Ask Event Deepest Dark

[Caerllion of Cyfnos]

Team Doctor

Kyssiara’s mind wasn’t prepared for it and a telepathic wave was released against the entire group. Due to years of training his own telepathy, Caerllion was able to protect himself against the damaging part of the assault. He hoped that the other members of the group would be able to do the same, because they were really running low with people.

“I’ll do that.” Caerllion walked toward the interface and put the code. Hopefully they would be able to enter the Spire and leave this place before anyone else was knocked out due to some bizarre event. Really, what would come next? An army of zombified droids?

@Nefieslab @Akheron @GABA @René @AutoFox @Apollyon @Sreeya

 

[Trodai Narat-iv-Adas]

Team Doctor

Trodai looked on with a little shock at first, unsure just what was going on until he felt it. He was slightly taken aback by the mental scream and felt something akin to a headache but found he hadn't lost functionality as he processed just what it was. As he registered it as some kind of telepathic assault. Luckily training and experience taught him how to handle such things. Training received a long time ago by Caerllion as such he as well prepared.

As Ra'sa'd stated asking what was wrong with her, Trodai didn't answer him. It was none of his concern, so far as he thought, besides he had bigger concerns than her. Especially whence became aware by both Ra'sa'd and Doctor Lile that the traitorous and insulting Pureblood raider was no longer of any use. Which meant open season.

And he was all to happy to oblige with his temper now already short after the mental assault and the new headache.

He spoke in Ur-kittat "I don't know but that is the least of your concerns Ra'sa'd...I have enjoyed our time together but now it is at an end. Your usefulness has run its course...and now...you pay for those comments about my mother and father. Die a traitors death."

With that he tightened his grip with the Force, and attempted to lift the other Pureblood in what would appear to be a floating noose. As he gripped the throat and restricted his breathing until his life would give out. Or so he hoped. Until he spoke no more and there would be no sign of life...as he took it. Satisfaction upon his face the entire time and enjoying every moment as he savoured the kill. Ra'sa'd would pay the ultimate price for his betrayal and his offences. For defying the Sith.

Once he was sure Ra'sa'd was extinguished he would see to see his apprentice. To see that she was at least still breathing before attempting to wake her from whatever had happened to move to the lift.

Spoiler: Roll for how well Trodai can handle the telepathic scream of information

D20: 13

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[Nye]

Team Professor —After seeing what was on the other side of the door, Nye would be unprepared for what he would see next. Skeletons somehow arising from the dead? And they are walking? Nye would take a snap shot of what is in front of him with his EZPhone, capturing them.

Could it be the spirits the primitive natives have talked about? No, it's something to do with their suits and their cybernetics. Nye has never seen anything like this. He also has the feeling that Father hasn't either. Death itself is not keeping these people from doing their assigned tasks. Either way it's really unsightly and not something he is going to forget.

Thinking quick and seeing his team mates are not wasting any time getting to work, the clone himself would put himself into the fray. Bringing his blaster pistol to hand; as the Fiani lady was taking care of four of them by herself, Nye would attempt to shoot the remaining one before it gets too far. Thus firing off a couple blaster bolts at the neck device, drawing from his training as a trained Blackwell Agent to do so.

If remaining one is neutralized, Nye would attempt to move forward so they can move towards the spire, their goal. He would be mindful of more threats though, such as more of these harness skeleton suits.

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[Theia Durand]

Team Doctor

Theia was for the moment, not feeling too optimistic, though she wouldn't be allowed to think on it for too long before she was hit with a psychic wave of the dark side. It was as though someone had taken a metal pipe over her head, the pain coursing through and taking her breath long enough to make her stumble on her feet. The floor and walls rocked as she regained her composure, but something else hit her, a series of numbers that seemed to even have flavor.

The padawan grabbed her head and then rubbed her temples with her knuckles, trying to work out the massive headache seh was experiencing, "Any-anyone else think the three takes like raspberry?" she asked looking around, feeling a bit dazed. Though she knew time couldn't be wasted as she quickly as she could, pulled Kyssiara over her shoulder, practically dragging her to the lift as Caer punched in the codes.

