Ask Acolytes, Assemble!

[Cairo Kisufi]

Crazy or not, this dude was absolutely a dickhead. There were tons of cool crazies out there. Cairo proudly considered himself one of them. But insulting Cairo’s perfectly executed escape? That was a crime greater than many.

Cairo audibly snorted with laughter when Altair fucking decked that old-ass man. It was funny as shit.”Yeah, fuck you, Old Man!”

From the corner of his eye, Cairo spotted a stack of papers sticking out of the mud. Papers. Like actual paper. It was a unique curiosity in today’s datapad-driven era, and it drew Cairo’s attention towards it.

When he plucked it up from the muddy swamp banks, he found…parts of the Dead Evil 4 script. “Guys, check this out!” He couldn’t make out precisely what the script was, but it seemed shitty. Were they really going to put in a clone zombie romance story? “This movie fucking rules!”

@Wit @Sreeya @Altaris @Nefieslab

 

[Ashla Ti]

Ashla, having feigned being hurt at Altair's comment about licking off the spider ichor off of him, wandered over to the matriatrch's corpse to see if there was anything worth packing for later. It wasn't often you got to try Iknayid meat, and as tasty as it had tasty raw, she was sure it would taste all the better cooked. Giving Cairo a small smile and a thumbs-up at his comment as she returned to the group, she was scooping up a few spider legs when a voice rang through the clearing.

She just stared as he made some comment about scripts before wandering off to say more words that made no sense whatsoever to her. Unsure of what to make of him beyond the fact that he had more than a few screw loose, she decided to follow up on his mention of a nurse and catering and moved to find either.

She didn't find the nurse the madman had spoken off, but she did find a crate amongst some shrubbery. Inside she found more energy bars, and tossing away the spider legs she still held in her hand she picked one up and read the label. Bantha-man. "Hey guys," she called out, picking up a few more and pocketing them for later, "there's food here, better stock up!" Pausing for a moment she added a bit of clarification. "Don't worry, it's not spiders."

That was when she hear Altair call out about the nurse, and wandered over to notice the dead body. Realizing that any hope of getting Vahliri patched up from her was gone, she put a hand into a pocket to pull out one of the critters she had held onto from her earlier snack break. She held it out to Vahliri.

"Here," she said, eyes still on the nurse's body, "don't eat it, it's for your face. These leeches secrete a venom that is too weak to affect any of us, but it does help with healing. No scars, no marks."

@Fine Dining Set @Sreeya @Altaris @Nefieslab

 

[Darth Tempest]

Vahliri couldn’t help but smile in response to Cairo’s rousing speech. There was no denying the way her expression brightening up significantly now that they’d moved past the Iknayid, swatted away the wasps, and heard the way that the Morellian praised each and every one of them individually – even if she thought the bit about Ashla looking at one of the spider’s like a full-course meal was still a bit odd.

She flashed the Morellian a wide grin. “Fuck yeah, Cairo—”

A voice from out of nowhere cut in, and Vahliri practically jumped out of her skin in response. The half-Sephi shrieked, jumping to the side and bumping into Ashla in the process as she turned to face the director. “Who the fuck is this guy?” She muttered loud enough for everyone to hear, blinking rapidly as the dude began to grumpily rattle off like this was the set of a movie.

Her eyes narrowed harshly when the director insulted Cairo and his acrobatics. The half-Sephi couldn’t help but stare blankly when the dude looked directly at her, proceeding to insult her face – making clear reference to her bloodied, swollen nose. There was the faintest bit of red to her cheeks as she felt that twang of self-conciousness, though it was rapidly overwhelmed by the rage that bubbled in her stomach.

She took a single step forward. “The fuck did you sa—” Vahliri was cut off entirely by the fist that came swinging from her peripheral vision, honeyed eyes going wide as she watched Altair completely deck the shit out of the director. Her eyes flicked from the asshole director and back to the Devaronian. She hadn’t expected for a moment the kind of reaction the Devaronian had to her being insulted, and Vahliri was unable to help smiling when she looked at him in that moment.

Of course, this all meant that the half-Sephi was completely oblivious to any clues or out-of-the-ordinary details to be found. She lingered in place before following in the direction Altair started to walk – treading right over the top of stark, ivory white.. Twigs? Whatever.

“Hey, Altair.. Thanks for that back there..” The half-Sephi blinked a few times when he mentioned finding the nurse. She leaned around his wider frame and looked ahead, catching just a glimpse before quickly whipping around to face the other direction – promptly deciding she didn’t really need to get a closer look at the rotting, half-eatan remains of the nurse.

