Ask Who Dunnit

[Altair Din]

He had been to Ord Radama only once prior and that was to take his now ex-girlfriend to the opera here. It turned into chaos when an explosion ensued as the result of a terrorist attack. The origins of the group that did it was never discovered. Ord Radama diplomats were in a state of panic from the attack and they were still reeling from what happened. This presented a unique opportunity for the Sith to swoop in as the heroes to get to the bottom of what happened. With luck, the Sith would also be able to wipe out the threat and gain influence enough to have the planet join the Empire.

Diplomacy was definitely not Altair’s skillset, but he was being sent on missions outside of his comfort zone since he was now a part of the prestigious military academy on Ziost. As an officer, he had to be well versed in many areas of skills and that included being able to speak intelligently to foreign officials. In this case, it sounded like some crafty detective work and convincing the local diplomats that the Sith were capable of solving the issue from start to finish.

His shuttle landed at the local bay and from there a speeder would take them to a building to meet with some local diplomats. He was to accompany a woman he had only seen once prior at a social with Roman. To say he was nervous was an understatement, but he hoped none of it would manifest on his face. His tail swayed back and forth as he walked down the ramp and waiting for her before getting into the speeder. He was dressed in his officer uniform minus the helmet.

@LadyRen

 

[Celeste Stythani]

Celeste was in a fairly good mood today since she had been asked to join another diplomatic mission in the name of the Empire. She knew that she would be accompanied by Altair Din, a fellow champion whom she had met on New Alderaan, but they didn't know each other well yet, so she was excited to get to know him better today.

Here on Ord Radama she had been asked to do what she did best: Negotiating. She had been informed about the terrorist attack and she was eager to work with the case. The terrorists' identity was yet unknown and the same applies to their motifs, so this mission wouldn't only be about negotiating but it seemed like there was much more work ahead of them.

She was clad in her dark uniform and not wearing anything Rattataki today, beause today she was carrying the Imperial banner again. Her crimson bladed lightsaber was attached to her belt, just in case she would need it. Recently, she had to learn that not all diplomatic missions ended with diplomatic solutions and so it was better to be prepared. She gracefully descended the ramp of her ship and approached the Tiefling with a warm smile."Hey Altair", she greeted him before briefly glancing down his attire. Oh what a fashionable uniform". It was an honest compliment. She had heard that he had recently joined the academy and so she was assuming that the uniform was new.

@Sreeya

 

[Altair Din]

Altair glanced over when she arrived, returning the smile. He was always nervous about meeting people for missions for the first time because he never knew if they’d hold prejudices against him for being a tiefling. The horns and his general appearance often spooked others - especially humans, “Hey….Celeste..?” He almost didn’t know if that was appropriate, “I mean - Lady Stythani..” She was a diplomat so he wondered if he had to be all prim and proper with her title. A smile traced his lips as she complimented his uniform, “Thanks! It’s brand new,” He said with pride, pointing to his officer patches, “And you look quite dashing yourself, miss,” He said with the hint of a farmer’s twang to his dialect.

“I ain’t ever done a mission like this before,” He admitted as he walked over to the speeder. He opened the door for her before walking around to get in himself. Within moments, they were on their way to the designated building. Altair glanced over at the woman next to him, genuinely curious about her. He didn’t come across many Sith that were more diplomatically focused, “So,” He began quietly, “Are you strictly the diplomatic type or do you also get your hands dirty every now and then?” Altair asked with an amused smile, “I can’t talk my way outta a paper bag…” He admitted after a moment.

After several minutes, they arrived at the impressively tall building. Once again, Altair opened the door for her, always displaying hints of his old fashioned habits he learned from his family. Their contacts were humans and they were waiting in the lobby. Within moments, they were ushered into a meeting room. Celeste would notice right away that some of the diplomats eyed Altair very warily but Altair was used to it.

“Thank you for coming,” The diplomat said, “No one has bothered to help us so far. The attack on our famous opera house was a heinous crime. Our local authorities haven’t been able to find anything about who or what was behind it. Since then, we’ve had several more attacks and the city is in a constant state of panic…”

Dice: How friendly are diplomats 14/20


@LadyRen

 

[Celeste Stythani]

Even though she had already seen a few Tieflings, she had never actually interacted with this imposing species before and his tail was admittedly hard to ignore. However, she was not holding any prejudices against any species so she was more than happy to get to know the young champion and she was genuinely looking forward to commencing the mission. She could sense both, a slight hint of uncertainty and nervousity in the way he addressed her, but it was extraordinarily charming. "Oh please, we don't have have stick to unnecessary formalities. You can call me Celeste" she replied with an amused smirk that soon turned into a soft chuckle while he proudly presented his patches. It was refreshing to collaborate with a younger champion for a change and his excitement was adorable. "Oh and thank you" she would then add with a polite bow of her head before they were already headed for the speeder.

