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Post by Char Khan on Nov 16, 2011 1:06:20 GMT -5
*Char continued down the hallway which eventually grew darker and darker. For the Cathar it wouldn't be much of an issue. Still, seeing in broad daylight and darkness were two different things and that Cathar was always more alert and possibly a little edgier when his surroundings grew dark. It usually meant sentients, mechanical beings, and beasts alike grew more opportunistic and likely to attack.
As Char is walking down what is now a completely dark hallway, he sees a light off in the distance. He slowly begins making his way towards it. Whatever that light was, it wasn't coming from the hallway itself. That could mean either another corridor or turn coming up and it could even mean a room nearby to enter. Whatever it was, the alert Cathar was heading towards it.
When Char finally made his way towards the source of the light, it was indeed a door to a room. Whatever this room was, it had a window into it. As Char approached the windowed door to look into the room where the light was coming from, the door suddenly slid to the side and the room was now open to him. The Cathar jumped back slightly, and almost out of his skin. That startled him more than he liked and he gave a low hiss vocalizing his displeasure.
As Char slowly stepped into the room, he looked up. There was one fading, blinking light above a table. The table looked...wet with something and it had color. Could it have been...blood? The Cathar sniffed the air. No, it didn't smell like blood anyway. Though it had an odd, familiar smell to it. Char moved along the side of the wall where the door was and found what he needed to turn on the lights. A couple hummed to life, another couple fizzled and died.
Char then approached the table. As he got closer to it, he sniffed again. It wasn't blood. What was it? Now standing over the table he could see exactly what it was. He dipped a clawed finger into the substance and held it in his line of sight as he rubbed the substance between his two fingers.*
Oil?
*The moment after he spoke his ears twitched. Something was moving. He wasn't alone. He quickly grabbed the blaster rifle off his back, spinning around, and shot at whatever it was behind him moving which was not C'iel. The blaster shot is heard hitting the wall on the other side and there was no longer any movement.
Char shook his head. He swore something was moving behind him just now and it wasn't C'iel. Yet now it felt like there was no one else in the still poorly lit room that was actually much larger than he originally thought.*
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Post by Veren Gal on Nov 20, 2011 16:19:57 GMT -5
*Melek followed Arley over to the bodies. They looked humanoid and bipedal, that was a nice start. They also looked like they had been in some sort of accident from the amount of prosthetics they were sporting. But they looked thin, and frail. He turned one over carefully, avoiding it touching his colorful coat or clothes. He recoiled in horror. This thing was more machine than man. A metallic ribcage peeked out of old, torn skin. Dessicated organs were visible inside the metal mesh containing the abdomen. The head was the worst, it's face was gaunt with the skin hanging off the skull. The forehead contained a metal input jack, like on a computer. The eyes were gone, nothing but healed-over empty sockets. How did this thing see? To find out more, Melek would need to get this thing on the slab and really check it out.*
*He had the tools on him, but wondered if he should take the time to examine the unfortunate souls. It might tell him what happened, or it might waste time that could be spent looking for treasure. In the end he decided that the corpses should at least be dragged out of the hallway. He opened up a nearby door, leading to a break room of sorts with a drink and food dispenser and a few tables. He placed his new friends inside on the floor side by side. He saw another intercom control panel on the wall and went over to it. Now he really needed to contact the others. He got out his tools, hoping he could hack them, fix them, or whatever they needed.*
Arley, why don't you check if any of that food is edible?"
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Arley
Trader
Have super-good Shiny? Trade'ja?[C01:970047]
Posts: 49
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Post by Arley on Nov 27, 2011 21:30:45 GMT -5
As his red, horned compatriot examined the bodies of whatever they were, Arley hovered close. He sat on his haunches beside and a bit behind Melek while craning his neck out to see the unfortunate beings.
"What'chet, eh? Dead talkie-talk man?"
