Ask [Iridonia] Abject Horror

[Arctus Friers]

Spoiler: Mission Brief

✝
There are things that look human but aren't—at least not anymore. A cemetery on Iridonia has housed the dead for centuries, but a distress call was sent out to the Jedi when bodies began to disappear. Where there once were beautifully kept, peaceful graves, there are now gaping maws where bodies once laid. The cemetery tender believes that the bodies weren't stolen; they dug themselves up.

Find the missing bodies and discover the cause of this rotten revival before something sinister comes to fruition.

​

"I'm tellin' you, dey dug demselves up! Look! Just look–"

Arctus' gaze swept the grave again, soil freshly dug and grass ripped off of their roots. Beside him the graveyard keeper continued to speak agitatedly, gesticulating wildly as he pointed at one empty grave to the next. The old gravekeep rattled on and on, pointing out that he had been tending to this cemetery for the majority of his life and thus knew how he could tell that the bodies buried on the empty graves dug themselves out. Sighing as the Zabrak looked back at him with wide, manic eyes, the Padawan couldn't help but shrug helplessly, wiping the sweat on his brows with his forearm.

"Alright, so let's say that the bodies really dug themselves up," the bearded Jedi began, arms crossing as he stopped in front of one of the dug up graves, the tip of one boot lightly nudging at a small mound of soil. "Did you see it happen? Like, really see it with your own two eyes? Did you see any corpse walk off–"

Expression turning from panic to offended, the old Zabrak threatened to hit Arctus with the shovel he carried. "Ye take me fer a dumbass? I didn't call fer y'all Jedi to insult me on mah own damned turf! Get yo' goofy ass off my cemetery, ya punk!" Turning to the other two Jedi, the gravekeeper huffed and pointed one dirty finger at Arctus. "I ain't gonna waste mah time answerin' to dis insolent eedjiot. Got any oder proper questions fer me?"

The Padawan, for his part, chose to back off with his hands raised at chest level in surrender. Embarrassed at having offended the gravekeeper, Arctus instead wandered off a bit to investigate as the old Zabrak turned his focus on Knights Blain and Tonor after throwing the Corellian a dirty look. Shoving his hands on his pockets, the former smuggler cast the vicinity a sheepish look, though hazel grey eyes remained sharp and alert. He would have easily believed reports of missing corpses more convincing if grave robbers were involved, but the gravekeeper was convinced that the bodies dug themselves up and rose from their graves themselves.

It sounded like a plot to a rated B horror holomovie.

Still, what if the old coot was telling the truth? Arctus himself had seen walking abominations of the non-AMS infected kind. He shuddered upon remembering that haunted manor, and the sensations those rotted revenants felt through the Force. The sound of fluttering wings soon cut through the Padawan's reminiscence, spotting a raven land on one of the gravestones a few feet from where he stood. Shooting his fellow Jedi a quick glance over his shoulders, Arctus then carefully crossed the distance between him and the large bird.

"Hey there, buddy. Hang around here often?"

@Charndley @Reylo4evr

 

[Edaara Tonor]

Edaara had seen many strange things in her life and her time as a Jedi, so she was a little slower to deny the old gravekeep his elaborate story. She eyed the freshly turned dirt as Arctus walked off to investigate further. She raised her gaze to the Zabrak. "When did this occur," she said. Her tone betrayed neither a belief of his story or denial, and it was obvious it seemed to sooth the gravekeep's nerves.

"Last night," he said eagerly. "And they done it again, look," he said, pointing at the empty graves with his shovel. Edaara eyed his shovel and mildly thought it suspicious that he was carrying a shovel while talking to Jedi about dug up graves. She did not say anything about it, however.

"Do you have any other evidence besides what you saw," she said, as if wanting to confirm what she already believed. The Zabrak looked much happier now that Edaara seemed to believe him.

"Aiya, I got footprints," he said, pointing at prints that looked like oddly misshapen feet; it looked as if whoever made them were not wearing shoes. Edaara was about to ask the Zabrak to take off his shoes when he shoved his hand into the pocket of his ratty coat. "And this," He pulled out something rotting and gray and the stench of it overwhelmed Edaara. It took her a moment to recognize it as a humanoid hand.