“Gods..” She muttered, glancing up when Cairo mentioned something about finding a movie script. The fuck? The half-Sephi blinked a few times, shaking her head. This place was getting weirder and weirder by the minute, and the prospect of staying in place was becoming less appealing as more time went on. Her attention then flicked towards Ashla when she mentioned food that didn't have eight legs or beady eyes. "That is the best news I've heard all day."

Vahliri looked back towards the path, just now noticing the primitive lanterns that lighted the way. Those were there before, right? Somewhere between watching Ashla gather up her insect buffet and Cairo’s legendary shitting attracting a brood of spiders, that specific detail escaped the half-Sephi’s memory. Oh well. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m kinda thinking we should get moving. Like uh, sooner rather than later.”

Just as the half-Sephi was prepared to power-walk-haul-ass into the mists, she was stopped by Ashla extending a pocket full of critters towards her like it was a first-aid kit. She blinked a few times, taking the bugs in her hands. "Huh." While it was downright strange and the half-Sephi wasn't rushing to put them on her face, the fact that Ashla cared enough to even offer wasn't lost on her. "Thanks, Ashla." She looked up at the Togruta, flashing the girl a genuine smile.

@Sreeya @Fine Dining Set @Wit @Nefieslab

 

[The Storyteller]

Had Ram Saimi not been both completely and utterly mad he might have remembered his manners – though it had to be said that a hard reset by being punched in the side of the head by an angry young man wasn’t what he would have expected either way. The sudden spike of pain as he almost rag-dolled to the ground was enough to give him a burst of clarity that would not help him at all.

As the acolytes were picking through the remains of volunteer nurses and the catering set-up by the production team of Dead Evil 4, the director started laughing. Laughing into the mud even as his back cracked and a bubbling sound started to rise.

His spine straightened, seemingly not under his control, and he stared wide at the acolytes as a bubbling white mass began to leak out of his eyes and nose. The white bubbling mixture began to coat his skin in white porcelain, crawling and growing across more and more of his face. His mouth worked furiously as he continued to cackle and giggle to himself.

“Groovy.” He seemed to joke to himself before looking back at the acolytes, one of his eyes flashing red and yellow, “The Mourning Mother is waiting for you… Godspeed, Sither-men.”

Without a hint of hesitation, Ram Saimi threw his own head forward toward a gnarled jutting root – thoroughly impaling himself through the eye and into the brain with the wood.

The bubbling white mixture stopped and began to flake away from his face like white ash in the wind, seemingly able only to interact in such a way with a living host. Further to the North, past the ruins of catering, the path beckoned the Acolytes forward – from the South a distant cry that they would be able to recognize as belonging to the spiders, one repeated several dozen times.

On the wind, the white ash from the dead director’s face floated on ahead of them, dancing in the air as it twisted and wove itself into spirals, as it seemed to lead them back to its source.

 

[Cairo Kisufi]

Cairo grimaced at the thoroughly horrid sight of Ram Saimi's suicide. From his death, more dark questions would be imparted. Who was the 'Mourning Mother'? What was the horrid, white mixture that had possessed and exited the corpse of the crazed director?

Cairo had heard tale of mind-controlling worms, of Geonosian design. He had seen first hand the effects of AMS on a sentient body, during his excursion into Dromuund Kaas with Altair. Was this something similar - a living ash that could control the minds of those it infects? And if so, how did it enter their bodies? Through their orifices?

He really should've packed a helmet.

"Does anyone have EV gear?" The ship likely had them, but...lake of fire, crash landing, no need to revisit that. The lanterned path ahead filled with the ashes of the dead man. It was an obvious signal. An obvious trap. But, if they knew they were walking into an ambush, that meant it would be chill. Right? Ambushes only work when you're surprised?

Cairo spit at the ground next to the dead director as he glanced back to his newfound script, setting in his pack beside the rumbling Iknayid eggs he had scavenged earlier. "Alright, he kinda...took the wind out from my sails." Cairo sighed. Having your pep-talk interrupted by a possessed asshole director could do that. "But I stand by what I said. Us four, right now, Ashla's got snacks, let's do this."

Cairo fashioned his backpack on and began to step down the path towards their destiny.