She gratefully thanked him for his polite gesture of opening the door for her while his excitement was still audible. "Oh don't worry. I expect this mission to go smoothly. I do not assume that we are about to encounter any trouble. After all, we are trying to help". She was hoping to soothe him a little with her optimism, as they would be both required to demonstrate professional demeanor once they would arrive. The way he decided to break the short silence that followed soon with his curiosity after made her immediately chuckle amusedly, as this seemed to be his preferred way of calming himself down. "Are you afraid I'm too soft spoken as a diplomatic?" she slightly teased back, before she would elaborate with the smile still on her lips. "No, definitely not. I've always preferred diplomatic, just solutions, but I can surely do the dirty work myself. Whenever I see a chance to negotiate, I try to seize it, but even if I might seem more patient and merciful as others, I'm not hesitating to enforce my will if necessary".

She thanked him again for the door, genuinely pleased that the young Tiefling seemed to possess fine manners many were lacking nowadays. They were already welcomed by the human diplomats who then led them into the designated meeting room, but their partly critical glances in Altair's direction didn't go unnoticed. She was no friend of preconceived optinions, but she would hold back as long as they wouldn't openly adress their unjustified resentment. "Thank you for the invite, we're glad if we can do anything to help you" she began, a polite smile on her lips. I totally agree with you there. Such hideous attacks need to be stopped immediately. Those terrorists seem to be wanting to foment chaos and panic, perhaps to weaken the important political structures. Can you tell us more about the attacks? Could you determine a certain pattern?" she went on, a hint of honest consternation in her voice. She was assuming that Altair would leave the talking to her, but with a short, approving glance she signaled him to feel free to add something if he felt like doing so.

@Sreeya

 

[Altair Din]

The diplomat brought over a datapad, “Here are the details our local law enforcement has gathered,” He explained, “The attacks were explosions and we had some footage of people running away wearing dark hoods and masks. We had some guards attempt to intervene but they were severely burned or had burn marks on their bodies. You can investigate the site of the latest attack if you’d like. It was a banking building that has since been evacuated.”

Within an hour, Celeste and Altair were both brought to the building in question and left to investigate. Once they arrived, the tiefling stared at the gaping hole left to the side of the building a few floors up from the explosion. He shook his head as he exhaled, “Now they got us doin’ detective work..” He remarked as he stepped into the building.

Altair walked through the empty building, seeing papers and other office items strewn about all over the floor. He took a glance at the crime photos from the site, noting the burn marks on the victims, “These look like lightsaber injuries to you?” He asked as he titled the datapad over for Celeste to see. He wasn’t specialized in sabers, but he certainly knew what saber injuries looked like.

There was no light, and they had to make do with flashlights. There was a sense of uneasiness as they stepped through the building, a feeling as if they were being watched. Altair ignored it for now, glancing around for any other clues, “Is it cliche to say I got a bad feeling about this?” He said after a moment in the middle of the creepy, pin drop silence.

@LadyRen

 

[Celeste Stythani]

Celeste had listened attentively and watched the footage they had collected thrice. She was trying to gather as many information has possible, also paying attention to all the details, but it was still rather difficult to assess the situation. "Thank you. Yes, it would definitely make sense if we could take a look ourselves. They must have left some sort of trace" she concluded optimistically, before they were exchanging a few more polite words.

Soon, they were heading to the said building and on their drive Celeste was keeping in watchful eye on the environment. This whole story seemed a little shady and if those terrorists were trying to spread fear, they wouldn't like having the two Sith snooping around. They had to be careful during their investigations, but it seemed like it was at least easy to keep the mood light with Altair. The Tiefling's comment immediately made her smirk as they stepped inside. "You don't seem amused" she remarked, directing her gaze back at him. It's admittedly unusual, but I think it's rather exciting. I haven't done it often, but I'm always open for a challenge" she then added amusedly.