@Charndley @Forsythe Crowholde

 

[Ariadne Blain]

Ariadne stood around, leaning on a shovel as she watched the other knight deal with the questions.

This is such a load of hot bullshiiiiiiiit she thought, checking her nails as the other two tried to deal with the local yokel. Join the Jedi, I thought. See the Galaxy, live for adventure, do some good. Now I'm stuck looking for a graverobber and listening to a drunken hick rant at us.

"Oh. A set of footprints, how unique. Never seen those before. Must be the walking dead," she groaned quietly, stepping over a mound of dirt to venture closer to them. Yep. They were footprints alright. A little bit misshapen but... hey, that could've been the weather. The hand was a little more unusual, Ariadne had to admit, but that proved nothing. Of course you were going to get rotting flesh in a graveyard.

"'Kay, we'll folllow the footprints, find whatever it is that left them and we can all move on with our lives. Or what's left of them," she muttered giving the side eye to the Zabrak. She looked over her shoulder and whistled at Arctus.

"Padawan Friers, stop flirting with the wildlife and come join us, will ya?" Grabbing the shovel, she lifted it over her shoulder as she moved towards the trail of footprints. Looking over at Edaara and the hand, she wrinkled her nose. "I'd put that in a bag if I was you. Or leave it with him. He seems to know what he's doing with it."

He'll probably trade it for booze, let's be honest.

@Forsythe Crowholde @Reylo4evr

 

[Arctus Friers]

Arctus passed by yet another open grave, nose wrinkling at the sight as he made his way towards the watching raven. The bird, for its part, tilted its head at the approaching human as if gauging the harm the man might cause. Though as the Padawan stumbled a little, almost tripping and falling into the open grave the bird let out a rather deadpan 'gwah', as if commenting on the bearded human's apparent clumsiness.

Footprints pointed to something leading away from the dug up grave, but they were too faint to identify now. Still, Arctus tried to follow the trail until he noticed that it was just leading him back towards the Knights and the gravekeeper. He paused, glancing over his shoulder to where the raven was then looked back at his companions, brows rising as Ariadne called out to him. The Padawan almost let out an amused snicker at the comment about flirting with the wildlife; a startled yelp escaped him instead when the raven took flight and brushed way too close on the top of his head as it flew.

Arctus made a swiff beeline back towards his fellow Jedi. He made a point not to address the Zabrak just in case the old coot get mad at him again. Hazel grey eyes were soon drawn to the trail of footprints Ariadne and Edaara were looking at. The Padawan sent an almost suspicious glance towards the gravekeep and did a double take when he saw the grey, rotting hand the old coot was holding.

The urge to crack a joke came something fierce, but the Corellian stomped it before he could open his mouth to talk without thinking. Shifting his gaze away from the detached limb, Arctus instead focused on the footprints that led further into the cemetery.

"Bet there's even more dug up graves further ahead," said the Padawan to no one in particular. Unable to refrain himself from asking yet another question, he turned to ask the Zabrak, "How many graves are dug up–"

His question was interrupted when the old man let out a startled yell, throwing the dismembered limb to the ground. The hand fell limp, but the gravekeeper's next words seemed to prove otherwise.

"It moved! De damned ting jus' moved, did ya see?" he cried, looking aghast as he glanced between the three Jedi and the detached hand. "I swear, I felt it! Damned ting's got a pulse or sumtin'!"

The hand did what now?

Arctus shot the Zabrak a disbelieving look and blinked. The hand lay unmoving on the ground. Crouching down, the Padawan moved to pick up the discarded limb and held it up towards the gravekeeper after making a show of feeling for a pulse. He felt nothing, of course – the damned thing was grey, rotting, and not exactly attached to a body with a heart to pump blood or anything. Maybe the old coot really was drunk. Or had a few screws loose, not that Arctus thought about it.

"No pulse here," he deadpanned, shrugging at Ariadne and Edaara as if to say 'old guy must be high as hell'.

As soon as he finished speaking, however, a faint, creaking sound emanated from the humanoid hand he held. Arctus looked down just in time to see a finger twitch, then another, until the dismembered hand was moving in rigid spasms reminiscent of an AMS infected individual on the final stages of rot. Instinctively the Padawan dropped the hand and the old Zabrak yelled again in fright.