The magenta-furred being scuttled out of the way when Melek started moving the bodies into a nearby room. Even though he suggested the thing was the body of a droid — his "talkie-talk man" — he recognized it was something more than a droid, that it was something that had been alive but was now dead, and he had no desire to touch the thing. He was no knower of biology, but he was superstitious where the idea of diseases were concerned. If he touched the thing, whatever had killed it might pass on to him. It was a crude understanding of how to stay healthy, but so far it had worked for him.
Once inside the room, the rodent scavenger hopped up onto a table and perched there, watching as Melek dragged the second body in. For whatever reason, Arley didn't want to be on the ground and had a natural instinct to stay on top of things.
"You bet'cha. Arley-Rojo lookit food. Check if koovy" was the little sentient's response to the Devaronian's suggestion. Arley rock-hopped from one table to another approaching the closest food dispensing machine. Once he reached it, he perched on a chair in front of the thing and inspected it closely. It wasn't anything new; the scavenger had seen these before many times in more public areas of the Works. Large metal boxes with transparent plates over the front where passers-by could see the displayed food sitting in little automated cubbies. This device, however, had the distinction of being one of the only such devices Arley'd seen that had its front glass plate intact and was still stocked with food.
Since Arley had only ever seen the machines after being looted and had never witnessed them being properly used, he was left to wonder at how to get the front glass broken so that he could get at the food to inspect it. He tapped the glass with a clawed finger, then scratched the claw down part of the glass before stopping at the horrible sound. Eventually he withdrew a simple tool from his pack and sized it up for the job. The item was a small prybar suitable for getting the facings off of small teck pieces. With the tinkle of shattering glass, the little trader was soon emptying the contents of the machine onto a table.
The duty of investigating the food for edibility was conducted quickly and with as much practical gusto befitting one who lived mostly on the scraps scavenged from the dumps. In a whirl he sorted the small packaged food items into piles of like kind. He couldn't read anything, but most of the packaging made the contents self-explanatory.
After much ripping open of packages and gagging as the occasional plumes of dust exploded in his face, Arley identified three different types of packaged items which seemed the most likely. He opened one of all three and inspected them. Though he didn't recognize them as food, they at least seemed like they were intact and resembled the pictures on the wrapping. One was some sort of composite food bar. It was sticky even after the years. In some ways it smelled like tasty, sweet something, but in other ways it smelled like sawdust. In taking a quick bite he near to broke a tooth, but later found that if he chewed slowly it was consumable. He had no idea if he'd just eaten chewy plastic or some sort of building material, but it wasn't entirely unpleasant in flavor.
The other two items included a yellow spongey thing and what looked like dusty leather. The yellow sponge didn't smell like anything that resembled food, but even for all the decades it was soft and squishy to the touch. Upon biting into it, Arley was surprised to find the thing was filled with white gooey something. The white filling was sweet and pleasing. He gobbled the rest of the thing. The dusty leather was suspicious; it smelled dry but vaguely familiar. The scavenger took a ginger bite of the leather and was pleasantly surprised to find it was fruit… of sort. Like fruit left out in a dry heat. He munched the leathery fruit happily as he gathered up samples of the edible food to present to Melek.
"Lookit. Food stuff. Eat'cha good, you bet."
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Post by Veren Gal on Nov 29, 2011 12:30:39 GMT -5
*Melek Taus worked on getting the comm to work, or at least figure out if it's operational but there's something wrong elsewhere. He sighed when Arley jumped from table to table. He frowned when Arley began tapping on the glass, and then winced when the squirrel scratched it. "Arley! I'm trying to work!" Then, the glass shattered. Finally, some quiet.*
*Arley began rusting the food wrappings, and trying things out and making little sick noises when something was bad. Melek rolled his eyes and continued fiddling with the comm system. He had the front panel off and was checking the wiring. Everything seemed intact, perhaps it was just that there was no power to the device. Or they were all on mute. He got a few minutes of peace to determine the comm should work, but some control or something prevented them from working.*
"So we have edible goodies now? What's survived?" *He checked, mostly stuff that didn't perish for a while. And since it hadn't been raided, it was likely there wasn't anyone else on board alive. He hoped.*
"Well, comm system seems disabled remotely. Power is good and the electronics are functional. We will have to go find where the controls are and unlock them. Then, we can contact the others and find out where everyone is."
