Ask Vanished

[Jonathen Baize]

He gave her a hard stare. He didn't like it. She knew he didn't like it. "We'll follow your orders," he said in relent. At least they agreed that this should be dealt with now instead of later.

In exactly twenty minutes, they were packed up and heading out. Jonathen and Kalique were at the front with the soldiers in a column behind them.

The wind whipped through empty village streets, kicking up freshly laid snow. A minute into their walk, Kalique froze and whispered a word he had never heard before. Her stare was empty when she looked back at him, eyes almost completely black. Jonathen took a step back, hand moving to his rifle before she collapsed with a gasp.

"Medic!" he yelled, his hand giving several quick commands, his soldiers fanning out and taking cover. They scanned their entire area. The medic came running up, sliding as he knelt down next to the Captain. He started pulling items out of his bag. "What's going on, mam? Can you hear me?" he asked, starting to try and figure out what she was suffering from.

"What's that you just said?" he asked. He listened as she spoke the answer a second later. "What about what you said earlier, Mrias.. or something like that," he asked. He scanned the snow-covered streets; everything looked as it should for the moment.

"What are you most afraid of?" the voice whispered in her mind before fading.

"Are you okay to continue?" he asked, ready to call for evac out of here if she wasn't.

@LadyRen

 

[Kalique Baize]

Kalique's vision blackened out for a moment before she was woken by Jonathen's voice and the medic sliding in next to her. "I'm okay...I'm okay" she absent-mindedly muttered, massaging her temples for a moment. She reassuringly patted the medic's arm, pushing herself back to her feet.

"What?" immediately turning to Jonathen, she ran through her memories, suddenly realizing that she had also heard this word before. "Is that...what I said?" she stared at him in disbelief, swallowing the lump in her her throat before she said, "It's an order...in means 'die'. That...wasn't good. A chill went down her spine as she forced those thoughts out of her consciousness, before that voice whispered to her.

She glanced around, trying to find its source only to realize it was in her mind. "I'm fine, really. Let's move" even though her voice was soft, he'd know she wasn't asking nicely. This was an order, they had to proceed and she simply tried to ignore that inner voice.

Still, she couldn't lose that thought. It was as if all her thinking was circling back to the question. What was she most afraid of? No, she was dauntless. She wasn't afraid of this presence that lingered within her mind, even if it was drawing her to the question. No. She wouldn't answer.

They walked onwards with the medic and Jonathen both seemingly not happy with her state, but for Kalique it was fine as it was gone again. She focused on the snowy path ahead, walking rather in silence for a moment and focusing on the Force around her before she suddenly spotted something red in the distance.

Blood in the snow, turning the white winder wonderland into a slaughter house. Death was all around. The Empire was engulfed in Flames, planets burnt and soil turned to ashes, her friends, her family, Imperials and Knights alike, all dead. She couldn't protect them. After all, she couldn't do what her only priority was.

"No..." she muttered breathlessly, clearly recognizing the faces of her parents, Sybella, Guinevere, Altair, Jonathen...She grasped his hand as if in trance, there were so many more faces she could clearly see - each and every one of them dead. With widened eyes she stared into his, her body shaking again.

In the corner of her eye, she saw something dark moving, it was no more than black miasma, as dark as an bottomless abyss, but it was there. Without warning, a blast of fire erupted from her palm and shot right between the trees where she had seen this monster again, her mind racing. "We're getting closer". She didn't like any of this, especially because it had already found its way inside to mess with her, this made her even more determined to destroy it.

@Raydo

 

[Jonathen Baize]

"die"

How she said the word sent chills down his spine. He was about to pull the plug, he knew he said he would follow orders, but if she was losing it, he had the responsibility of stepping in. When she said she was fine, his face soured. He opened his mouth to object but closed it. They were soldiers. He was a soldier. He wouldn't let his feelings get in the way of doing what was expected of him.

They began walking again, the medic shooting Joanthen a look, and he motioned for the soldier to fall back in line.

"There it is." the presence spoke to Kalique, glee in its tone.

"You can't protect all of them..."

"You can't protect ANY of them!" it shouted.