Two graves to the gathered group's left, the earth atop another grave began to shift and churn.

@Charndley @Reylo4evr

 

[Edaara Tonor]

Edaara was just wondering if it was really fair to be so skeptical when there was obviously something amiss about this whole situation when the Zabrak flung the hand onto the ground at Edaara's feet. She instantly went alert, even as Arctus picked it up and said there was no pulse.

When the hand actually did start to move, Edaara's eyes followed it as it fell back to the ground. Right as the dirt on a grave a little ways off began to move, the hand's fingers straightened and it moved, like some sort of twisted crab-spider. Edaara stepped back as it skittered past them to the left, to the grave where the earth was churning. Another hand popped out of the dirt, but this one was attached to an arm. It felt around the still moving dirt until it had a hold of the hand.

Edaara rested her own still-living hand on the hilt of her saber. She didn't think it would do anything to the corpse; considering it were already dead; but it would likely hold it off until they could come up with a better plan.

@Charndley @Forsythe Crowholde

 

[Ariadne Blain]

Ariadne was just about ready to call the whole thing off when the Zabrak yelped and started rambling about the hand twitching. She mimed a drinking motion to the other Jedi, but she wasn't certain that they'd seen it. They were too busy actually trying to humour the obviously-drunk guy's hallucinations.

"Come on, if there's nothing here there's a hundred different places we can be usef-" Ariadne started to complain, before the ground started to shift. Actual ground moving, as something reached up and clawed up. Ariadne heard another and turned, seeing more ground shifting around them. The unmistakable cracking of sinew and bone.

"Me and my fat mouth..." she muttered as she dropped the shovel and reached for the blaster pistol at her belt. "Padawan, get him outta here!" she yelled at Arctus as she turned the blaster up to as powerful as it would go. Nodding at Edaara, she stepped back and prepped her shots.

"I heard you needed a headshot to kill one of these things, or is that just an AMS rumour?!" she yelled, uncertain, as the first desiccated body climbed out from the churning earth. The Zabrak corpse, half-rotten and gleaming black along it's body, let out a guttural growl. Ariadne aimed her blaster at it's head and fired. The blast burst into it's empty skull. Fragments of Zabrak horn smacked everywhere.

"We can take th-" Ariadne said before feeling something strong around her heel, getting yanked back. Looking down, she saw two mottled hands gripping her ankle. More graves around them started to stir. Groans echoed through new holes.

@Forsythe Crowholde @Reylo4evr

 

[Arctus Friers]

In the past, Arctus had laughed at zombie holomovies and even wondered what it would be like seeing an AMS infected in the flesh. He'd been terrified of the undead ever since he found himself face to face with a couple of them in that messed up not-so abandoned building, but the difference between those revenants and the rising undead right here was much obvious. Whereas the undead in the manor howled with animosity through the Force, the ones right here were...

"By de stars! Dey're risin'!" cried out the gravekeeper in terror, eyes bulging out of their sockets, trembling hands gripping his shovel tight.

The dismembered hand skittered across the ground until it was found by it's owner. No sooner than the corpse dug itself up more followed, gravelly groaning and cracking bone and sinew rising in a morbid cacophony.

"On it!" he replied to Ariadne's command, one hand grabbing the old Zabrak's arm while the other drawing one of his blasters from its holster. Arctus scanned the area for an exit, shooting at a walking corpse that tried to grab the terrified gravekeeper. Another took its place, and though scared out of his wits the Zabrak had found the sense to whack the dead with his shovel, sending its head sailing high above and past Edaara's head.

More walking dead began to converge on the group of Jedi and gravekeeper, seemingly intent on getting their hands on the living. Though still not close to being overwhelmed, the four living among the dead would not do well to waste any moment to distance themselves from the risen corpses. As such, Arctus had decided to make a run for the cemetery entrance with the old gravekeeper in tow and didn't notice the hands aiming for Ariadne's ankle.

"AMS or not, let's try to blast their heads off!" he told his fellow Jedi and the old Zabrak in response to the Tiefling's question. Another corpse found itself headless as the Padawan shot it. "And try not to get bitten as precaution! Let's go!"

Intent on following what he was told, Arctus immediately began carving a clear path for his fellow Jedi to follow along with the old Zabrak. Sure that the Knights would be following after the pair, the Corellian focused up ahead and eliminating any undead that blocked their path while at the same time urging the old coot to keep up.