They started their investigations in the first room they've entered by reevaluating the burn marks on the victims. Celeste frowned slightly as she zoomed in, a little confused about the ambigious marks. "I'm not fully sure" she admitted, "But I'd rather say no. I've seen saber Injuries on several occasions, but those marks seem too extensive and unshapely for my understanding" she then went on explaining critically before she started moving around.

The sparse light was not helping with her search for useful clues and neither was this slightly uncanny atmosphere that filled the empty building. The hole gaping on the building's left side was unmistakably caused by a larger detonation, but the question that remained was still who was behind all that. She continued her search on the floor, but after a while a shiny little reflection in the corner of her right eye caught her attention. She immediately spun around the face the object that seemed like a metal splinter stuck in the wall. "See that over there? You think it's worth bringing it down?" she curiosly asked Altair, pointing towards the metal piece above him. A splinter perhaps? Maybe there was some sort of evidence on it, but they would either have to pull it out with the Force, or the tall Tiefling could maybe reach for it.

@Sreeya

 

[Altair Din]

Altair only shrugged vaguely when she disagreed with the idea that it was done by sabers. That meant the investigation was blown wide open again. He followed her line of sight to the splinter, the piece oddly out of place compared to the other debris and mess. Altair stepped forth and applied the Force to gingerly pry it out. It was the shattered part of what appeared to be a weapon, “Almost looks like it was part of a spear or somethin’,” He explained. Unlike with sabers, he was more of an expert on spears as a Matukai.

“Let’s keep moving,” He said as he stepped further into the building. Parts of the flooring creaked under their weight so he had to carefully walk and distribute his weight more evenly. Up ahead, he shined his light on the wall and saw a large insignia drawn in blood. Altair grimaced at it.

“This wasn’t in the evidence reports..” Altair remarked, “You think they came back here to do this?” He asked quietly, glancing over at Celeste, “And you ever seen that mark before?”

@LadyRen

 

[Celeste Stythani]

Celeste focused her attention on the object Altair was currently extracting and frowned slightly when he made his assumption. "A spear? That's also an interesting finding, isn't it? Not fully exotic, but an unusual weapon" she remarked with a hint of suspicion in her voice.

This case was indeed slowly starting to seem peculiar and the more they investigated, the more bizarre it got. However, she nodded affirmatively when Altair wanted to go head deeper into the building, even if the uneasiness inside her spread.

Those terrorists were clearly no usual spreaders of chaos. This hypothesis was definitely proven when they stumbled upon the bloody insignia that had not been noted before. Her frown deepened when she approached the scenery and directed her flashlight onto the smears of blood.

"You're right. This hasn't been shown in the reports so they must have come back to leave their mark. But it doesn't make much sense, does it? It feels like they're are leaving a trace for us..." she remarked confusedly, but then a realization hit her. "Unless that's exactly how they're trying to provoke fright. Perhaps we should check out the other crime scenes, see if they came back to do the exact same thing. Those diplomats said that there were more attacks, maybe we can find more evidence before we try to find them", she then added, thoughtfully tilting her head to the side before she let out a sigh. "No, unfortunately I haven't seen it before, but I've got a feeling that this mission will not be of diplomatic nature".

@Sreeya

 

[Altair Din]

Altair said nothing about how the symbol was used to provoke fright. It was certainly working to make him uneasy. He nodded to her suggestion of checking out the other crime scenes, “Yeah let’s go,” He said, perhaps a bit too quickly, because he didn’t feel like creeping around this building any longer than he had to. The tiefling took the part of the spear with him as he walked, glancing over at Celeste.

“I mean…maybe you can talk them into not being shits,” He responded to her idea of this no longer being diplomatic. Altair looked down at the datapad, “Let’s see…one of the attacks was on some guy named Alain Rof who was an election candidate for governor,” He read off as they hopped back into the speeder.

“So what do you wanna do as a diplomat for the Sith?” Altair asked curiously as they made their way to the next site, “Not a real popular career choice,” He grinned at her. They couldn’t join the Galactic senate, so the next best thing was to help the Sith PR. Diplomacy was probably the toughest Sith career path and most completely failed at it or ultimately became independent politicians.

The speeder arrived near the next crime scene. Altair walked through an alley and towards what appeared to be an expensive manor. He walked in through a side door, feeling a heavy and uneasy feeling through the Force at once. He had a feeling that details had been left out of the report as to the nature of how the man died, but the unease told him it had been a prolonged, slow killing. The manor was dark, but there was just enough light from the streets to illuminate the rooms.