The presence swirled around the area. Vanishing into the buildings as Kalique's burst of flames shot out. Several of the newer soldiers also shot their blasters in that direction. "HOLD YOUR FIRE" Jonathen shouted a second later when it was clear they weren't firing at anything specific. He hadn't seen the creature.

@LadyRen

 

[Kalique Baize]

This all creeper her out immensely. She didn't like it any bit that it was in her head and that is much more difficult to fight it because of that. She read the look on Jonathen's face and was sorry that he felt this way - it was not only frightening from an inside perspective but obviously from the outside as well.

After the firing incident, she actively put a lot of efforts in keeping those walls up, but the voice never ceased. 'You're wrong. You are so so wrong. You can't frighten me and we will destroy you'. She kept rehearsing that in her head, forcing out the panic as this was the entrance door for mental manipulations and focusing on that fierce determination instead.

Whatever they were hunting, it was powerful, but she wasn't alone. Again, the presence was gone and no where to be seen, but it kept lingering into her mind. The dreadful atmosphere intensified as she was approaching on of buildings, but after hernleft foot snapped a dried branch below the snowy surface, she stopped.

"Careful...it's waiting for its- the last word left never left her lips as one young soldier was suddenly yanked up and into the air. "Don't shoot!" she cried wide-eyed as the soldier found himself approaching the tree top in full speed.

Kalique cried to catch whatever was dragging him, but the couldn't get a hold of the invisible tendrils coiled around him. Approximately 20 feet up in the air, it suddenly let go so that the soldier was now forced in an unbraked descent, screaming in horror as he fell.

Kalique darted forward, full focus on young recruit and doing everything she could to prevent his imminent death and while she did catch him last second with the Force decelerating him enough that he landed with a little thud, she tumbled forward after, her knees giving in so that she was landing on the outstretched hands and her body momentarily collapsing under the strain.

Belly-first in the snow, she didn't budge for a second before she pushed herself upwards with her hands, however what the others would notice that this shapeless, dark mist was suddenly swirling all around her, making her frantically turn around and shriek in panic as bursts of pain erupted all across her body.

Invisible claws dug into her skin, scratching her legs and torso, making her squirm wildly until she sent a pushed it off with the Force. Panting, her nails dug into the snowy surface, as she stared at Jonathen bewildered once again. Kalique soon realized that it had indeed gotten underneath her armor as there were small flecks of fresh blood coloring the formerly white ground. "It resides inside the building" she suddenly said quietly, all of her senses pointing her to that conclusion. It waited for them inside.

@Raydo

 

[Jonathen Baize]

He watched helplessly as a soldier was flung into the air like a doll and then dropped from twenty feet. Luckily Kalique had slowed the fall and saved the soldier from certain death.

He ran to check on her in the snow, handing two fingers to her neck to check for a pulse, but she stirred an instant later. She spun around and let out a shriek of pain as something invisibly attacked her. He saw the blood start to drip from her armor and started pulling the armor off of her when she set out a push in the force.

It blew Jonathen back several feet, sending him sliding in the snow. The fresh snow did cushion his fall, leaving him unharmed. He pushed himself back to his feet, ready to confront whatever was happening, but it had stopped as soon as it had started.

His head spun, struggling to comprehend all that was happening to them. They wouldn't last much longer out here.

When she spoke, the wind stopped. There was no sound except for a terrified soldier's occasional shuffle in the snow.

Silence.

As Kalique gestured to the building ahead, the door opened slowly. The inside was dark, unnaturally dark. Joanthen steeled himself, terror gripping him. He forced himself to stand and take a step toward the building, even if everything in his body told him to run.

@LadyRen

 

[Kalique Baize]

The scratches burned, but thanks to Jonathen she could take a closer look. The invisible hadn't dug in deeply, but they had most certainly tore the first layers of skin apart, so as if she had been squeezing herself through thick and thorny vines.

She was trying to catch her breath quickly, but as she adressed Jonathen, she was still panting. "I'm so sorry...so sorry. It was...right on me". Even if he hadn't seen that thing, he'd see enough of her fresh blood and the scratches that were unfortunately real.