@Wit @Sreeya @Nefieslab @Altaris

 

[Darth Tempest]

Vahliri stared in complete shock as the gruesome suicide of Rami Saimi, honeyed eyes wide and mouth hunging slightly ajar. The literal leeches that Ashla had handed to her were largely forgotten in that moment, and the half-Sephi couldn’t help but wince and jerk away slightly when the director proceeded to impale himself through the eye.

“What the fuck..” She blurted out under her breath, taking a few moments to look at the director before facing the other way entirely. Everything about the situation - from the director’s maniacal laughter, to his cryptic words, to the white mixture that bubbled out of him - unsettled the half-Sephi entirely. It left her with dozens of questions and not a single answer, and the entire thing just screamed ‘nope’.

Despite her previous encouragement to make for the path, every fiber of Vahliri’s being screamed to tuck tail and run in the complete opposite direction. Fuck everything about this swamp, they could figure out what to do and where to go once they were miles away from where they current were.

Of course, it didn’t take long for the sounds of dozens of spider screeches to hit her sensitive ears - serving as a reminder that going anywhere but forward wasn’t an option.

Vahliri briefly looked between Altair and Ashla, the ‘what the fuck’ sentiment still etched into her features. Only when the Morellian spoke did she finally glance towards Cairo when the Morellian acolyte spoke, shaking her head in the negative. “Nope..” She said, chewing on her bottom lip.

The half-Sephi hadn’t packed anything that would’ve been helpful against.. Whatever has possessed the director, and that reality caused her stomach to twist into knots. She was entirely unprepared for whatever was inevitably ahead of them.

The half-Sephi took in a breath before giving Cairo a nod, forcing a small smile at his final words of muted encouragement. “Lead the way.” Vahliri tugged on the scraps of her backpack and pushed off from where she was standing, following after the Morellian into the lantern-lit path.

On the bright side, they had snacks.

@Sreeya @Nefieslab @Fine Dining Set @Wit

 

[Altair Din]

Altair was too shocked at the state of the nurse to hear much else. However, he did perk up at the mention of Dead Evil, “Wait for real?!” He said, suddenly forgetting about a literal half eaten human being laying on the ground at his feet. Altair quickly walked over, “Wait was there gonna be a sequel? Holy shit!!”

He all but skidded to a halt to watch the very bizarre sequence of events. His jaw dropped as he watched the ‘director’ stab himself and fade into nothing. He gawked at the floating ash for a while, heading off in a particular direction. He barely heard Cairo, blinking a few times.

“What the fuck just happened?” He exclaimed loudly. Could this whole mission get any weirder? Altair shot a glance at Cairo, “Yo, was that last doobie laced with something? You playing me, man?” While the two boys often got into some bullshit, this was next level even for them.

Deciding that they had no choice but to keep moving, Altair followed with the group, glancing over one more time at the dead nurse. He was still unsure what killed her, and it left him feeling uneasy. Altair glanced ahead and jogged up towards Vahliri.

“Wait up, Vahliri,” He said as he caught up. He opened the medkit and looked at her, “May I?” If she allowed it, he would carefully tend to her nose with the bacta patches from the kit. His touch was light and very gentle, his face set in deep concentration. Altair brushed aside strands of her hair before he cleaned the wound and finally patched it up as best he could. He drew his hand back and smiled at her.

“Still beautiful,” He said very quietly so only she could hear. Altair lingered there only for a moment longer before quickly shuffling away to catch up to Cairo.

@Fine Dining Set @Altaris @Wit @Nefieslab

 

[Ashla Ti]

Ashla didn't get any of the references about the Evil Dead prequel, but seeing Altair's excitement she assumed it must be a successful, or at least popular, franchise. So when the director went and impaled himself on a branch and just faded to ash, a part of her prayed that this actually was some sort of trick, otherwise it was typical that she found out about something new to catch up on only for its creator to die in front of her eyes before completing his life's work.

But there was no way to know for sure till they got off planet, it ought to be easy enough to find out who the director of the Evil Dead movies was and if they were still alive or had been anywhere in the vicinity of this Force forsaken planet. Falling in step behind Cairo, she noticed Altair treating Vahliri, and smiled to herself as she continued walking to let them have her moment.

It was good that Altair had found the medkit, he got that cute moment with Vahliri, and they managed to keep the leeches in the back pocket in case they needed them in the future.

@Fine Dining Set @Sreeya @Altaris @Nefieslab

 

[The Storyteller]

Cairo was a forward-thinking young man who did not wish to be possessed by seemingly parasitic ash and that marked him, as well, as being remarkably sane. The responses of the other Acolytes falling roughly in the same vein confirmed that they had the right idea of the situation - they were sane and the situation they had been asked to investigate was not. Zakuul's swampland belonged to insanity, it seemed, and it had very little for them.

