Ask Hymn of Shadow

[Luwalhati]

Spoiler: Mission Brief

Imperial Fright Life
A Star Destroyer is crewed by upwards of fifty thousand men. When it travels through Hyperspace, it had might as well feel invincible. You will be traveling upon this Star Destroyer, on it's way to fortify the space above Dantooine before any more rebels get another stupid idea. Nothing could go wrong, right? But as the ship barrels through Hyperspace, you hear a scream. It's not that of a man, and it chills the blood as if it had turned to ice. By the time you think you've found the source, there is only a mutilated body of a victim left behind.

The Imperials and the Sith onboard the Star Destroyer are not alone. Something else is in there with you. Someone fearfully states that they have heard stories about a monster called a Starweird, but those only hunted the Unknown Regions. Right?

Start with the edges first, then the rest will fall into place.

Puzzle pieces slotted in their respective places. Some floated midair, hovering over a head of pink hair like a jagged halo. Some lay on the carpeted floor, scattered around and forming a mismatch of shapes and half-constructed scenery. On that same floor sat an Acolyte, cross-legged, amber eyes behind a pair of spectacles locked on an incomplete jigsaw puzzle before them. Small hands plucked one puzzle piece after another, finding the corners of the board and filling it up with pieces assigned to those places.

Dantooine held a weird scent to Luwalhati. They had been there before, with their late Master, and the former slave didn't really think much of that place. It smelled like grass and the sweet scent of flowers, turning into acrid smoke when Master died.

The Acolyte, one of the many, was assigned to provide aid in fortifying thr space above Dantooine to deter any more rebel activity. Luwalhati had heard whispers about the rebel's failed attempt to attack the Sith or something, snorting at the mess the rebels stormed into and their not so unexpected failure.

Another piece found its mark. Lu's mind began to wander, thoughts of rebels already fled their loose grasp as another came into mind. Glancing at the viewport, the blue glow of hyperspace brought a sense of calm to the young Acolyte. How long until Dantooine? How long until the smell of ash and smoke reached them–

A scream, shatttering the peace and quiet, sending a chill down the pink-haired Sith's spine. Cold sweat began to bead on Lu's forehead, the floating puzzle pieces falling to the floor as their focus was splintered by that unearthly sound. Shakily rising to their feet, the Acolyte hurried out of their room, running past panicking crew and following a shouting officer who claimed anxiously that he had found someone dead.

Lu squeezed past the gathered onlookers, polite "excuse me" and "passing through" offered to anyone they passed by, until they finally caught sight of the crime scene.

Blood painted the hallway, and the victim lay on her back, face forever frozen in a terrified expression. An errant thought ran unbidden in the Acolyte's mind as someone frightfully mentioned a weird star.

Stars were beautiful, though. No, not weird star, Starweird–

Will I be able to finish my puzzle?

@Mr. Teatime

 

[Nakoa Singh]

"Move," a man's voice commanded grumpily from behind the crowd of panicked Imperial personnel. Nakoa half slipped around and half shoved himself through the group, wearing loose-legged pants, slippers, an imperial bathrobe, and with obviously wet hair wrapped up in a towel. Clearly, he'd been in the middle of something prior to all the shouting. Reaching the body, he leaned over to get a closer look, scowling.

The walls were painted in blood and the poor dead officer had been torn apart by what looked like claws. Nakoa looked around but saw no footprints in the pools of blood. With no obvious reason, he held his hand above the corpse for a few seconds with a look of concentration before standing back up to his full height. "Anyone see?" he asked, looking around at the gathered imperials. There was a bit of shuffling and muttering before, "It was a Starweird, sir!" "Stow that nonsense, it must be a Resistance action!" barked another officer.

Nakoa stared at them. "What is a 'Starweird'?" "Spacer stories, nothing more," insisted the officer. The Wrean Champion gave the man and flat look and turned to the lady navy ensign instead, waving his hand impatiently. First glancing uncertainly toward the officer, he spoke up. "An apparition that haunts deep space, sir. Said to hate the living." Nakoa's reaction to this information was difficult to discern from his grumpy expression.

Before further supposition could come up another piercing shriek rang through the ship, hallway lights flickering ominously. Nakoa flinched at the sound, then shook his head. The sound was unnatural, transmitted not through the air but through the Force. A second later, a panicked woman announced there were three torn-apart corpses outside the mess hall, followed by the unmistakable sound of the woman vomiting her lunch all over the floor.