*He walked back over to the bodies, on closer inspection they really looked emaciated. The skin was hanging off the bone, the only thing adding girth to the figure was the cybernetics.* "Seems like they starved. Maybe when the crew died these two weren't able to get food on their own?"
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Post by Char Khan on Dec 2, 2011 22:38:14 GMT -5
*Char made his way in the direction he swore he heard something come from. His blaster was still drawn and now held cautiously in his hands as he walked about the room. Was there something here? He was sure there was. Now he was beginning to wonder if his own mind was psyching him out. The tiger-like Cathar had always assumed he was above such a thing.
As he moved about the dimly lit room, he started to make out something in a darker corner of the room. The figure looked...human-like? No. He had to be seeing things. Part of him was wishing he had a light built into his blaster like many other mercs and such had. Maybe after this payday. It was the biggest task he'd been sent on and the pay for it was too good to turn away for a low end mercenary for hire like Char.
As he was now only a couple feet away, the image of a human looking form in the dark corner did not go away. It had to be real. As the Cathar took a couple more steps forward, he began to squint and look carefully as his face inched closer to the form. Suddenly the lights in that area grew brighter and the image was suddenly revealed to him.
It was a skelatal figure with ragged clothes and skin loosely clung to it. The Cathar gave a slightly startled noise and backed away quickly. He looked around before composing himself and giving off a sigh. Whether it was of relief or frustration, Char really couldn't tell you. He gave an angry growl and backed away from the figure. Looking at it from a new perspective, he could see the skelaton was not entirely compromised of bone. There was...metal...in the body? Cybernetics, perhaps? Char wasn't sure.
Whatever it was, it was human at some point. It was also alive at some point too. However, both were in the past and not in the present. Char was looking at something very dead and very not human. He sauntered away from the remains with his blaster still held cautiously. He left the room and began walking down the hallway again. As he walked a few feet down the hall, his ears twitched. He quickly turned around and pointed his blaster behind him. Nothing was there, again. Char huffed in frustration and turned back around to walk down the hallway again. Taking a few more feet, he heard the door he left out of slam closed. He quickly turned around again and pointed his blaster. Still nothing there.*
What the-?
*The Cathar's thoughts were interrupted as suddenly the dimly lit hallway he was walking down went totally dark.*
Sithspit.
*Char could still get around in the dark. But visibility on a wider and longer ranged scale was now quite limited. The Cathar took his steps with greater care now, staying far more alert than earlier. He swore he wasn't alone. He just couldn't confirm it.*
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Ci'el Ntaryl
Jedi Padawan
"Circoo aj passi ya'kii zela'jumu kijaleei." / "There is good to be found in everyone."