Ahead of them the pathway seemed to actually clear up a lot of the area rather than being quite so overgrown or waterlogged. Instead the trees that had menaced the path before cleared away to reveal a beaten earth track that led further away from the heart of the swamp... but closer to the thing that pulsed and writhed in the Dark Side.

Through the Force, the acolytes would begin to feel a mixture of hunger and elation that was not their own but radiated through the Dark Side up ahead.

To the side of the path they would be able to see a Twi'lek woman dragging a heavy-looking bag behind her as she slowly makes her way out from the swamp and onto the trail. She turns to regard the acolytes, her face covered in an elegant mask, before continuing on her way, the bag straining behind her before slowly being dragged ahead.

Spoiler: Mask

@Altaris @Sreeya @Wit @Fine Dining Set

 

[Cairo Kisufi]

Cairo regarded the young woman who was carrying definitely-not-a-body for a moment, curiosity forming on his face. She bore a certain...familiarity. He couldn't tell with the mask on, but also, he couldn't remember the face at all. Only them lekku, so bouncy and tantalizing...

Oh shit. It was her. Cairo had faked an ID back on Dromuund Kaas, once, to sneak into a bar crawl. While there, he met a young woman who said she was a student at the Imperial University. As drinks flowed between the two, they got more comfortable with each other. Eventually, more intimate.

Unfortunately, Cairo had also spent the night getting too comfortable with the bottle. He woke up the morning after the bar crawl with no memories of leaving, and he was in his bed, alone. He was still too young to get hangovers, fortunately for him, so he was only left with the crushing shame that accompanied a night of drinking and flirting and going home alone. He looked at the bag. It was large, for someone her size to be dragged. And...misshapped. Like there was organic cargo in it.

Definitely not a body, though. And he was too freaked by recognizing this woman and his own whiskey-induced failures to really investigate. He pulled Altair aside as they passed, whispering loud enough that, likely, everyone around him would hear. "Shit, bro, I know that chick." He checked his joint again. Maybe it was laced with something. Or maybe, it was just a weird coincidence. Both seemed unlikely. "Like, we almost smashed, bro." He did a crude imitation of 'sex' by smacking his hands together. It was a reach.

Cairo, at the very least, had the good sense to not actively approach her. He gave her a wide berth of room to pass by them, and he refused to look her in the face. He motioned for the other acolytes to join him in avoiding her. Through all this, the living pulse of the Dark Side, like the heartbeat of a wretched, wheezing ooze, still rattled through his body. "The fuck is going on..."

@Sreeya @Wit @Altaris @Nefieslab

 

[Darth Tempest]

Putting her nerves and immense amount of reservations to the back of her mind for the moment, Vahliri tugged the straps of her backpack and proceeded to forge a path ahead just behind Cairo - keeping her honeyed eyes straight into the fog. Not like she could really see too far ahead. It wasn’t until Altair called out, and she heard his footsteps coming up behind her, that Vahliri paused, turning to regard the Devaronian.

Her eyes went slightly wide when she spotted that Medkit that Altair was carrying, almost immediately - very discreetly - chucking the handful of leeches that Ashla had handed her. The half-Sephi hadn’t even seen Altair snag the medical supplies, and the fact that he had gone out of his way to treat her injury brought an undeniable smile to her face.

Giving him a small nod to allow him to work, Vahliri kept herself perfectly still as he gently tended to her nose - allowing him to patch up her injury without squirming around too much. He was gentle and caring the entire time, and the half-Sephi couldn’t help but stare up at him with wide eyes the entire time - staring deeply into those vibrant violets.

"Thank you, Altair.." Vahliri brought a hand up to lightly touch at her patched up nose before turning her attention back to the Devaronian, flashing Altair a warm smile. She opened her mouth to say something when Altair spoke again - his quiet words echoing in her mind and bringing her to a dead halt - frozen in place. Almost at once, there was an immediate flush of bright crimson that spread from her cheeks to the rest of her face, and her fluted ears swiveled and twitched rapidly to betray exactly how she was feeling. Within seconds, her stupid look and slack jaw began to twist up into a wide, ridiculous grin.