Though what was happening behind her gave the girl a pause as she approached the lift, setting Kyssiara down as she turned around to see Ra'sa'd being lifted by his neck, the other sith strangling the thief. Theia felt absolutely helpless as she watched. She could hear the dark whispers stroking at the doubts, her lack of power or control to help save the thief from such a personal end. With a deep breath, she followed the others, standing silently as she tried to push out of her mind what she had witnessed. She needed to focus, especially with the throbbing headache and the after taste of berries, she doubted things were going to get easier.

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Dice Roll: d20 = 9/20

 

[Rina Oziaf]

TEAM DOCTOR

As the strange sound resounded in Rina's head, the Tintinna gave a cry of anguish. The information being shoved into her mind was bad enough, but it was the secondary effect which caused the real problem. Her concentration was broken, and like a serpent held at bay, the pain she had been holding back seemed to take the opportunity.

Rina's arm twisted in an unnatural convulsion, every nerve ending feeling like it had been dipped in molten metal, the musculature all attempting to contract at once. The pain had doubled, tripled; it was literally blinding, and Rina saw naught but white for an instant, fading to spots after a moment. Gritting her teeth, she fought back sobs as the aftershocks of the sensation rolled through her, staring down at her arm, which now hung twisted, bloody and entirely limp at her side.

"Kark... kark! O-Oh stars it won't move!!"

Too distracted by the pain to hear the Doctor's instructions, she however turned in time to see Trodai (@Akheron) lifting Ra'sa'd with a Force noose. Eyes widening, she took a step toward him, but collapsed to her knees after only a pace!

"W-Wait... don't!"

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[Kyssiara Serket]

Kyssiara found her mental intrusion into Ra'sa'd's mind blocked as his mental shields slammed down, yet she couldn't have predicted how violent the exchange became. A single thought leaked from the other Pureblood's mind, but the transference was so sudden and imperfect that the numbers filled her mind. The girl dropped her attention as the string of numbers blocked out everything in her mind, getting louder, brighter, larger, louder, painfully throbbing, threatening to burst forth from her skull...

Kyssiara's vision went white, and the next thing she knew the acolyte was laying on the floor, vision fuzzy and an intense ringing in her ears that only worsened the headache she had. What had happened? She couldn't seem to recall falling at all. The girl felt someone lift her up (@GABA), helping her move; the Jedi girl from earlier. Still dazed and confused, Kyssiara mumbled "Your hair... it's beautiful, like fire." as the woman set her down.

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[Kaedan]

Kaedan had requested help from his peers, inquiring about anyone else who could help him melt the lock with a lightsaber. Even so, it would seem that he was the only one who had one. Be that as it may, he still tried his best to melt the central lock with his blade however everything changed as he did so. A red light began pulsing at the top of the door which was kind of unsettling.

As the back section of the wall revealed its defenses, Kaedan pulled his blade from the door. He looked at the undead soldiers and sighed. The people who wanted to protect this area were quite interesting with their choice of a boobytrap. The undead officers, clad with their apparel, moved robotically towards them while reaching for their weapons.

While his fellow knight tried to hold some of them in place, the fiani among them shot some sort of device on one of the undead soldiers, taking it out. She informed the others to aim at the device located on their neck which seemed to be the power source. With Four and Alhazred focused on the target, Kaedan pushed the blade back into the door. “This should work. If they were so paranoid of others getting in then we are in the right place.” He pushed the blade further and started twisting it around. He could hear the way the door lock was melting and the door shifted slightly as it seems to open a little bit. "It's working."

rolled 19/20 for taking care of the door
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[The Gatekeeper]

Team Professor

@The Good Doctor @Charndley @Interdictor @Narzen @Logan @Laskt @Remileah @StephDLegend
​

The mystery of who the Guild either were, or had been, was almost immediately put on hold. Instead, the focus of the majority of the group was arrested by the arrival of the security force of cyborgs - cyborgs long since dead and yet almost piloted by their cybernetics, along with their other equipment. As the Jedi and other combat-capable people snapped into action, the Professor made himself even smaller, ducking down low to stay out of their line of sight.