Posts: 42
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Post by Ci'el Ntaryl on Dec 5, 2011 2:46:08 GMT -5
((Apologies for the hiatus, guys.)) *Ci'el keeps up pace with Melek, Char, and Arley, her senses heightened as she walks. She notices Arley keeping his new bottle quiet. Even Arley knew there was something eerie about this ship... probably not a good sign. She goes to stop him as he runs off but Melek scrambles after him before she makes a move. She considers using the Force to make him trip and thus let Melek catch up to him sooner, but she doesn't want to be too obvious about her abilities. Char tells her to stick close and she simply nods her head in agreement. They continue down the hallway into a new room. Something feels just... wrong about this place, this whole ship. If she had hair, it'd be standing on end. As it is, her lekku are twitching like mad. Char turns around and shoots spastically at the wall behind him. Ci'el would normally scold him for being so reckless with a blaster, that could have been Arley or Melek after all, but she understands the paranoia he's feeling right now.* *Some light sure would be useful right now. She has her lightsaber... but no, she can't take the chance. She still doesn't know Char well enough to rest assured he isn't associated with the Sith or might turn her over to them for credits. She will just have to rely on the Force to guide her. Char discovers the dead body and Ci'el reels back in disgust. She hates, hates, hates dead things. Dead things disturb her. Dead, once-sentient things disturb her even more. She moves out of the room as quickly as she can, before Char even moves to leave, but when he does move into the hall behind her, all the lights go out and they are forced into darkness. She sighs, almost angry at the way this situation is turning out. All this for a few measly credits. Suddenly, an idea occurs to her. She has powers, unrelated to the Force, that she often forgets about since they are somewhat newly-acquired and it is usually unsafe for her to use them in public. She isn't sure how she is going to explain this to Char, but the idea of being in the dark much longer in this place seemed far more dangerous than Char becoming a little suspicious of her.* "Char, I'm going to do something that may be a little shocking. My appearance will change, but it's still me. Don't be alarmed." *She concentrates on her breathing, feeling the strange power that has been in her since the day her fiance was murdered. Char sees a softly-glowing orb of light above her purple hand. It dimly lights the room, then suddenly bursts into a bright light. As the light becomes brighter, Ci'el's hand changes shade to a bright red. The red crawls up the rest of her arms and spreads until her entire body is the same color. Lastly, her green eyes turn a scorching, fiery gold, illuminated by the light she holds in her hand. The entire hallway is now well-lit.* "I was... born with this ability. I can't explain it. Doctors can't explain it. I hope it doesn't alarm you, but now we have light." *She hates to lie, truly she does, but she has no choice if she is going to continue to protect her own safety. She whispers a phrase in her native tongue as she looks down the dark expanse before them.* "Ryma geeyi’tak allesh."
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Post by Veren Gal on Dec 21, 2011 16:13:17 GMT -5
The two cyborgs looked cobbled together, not refined products like he saw on holos. The skin around the implants looked scarred and inflamed, Melek might be more chemist than doctor but he could tell infection when he saw it. These people had been given poor nutrition, poor medical service, and then left to rot in the bowels of the ship.
"Who in the Universe would do something like this?" he asked himself. There were people in the CWM who would cut you up as soon as look at you, and there were people who would happily let you suffer and die. But there wasn't many people who would go to this much trouble to make something that seemed so destined for failure.
No matter, the only way he could learn more now was to cut them open. And take some lessons from someone on alien anatomy and cybernetics. Melek put his gear away into his bag and got to his feet. "Come on Arley, these guys give me the creeps. Let's go find the others."
Melek headed out of the room and continued down the path Arley had been on. It seemed as good a path as any right now. Perhaps if they found more bodies they could trace them back to someplace useful.
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Arley
Trader
Have super-good Shiny? Trade'ja?[C01:970047]
Posts: 49
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Post by Arley on Dec 26, 2011 16:46:11 GMT -5
Arley had sat and listened to Melek's diagnosis of the possible issues with the comm. device. However, since the rodent's technological knowledge was generally limited to "working" or "not working" the finer points of the Devaronian's pronouncement were lost on him. As his more knowledgeable compatriot fiddled with the comm. Arley had sat eating the unintentionally dried fruit. This was, of course, after amply filling his pockets with a variety of the three edible finds he had identified. There was still plenty for Melek, but the squirrel's inclination to "finder's keeper's" and "take everything in sight" had made a significant dent in the stash.
The scavenger was quickly losing interest in this room and his patience for Melek's curiosity in the dead talkie-talk men-things was waning significantly. The whole situation had the smell of things-that-will-make-you-dead and related creepy feelings the scavenger didn't bother taking the time to name. There was obviously no treasure here and the food — the only thing of value he could see here — was already assessed and collected.
At Melek's rhetorical question regarding who would do such a thing — referring to the cyborgs — Arley matter-of-factly responded, "here-people. Not universe." This was of course the most logical fact to the very direct-thinking scavenger. The things were found here so obviously they must have originated from here. Arley saw no flaw in this reasoning whatsoever.