For several seconds, Vahliri remained frozen in place - blushing furiously and smiling like a moron as she stared at Altair - watching a the Devaronian walked away and rejoined Cairo. It took the half-Sephi several moments more to fully recover and move from where she was standing - running a hand through a loose strand of her hair as she quickly shuffled up to the Togruta. By the time she caught back up with Ashla, the half-Sephi was visibly in a much better mood - a bit of pep in her step and wide, dazed smile still plastered across her lips.

Vahliri was completely lost in her own thoughts for several minutes after that, completely silent and off in her own world. It wasn’t until the half-Sephi felt that distinct sickening presence in the Force, and saw the twi’lek randomly emerge from the middle of nowhere, that Vahliri was brought back to reality.

The half-Sephi couldn’t help but recoil slightly at the sight - her honeyed eyes flicking over the stranger. She clearly noted the elegant-yet-entirely-unsettling mask that the woman was wearing, and the large sack that strained as it was pulled across the ground. The shapes visible in the cloth seemed far too organic to do anything other than completely unsettle the half-Sephi.

Of course, there was one detail in particular that caught Vahliri’s attention more than any other. Her eyes were practically magnetized to it, and it meant she completely neglected to notice any other details that were right in front of her.

The twi’lek was wearing high heels. Long, elegant, completely dysfunctional high heels.

“Oh my god,” The half-Sephi groaned with legitimate frustration at the sight, her eyes narrowing harshly upon the Twi’lek and her choice in footwear. Vahliri nudged Ashla, angrily pointing out the transgression. “What did I tell you?!” She said, making clear reference to this heel discussion back on the ship. “Why is there always some chick in Fuck-Me pumps in the middle of a swamp?!” She said all this in perfectly close earrange of the twi’lek, either completely ignorant or uncaring if her comments had the potential to offend the woman.

The half-Sephi pinched the bridge of her nose, exhaling sharply. “This shit really is out of Dead Evil..”

Vahliri shook her head, thoroughly annoyed by that minute detail and essentially blind to any more valuble, useful information. Like Cairo, Vahliri promptly decided that following after the mysterious woman was probably an awful idea - owing to the aura of the Dark Side that pulsates and writhed around the woman, and the elegant mask that just screamed ‘nope’ and ‘fuck that’ to any sane person.

Of course, that didn’t mean Vahliri kept silent. The half-Sephi took a single step forward, waving her arm at the creepy-ass twi’lek. “Uhh. Hello?” She blinked a few times, looking back between her companions cautiously. “Whoooo the fuck are you?”

@Sreeya @Nefieslab @Fine Dining Set @Wit

 

[Altair Din]

Altair was still patting himself on the back with blurting out at that compliment to Vahliri. Fuck yeah, that was smooth. She turned tomato red and melted into a puddle. It was exactly the response he was hoping for, and he felt like a total boss. There was a confident stride to his steps as he walked for a while until he remembered they were somewhere between the asscrack of the galaxy and the gates of hell. He was pulled back to reality with the uneasy sensations flowing through him all over again, and then Cairo pulled him in to talk.

The Devaronian followed his gaze, spotting the masked twi’lek and listening to Cairo. He blinked a few times, grimacing, “Guess you shoulda called her back,” Altair looked over at the sack being dragged across the ground. He looked away, having no desire to make eye contact with the batshit twi’lek. He calmly patted Cairo on the back, “Come on, let’s keep going. We’re obviously both trippin and it’ll wear off soon,” Never mind that they were both seeing the exact same thing.

He kept walking when he heard Vahliri speak up behind them. That made him abruptly stop in his tracks. It confirmed that it was, in fact, not an acid trip. The batshit bitch was actually there!! Altair whipped around, eyes wide. He waved his hands at Vahliri frantically as he whispered.

“Shut up shut up shut up!!!” Who the fuck antagonized some creepy ass chick in a swamp? Especially one dragging what looked to be a dead body?!

@Fine Dining Set @Wit @Altaris @Nefieslab

 

[Ashla Ti]

Ashla was busy reading the fine print info on the back of one of the energy bars she had picked up earlier when Vahliri caught up with her. Putting the bar away, she noticed the spring in Vahliri's step, and the obviously good mood she seemed to be in. That brought a smile to her step, glad that for once her reading of a situation had been correct. She had gotten the Altair brain damage thing wrong, but then got this right, so one for, one against. That was a respectable tally so far.