Still, this had to end or it would never stop haunting them. Even if it was focusing on her now, she was pretty sure it would switch over to the soldiers or villagers of something would happen her. She was capable of protecting them, this was something this sinister presence would soon learn.

Even without sensing the fear, it was obvious that everyone was frightened beyond belief as no one had ever dealt with something like that before, not even her. But she was determined to destroy it and it had already opened its house to them. Obviously, it was a trap, but what where they supposed to do? It would finding them.

Kalique assumed it was bound to something, an object or perhaps a totem of some sort maybe. That the wind was suddenly stopping wasn't a great sign either as it meant that it was even capable of controlling the atmosphere. Her instincts screamed, telling her to run, but she pressed on until she came to a halt three feet away from the door, carefully peering inside.

His soldiers were unsettled and still a little behind, so she lowered her voice that only he could hear. "Jonathen...I don't want you to follow me inside". Her brows were furrowed in deep worry, but it was too dangerous for him and his men. "I guess...you can't harm it...It seems like an abomination of the Force and it won't reveal itself out of the ethereal sphere I assume, unless I can manage to shatter its...mind or consciousness". If it even had such a thing. Something allowed it to mess with this realm, so there had to be something.

Still, she didn't plan on just walking inside. She was pretty sure it would either call her or attack them again, but there was nothing but this eerie silence. "Next time I see it, I'll try to get it" It might have been her mind playing tricks on her, but it slowly seem to become even darker all around, so she let her first lightsaber snap into her hand and ignited it, readily staring into the darkness and waited.

Nothing. Her muscles were tense, but she didn't stir a bit. A minute passed. Then another one. 'You can't protect them' she suddenly, she heard a low growl like whisper and she spun, eyes narrowed and trying to spot it, but suddenly all Jonathen would still see was that Kalique was being hurled inside with a loud, high pitched shriek and the door slammed shut. Jonathen would now here a satisfied cackle coming from the inside while Kalique's shriek had died down.

@Raydo

 

[Jonathen Baize]

He had agreed to stay back earlier. He had promised they would back off when they finally caught the thing, but when Kalique was pulled inside, Jonathen threw all of that away.

He stormed the door and slammed into it. The door didn't budge. He growled in frustration. Leveling his blaster at the door, he shot several times where the hinges would be and kicked the door. It fell, and he stepped inside, being swallowed by darkness.

"Kalique?!" he called out. the sound echoing like he was in a cavern.

---

Kalique would find herself in the courtyard of the Demici estate on Serenno. The air reeked of smoke and death. The bodies of those closest to her in her childhood lay mangled and broken.

Her family was dead.

Her friends were dead.

She was alone.

The creature didn't show itself for some time, letting her anguish in the place.

"You are nothing." it finally whispered in her mind.

"You are weak...you always have been." it continued.

"You can't protect them." it said, tone filled with disgust.

"You can't protect yourself!" it shouted.

Thorny vines shot from the ground, aiming to grab ahold of her wrists, legs, and throat.

@LadyRen

 

[Kalique Baize]

Once Jonathen had broken into the building, ignoring not only her order but his most primal insticts, he'd find the incredibly dark room deserted. There was no trace of Kalique, not a single sound to be heard but the squeaking tile underneath his foot.

It was icily cold, even unnaturally colder than outside and the shiver that would sent down his spine would not only result from the icy coldness, but from this undeniable sense of dread that lingered in the air. The place reeked of danger even for those without force sensitivity and he'd have to battle his own inner demons if he'd chose to press on.

The presence would leave him for now, as it had all his power focused on the Imperial Captain it intended to devour through its horrors, but if Jonathen followed the seemingly endless, dark corridor in front of him he'd notice the faintest, dark red glow that would somehow tell him Kalique was still inside somewhere.

-

Darkness. Nothing but darkness. Then suddenly she blinked and found herself on the ground, her head spinning but the inner panic told her to rise. She almost jumped out, frantically glancing around before all those terrible realizations hit her. They were dead, all of them while she was just standing there all alone.