Unbeknownst to both Sith, this time they actually were being watched by someone outside the manor. Someone that didn’t want the two Sith to unravel this mystery. Someone that had them in their sights to knock them out from a distance to find out who they were and why they were sniffing around.

@LadyRen

 

[Celeste Stythani]

Celeste nodded as his remark and so they were already on their way out of the building. She contemplated whether they could have been a little more thorough with their investigations, but it actually seemed as though they had found everything they could have stumbled upon, so she was trying to focus on the facts instead.

Once they've reached the speeder his idea made her chuckle amusedly. "Well, I can promise you that I'll try my best, but terrorists are usually not known for being very...considerate and willing to compromise, but we'll see!" she then replied as confident and optimistic as possible, but there was a hint of concern in her voice. She then considered the said name for a moment, memorizing it as she did and considering his position for a moment. "Political candidate. That surely makes sense as a target from their perspective" she then remarked with a sigh, already aware of what that could possible entail. Political targets often meant that there was a greater story behind...perhaps even something as drastic as a planned coup, but time would probably clarify that...

As they started heading towards the second scene, she glanced over to him as he seemed to show genuine interest in her future aspirations. A slight smirk crossed her face as she wondered whether he was trying to test her loyalty by examining her motives or whether he was simply curious. "Well I was born into the Empire, my whole family being loyal followers to the Empire, but I've always drifted towards a slightly different path. I wanted to do...more. Justice you could even call it, but the connotation of this term is always very subjective. I know there are not many Imperial followers trying to fill this position, but I see great chances within it. I want to negotiate instead of blindly enforcing my will and my experiences in multiple systems have proven to me that there's always a way to avoid meaningless bloodshed and unnecessary violence" she then replied truthfully, wondering whether this would make sense to him. She was not trying to generalize anything, but she knew lots of Sith who abused their powers from her point of view.

@Sreeya

 

[Altair Din]

Altair couldn’t help but eye her curiously at her answer, “Sounds like you’ve made up your mind about the Sith already,” He turned to face her fully, the suspicion clear on his face, “If you don’t wanna serve the Empire, you should find a way out before the Empress or Dark Lord discover you’re not all in,” He had been around enough wishy washy Sith to know which ones could actually stay loyal and which ones couldn’t.

“You’re walking a dangerous path,” He said as he kept walking through the manor, “This ain’t a faction you can be a part of if you’re full of doubts,” Altair said quietly, knowing he had harbored similar feelings in the past. It wasn’t until he was betrayed by a Jedi and the Sith arrived to break him out of prison that he realized where he truly belonged. He stared at her calmly while he spoke, his amethyst gaze glinting from the soft hues of the lights outside.

For a moment, he almost looked dangerous, a testament to why people in the galaxy feared his kind. He was a demonic silhouette in the darkness, a creature of the Dark Side and exactly the kind of thing she likely avoided. He made no moves, silently eyeing her as if he was seeing her for the first time. Seeing the suspicions, the lies, the fleeting loyalties.

Before he could say another word, there was a crash through the window as a single, coated dart pierced through the glass. It was aimed directly for Celeste.

@LadyRen

 

[Celeste Stythani]

Maybe she should have just smiled and kept her mouth shut, but she was actually too honest for something like that. She had mastered the arts of deception and manipulation but she didn't want to lie to him in any way and so she had chosen honesty. Now, however, she had to face the consequences but this was a risk she was willing to take.

"Honestly Altair, it's not that easy. The Empire has always been good to me and my family. We lived in peace and property, but the older I got the more I reflected on it. I'm not trying to overgeneralize anything or anyone, but in my eyes, a few mistakes were made...on every side though. I don't want to see the innocent die...I'd never betray the Empire and act against them, but I was hoping that some things would change again. I haven't lost hope, but I understand what you're talking about" she then replied in a soft, thoughtful voice, curtly nodding.

She understood his warning. She knew that she had to be careful, but she was honest about the loyalty. She would never side with the Jedi or something, as they were not better at all, but she was just convinced that the meaningless bloodshed had to end. She had entrusted him something serious and she was hoping that he would not use it against her, but after all Celeste had dutifully served the Empire on Rishi, Thule and now here on Ord Radama, so she was not at all being disloyal. She was just always trying to ensure that negotiations came before aggressive offensives.