Better to just let them get to the fight without him getting in the way! He might, however, have rushed in front of Nye and gotten his snap a little bit blurry... he was sure that was fine.

Nye's shots after that, however, with his blaster pistol found a home in the enemy he was pointing at - one of the cyborgs who had been slowed in place by Alhazred, the Jedi's use of the Force managing to hold some of them long enough to assist the others.

Of course some of them, such as Four, needed no assistance when it came to systematically dismantling the enemies with ease. Identifying the unifying feature of all of the enemies, the Cipher agent displayed her frighteningly high perceptive skills as well as her impressive aim. Between the whole team, the security team were dispatched with relative ease, allowing Kaedan to focus his efforts on the central lock of the door.

The metal immediately around the blade was glowing a bright, angry, red as the Knight's lightsaber both cut and heated the metal in equal measure. Between the cutting power and the extreme heat, the lock within the centre of the door seemed to shudder slightly before there was a light "THUNK" sound - as if something had fallen onto the ground on the other side of the door.

In front of his eyes, Kaedan would see the doors pop away from each other ever so slightly, no more than an inch or two at most - but it was clear that the lock had been cut through and the doors, while stiff from disuse, would be capable of opening. By this point the combat was over and the Professor was checking over some of the cybernetics on the long-dead security team.

It was then that another sound rang out through the hallway - the sound of metal doors opening...

Team Doctor

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The telepathic scream had different effects on different members of the team but it was yet another thing to go wrong with his team and the Doctor was beginning to despair. At this point it was beginning to feel like he had lead his people into the mouth of the beast - that they were going to die here if they stayed much longer.

If they were unlucky it would be as needlessly slow as Trodai's kill of the thief - the Doctor fought the urge to just unholster his pistol and shoot the thief dead. Instead, he allowed the Sith his drawn-out kill and instead focused on grabbing Rina, careful to avoid her rather ruined arm. He firmly held her back before lifting her in a simple carry as Caerllion opened the doors to the lift.

"Thank you Caerllion - your focus is appreciated."

Left unsaid was that at least one other Sith was entirely focused on the wrong thing. The sound of Ra'sa'd choking to death, slowly dying as the large Sith used the Force to slowly kill him, was distracting and the Doctor stepped into the lift, holding Rina fast for the moment.

"Miss Rina, you will find that nothing good comes of people who stand between Sith and their tortures. It's part of my studies - sometimes Dark Side users just can't help themselves and pragmatism falls by the wayside in favour of savouring the kill, of lengthening it."

By this point the thief had passed out but it would still require Trodai to continue the choke to make it lethal - leaving the Doctor guiding Theia and Kyssiara into the lift. With Trodai being the only one of the party now outside of the lift, the Doctor stood there, one finger against the door button as he set Rina down on her feet again to wait.

With the death over, Trodai would be able to squeeze in and the lift would begin its ascent.

It was awkwardly silent as it rose higher and higher, speeding through the confines of the station. There was a general sense of weariness that ran through the entire, battered, team that would see many of them wishing for a bacta dip and a warm bed before long. So it was a relief as the doors opened up again at their destination - only to cause the Doctor to blink in surprise.

"So..."

Both Teams​

"... you beat us here? I suppose I accidentally picked the hard route, eh?"

The Professor's ears perked up and he spun in place, looking to the lift doors opposite to the way his team had come from. There stood the bloodied, reduced, team led by the Doctor in all their glory. Before the tiny intellectual could do more than make a happy gasp at seeing his friend again, the was a terrible grinding sound.

Those large blast doors, with the lock now both melted and cut, had begun to move, prompted by the urging of the little droid that had been still connected to the ancient version of a droid link plug.

Emergency lighting began to come to life, slowly illuminating the room they were all there to access.

A series of red lights blinked in the darkness before the lighting caught up - with at least one console glowing not red, but green instead.