That train of thought came to a stop when she sensed...something in the Force, something wrong. Seeing Vahliri's reaction she knew that it wasn't just her, the other girl sensed it as well. She was about to turn and ask Altair and Cairo about it when she spotted the Twi'lek, and her odd cargo. It was only when Vahliri pointed out the Twi'lek's footwear that Ashla was able to pull her eyes away from the weirdness of the situation. The mask, the sack she was carrying, her sudden appearance from the swamp, from the very direction she felt the weirdness in the Force. "Is that really what you noticed?" She mutter softly, stunned by the fact that through all that Vahliri had noticed her heels.

And it was in that moment of silence that Vahliri spoke out, calling to the Twi'lek, and not politely at that. As Altair spoke up in response, Ashla leaned in to whisper in Cairo's ear. "Did you notice the heels?" She had been proud of her earlier insight into the situation with Vahliri and Altair, so the fact that Vahliri noticed the heels and she didn't made her wonder if she had forgotten another social norm and if her happiness had been ill founded.

@Fine Dining Set @Sreeya @Altaris @Nefieslab

 

[The Storyteller]

Crack!​

A sudden, almost violent, crack rang out and cut through their hushed conversation. It could have been a branch snapping underfoot but it wasn't because each of the Acolytes watching the woman would see that the Twi'lek had turned her head to stare at the group. While not a technically impossible angle, the Twi'lek's head had spun round to fix them with a wide-eyed stare behind the mask so suddenly that her neck had let out the ungodly sound.

The Twi'lek stared, silently, at them for a second before speaking in a rough, disused, voice.

"The costume department told her she had to wear them, poor girl."

One thing that all of them would be able to tell was that the accent was... off and not in the way they might expect. She was speaking Basic but it was not accented with Ryl like most Twi'leks' speech was. Instead it sounded like an older form of Basic that used all of the same words but all of them older variants than expected.

"Come along Berniuk - I am the Gedulas Motina and you follow my grotthu. Follow and I shall show you how to leave."

Without another word, the Twi'lek would let go of the bag she had been dragging, allowing the contents to spill out. It had not, in fact, been a dead body but instead a rather large haul of crystals. She turned her head with another of the same, sickening, sounds.

Crack!​

"Tau nie letas dalykas, Nu zinot kam Nu adata."

Ahead of them, the path began to give way to a large cleared area of the swamp. Trenches dug into the sides of the path they walked down seemed to be full of water; swamp-water that was flowing away from the clearing ahead of them. A block of black stone unlike anything they had ever seen before seemed to have been excavated from the soft mud and stood upright like a totem.

Strapped to it by chains were skeletal remains, a mask identical to the one worn by the Twi'lek woman... and many others besides.

Surrounding the black block of stone and it's skeleton occupant, sentients of many different species were all dragging bags towards the base of the stone. Each and every one of the dozen or so sentients had an identical mask firmly attached to their faces as they toiled to empty their sacks of jewels and gems at the base of the stone. Across the other side of the clearing a starship sat, powered down and locked up.

"Did they send you to stop me, Berniuk?"

The question came from the Twi'lek but not only the Twi'lek - every single sentient with a mask attached to their face spoke the same words in exactly the same cadence. The silence that followed seemed deafening as they seemed to wait, without breathing, for the Acolytes to speak up.

@Wit @Sreeya @Fine Dining Set @Altaris

 

[Cairo Kisufi]

Motina. Berniuk. These were phrases Cairo recognized. Not from his training as a Sith, but the years and years before. Years where his mother impersonated a Sith Lord, caught in a crazed haze of ambition and worship of their power. She had learned scant phrases, words, sentences of the true Sith language in her travels across the galaxy. She supplanted her few words with made-up jargon, so much so that Cairo had doubted she had ever told the truth about speaking Sith. In the academy, they learned very little of the Sith language; it was a cultural artifact closely guarded by the residents of Moraband and Korriban, rather than the standard language of Imperial activity. The words that he had learned always had soe

It was a surprise that the Sith language had words that denoted kinship, affection, family. It was a greater surprise that his mother had truly taught him those words - words of affection, love, enderment. Motina. Mother. Berniuk. Children. While he could not parse together the sentence, he was starting to parse together the meaning of this strangeness. And he was totally wrong, because there actually was not a body in the giant, lumpy sack. Really thought there would be a body in there.

As the crystals began to tumble out, he had another realization. They were kyber. At least, some of them were. Those crystals could contain great power. This lead him to a theory about the Gedulas Motina - the Mourning Mother. "I think it's her." He whispered to the group gestured out to the hive-mind of creatures. "The Mourning Mother." Why would a hive-mind in the swamps of Zakuul exist? Or speak Sith? Or have cyber crystals? He didn't know, but he knew they were all related.

