here, but I'm too tired to think of anything helpful.

 

IC: Vic Horkin
~Mineshaft - Leá Monde~

"Vic?" Vic heard the voice of Anengy, who sounded confused as to why he was heading into the right path, but he did not respond. "Where are you going? That's the wrong way!" Again, he did not care what she had to say. All he cared about was seeing Kelia again. It had been five years since the last time he laid eyes upon her. He felt the touch of Anengy, soft but firm, but merely shrugged her attempt to restrain him off.

"Hey!" Vic could hear the yell from Kara who had apparently made her way down the stairs a bit. "Come on, Vic, that just leads back to the mines -" She, too, made an attempt to restrain Vic. He turned around to face the two Jedi.

"Go, I will be there shortly," he said, his voice showing signs of his desperation to see his former lover. "I just...I have to see her." He turned around and began walking down the right path. He progressed slowly, slightly afraid - not at the dangers that may lay ahead, but at simply seeing her again. What if she was here to exact revenge on him for not saving her? What if she was simply jealous that Vic was alive to raise their child? What if she no longer loved Vic? The latter would tear Vic apart. He moved forward anyway. He was sure the others would try to stop him, but they obviously did not care about Kelia. None of them probably even recognized her for who she was since they never met her.

The thought of the mission was wiped from his mind, Joshua, the Sith, all of it was pushed aside as this seemingly more important matter arose. A thought crept to the forefront of Vic's mind: he was finally going to be able to say goodbye.

TAG: Winged_Jedi, DarthXan318, Trimaj, Despised1

 

Not sure whether to wait for an update or not - so I'll go ahead and post. Feel free to nullify my post if need be.


IC: Kara Dysar

Mineshaft

"See who?" Kara stared after Vic, confused. "What's he talking about?" The man was radiating a bundle of mixed emotions - fear, desperation, and a singleminded determination to follow the right path - and had shrugged off both Anengy and Kara's attempts to stop him. In fact, he was slowly but surely disappearing into the path back to the mines.

Ah, kriff. It was like this place was making them crazy in turn: first Anengy, now Vic. As much as she hated to go back down that way, Kara hurried into the path after him; because he was walking slowly, she managed to get in front and face him, palms outstretched, in an attempt to physically block his path. "Vic, there's no one there!"

TAG: Nem, WJ, Trimaj, Despised