Built in a semi-circular pattern, the far wall of the Spire's control room was made of reinforced glass, giving an unobstructed view to the centre of the station's ring - the black hole that was the other side of the Maw - and the Wildcard floating nearby in the space between the phenomena and the Spire itself. Several banks of computer consoles were arrayed in the control room in rows, each one getting smaller and smaller until the main console was not a bank at all.

The main computer console appeared to be built into the arm of a colossal chair, a throne, of metal and faded velvet. Clearly the centre of the whole Spire control room, the throne had a figure just like the cyborgs outside - a skeleton half slumped in the throne with visible, chunky, cybernetic parts strapped to one eye socket and half of the skull's jaw. Unlike those outside, however, the skeleton was wearing tattered remains of a cloth-based uniform rather than a space-suit - and his cybernetics were plugged into the computer console of the throne directly.

Within the cybernetic socket of the skeleton perched upon the throne, a small red light blinked on as the combined team would step into the control room, as if blinking at them to acknowledge their presence.

 

[Rina Oziaf]

TEAM DOCTOR

Rina barely reacted as the Doctor scooped her up, carrying her into the lift. She clutched at her ruined arm, desperately trying to renew the state of concentration which had allowed her to suppress the immense pain; gradually, she found she was able to force the sensation back down, but it left... nothing. Absent pain, her arm returned no feeling, obeyed no command she sent it...

As the Doctor attempted to justify the actions of the Sith to her, Rina snapped her gaze up to him. For an instant, there was a spark in her red eyes that was very reminiscent of one Lile had seen in other, ostensibly far more dangerous beings. The Tintinna gritted her teeth...

...then sighed, and seemed to sag.

"...I didn't sign up for any of this kriff." She managed, shaking her head. "I don't know how you stay academic about this in the face of... of..."

As the other Force-users filed into the turbolift, Rina found herself shrinking back from them, thinking small thoughts. Ra'sa'd might have been a thief, but there were better punishments for thievery than execution, she had to believe that. The Doctor was right, of course; these were powerful beings, and it was likely safer to let them have their "fun," rather than stand in the way, even with Rina's newfound power.

The turbolift arrived at the top of its shaft, and as the doors opened, Rina hesitantly stepped out. She was surprised, briefly, to see the other team; evidently their respective searches had brought them to the same objective...

Rina looked up at the skeleton on the throne, and her eyes widened.

"Er... they seem important."

In her career, Rina had worked with a number of cyborgs, and indeed, had once briefly considered elective implants for herself; back in the Old Galaxy, however, that process had been fairly straightforward, and not quite so drastic as what was in evidence here. Cyborgs had once been like this; implants and augmentations buried deep inside flesh and bone, permanent alterations with no modularity, little artistry...

Rina approached the throne wordlessly, still holding one useless arm as she watched the small red light in the dead cyborg's skull implant blink steadily. That was more than a little interesting; the meat was gone, but the circuitry of the implant was still obviously doing something...

She looked back at the others.

"Might still have something to tell us!"

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[Trodai Narat-iv-Adas]

Team Doctor

Trodai continued on, his focus upon Ra'sa'd and completely ignoring plea. It would do little to save the thief from his end, slow and painful as it was. An example being made of him. That to betray the Sith and show such disrespect was to be their doom. And so he continued for the five minutes it took to finally see his eyes roll back and feel nothing left but an empty shell of what was once life.

Dropping the body, he entered the lift in silence, he didn't much care what let's thought of him in that moment.

His suffering had been exquisite. As he doors opened he prepared for some kind of attack, instead seeing the other team. Sighing in momentary relief, he walked forwards into the room. And there he saw the strange cyborg. Internally he bought why did it always have to be a droid...this was the second one he had seen that felt like this. He saw the semi-circular nature of the room, the various computers and the main console before them by something of a makeshift throne. It would seem they would need access too the console if they probably wanted to get out of here. But first they would need to get past the cyborg. From within the Force he could feel a sense of foreboding.

Like there was a great weight to the force that was somewhat familiar- like he was inside of of the many haunted sith tombs he had visited before. The chill of the air, the temperature cold and dark. As if the Dark Side was all around them, and not just from him or the other Sith. This was different. It was less focused, scattered even. And so he would be cautious, it certainly wasn't a good sign.