@Charndley @Reylo4evr

 

[Edaara Tonor]

Edaara pulled out her saber and ignited it. She took two large steps forward and lopped off the heads of three of the corpses making their way towards the three Jedi. Padawan Arctus grabbed the gravekeeper and made for the entrance, shooting the heads off any corpses that got too close. The battle was strangely quiet- the corpses only made soft groaning noises and did not scream as their heads flew across the cemetary.

They were beginning to make headway when Ariadne jerked and nearly stumbled over. Edaara was not close enough to do anything instantaneously to help her fellow Jedi, but she was able to fling out her left arm and hold Araidne up with the Force, so she wouldn't fall over. Edaara moved to Ariadne's side and chopped off the hands using the tiefling's ankles as handles to pull themselves up.

She had barely done this when a corpse tripped over its own feet just in front of her, sending it stumbling towards her with arms flailing. Edaara brought her left arm around and held it off with an invisible wall and then lopped off its head, releasing her hold on the corpse. She took a step back towards the grave entrance, her saber still raised to decapitate any other corpses.

@Charndley @Forsythe Crowholde

 

[Ariadne Blain]

Ariadne nearly tumbled over with the grip of her ankles. If it wasn't for her fellow Knight, she would've done so. Just before she teetered over, she felt the push of something holding her up, acting as a counter to the strong, dead hands below. The hands were quickly removed by Edaara, leaving Ariadne to shake them off her ankles. As they flopped onto the ground, they started twitching. Groping. Grasping.

Ariadne stared in horrified fascination before deciding it was time to go.

Scrambling back towards Arctus and the Zabrak, she reached for her belt and twisted off one of the grenades she had clipped there. Non-lethal, but it'd slow them down enough for the Jedi to regroup. Setting a quick, five second timer on it, she threw it into the mass of churned graves and emaciated corpses, giving a quick glance at Edaara.

"Move!" she yelled, clutching onto her bag as she followed the others. In just a couple of seconds, the grenade would pop and douse the immediate vicinity with quick-hardening foam. She did not enjoy the idea of being stuck there with them.

"These can't be AMS," Ariadne gasped at Arctus as she approached. "Too many! Too decrepit. Too... organised." Even as they approached the entrance, Ariadne felt a cold horror wash over her.

There are people living all around us. When these start spreading, everyone is screwed.

 

[Arctus Friers]

Arctus swiftly intercepted another corpse that made a beeline for the old Zabrak, the risen dead seemingly intent on targeting the much older gravekeeper than the younger and physically stronger Padawan. The Corellian sent a kick that forced the zombie backwards, its head exploding as a blaster bolt found it's mark. Arctus then went back to ushering the gravekeeper forward until they streaked past the gate entrance.

His companions caught up soon after, Edaara with her saber ignited and ready to cut down another corpse while Ariadne unclipped a grenade from her belt. He was about to comment against making an explosion to destroy the walking dead but it turned out that the weapon was non-lethal, the advancing small army of the dead finding themselves rendered immobile as the vicinity was quickly doused with quick-hardening foam.

"No shit," he replied, brows furrowed at Ariadne's observation. Realizing what he'd just said, the Padawan was quick to rectify his mistake. He didn't mean to be rude; he was just as shocked as they were. "Sorry, I meant..." The groaning from the trapped corpses made him shudder. "Yeah, I don't think this is AMS, though it won't hurt to assume that their bite could be infectious or something..."

If they did bite, that is. Arctus shifted his focus on the old gravekeeper. "Return to the village, old man. And tell your people not to venture out here until this ordeal ain't done."

Not needing to be told twice the old Zabrak bolted after nodding his agreement.

The corpses that weren't within the grenade's blast radius halted in their advance, unblinking and eyeless gazes alighting on the group of Jedi on the cemetery entrance. They paused for a few moments, their soft groans and quiet wheezing filling the arid night breeze. Then, moving as one, they began to move forward, hammering their rotted fists and brittle bones against the hardened foam that currently trapped their fellow undead.