"We find Big Kitty'n Missy 'Terra? How find?" Arley asked absently as he followed Melek out the door and back into the hallway where they'd just come from. The concept that he might have to share his food with the other two — or worse, have it stolen — troubled the little scavenger. Though he had grown to trust that Big Kitty wasn't going to eat him, he knew that when new possessions came into the mix there was no trusting anyone. As they walked down the hall, the furry trader wondered absently if kitties ate dried fruit, yellow sponges, and sweet sawdust bars.
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Post by Veren Gal on Dec 27, 2011 18:00:36 GMT -5
Thank you, Arley the Obvious, Melek thought to himself. Yes, it was indeed someone aboard. In all likelihood it was someone recently too, unless there was some internal device that was nourishing this thing. Arley asked about finding their allies and Melek nodded, "Yeah, we're going to find them. I hope."
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Post by Char Khan on Dec 30, 2011 16:31:39 GMT -5
*Char jumped slightly when C'iel spoke to him. He was so engrossed in the eerie situation they were in that he practically forgot someone else was with him. He was inwardly cursing himself for looking like such a fool now. He was a big Cathar merc. He was supposed to be rugged, intimidating, and fearless. However, this ship was getting to him.
He didn't have any answers for everything that was going on. The metal human dead things and the oil and the lights going out. Half of their crew were missing as well. The spoils of this ship were guarded by it's creepy aura. Above all, Char swore something was still living on this ship, following them and watching them.
He only just processed what C'iel said to him right as she began...changing? She was emitting light from her hand and now she changed colors as well. Was this a twi'lek thing? Could twi'leks change colors? Char was a Cathar, so it's not like he really knew. Cathar didn't change colors though, that much he knew. He was sure most species didn't. Then again, he couldn't say what other species could and couldn't do. He wasn't educated when it came to such things.
However, C'iel gives him a bit of insight that this is apparently something specific to her and unexplainable. Char wasn't really alarmed. He was already on edge with what just happened in that room back there. Compared to a once human now dead cyborg thing, he could handle a twi'lek changing colors with a built in natural flash light. Somehow, repeating that thought over again in his mind didn't make sense. He should probably be just as alarmed. Well, he wasn't. Maybe he just trusted C'iel more than the dead human cyborg thing. Atleast she was alive and not metal. Atleast he hoped.*
I think the dead human cyborg thing has you beat, so I'm good. I won't shun away some extra light.
*The Cathar had given an indifferent shrug to C'iel, hoping it'd ease her mind. Char liked to think little disturbed or unsettled him, though right now he was having his doubts.*
Just stick close. Hopefully one of these rooms up ahead will have some sort of comm system we can use to contact the others.
*The Cathar was sure to walk at a pace where C'iel could keep up with him. Walking down the hallway, Char poked his head in a room or two. He only looked in long enough to access if there was any communication system in any of the rooms. None so far. A couple were storage rooms, it seemed. Another one looked like it might have been someone's personal quarters.
Well ahead of them down the hallway, Char could see a dim light. He made his way over there at a casual pace. He wanted to be sure C'iel could keep up. As he came closer, he recognized that the dimlight was coming from an upcoming room to his left. As he drew just a little closer, he heard a loud crashing sound come from within. The light flickered on and off, then shut off entirely.
Char looked over to C'iel with a bit of a surprised look and then headed in the direction of that room. Once he made it to the door, he opened it. The room was pitch dark inside and Char couldn't see much at all. As he entered the room, he spotted a switch and flicked it. Nothing happened. He flicked it a few more times and still nothing. How was there light in this room and nowhere else down this hall and in any of the rooms that were connected to it?
The source of that light had to be somewhere in here, Char just didn't know where. As he made his way further into the room, he saw something at the far wall on the other side of the room. He slowly made his way over there. As he made his way closer, it looked to be some kind of console. A few steps more and he could see a lavish chair infront of it. It was nothing like a standard chair many computer consoles had infront of them. Perhaps this was some high ranking official's quarters or office or something?