He observed as the cyborg seemed to acknowledge them. This drew his attention, he surmised the darkness he felt was probably coming from it. As if it were possessed by some Sith spirit. Which perhaps was the case given what he felt.

"Why does it always have to be droids." he grimaced "Well that's not good. I can feel the Dark Side stronger here...It feels similar to a tomb. Almost. That same chill in the Force, something is here. A spirit perhaps. I suspect it's the cyborg ahead over there, it apparently is looking at us...and that feeling. Something tells me we need to talk to it or failing that get to the console."

He was happy to let the Jedi potentially get mangled first, to see what happened before he did anything else. He didn't need to make a potentially angry spirit even more rageful. In the meantime he checked to see if his apprentice was more coherent after her previously being so dazed and confused.

Spoiler: Roll for Force Check

D20: 17

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[Caerllion of Cyfnos]

Team Doctor

Caerllion nodded at the Doctor, feeling satisfied that he was able to open the door. Someone in this group had to maintain focus, since the others seemed to have fun playing around with droids and Purebloods that weren’t trustworthy. Really, why was Trodai being all theatrical? He should have killed that guy early.

With the code, the group was able to proceed to the Spire. Inside they found that the others with the Professor had already arrived, destroying several droids in the process. It seemed that his joke about the zombified droids was true. Rather than complaining, Caerllion was relieved that they had dealt with the problem.

He noticed the skeleton sitting on the throne was dressed in fancy clothes. It seemed to be part of some high rank. “I think that it was some type of officer to whatever military controlled this place.” the Annfyn said. “These clothes are very similar to those used by Imperial officers, perhaps even a Moff.”

The Annfyn heard what Trodai said and turned back to the skeleton. Who would talk with it? He had no intention of risking facing a dark spirit again.

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[Alhazred]

Alhazred breathed in relief when the cyborgs were destroyed. He had never seen such things before. The dead, moving not by their own accord? Just when he thought droids were weird enough already.

His relief turned to pleasent joy at the arrival of the other group.

"Huzzah friends..." Alhazred smiled as he waved at the group. His expression turned to worriment when he noticed the Doctor's group looked a bit more beaten and battered then their own. Still, none of them were complaining yet, so he figured he'd allow them to tend their own wounds.

The doors opened. Alhazred gave the red skinned being a sideways glance at the mention of the Dark Side. He was certainly no Jedi. Alhazred made a mental note to keep an eye on the group. The captain was right in having two seperate groups, but now, they were one, and who knew what tensions might erupt into violence.

"There's not just one spirit" Alhazred added. "There are thousands... all watching from that throne..." He gave a glance towards the others. "We found evidence of slaves being held captive on this place. "

Alhazred glanced at his fellow Jedi knight. Telepathically, he reached out to her specifically . Keep back, in case something happens. I will try to speak with these things...

"My friends..." Alhared spoke aloud. "it is as my people say: Injury and despondence set the stage for heroism and cowardice alike"

With that, Alhazred stepped forward. Perhaps it was foolish. Perhaps it brave. Perhaps it was purely suicidal. But Alhazred followed the teachings of The Road Home, and knew, above all things, ruin would find him even if he played things safely. It would be better to lead the way into the darkness then to flee from it. And after all...the only way out of this place and back home was forward.

Spirits... Alhazred telepathically spoke into the Force, opening himself to the Force's song. Webbed hands held slightly upwards and open. On his back, the baby Nu-Vaal squirmed nervously. Whether it was heard by just the main spirit that Trodai mentioned or all of the ones Alhazred felt, Alhazred tried to speak to all of them. As a result, the others behind him, if they wanted, could 'hear' him as well if they opened themselves to it.

We mean you no harm. Please...allow us to help you all rest...

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[Nye]

Team Professor — So they moved forward and now the whole party is together, the Professor's team and the Doctors.

So now we come to the decrepit skeleton on the throne, still apparently alive with via the ancient technology long even after it's organic death. The Red Sith brought up the idea of spirits, Nye would roll his eyes, still believing that to be a ridiculous notion and still haven't seen evidence for it.