More corpses began their ascent from their graves. While the initial batch of grave risers moved in seemingly organized manner, this second wave of undead looked intent to huddle into a group hug or something. They hauled themselves into the growing pile of corpses, rotted flesh melting together into a massive, festering blob. Instead of moving forward, however, the amalgamation of rotting carcasses withdrew deeper into the cemetery and towards the dark forest beyond, leaving a trail of blackened, smeared flesh and bits of bone in its wake.

"Y-Y-Yeeee-Yeeeeuuuuu..."

From the withdrawing pile came a guttural, wet sound, strangled and seemingly struggling in its vocalization. The corpses moving to dig out their ilk from the glop grenade's hardened foam halted all movement altogether, and returned the blob's vocalizations with rising groans.

"Holy kriiiiff..." Arctus muttered, disbelief bleeding into his words the longer he stared at the retreating blob. "I can't be the only one seeing that... what the fuuuuu..."

@Charndley @Reylo4evr

 

[Edaara Tonor]

Edaara backed up to the gate with the other Jedi, her blue saber still ignited as the hard foam held off the majority of the corpses. It didn't seem to last however, as more corpses dragged themselves out of their graves and seemed to meld together. She could feel both Ariadne's and Arctus' horror and disbelief and exacted tougher control over hers. "What's on the other side of those trees?" she asked as the fleshy mass made its way to the woods on the other end of the grave.

No matter the answer, she would turn to Arctus. "Follow after the gravekeeper; make sure the villagers are safe and call backup." she shifted her calm gaze to Ariadne. "We should follow the... the mass of corpses," she said, not really sure of what to call the melted corpses.

@Charndley @Forsythe Crowholde

 

[Ariadne Blain]

Ariadne was feeling plenty smug about her grenade plan when it exploded and doused a lot of the walking dead in hardening form. She grinned in triumph, feeling a rush of victory. It lasted for a good few seconds before the dead started their next plan. First, they hammered against the foam. Then they started to... collect.

"Are you seein' this shit?" Ariadne asked without thinking, to neither of the other Jedi in particular. What in the Galaxy had they stumbled across? What was doing that? Whatever the outcome of their mission today, Ariadne would be remembering this for a long time. "Never shoulda stopped smuggling," she muttered to herself as her eyes flicked between the retreating 'ball' of corpses and the ones still stood in front of them. The way they just stood and moaned into the air, matching the sounds of the flesh-ball, was even freakier than if they'd been trying to attack.

Ariadne was already in her bag, searching for her datapad. Once in hand, she pulled up a map of the surroundings, twisting a couple of dials to zoom in. "No towns immediately in that direction. Nothing at all," she said, frowning. "Oh... except a ruin? A former colony from the Old Republic days."

With her blaster back in one hand and the pad in the other, Ariadne nodded at Edaara. "It's a better plan than I have. But we can call in backup remotely, surely? Wherever that is going," she said, pointing to the opening in the trees, "we may need all the help we can get." Images flooded her mind of other balls of decaying, rotting and writhing flesh.

Whatever her fellow Jedi said, Ariadne started walking in the wake of the abomination. Beneath her boots, bone and flesh crunched and squelched sickeningly.

Don't throw up don't throw up don't throw up...

@Forsythe Crowholde @Reylo4evr

 

[Arctus Friers]

The longer Arctus gaped at the retreating mass of fused corpses, the more he tried to convince himself that he wasn't tripping – he only had to pinch himself once and blink a couple of times to see the rotting blob of flesh and bone slowly make its way towards the treeline, twigs snapping and trees groaning as they were felled by the passing abomination. He barely heard Ariadne's exclamation of disbelief, nor would Edaara's words until the Mirialan Knight directly adressed the Padawan.

They were going to split up? Well, he was being told to, at least, by making sure that the gravekeeper returned safely to the village and to keep the villagers safe. As for backup... probably anyone capable of fighting the undead. The Padawan hesitated for a moment, not really wanting the pair to go without him, but in terms of combat skills they probably dwarfed his own. He probably would've turned out to be a liability or something–

I can fight, damn it! But... Edaara's got a point.

Keeping the villagers in the dark about the current development with regards to the walking corpses wasn't a good idea anyway. Giving the two ladies a firm nod and a quiet "see ya" the Padawan turned on his heels and ran to try and catch up with the old Zabrak. His booted feet thundered beneath him, heart pounding as he tried to make out the path through the dark. Silence reigned eerily the farther he ran from the cemetery with its groaning corpses. The Corellian soon caught sight of a lamplight up ahead.