It was perhaps the most terrifying thing she had ever experienced and the fear was even painful beyond belief. Her scratchmarks burnt terribly, but was even worse was that tormenting headache. She wanted to fight against it, but it felt like she was slipping away. The presence was reveling in her pain and horror and it seemed like it wouldn't stop until it had won, whatever this meant for her.

"This is not true! THIS IS NOT REAL!" she loudly shouted, frantically glancing around before the whole ground shook. Within a split seconds, vines lashed out and tried tried to grasp her, and caught in this shock stasis, she actually wasn't fast enough to get away. The thorns dug into her skin and a pained cry escaped her as she tried to break free, but no matter how much she squirmed, the vines only dug in deeper.

"I will not give in!" she shrieked again, the determination not yet fading, but the panic was slowly taking control of her. The vine around throat was coiling around her tighter, slowly starting to restrict her breathing.

"I will not...let you...". She tried to hold onto her life while this thing intended to end it. If Jonathen pressed on towards the glow, he'd actually find Kalique, eyeballs rolled upwards and held with her arms stretched to the sides, head tilted backwards. "Never...darkness...can't...win" she gasped for air, the pain becoming almost unbearable while her she was twitching heavily in the thorny embrace.

"No..." it began forcing her to relieve terrible memories, however in the most twisted ways. She tried to control her thoughts, always trying to bend them backwards to how it had really been, holding onto what she believed him and remembering all those years of training. They had to be enough. She couldn't give in. She couldn't breathe...she was trying not to let go, but it was as if those vines would keep holding her in place until the approaching darkness would swallow her a whole.

The twitching faded and so did her strength, however her racing mind did manage to circle back one last time. She was an Imperial Knight, protecting the Empire from such unspeakable horrors deriving from the deepest, darkest abyss. One last, final moment. Mustering all her strength, she explosively released it in one bone-piercing cry that would potentially scrape the presence enough to shatter its focus that would let Jonathen catch glimpse of a pitch black vine on the ground below, throbbing with a dark red glow. This was his chance. Potentially the last he'd ever get.

@Raydo

 

[Jonathen Baize]

Everything in his being told him to run back, gather his soldiers, and flee this place forever. Each step was a small victory over that urge. He charged down the endless hallway towards the red glowing light. She had to be down here.

He ran for what seemed an eternity and then heard her scream echoing down the corridor, echoing in his mind. He doubled his effort, finally sliding to a stop in an open room with Kalique lying on the floor. She was motionless, not breathing. "No..no no no.." he mouthed when he saw the black tendril.

Raising his rifle, he shot, and it pulled back from the Imperial Knight. He stood over Kalique, rifle raised, scanning the room for the creature.

He would stand. He would fight. He would die if need be.

@LadyRen

 

[The Storyteller]

While the Knight-Captain motionlessly laid on the ground, Jonathen had not only shot that vine to stop that thing from its unrelentless attacks, but he hard harmed in severely. Now that its physical form had been hurted, it too, was vulnerable. The Lieutenant had hit it in just the right moment, having kept it from taking over control over Kalique, but he didn't even know how he had saved her from a terrible fate.

What remained to be seen though was whether he'd manange to safe the all. The sinister presence was harmed and it obviously wasn't used to that. It was furious, but it was also afraid, not ever having been in such a vulnerable position before. It's strength was fading and it couldn't refrain from materializing now that its defenses were broken.

Driven by primal survival insticts, it also toyed with just running. But it was too wild...too spiteful for just letting them go after they had entered its lair. Warping in the top right corner of the room, she shapeless, faceless beast was materializing once again, wanting to charge at the Lieutenant and sweep him off his feet before wanting to rip his throat apart, but with its own partially shattered mind, it wasn't commanding the Force like it had to. Jonathen had another chance to attack, but if he didn't dodge, this was already over.

@Raydo

 

[Jonathen Baize]

There was still fear, but there was always fear in battle. He acted regardless of his fear.

"I won't let you have her," he growled, seeing the creature materialize.

It charged, and he raised his rifle, shooting into the creature. He took a risk, wanting to shoot until the last second, and waited for an instant too long to dodge the side.

The creature hit him hard, ripping into his leg. The force of the blow knocked him to the side, sending his rifle skidding into the darkness.. Pain shot up his leg, but he scrambled to his feet.