The console was clearly visible. It's a shame that Nye doesn't have Father's special program.

Squidface stepped forward and might possibily be doing something with the Force. Nye wouldn't say anything, he would observe. Maybe something would happen, maybe something won't. And he would think of what to do about the 'skeleton king' in his head in the meantime.

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[Kaala]

Team Professor
Kaala didn't even get a chance to fire before the cyborgs were defeated. Any comments she would have voiced, however, were interrupted. She snapped into a fighting stance as the door opened, weapon raised. She lowered it slowly, however, when she recognized the Doctor's team. Well, most of the Doctor's team. There was at least one person missing, and the remaining members seemed a little worse for wear. The difference between Sith teamwork and teamwork with everyone else, she thought smugly before turning back to the sound of yet another door. Vaze had managed to get it open during the fight. "Good job, buddy," she whispered, giving him a thumbs up before surveying the new area ahead of them. The red glare of the emergency lights was ominous, and the view of the Wildcard felt oddly serene. Then, of course, there was the matter of the cyber-skeleton on the throne. Before Kaala-or anyone else, for that matter-could make a sensible move, the Nu-Vaal stepped forward, babbling about 'spirits' or some such nonsense. Muttering a curse in Togruti, she leveled her carbine and swept it across the room, waiting to shoot any possible target that might present itself. As she did so, she brushed one of the buttons on her gauntlet, arming her Whistling Birds.
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[Theia Durand]

Theia stood quietly in the lift, recentering herself for their next reveal as they ascended the spire. She listened carefully to the Doctor as he explained Sith behavior as Trodai had tortured the thief to his death. Theia wondered if he ever thought about how he would be leaving an impact in this galaxy or if it had ever occurred to him that a piece of him would remain with the group here today. She breathed in, letting out a quiet breath until she was startled from her thoughts when Kyssiara spoke about her hair. The padawan blushed to the compliment, "Thanks-" she said quickly, looking away to the blinking lights on the lift's panel.

This was the probably the most awkward rides she had on a lift in all her life so far.

When they reached the top, Theia could feel something, immediately questioning if they were about to face another round of mishaps. When she saw it was the Professor and his team, her eyes light up, widening slightly in surprise to see the familiar, but welcomed team. It was of course short-lived, which Theia expected since nothing good was coming from this place so far.

There was something about large doors and lights switching on that left Theia with a bad feeling about all of this. First came the red glow from the Maw that could be seen through the windows and then the lights, more particularly the singular green lit button. As more lights came on, she nearly jumped seeing the figure with his cybernetic eye, the red light blinking to their approach. Theia was weary, stepping lightly and cautiously after some of the droids they encountered were still functional, she assumed this could be for this one. The padawan used her senses to remain vigilant; as she reached the throne she reached out with her fingertips, feeling the heat of the cybernetic eye as though the battery were charging.

She remembered how the droids they encountered had something similar, except when they were ready, their optics remained red and they would get murdery. "Its charging up." she stated and reached down to pull the cords and wires connecting the being to the computer-throne. If she couldn't pull them by hand, she would cut them with her vibroblade.

@Nefieslab

Dice roll, d20: 18/20

 

[Azathoth]

The fighting was over nearly as quickly as it started and Azathoth felt a tinge of relief wash over her. Her mind had shifted to the horror vids where swarms of killer cyborgs mauled everything in their path, overtaking them like tsunami waves while the struggling heroes eventually succumbed to their untimely deaths.

Luckily, that had not been the case here.

She didn't acknowledge the others when they arrived, her mind still preoccupied with her new and unknown visitor. To her annoyance, Aza hadn't been able to ascertain much about the spirit that seemed to hang just over her shoulder, content to whisper and to watch, but doing little else to explain who or what it actually was.

One thing she did know, though, was the change in feeling she got from the spirit when those big doors opened and revealed the skeleton lord on its fading throne. Fear of what they had just uncovered.. of what they may have just unleashed upon themselves and the station.