"Hey!" he called out to the old gravekeeper. Slowing to a jog as he approached the Zabrak, Arctus felt that something seemed amiss as the old coot didn't even turn around to acknowledge him. "Hey, old man–"

The Padawan froze when he realized one odd detail that now stood out so starkly when the old Zabrak finally turned to face him. The gravekeeper only had a shovel when they sent him running.

Pale lavender light reflected in Arctus' eyes as the figure holding the lamp turned to face him. Unsurprisingly it wasn't the old gravekeeper but an entirely new Zabrak, male and much, much younger than the former. Milky white gaze settled upon the startled Padawan, unseeing eyes wide and panicked.

"Have they risen? Have you seen them?" asked the Zabrak, voice raspy and hoarse from disuse. He crept forward, one hand blindly reaching towards Arctus' direction. There was something seemingly ethereal about the man, as if he was intangible yet at the same time solid, belonging in the physical plane rather than the spiritual. "Have you seen them?"

Not knowing what to respond with and not even hiding the fact that the encounter creeped him out, Arctus took a step back, then another. A twig snapped somewhere behind him and when the Padawan turned to look for the source of the sound, he saw another figure swinging a shovel straight towards him. Caught off guard he raised one blaster a little too late.

The sound of cracking bone split the unnatural silence that befell the path towards the village. Somewhere in the trees a lone raven croaked mournfully before taking flight.

——

In the remnants of a colony from the Old days stood a Church. Not ran by zealots nor fanatics, neither by cultists nor the radical. Once a place of reverent worship, but now stood in ruins and bereft of followers, of brothers and sisters in faith. And yet something lingered even after millenia have passed. Not a person nor a ghost, but a feeling, desperately clinging on broken stone and rusted steel.

Longing, yearning.

And the corpses answered its call. A body, living or dead– anything, as long as it had a faithful believer finding shelter under the Church's roof.

Not a zealot nor a fanatic, neither a cultist nor a radical.

Longing. Yearning.

A body... anything.

Come to me, please...

@Charndley @Reylo4evr

 

[Edaara Tonor]

Edaara walked with Ariadne after the mass of flesh and bone, sending a prayer with the Force along with Arctus. While splitting up was dangerous, they were an odd number and one person would always be alone. Perhaps he should have gone with Ariadne and Edaara had gone back, but he was going away from the corpses, so he should be safer. Technically.

They entered the woods, keeping the mass ahead of them. The corpses seemed intent on their destination; unaware or uncaring of the Jedi pursuing them. It might have been close to an hour when they exited the woods. Edaara slowed, taking in the shadowy ruins of the Old Republic colony. The fleshy mass was peeling apart from itself; corpses were stumbling around the ruins towards a mostly intact building, flesh dripping off them like stretchy slime. The stench was incredible and Edaara's head pounded and her eyes watered. She experienced a rush of nausea but swallowed it back, guarding her and Ariadne in the Force, protecting from the stench at the very least.

"It looks like a church," she said, nodding towards the building the corpses were crowding into. "Should we trap them in there, drop a grenade in after them?"

@Charndley @Forsythe Crowholde

 

[Ariadne Blain]

Despite the fact that it made her uneasy, Ariadne left Padawan Friers to escort the older Zabrak back. Better for the Knights to deal with the freaky shit, right? Still, it niggled at her as she walked with Edaara, following the eerie mass of flesh at what seemed like a safe distance.

Ariadne's nose wrinkled at the scent that hit them, watching as the flesh peeled and slipped apart, the bodies tumbling out into mindless droves, heading further and further into the ruins. She held up her fingers and pinched her nose shut, just for a hint of relief.

When the church came into view, she stood and watched. Just seeing the corpses stumble through the doorways, moving in a shaky, yet certain, rhythm inside. From the shadows stirring beyond the windows and through the archways, Ariadne wasn't sure how many there were in there. Somewhere between lots and hordes.