He decided to speak up. "No, we were not." It was an honest answer. They were sent here to scout on the Dark Side, nothing more. Whatever Lord Ham-Ham decided to do with his information was up to him. He shot back in his own, long-forgotten Sith. He hoped this long forgotten sentence, one his mother had taught him from his youth, would finally become of use. He thought it to be a cypher of power in the Sith language.

"Yerga berg berg yerba derg?"

In reality, it was meaningless dribble.

@Wit @Nefieslab @Altaris @Sreeya

 

[Altair Din]

Altair almost whimpered when he heard that unnatural crack of the twi’lek spinning her head. What the fuck?! He grimaced as she began to speak in some random language that sounded like some of the stuff he was taught in history class, but he never paid attention. He muttered under his breath next to Cairo, “Fuck man, if you kept her grotthu happy, maybe we wouldn’t be here.”

He looked at the crystals and blinked a few times, feeling a sudden searing headache. He couldn’t even look at them, and he felt his Force abilities beginning to deplete. It was a sudden wave of weakness. He was far too focused on the pain and agony to notice the ship in the distance. Altair grimaced, clutching his head as he tried to snap out of it. He vaguely heard Cairo respond back in gibberish to the creepy twi’lek.

“What the fuck was that?” He whispered to Cairo as he glared at him, “You sound like an Ewok revving up a speeder bike,” He was entirely unconvinced his buddy knew what he was doing. However, since his own fluency in the language was a whopping zero, he kept his own mouth shut. Altair felt doubly uncomfortable with everyone chanting the same thing. He looked back at the twi’lek, whispering to his comrades.

“...So do we kill the main boss psycho bitch and the rest of them fall apart like in Ring of the Lords III or what?”

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[Ashla Ti]

Ashla had seen her fair share of weirdness in her relatively short life, death, destruction, the crazy and the somber. But something about he way the Twi'lek's neck turned, the motion, the sound. It made her take an instinctive step back. She couldn't really make much sense of the words she said, wondering if the others heard anything, but Cairo pre-empted her question by speaking up. At about the same time Ashla's eyes fell on the crystals.

Staring at the crystals, the beginning of a headache starting to take hold, Ashla raised her hand to block their shine. "The Morning Mother?" She asked, assuming it had something to do with the light of the crystals, that darn, infuriating light. As her hand came up she felt herself sway, suddenly feeling less steady on her feet than moments earlier.

Reaching out she grabbed Vahliri's arm, doing her best to keep herself from slipping to the muddy ground, and reached for the Force to strengthen herself, to push against that headache. That was when she really panicked, even more than when she had seen the Twi'lek pirouette her head around in a manner that reminded her of a very unpleasant icy memory. She couldn't reach the Force, as she tried it kept slipping away.

"Whatever we do," she replied to Altair's question, straining against the headache and the panic born out of her inability to use the Force, "we better finish before the sun comes up. Probably not the best time to be fighting someone called the Morning Mother."

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[Darth Tempest]

Vahliri let out a high pitched yelp when the twi’lek twisted her head around to face them, that unnatural crack echoing loudly within the half-Sephi’s sensitive ears. “Oh fuck that. What the hell!?” She blurted out, a bit of the color draining from her bronze complexion. There was absolutely nothing natural about the way the twi’lek’s head snapped around, nor the sound that accompanied it. It was something straight out of The Space Exorcist and it left Vahliri with the overwhelming sensation of dread.

Almost instinctively, the half-Sephi took a healthy step backwards, grimacing at the twi’lek. Her step back caused her to inadvertently bump right into Altair, glancing back at the Devaronian. “Oop, sorry.” She offered him an apologetic smile before looking back ahead. Unsurprisingly, Vahliri didn’t understand a single word the stranger said in the foreign language. Academic as she might’ve been, ancient languages spoken by creepy-ass zombie-people wasn’t her forte.

Vahliri glanced over at Cairo, hearing the gibberish that was spoken in response. She didn’t need to actually speak the language to know that Cairo was spouting utter nonsense. The half-Sephi didn’t say anything in response, but she couldn’t help shoot the Morellian a completely

unamused look out of the corner of her eye.

Really man?