He unceremoniously snatched an officer's comm off their belt. "This is Champion Singh. Red alert, hostile intruder aboard! Open radio contact, eyes sharp, report unusual activity." Nakoa handed the comm back. "We must find whatever this is." Red Alert protocol required moving in groups of, at minimum, two individuals. At least there would be fewer easy targets. Klaxons sounded thrice and red emergency lights lit the halls, the entire ship beginning to throw itself into a flurry of activity as a beehive disturbed.

"Unnatural," he mumbled, extricating his person from the throng. "Name?" A finger pointed at the Ensign. Trying her best not to shake like a leaf, the Ensign snapped a hasty salute. "Ensign Burnal, 33rd marine battalion, sir!" she answered with more volume than necessary. "Follow. And Acolyte, uh..." He recognized the pink-haired near-human from the social celebration, but not their name. "Tell me your name on the way. Let's go."

Nakoa marched off, heading back to his quarters nearby. Aside from needing to put on actual clothes, that's also where his most commonly used Shaman's supplies were kept in transit. Hopefully, he wouldn't need anything from his ship in the hangar, and this really was "only" some kind of Resistance attack.

@Forsythe Crowholde

 

[Luwalhati]

Lu was unceremoniously pushed aside as a Champion they recognized from the last social made his presence known rather grumpily in the crime scene. Glasses slipping down their nose askew, they squeezed their way back to the front just in time to see Champion Singh leaning over to get a good look on the mangled corpse. Questions and answers followed suit, yet another mention of Starweird being made by one of the panicking officers. An apparition? Lu would have rolled their eyes at the prospect of a ghost if they didn't believe in those things.

Another scream pierced through the Acolyte's skull, instinctively lifting both hands to cover their ears even as the sound echoed within their mind. The scream heralded yet another set of victims, making Lu swallow a sudden lump in their throat. Panic was in the air, as well as mounting tension at the presence of an unknown, hostile intruder aboard the Destroyer. Images of the first corpse flashed in their mind's eye as they peeled away from the gathered group to follow after Nakoa and Ensign Burnal. It didn't feel right pinning this sudden situation as a Resistance attack because it didn't look like one – at least to the Acolyte. If they were to think like a Resistance fighter, wouldn't it be more efficient to sabotage the Destroyer rather than butchering some random Imperial trooper?

And there weren't even bloody boot prints on the floor on that hallway.

Maybe there was a Joiner aboard? Killiks were the hot topic recently. Still, something felt off–

"Luwalhati," supplied the Acolyte helpfully as they tried to keep up with the Champion and the Ensign's pace. Lu felt an ominous chill in the Force, making their heart race anxiously as they and the Ensign waited outside Nakoa's quarters, they thought they saw something move from their periphery as the sound of what seemed to be claws against durasteel rang faintly behind. The Acolyte abruptly turned the way the three came from, amber eyes wide behind their glasses.

"Did you hear that?" they asked the Ensign, their gaze still locked at the end of the hallway.

"What? What is it?" she asked back, inching towards the Acolyte and following their gaze with her own. "I didn't hear anything."

Letting out a slightly shaky breath, the Acolyte took a step back, nearly bumping into Burnal as she squeaked and pushed Lu out of surprise. "Are you trying to scare me? Your timing's way off!"

"I'm not," Lu deadpanned, brows furrowing as they turned to face her. "I just thought I heard something."

Just as they finished speaking they heard it again, fainter than the first. As if whatever was causing it was trailing off, moving further away from them. Lu stepped forward, eyes narrowed as they stared at the fork at the end of the hall when suddenly a trooper appeared, clothes bloodied. He didn't even acknowledge the Acolyte nor the Ensign and just bolted past them, screaming his head off and looking scared out of his wits.

Lu was quick to follow, however, tackling the man to the ground. The trooper shrieked, trying to buck the Acolyte off their back, words falling from one unintelligible syllable to the next. Lu groaned as one of the man's elbows found their stomach. Lu drew on the Force, restricting the trooper's movements and holding him down on a stasis as he continued to shout, terror thick in his voice.

@Mr. Teatime