However, before either of them could elaborate or discuss any of this further, there was a sudden bang audible as a dart came flying right through the window to her right. In the very last moment she managed to evade the dart with a quick sidestep but she glanced out of the window in horror. They had not only been followed, but now apparently even assaulted. Squinting, she tried to spot the attacker as fast as possible, but there was nothing to be seen. Automatically she reached for the hilt of her saber, igniting the blade as she anticipated another dart. "Seems like we've got some asses to kick right away" she snarled fully pissed.

@Sreeya

 

[Altair Din]

“Then fix things for the Empire,” Altair shrugged. Too many people complained about how things operated in the Empire without being the change they wanted to see. He had his own ambitions for the faction and he would revamp the way the military operated. He was already coordinating with Mandalorians to establish a new task force. For now, he wouldn’t think the worst of Celeste, though he remained slightly suspicious. If she couldn’t stomach the reality of casualties in war, she wouldn’t last long in her line of work.

Altair reacted a bit too late, but thankfully, Celeste was able to duck away quicker. He crouched down to the ground, looking at the dart, “What the fuck is this?” He growled, wondering what the intent was and what green substance was coating the needle. Altair didn’t wait to find out, glancing over at Celeste as he glared when she ignited her blade.

“Really? Your saber is basically a neon sign of where we are in a dark room!” He hissed at her. As a Matukai, he would never understand Force users and their obsession with sabers.

Sure enough, instead of darts, blaster bolts began to pepper towards them. While she could deflect some, it was too much to keep at it when they were coming from multiple angles. Altair dropped to his belly, army crawling away from the scene, “Get down and come this way! Away from the windows!” Their attackers went from wanting to learn more about them to wanting to simply eliminate them.

“There’s a basement!” Altair called out, springing up to open the door. That was when a bolt grazed his shoulder. The tiefling grunted in pain, but he managed to get the door open. He had no time, and he coiled the Force around Celeste to practically toss her towards the stairs leading down before he half tumbled down himself in a rather stupid display. None of this was going to plan and he wasn’t exactly a pro at improvising.

@LadyRen

 

[Celeste Stythani]

She fully suppressed the slight hint of annoyance in her voice that had resulted from her subtle frustration when she directly faced him again. "That's what I'm constantly trying to do but I'm only mildly sucessful as there are often to many voiced overshadowing the call for diplomacy...". Even though her voice had been rather soft there had also been her usual determination, stubbornness and fiery temper shining through as she concluded their little discussion with this last remark. Perhaps they'd find another time to discuss this issue further as now was not the time to continue.

"Oh really? You think they don't know this yet after they had fired a dart right at me?!" she hissed back, now obviously annoyed since this mission had just taken an extremely sharp, unpleasant turn. "I bet it's a tranquilizer. The color reminds me of a Rattataki poison" she then explained hastily while she deflected a few of the incoming bolts, trying to come up with a fast solution.

As more and more bolts came flying at them, she dropped down as well, a little breathless from the sudden change of events and her improvised attempt to defend the two of them. She immediately realized that they were not only heavily outnumbered but also strategically inferior in their current position and so his call to head downstairs wasn't wrong. "Yes, let's go" she exclaimed loudly, but before she could make a run for the door she was always thrown forward, half crashing down the stairs just like an injured Altair was somehow. She somehow managed to coil the Force around her to at least prevent herself from bumping her head, but when her body came to a halt she was slightly disoriented. "Kark...this was all planned. They've been following us and now we are basically trapped. We could send out a call for reinforcement but they'll probably be too late so I'd suggest we hide in the basement and take them out one by one if they decide to follow us" she suggested hastily, trying her best to regain composure as she was helping him up. "Are you okay?" she then asked him slightly worried, even though it didn't look like more than a scratch but they had to get going as fast as possible.

@Sreeya

 

[Altair Din]

Altair groaned as he landed in a heap at the bottom of the stairs. It was a miracle he didn’t accidentally gore Celeste with his horns as they were both tumbling down. He grimaced at her observation because he agreed with it, “You think the officials sent us to ‘investigate’ knowing this would happen?” He couldn’t help but wonder. Maybe the planet despised Sith and this was a way to throw some into the fire, but the diplomats appeared genuinely concerned. Reading subtleties in people wasn’t his forte, so he would let Celeste assess that theory.

He glanced at his shoulder when she asked if he was okay, “I’ll live,” It was a burn, but a mild one. It certainly hurt, but he had been through far worse.