He pulled his heavy blaster pistol and vibroblade out as he looked for the creature again.

@LadyRen

 

[The Storyteller]

With new found hunger and confidence, the presence was picking up speed again, no longer fueled by his fear but now by his pain and the fresh, delicious blood that spilled. It was hungry for much more and it was obvious that it wouldn't stop now that its next target was wounded.

A low growl erupted, but he wouldn't be able to pinpoint it. It was dispensed into the incredibly cold air again before he'd see the dark miasma warble right left to him. It wasn't charging this time, but it reached out in an attempt to grab him by the throat, a this time pitch black, shadowy, spikey claw wanting to seize him.

@Raydo

 

[Jonathen Baize]

He was left in darkness now.

Pulling a flare, he lit it and tossed it on the floor in the center of the room. It illuminated the room in a shadowy red hue as it sparked to life.

He saw Kalique's still motionless form and then heard the creature growling.

Jonathen saw the creature, leveling his heavy blaster at it, and letting off three shots. At this ranger, the heavy blaster would be devastating. As the claw emerged from the shadows, he swiped out with his blade, deflecting it away from him.

@LadyRen

 

[The Storyteller]

Too confident and consumed by its bloodthirst, the beast was caught off guard by Jonathen's sudden movement and the precise shots that followed, ripping deep gasping holes into the darkness. Shrieking loudly and in the most ear-piercing way he'd ever heard, it was reeling in agony, that, however, only made it angrier.

Gathering its last strength, it rushed out before it came back moments later, still mustering the strength to hurl Jonathen away with the Force and much closer to Kalique after having disarmed him by having yanked his weapons out of his grasp.

Without any weapons and perhaps startled by the Force push, the beast was intending to end this for him once and for all. However, if Jonathen had been paying attention he'd realize that Kalique's deactivated lightsaber was within his reach. He'd only have two seconds, as the presence pounced, it's shapeless maw wide open and wanting to devour the Lieutenant just like that while he'd be flooded by this dreadful feeling that this was a now or never moment.

@Raydo

 

[Jonathen Baize]

Was it over? The creature vanished into the shadowy darkness after its attack. His answer came a second later when both his weapons were yanked from his grasp and he was launched back across the room.

He rolled, landing next to Kalique as the creature screeched in rage and changed him.

No weapons. No time to move. Something glinted in the flare's light to his left. He had seen her turn the weapon on before. It was his only chance.

He grabbed the lightsaber, turning it on as he thrust it upward at the charging creature already in the air. The lightsaber bisected the creature. The pieces fell to the ground and this dissolving into shadow.

Suddenly, they were in a room in a house. Jonathen let out a breath as he switched the lightsaber off and dropped it to the floor. He crawled to Kalique and pulled off his helmet, again checking for a pulse.

"Kalique, can you hear me?" he asked. He feared he had been too late, that he had failed her.

@LadyRen

 

[Kalique Baize]

Kalique wasn't witnessing any of this. The Captain was on the ground and Jonathen wouldn't know anything about how badly she was off while still engaged in this terrible confrontation. His heroic final moment when his quick thinking let him reach for the Saber and bisect this thing was actually what saved them all from this terrible, terrible thing, but no one would ever know what it was and where it had came from.

His stubbornness had been the reason why he had even followed and gotten this chance to end this through Kalique's last attempt to shatter the fierce beast's defenses. With both of them only knowing half of the story about how they had - against all odds - managed to destroy it, the sinister spell that had formerly been in control of this place was broken, leaving them however potentially a little confused and maybe even wondering whether it was truly gone...

With its influence ceasing, all the dread suddenly vanished into thin air. Kalique still didn't budge, but he'd feel a very faint pulse if he placed his fingers on her throat while she did slowly reenter a subtle state of consciousness. The first thing she felt was terrible pain, as even though the dark spell was broken, the claw marks prevailed.

Having already lost a decent amount of blood and with her strength fully depleted, she couldn't even fully move her fingers, but as her eyes slowly opened, the eyes did roll back in. She blinked faintly, feeling all stiff, but the temperature was slowly returning to the room. She couldn't answer, but did exhaustedly meet his gaze, before her head flapped back to the side.