Tapping her belt, Ariadne considered Edaara's plan. "What I'd really like to do is take off from the planet's surface and carpet bomb the place, but I guess we can't really do that without knowing what's causing this." She started unclipping the few Glop grenades she had left, offering a couple to the other Knight. "Throw a couple through the windows, that should be enough to hold down whatever's in there, all bunched up close?" She tried to speak with certainly, though that seemed to be in short supply when you were dealing with the living dead.

Desperately wishing she could go back to hunting bandits and slavers, Ariadne carefully approached the church. Relying on the single-mindedness of the walking corpses, she ventured as close as she dared to a window. The shadows beyond stirred, engaged in nightmares that her mind could only brush at the meaning of. Clutching on tight to her two grenades, she took aim with her blaster, psyching herself up for the right moment. Setting the timers on the grenades.

A few seconds later, she fired at the window. Squeezing three high-powered shots to shatter the material, she waited until she could see an opening and then tossed her grenades in there, hoping they'd work. Hoping they'd fill the tight spaces and packed aisles of the ruined church with enough thick, hardening foam to stop them all... well... dead in their tracks.

@Forsythe Crowholde @Reylo4evr

 

[Arctus Friers]

AMS infected were said to attack any living creature they see with the aim to spread infection. The Killiks were subtle amd insidious in their attempt to 'join' all living things in their hivemind. None of the walking corpses shared any shred of resemblance with the aforementioned forces, however. A single glance wasn't enough for anyone to ascertain the risen's intent, nor could anyone living find out why the reanimated dead single-mindedly marched towards an old church in the middle of an abandoned, ancient colony.

Had the walking dead displayed even an ounce of hostility they would not have let the pair of Jedi Knights follow nor reach their destination. Ariadne and Edaara would have been swarmed by corpses intent on shredding the two women to pieces. Their broken bodies would have then joined those amassing within the church to fulfill whatever purpose the deceased aimed to execute.

But the dead held no hostility for the living. They answered the Call, and the Voice either did not care to hinder the investigating Jedi or It did not care at all for the moment. As such, the Knights' wary advance towards the church and Ariadne's subsequent attempt to immobilize the congregated corpses inside the building went unhindered. The glop grenades' foam filled tight spaces and packed aisles, the substance hardening and immediately restraining the dead's movements. With the walking corpses caught dead in their tracks, the pair of Jedi would be free to enter the church to investigate what had caused the dead to rise and assemble in this place.

Past the wriggling, seemingly confused corpses and the frozen mass of rotting flesh, the ruined altar stood. Moonlight filtered past dusty and cobwebbed tall windows. Upon closer inspection on the altar it would yield little to no information in relation to the dead rising. Though what stood out amongst decaying wood and dead brambles was a single white flower, resting on the altar table like a solemn offering.

"P-Pr.... ise...." came the guttural vocalizations of the mass of corpses. It didn't attempt to break free from the hardened foam that bound it where it stood, but Ariadne and Edaara would see that rotting, unseeing eyes were now trained on them both. Any corpse whose hands and arms weren't trapped would begin to point and make gestures at the Knights, as if telling them to come sit (or stand) with them. Should either of the two reach out through the Force to gauge what the corpses wanted, they would be assaulted with a single feeling awash with sadness and abandonment.

Longing. Yearning.

The church's double doors slowly creaked open, revealing a tall, grey-skinned Zabrak with white markings on his face. Ivory unseeing eyes kindly gazed at Ariadne and Edaara, lips turning upwards in an expectant and gentle smile. Though moonlight bathed his form, no shadow ran the length of the hardened foam that blocked his way.

"Won't you sing with them? Will you answer the Call?"

——

He woke to the sounds of laborious grunts and the feeling of weightlessness. His head throbbed with a dull, irritating pain, and the taste of blood on his tongue. With a groan Arctus moved – tried to, at least, only to discover that his hands were bound and so were his legs. How long he had been unconscious, he had no idea. And why was he tied up?

Blearily the Padawan sluggishly opened his eyes. He struggled against his bonds but they held firmly, rough cords chafing his wrists. Belatedly he realized that he was being dragged, dead leaves and twigs crunching beneath him. Hazel grey gaze flickered upwards, catching glimpses of pale lavender light streaming in front of whoever was dragging him. Past tall and dark trees his attacker went, grunting with effort as they dragged the Padawan by his feet. Arctus tried to lift his head, enough to catch sight of the old gravekeeper's back and another Zabrak carrying a lamp with its lavender flame. The gravekeeper's shadow flickered from tree to tree, whereas the lamp-bearer had none.