Aza's eyes narrowed to crimson slits as for the first time since her arrival, she retrieved her lightsaber from its hiding place and held it in her hand. She didn't ignite the blade, not yet, but something inside of her told her that may change very, very soon.

What is it? she asked the spirit, attempting to reach out to it through the force. Can we kill it? Help me, and we can both get the fuck out of this hellhole.

 

[Kyssiara Serket]

By the time Ra'sa'd's lifeless dropped to the ground and her master joined the rest of the team in the turbolift, Kyssiara's vision had mostly cleared and the ringing in her ears had dulled to a slowly pulsing headache. Irritating and slightly disorienting, but manageable. The acolyte stood awkwardly as the turbolift rose, taking note of the haggard state of the Doctor's team.

As soon as the doors opened, Kyssiara felt a wave of energy in the Force; an undefined dark presence, the kind she'd usually associate with a long-dead Sith spirit. Why would there be something like that here, of all places?

"I've got a bad feeling about thi–"

Golden eyes that had been surveying the Spire came to rest on the Professor's group, who notably had retained all of their members seemingly without the trials and tribulations her own group had dealt with.

"Why the hells did you all get the easy way??" Kyssiara angrily exclaimed.

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[Kaedan]

As the metal gave way to Kaedan’s lightsaber, he persisted until he heard the thunk. A small smile crept onto his face as the doors were now free to be opened. Once they were forced open, due to their stiffness, Kaedan entered the room.

The sound of metal doors opening from the other side captured the young knight. The other group had made it which was a relief. Hopefully, they would all be able to take things of use back to the wildcard for repair and resupply. blink....blink....blink....blink Flashes of red came from the emergency lights while one of the consoles glowed green. Kaedan looked around, noticing the many consoles until it led him to the main one which was built into the arm of the throne.

There was something about the skeleton and the thrown that caught Kaedan's attention. He walked over slowly, inspecting the boned figure. It appeared to be some sort of human or something very similar. From the look of it, cybernetics were the mainstream thing in this galaxy. Fascinating. As fascinated as he was, he felt a chill run down his back as he focused on the cybernetic eye which seemed active.

He took note of the telepathic warning of his fellow knight. "You got it."
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[The Gatekeeper]

Both Teams

@The Good Doctor @Charndley @Interdictor @Narzen @Logan @Laskt @Remileah @StephDLegend @René @Apollyon @Akheron @LouJoVi @AutoFox​

Things for both teams had gone far from the brief that they had all agreed on when they were signing on for the expedition. They had gone even further when they left the Wildcard - at this point they were so far from what was expected it wasn't even funny. Still, the Doctor was able to impart some of his wisdom onto Rina about how to deal with things going off the rails and, more specifically, dealing with the Dark Side when it did.

"It's easier if you're an inherently selfish person. A personality flaw of mine that helps detached from the horrors."

After all - was it really a horror if it wasn't happening to you?

There was enough horror to go around regardless; like the skeleton slumped upon his throne, wires connecting his unsightly cybernetic eye directly to the console built into the throne. Everything was connected to the throne and, via the cybernetics grafted to the bone, to the skeletal officer as well.

Caerllion and Rina's observations were both very true - the skeleton on his throne looked to be important, even the rags of his clothes showing signs of once being a symbol of rank, of status.

But the Force Sensitives of the groups could all feel very clearly that there was something here in the Force - something that was similar, in many ways, to the tombs of powerful Sith but not quite as black and white as Trodai meant. There was an unmistakable weight of Presence in the Force but only some of it was Dark - because Alhazred was correct as well, the Presence was not simply one spirit and they ran the spectrum between Dark and Light.

Theia would be able to pull the charging cables from the cybernetics fairly easily but in doing so she noticed a few things; one was that the skeleton upon the throne didn't so much as move an inch even with her tugging at it, like it was set in duracrete. And two? The cybernetic hadn't turned off as she might have hoped - instead it seemed to brighten slightly.

A burst of binary played throughout the room through speakers built into the consoles.