As he stepped closer, he noticed something in the chair. He drew his blaster and trained it on that something. As Char moved his blaster at a ready position, the chair fell over and something shadow-esque moved quickly away and off into the shadows. Char didn't move. That was definently something alive. He didn't know what, but it was moving. He took a couple steps closer to the chair now on the ground. As he moved forward toward it, he could hear another door open then close. There had to be another exit to the room.
Whatever that...thing...was, it had left them. Char made his way over to the console, kicking the chair out of his way. As he switched it on, he was relieved to see that it was in working order. It wasn't in the best condition, but it was working. As Char began working the console, he saw little screens begin to light up. Char's face was revealed in the dark room. He paused for a second, then took a step back. He looked back at the door they entered from. It had windows in it, of course. This was the dim light he saw.
If these were screens, then that possibly meant they were for things such as security cameras. Char was no computer expert, but he knew enough. He knew how to work a computer console, he just wasn't a slicer. He brought up the commands for various security cameras. A small smirk formed on his face as he repeated in his head just how right his hunch was. However, he couldn't get any feed from the first few cameras he tried. After a couple of minutes, one of the screens came alive with an image.
The image was of a lighted hallway. Char looked at where it said the feed was coming from. It was of the deck just above them. Whoever had access to this console must have had ship wide access with it, atleast in some functions. He continued working with the console until he finally brought up the communication commands. Remembering how the camera feeds were, he ran a diagnostic and confirmed what he was thinking. He could access a public communication throughout the ship, though nothing such as orbital communication. Also, there were many sections of this massive ship that the communications consoles and speakers were damaged.
He didn't know where Arley and Melek were, though. So he couldn't tell if they'd actually hear. A shout in the dark was better than nothing, though. He switched to speak throughout the ship. Surely Melek and Arley could be close enough by to hear him. Though part of him feared this would attract unwanted attention as well. Oh well, it was a risk he'd have to take. Taking a deep breath, he spoke into the necessary device.*
Hello? Is this thing working?
*He could hear a more mechanical echo of his voice down the hallway.*
Melek? Arley? If either of you can hear this, respond back. Uh. Over?
*Char heard another crash. This time it was very faint, however. It sounded like it was further down the hallway than they had explored. Something heard them, alright. He cleared his throat and spoke again into the device.*
We're not alone.
*Char took a step back from the machine and stood straight. He glanced over back at the door they had entered. That thought that rang in his head earlier, before he spoke, rang in his head now. He may have drawn unwanted attention. The grip on his blaster tightened.*
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Post by Veren Gal on Jan 5, 2012 15:30:07 GMT -5
Melek was heading away from the door to the break room when he heard a familiar voice. "Melek? Arley? If either of you can hear this, respond back. Uh. Over?" He spun around and saw nothing, the voice was coming out of the still-open door. He rushed back inside and saw the friendly little light on the intercom blazing away. Char figured out the intercom, thank the Force!
Melek jabbed the button to respond, but Char spoke again, "We're not alone."
Melek froze for a moment, he had seen evidence that people were alive recently, but it sounded to him like Char was aware of something still knocking around here. A chill went down his spine and his eyes flickered back to the corpses. They were in the same position they were when he left them, thankfully. Seeing the channel was now open, Melek spoke quietly, "Char, Arley and I are here. Have you seen anything over there? We got turned around, I think. That, or someone has control of the doors. I found two humans with cybernetic modification here, dead. I haven't seen anything alive, nor have I seen active droids."
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Arley
Trader
Have super-good Shiny? Trade'ja?[C01:970047]
Posts: 49
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Post by Arley on Jan 7, 2012 20:33:06 GMT -5
When the voice of Big Kitty crackled out of the room they had just left, Arley spun on his heel looking back. He was nearly bowled over by Melek's rush to get back to the room but managed to stay on his paws. At the doorway he listened to the interchange. There were other things alive here? Like what?
The superstitious scavenger did not re-enter the room. It was dark in there and the dead talkie-talk men-things were still in there. He did not like that room, and so he stayed in the hallway. At one point he poked his head in and saw Melek's red face lit by the green light of the console where he was working, and that didn't help the increasingly twitchy Arley's nerves.