It didn’t take the half-Sephi long to spot the crystals just ahead, honeyed eyes fixating onto the individual stones. The first thing she noticed was the myriad of different gemstones and semi-precious stones mixed together - everything from diamond, rubies and opals tumbling out of the bag. Most importantly, Vahliri clearly noted the kyber crystals that joined the mix - blues, greens and even bled red crystals scattering from the mix. “Kybers.” She nudged Altair, pointing to the gemstones. She looked ahead just then, blinking a few times as she looked at the ship in the distance. “And look there. That must be how they arrived.” The half-Sephi pointed.

Beyond what Vahliri just saw, the half-Sephi felt the gemstones through the Force. Unlike her companions, the half-Sephi was not plagued with the searing headaches or sensations of the Force being stripped away from her. Instead, the half-Sephi felt a distinct pulse coming from the kyber crystals - filling her with a sense of dread and the feeling that something was terribly, terrible wrong with the stones - though she couldn’t really determine what.

Strangely enough, the feeling only washed over her as she focused onto the green and blue crystals - completely absent from those that had been bled red.

Vahliri’s attention was drawn away when she felt Ashla reach out and grab her arm. The half-Sephi immediately hooked an arm around the Togruta and used it to keep the fellow Acolyte on her feet, allowing Ashla to lean her weight against Vahliri until the pain and weakness subsided. “I got ya’.” She muttered quietly to Ashla.

“Kill them or not,” She said towards the group, glancing back at each of them before turning back head. “There is something.. Off, about those kyber crystals. I think we should get a closer look.”

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[The Storyteller]

There was a moment of utter silence as everyone around them suddenly stopped what they were doing and turned to stare at Cairo. The moment was short, only a second or two, before every person wearing the mask started to giggle. As with all of their sounds, they were identical and completely in sync with each other but the sound itself was oddly warm and motherly to all those who heard it. Seemingly some form of spokesperson, the Twi'lek was the one to speak to them as they rest continued piling screaming kyber crystals and other precious gems at the base of the obelisk the skeleton was strapped to.

"Berniuk - Children - you have nothing to fear from me. You are my people." The Twi'lek gestured to her face, to the mask, "I am the remnants of Gartha Evants-Drast, Queen of the Sith and first wife of Sith King Siris Drast the Second. They sent you here because I am using the Force Nexus here."

She gestured to the obelisk.

"It's focal point is there, as am I." she explained before reaching into her pockets and tossing the keys to the parked ship to Cairo, "I offer you a choice - allow me to use the nexus to see my family long since dead, leave, and I shall grant you each an artefact of my power."

At this point the air seemed to shimmer around the skeleton and obelisk both. The Twi'lek's eyes became slightly duller and everyone working seemed to have their eyes on the Acolytes.

"Of course... your other discussed option remains open to you."

How they had heard what Altair and Vahliri had discussed about attempting to kill them instead of talking was anyone's guess but it was clear that the spirit, though unusually relaxed Sith Spirit was willing to resort to violence if they were.

Spoiler: Ship Details

VT-49 Decimator

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[Cairo Kisufi]

Drast. It was a name he had heard a lot since joining the Sith, but...he didn't know what it meant. He turned his head to Ashla, with intent to inform her the difference between morning and mourning, but he was caught off guard when he was attacked by the ship keys thrown at him. Luckily, he caught them harmlessly, when they flew into his hand. They were given an off from this planet. Good. They could go home and report their mission back to Lord Lorhram, successfully completed. They had scouted the source of the Dark Side on Zakuul.

Perhaps it would help to be more enterprising, though. She was an ancient Sith, powerful enough to linger on beyond her death. Powerful enough to command the minds of these poor bastards who were shooting Dead Evil 4. That's why you avoid location shoots, though. Don't know what will happen.

Cairo decided to act first, ahead of his compatriots, to present himself as the decisive voice of their group. This being had mind control, and had obviously heard their chattering about killing her. They could not afford to seem disunited against a hive mind. "That Nexus is now property of the Sith Empire." He did his best to channel a stern voice, but he couldn't help but smile as he did so. "As a former Queen of the Sith," Glad they were finding ghosts now on Zakuul. "You must pledge yourself to the Empress - to us four here - to be allowed access to it." They were four warriors, and Cairo grew exhausted with his bumbling about throughout the day. They were four warriors of the Sith Empire - with their powers combined, he assumed they were strong enough to handle any thread that could be thrown at them.

Even then, he wasn't sure about allowing her access to that nexus of power. What if she used it up, or it became a weapon against them? Oh well. Worst comes to worst, she could be united with her husband in the afterlife - after they cut her down.

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