The basement was dark and eerie, and that negative sensation he felt above was even worse down here. Almost at once, he saw that familiar insignia on the wall again, this one smeared in blood. There was a disgusting stench in the room that almost made him vomit, and he knew right away it was of a rotting corpse. He had been around enough AMS infected to know what death and decay smelled like.

“I think they’ll overwhelm us if they come in,” Altair finally concluded, “We gotta find a way to discreetly escape through here. We’re backed into a corner right now,” He said as he stepped further into the basement. It was too dark to see properly, but he also wasn’t a fan of her igniting her saber again like a damn beacon. Amidst the darkness, he heard a soft, unnatural groan.

“..What was that..”

@LadyRen

 

[Celeste Stythani]

The thought he outlined had occurred to her as well. What if those so called diplomats had wanted this to happen? The thought made her furious, but they didn't have any proof yet and she knew that dwelling on this assumption would only distract her and force her to act impulsively and emotionally, so that she'd become reckless.

"Possibly. Well find that out sooner or later but if that's the case we'll pay them another visit right away" she still growled rather angrily, quickly glancing around. "However I've got to admit that I'm normally good at reading people and their intentions seemed honest..." she then added after a little consideration time. If they had wanted to lure them into this trap she wouldn't have sensed something like fear or perhaps an extent of apprehension. Unless they had been were sure of getting rid of the two Sith...

She swallowed her upboiling rage and forced herself to stay focused. For now they had more pressing matters to tend to and this was their survival. His remark about his injury reassured her in her theory that it was merely a scratch but she knew how annoying such small burns could be anyway.

The further they descended, the more uneasy she felt. A horrible scent lingered in the air and when she suddenly heard that low growl, her hand immediately tightened around the lightsaber's hilt. "Alright then let's try to find anway out of here..." she replied in a hushed voice, immediately shutting up after to stay calm and concentrate. She carefully reached out with the Force, her muscles all tensed up while she suddenly felt a presence she had never felt before. She held her breath, not only so she wouldn't have to smell this terrible scent anymore, but also because she didn't want to alert this...thing, whatever it was.

@Sreeya

 

[Altair Din]

Altair also reached out with the Force, and he began to realize he could sense…nothing. No life form. A chill ran down his spine. He reached out almost instinctively, grasping a hold of Celeste’s wrist to keep her from going further, “I think it’s infected..” He whispered quietly as he closed his eyes to tap into Force Sight. As a Matukai, he had used the Force in every day life since he was a toddler. Sight was one of the basic skills he was taught even if it wasn’t common practice among Force users usually.

“Several of them. Come on,” He said quietly as he began to navigate away her away from where he saw figures standing and staring vacantly at walls. However, as he began to move, one of the infected stumbled out from the side. Altair and Celeste would recognize him right away as a ‘missing’ diplomat that was previously running for power. What was he doing in this basement?? Had he been targeted?

Altair reacted quickly, channeling the Force into his fist. He whirled in with that gloved fist, slamming harshly into the infected’s head powerfully enough to send the brittle head rolling right off. The body collapsed and fell over pathetically. Unfortunately, the head rolled over the foot of another infected that was suddenly alerted and looked down to inspect.

Altair’s focus with the Force was broken and he was thrown back into pitch darkness again. He still had his hold on Celeste and he stumbled forth a few steps, trying to recall if he saw any exits. From up above, he could hear movement to suggest that their attackers were entering the house.

‘We’re so fucked,’ He said to Celeste telepathically.

Coin flip: Tails for infected in the basement.

@LadyRen

 

[Celeste Stythani]

Celeste involuntarily held her breath in order to avoid making any sounds and because she couldn't breathe this terrible smell of rotten flesh any longer. Infected. His remark send a shiver down her spine while she had no idea what they were supposed to do now. She had of course followed all the news on the spreading of the AMS virus, but she had never made contact with it before herself and so the situation was rather difficult for her to assess. Even though she was normally quite good at keeping up her appearance, she now felt the fear creeping in and it seemed like they were actually running out of possibilities.

Not that they had only found themselves trapped in pitch black darkness, they were also in the presence of a bunch of infected as it seemed. She had no idea what Altair's plan was until he grabbed her wrist and started to maneuver them through the darkness, so that it soon became obvious that he was apparently trained in Force sight, which came in very handy. However, as Celeste could neither sense nor see enough, she suddenly jumped when he heard him attack one of those creatures.