*Guildmaster Logging On*

Consoles around the room began to light up in different ways, screens turning on to show graphs and charts of data. Some of them were very clearly the readings from the black hole in the centre of the installation, recognisable as gravitational forces and other readings.

This binary was something easily understood by those who either had droids or had otherwise spent time around them in the past. Despite the alien nature of their location, some languages had never changed and binary was one of them. The other "language" that had never changed was the Force.

[QUERY]

[UNFAMILIAR]

[NEW]

[HOPE]

[ANGER]

[HOPELESSNESS]​

A series of emotions, of feelings, roiled through the Force at the contact that Alhazred had made, so strong that they were felt by all members of the party, not just the Force Sensitives. There were no actual words, which they would all be thankful for really, since the emotions were being imprinted upon the Force by thousands upon thousands of spirits within the Force.

Instead there were emotions, pushed through into being by the multitude of the spirits amassed in the area.

The spirit that had joined Azathoth on her journey, wrapped around her presence in the Force so as to remain hidden to all but the tiefling in question, whispered. Rather than sending emotions, this spirit could communicate with the Sith Champion but only in half-heard whispers.

"The Guild flows through the Guildmaster... conduit... possession..."

The blinking red light in the cybernetic eye piece began to glow blue and there was a surge of emotions from the powers behind the throne.

[EAGERNESS]

[DESPAIR]

[FEAR]

[HOPE]

[EXCITEMENT]

[MADNESS]​

As the team watched, the blue light projected out from the eye, casting a veil of blue light upon the ground that resolved into a hologram. A man, dressed in the immaculate uniform the rags had once been, stood in front of them as a hologram no larger than a foot. Still, he was visibly humanoid though the blue-tint of the hologram made it uncertain if he was a human or not. When he spoke, three different sounds were played; binary, ancient Sith and ancient Tionese. It seemed that in their desire to be understood, they took the issue of language into consideration.

"I am Guildmaster Ravnic and this is my final log and guide. Though I am the last of the Guild, I could not face my end without leaving something behind to answer those who might seek the ways to traverse the Galaxies once again."

The hologram paused before continuing its introduction.

"If you are here, the Great Gate may once again be opening and a stable connection must be made. Please direct your questions and I will guide you on how to establish a connection to the Old World."

 

[Rina Oziaf]

TEAM DOCTOR

Rina walked toward the raised dais topped by the command throne and its skeletal occupant; unlike some of the others, she did not seem to feel apprehension toward it. She felt... a person; it was a skill she had always had, the ability to sense when someone was nearby, though it was only within the last few hours that she had been able to say how that might be possible. The figure in the chair was a corpse, that was hard to deny, and yet...

The pulse of the implant's light briefly quickened, and then there was a burst of audible binary, dust puffing from ancient speaker diaphragms around the room. The Tintinna stopped abruptly as what felt like a wave of emotion assaulted her mind; as Rina tried to process the external stimulus, she looked around as various terminals and readouts around the room began to come to life, scrolling information on dust-shrouded screens. Unable to help herself, she went to one of them, reaching up to smear the thick layer of dust off the convex glass. Displayed on it was a scrolling readout of what looked like sensor telemetry; Rina did not recognize the language, but there was helpful binary notation for the benefit of any low-order droids, and the Tintinna's eyes swiftly widened in wonder.

"These are readouts on the Maw!" Rina called back to the others, using her good hand to draw a finger along the information. "According to this, it's... stable! I gather that hasn't been the case since..."

Rina shook her head. The technical information was all here, but what was she supposed to do with it? There didn't seem to be any instructions on how to use it for a specific end...

Abruptly, her attention was drawn back to what appeared to be a hologram, projected onto the floor by the cyborg's implant. If this cyborg was as old as the station, Rina wasn't sure how that was possible; the holograms of the time had largely required mytag crystal viewing tanks. How far had the locals gotten on their own technological development, she wondered?

Regardless, as Rina listened to the message, she began to think. Working with droids often enough, she could spot the telltale of a multi-response program. Ask it the write questions, and...

"Please... tell us." the Tintinna prompted, stepping closer to the hologram. "What do we do to reestablish this connection?"

@Nefieslab