What the hell...

"Old man, what the heck?!" Arctus yelled at the old coot, beginning his struggling anew as his strength returned. "Let me go! What's all this about?"

The gravekeeper forged ahead, ignoring the Padawan's words and struggling. He simply went about dragging the bound Padawan. The other Zabrak at least seemed rather keen on answering Arctus' question with yet another question, looking over his shoulder at the Corellian with his unseeing gaze.

"Did your companions hear the Call?" the mysterious Zabrak asked, a faint smile tugging at his lips. "They followed the others. Did you hear It?"

Arctus huffed, trying to twist his wrists to loosen his bindings but to no avail. With a frustrated grunt and neck protesting with pain his head thumped against the ground. He tried to wiggle against the old gravekeeper's hold but the latter's grip belied his age, fingers clutching the Padawan's ankles in a steely grip.

"All I'm hearin' is this old man's ragged breathing and... wait a damn minute, who are you?" he piped back at the mystery shadowless Zabrak, frustration and curiosity furrowing his brows. "Don't tell me you're in cahoots with this kinky bastard who hit me with a fuckin' shovel... my jaw freakin' hurts! I swear if y'all knocked a tooth–"

The grey-skinned Zabrak regarded the angry Padawan with an amused glance, but didn't offer him any answers. The pair walked forward with Arctus in tow. For his part the Corellian tried to feel for any of his blasters, only to wince when he realized that he might have dropped them when he was knocked out. He raised his head again to glance at his legs, eyes widening when he caught sight of his vibroblade still tucked in his right boot. Straining to reach forward, the tips of his fingers grazed the blade's handle, but a firm gray hand clasped at his fingers. Above him the grey Zabrak loomed closer, lavender light reflected in his milky eyes.

The sound of creaking bones and soft groans approached the three, and Arctus froze as a corpse walked past followed by another. The dead seemed content to ignore them, all headed towards the clearing and on to a path that led who knew where. His gaze flickered to the grey Zabrak, uncertainty and apprehension gleaming in his eyes.

"Be not afraid," said the Zabrak softly, as if sensing the Padawan's fear. The hand that held Arctus' fingers let go, rising until it rested on the man's forehead. "Can you feel it?"

Arctus would've shaken the hand off of his head, if he hadn't been beset by a strong feeling of yearning that wasn't his own. The Corellian gasped, jaw tight as he fought against the rush of emotion. His gaze darted to the smiling Zabrak, eyes wide with confusion and growing panic as the yearning, the longing, burrowed deeper into his mind the harder he fought against it.

@Charndley @Reylo4evr

 

[Edaara Tonor]

Edaara stood on the other side of the window, and when Ariadne flung a couple bombs into the church, Edaara flung one of her own in, keeping a hold on the other just in case. The church fell quiet and there was only a soft creaking; whether it was the church, the foam, or the corpses' bones, Edaara didn't know, and she didn't care to find out. She crept around the side of the church and walked slowly in through the front doors, figuring Ariadne would be close behind. She found it strange how the corpses had not been aggressive towards them, and even as they walked into the church, there was no hatred in the corpses eyes. They merely looked... sad.

Edaara reached out with the Force and was hit with a wave of sad longing. She took a step back and withdrew immediately. How could corpses have feeling, emotions? However, the more she thought about it, the more it made sense. It would be stronger because they were mere souls animating bodies. Their hearts no longer beat, no longer pumped blood and completed brain functions, so all the bodily functions that usually distracted a human mind and soul were not present to hinder the corpses. The souls. Lost, abandoned souls yearning for something.

Edaara noticed a single white flower on the altar. It seemed to glow in the moonlight, stark against a dark background. She walked forwards until she was right in front of the altar. She stretched out a hand to pick it up right as the door opened, revealing a blind Zabrak standing in the doorway. The first thing she noticed was the absence of his shadow. There were so many levels to this mystery, Edaara had to pause to try and put them together, even as the Zabrak spoke.

Rather than ask what the Call was, since the Zabrak was not likely to give a straight answer, Edaara asked another question- "How can we help?"

@Charndley @Forsythe Crowholde