'Fuck it Altair I don't care whether those attackers see us, I'm sure we can take them but I'm not getting bitten by those' she telepathically communicated back, her thoughts hastily and slightly panicked as this situation kept getting worse as she moved her finger towards the saber that was still in her hand. She prepared to activate it, but she waited for his reply first, hoping that maybe he had already spotted an exit nearby. She had no idea whether those infected would react to the red light, but she was hoping that she could push them all back with Force once the crimson glow of the lightsaber would hopefully reveal something like a backdoor. Her heart was unrelentlessly pounding in her chest while she tried not to freak out but this was a pure nightmare.

@Sreeya

 

[Altair Din]

Altair looked over as Celeste declared her intentions. He opened his mouth to argue, but he couldn’t find the words just then. In truth, he couldn’t spot a way out just then and the way back upstairs meant running into the people that had them surrounded. The tiefling nodded, “All right, let’s do it,” He said at last, giving her the signal to ignite her saber and start hacking away.

Within seconds, the infected rushed towards the two and Altair channeled the Force to blast two of them back. He was at a slight disadvantage because his combat experience was more hand to hand, and he had no intention of getting too close to the infected. The entire basement smelled rancid and it was full of dead diplomats. Celeste’s saber would illuminate their uniforms and formal attire to suggest they had all gotten infected at a specific gathering.

“What the hell is this?!” Altair exclaimed as he whipped his tail around to have the end of it pierce through the brainstem of one of the infected. From the way he dodged and attacked them, it was clear Altair had dealt with these before. The tiefling rolled on the ground as he narrowly missed one of them launching itself at him.

“See an exit?!” He called out to Celeste, having downed two infected so far.


Roll for how many infected: 7

@LadyRen

 

[Celeste Stythani]

In the exact same moment he had agreed, she already had the lightsaber activated. Not only could she see much better now, but she could also use her crimson blade to carefully strike down the first two infected that approached her from the right without having them get too close. The blade went through their bodies with ease and the red ignited silhouttes tumbled to the ground right next to her, but as she turned around and saw what Altair was doing, she realized something apparently vital. The infected - even though they were fully bisected- still moved and wiggled and so without thinking twice she stabbed the first one right through the head, before she quickly did the same to the second body's head on the ground.

It was not only the repugnant stench that almost made her gag, but now she was also realizing that the targets were clearly not random. She held in her breath as she spun around again, briefly scanning through the room while she saw one of those infected charge into Altair's direction. She immediately sent a Force Push into the direction of the feral attacker in order to bring more distance between it and Altair until the latter would regain his footing, but in the very last moment she then realized that another one had just started to sprint in her direction. She evaded his grab right in time before she furiously brought her blade vertically down, the blade cutting right through his skull. "Seems like a trap and we're definetely the next ones on the list", she gasped breathlessly before she repositioned herself. While she kept her eyes on the remaining two who were closer to Altair she scanned the room for an exit.

Now, a slight panic began to set it and this situation seemed to become more heated each second and additionally there was literally no other way out. As the two remaining infected began to target Altair, Celeste pulled one of them in her direction so that she could bring his head right through the tip of her now forward lightsaber before she hastily tried to come up with a clever solution. They had fired a dart in her direction that was definetely coated with some sort of liquid which was either sedative or lethal, but it seemed more likely that the prior was the case as they could have simply used a different weapon with a more deadly precision otherwise. What spoke against this assumption was that they now found themselves in a basement with infected, but perhaps they wanted to get them bitten. Perhaps they wanted to use them as leverage to harm or blackmail the Empire in any way, but perhaps she was thinking way too far anyway...

"There's no way out unless you posses explosives. I'll send a distress call for reinforcements but I feel like we don't have enough time so let's hurry upstairs and fight our way out. I don't see any other options". Her voice was rushed and while she made sure that he had dealt with the last one, she already moved into the directions of the stairs. She wanted to reach out with the Force to sense how close the attackers were, but before she came far she suddenly heard a metal clanking and not a second later a smoking grenaded had tumbled down the stairs. The crimson blade reflected in it as she hurled it upwards with the Force without hesitation, but the first particles had apparently found their way into her lungs as she could suddenly feel a burning that immediately made her dizzy. What were they supposed to do now? Pretend they had been bitten and lay down in order to pull a diversionary tactic? Position themselves at the stairs to catch them off guard? But how long would it take until the smoke would enfold its true effects? Should they just make a run for it now as this was their only chance?! 'Hold your breath!' she telepatically warned Altair nonetheless while her thoughts were racing.

@Sreeya