@Raydo

 

[Jonathen Baize]

She opened her eyes briefly, and he released a relieved breath. "We are fine now. You can rest." he said quietly.

He secured her lightsaber and scooped her up, carrying her outside.

The oppressive air of this place was gone; they were simply in a seemingly abandoned village. "Call in an evac," he said to his comms operator. They would need to come back down and investigate this place, or at least someone would. Just because they had defeated the monster didn't mean it wouldn't happen again elsewhere.

For now, they would retreat to the empire cruiser in orbit. It had a medbay that could treat Kalique, and his soldiers could get much-needed rest. His leg would need some bandage, but he had taken worse wounds before.

The transport was there in minutes, and they loaded in; he handed off the Knight to medical personnel and slumped into a chair. "First drink is on me tonight, soldiers. Good Job." he said. Free drinks always lightened their spirits. Smiles spread throughout the ragged bunch of soldiers.

@LadyRen

 

[Kalique Baize]

The next thing Kalique really remembered was waking up in an Imperial medbay. She rose way to quickly and first thing she did was rip out the IV in her arm until her brain could comprehend that there was no imminent danger around. The medical droid gave her a quick update of what had been and while she felt unbelievably dizzy, she did tell it that she wanted to leave.

Not knowing how this had ended, she needed answers and so she let the first solider she encountered guide her towards Jonathen, not carrying a lot about how there were bacta pads all across her body, now temporarily closed canulae planted in her veines and adorned in a very sexy med bay gown covering her upwards from the knees.

The first thing she noticed that he seemed really exhausted and was seemingly hurt as well, which immediately brought a frown to her own tired, pale features. "Are you okay?" she immediately went over to him and took a seat, momentarily needing to blink in order to avoid fainting while actual worriedness bled into her voice.

"Will this become a habit? Me waking up in medbay, wounded and unconscious, you also battered up and needing to go through hell over and over again? Because I don't like it" she forced herself to a smirk, but it was an exhausted one.

@Raydo

 

[Jonathen Baize]

He sat in the mess hall, smiling as his soldiers enjoyed their evening. Occasionally he joined in, but for the most part, he just watched. They had grown in the time he had led them; they were soldiers, some of the best the Imperial Army had to offer.

The mess door opened, and Kalique, followed by a very agitated medical droid, entered the room. "Miss, please return to medbay at once." it pleaded again.

"Always am," he said. He waved off the medical droid. "I'll bring her back soon," he said. The droid shifted but finally backed away.

"Well, at least we make it through," he said as soldiers laughed with each other in the background. "Though I don't know how much more of this.." he said, motioning to soldiers in front of him. "..I will get." he said, sliding the datapad over to her. It was a notice of promotion and new orders. "This was my last mission with them. They will find out tomorrow," he said. There was a bit of sadness in his voice.

"You know, you probably shouldn't be out of bed." he said, looking over at the battered Imperial Knight.

@LadyRen

 

[Kalique Baize]

The medical droid meant well and Kalique knew it better herself, but she couldn't live with this uncertainty. If this thing was still around, they couldn't let their guard down. She didn't feel it now but maybe it was already watching and just waiting for its return.

"True...but this one was way too close for my liking" she let out a sigh before going through her what remained of her memories. A new shiver was immediately sent down her spine but she tried not to let him notice. "What happened...after it...grasped me?". Everything after the way it had pulled her inside was gone.

Had he possibly destroyed it? If so, how? Everything was just a blur but somehow she had felt his presence within the Force all the time...she now realized that. "What?" she suddenly raised a brow, critically assessing what he was telling her but her brain not being able to draw conclusions. "Are you...switching to a different department?".

She had seen their dynamic and even watched it flourish which never ceased to bring a smile to her lips, giving that they seemed like a well-coordinated team. What had happened? "You know, you shouldn't have entered the house like I said..." she was trailing off, not having details but realizing that she was probably only here because of him. "You have followed me inside, haven't you? I guess I do have to thank you for saving my life though".

@Raydo