As he stood hovering in the door looking in at his Devaronian compatriot, something caught Arley's ear. Like seeing something from the corner of his eye, but with his hearing, the rodent's right ear twitched sideways, tracking a scuffling sound. In a flash he pulled his head out of the dark room and snapped around to look in the direction of the sound. The fur on his neck and running down his back stood on end.
Sitting in the middle of the hallway in the direction they had been heading, at the far end just before the hall turned, was something. What exactly it was, Arley coundn't tell. The thing was backlit by the backsplash of light coming from the portion of the hall beyond the turn. All he could see was a dark shape sitting poised in the middle of the hall.
The silhouette of the thing was small but still terrifying as far as the little scavenger was concerned. It had a misshapen dome-like body carried a few inches above the ground by mechanical-looking insectile legs.
Though it wasn't moving in the second or two Arley looked at it, he wasn't going to wait for it. He dove into the room and dashed around Melek, putting the Devaronian between him and the door. He seriously invaded the other sentient's personal space as he clung to Melek's waistband and looked around his lower back towards the door with extreme trepidation.
"M'lek! M'lek! Walking bug-thing out there! Out there!"
The squirrel pointed emphatically towards the door as he hid behind his compatriot.
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Post by Veren Gal on Jan 14, 2012 20:23:53 GMT -5
Melek was trying to talk to Char when Arley ran up and started tugging on his belt. Melek ignored the Squib while looking for any indication that the transmissions were being sent and received. Unfortunately noe one had thought to include that feature on this ship. Annoyed, he turned around to see what had gotten Arley excited just in time to see...something...move out of the doorway.
Whatever it was gave him a chill. Melek pulled the sonic pistol out of his tool belt. "What in blazes was that?" He took a few steps closer to the doorway, "We're not here to hurt you." Perhaps a lie, it depended on how many of them there were and if they would interfere with Melek's salvage claim.
From beyond the doorway came a clicking sound, and a popping sound. Then, the lights in the corridor went out. Typical. Thankfully the lights in the room were still active. Melek looked at the control pad for the door and considered running for it. He might get the door shut in time, before whatever it was out there got him. Then, he'd be trapped in here with two dead bodies and almost no defenses. He could throw Arley through the doorway and see what happened. He considered that for a few moments before deciding he hadn't grown quite that hard yet.
"Arley," he whispered, "what was that?"
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Post by Char Khan on Jan 30, 2012 21:23:17 GMT -5
*Char was relieved to here Melek respond back to him. Without those two, this whole operation would be that much more difficult. Char took a deep breath then responded back.*
Yeah. We encountered some of those dead cyborgs too. Only caught shadows, but something's alive down here. Where are you at? We'll try to locate you.
*However, Char didn't realize the communications were suddenly going on the fritz. Whether it was being hacked or it was just faulty equipment was unknown. Char's words came out like this over the intercomm.*
::...encountered...dead...shadows...alive down...you at...locate...::
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Arley
Trader
Have super-good Shiny? Trade'ja?[C01:970047]
Posts: 49
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Post by Arley on Jan 30, 2012 22:00:55 GMT -5
On their end, Arley was alternating between twitching like a Jawa on a spice overdose and tugging manically at Melek's belt. The hyper little space squirrel had seen the skittery thing not only out in the hallway, but also in the doorway until it disappeared in the darkness… in the room where they were right now!
Even though he could see ok in low light, the little scavenger was about to lose it. The thing was in the dark with them and he couldn't concentrate enough to locate it. It could be anywhere! GAH! Where!?!
By the time Arley was thinking in something that wasn't brainless mental screaming, he had unknowingly scaled Melek and was attempting to perch on the sentient's shoulder while clinging to his red, horned head.
Though Arley was attempting to answer Melek's answer, all that was coming out was a high-pitched chittering. Not only did his outburst cover any possibility of hearing the crablike robotic thing, but it made the staticky response from Char all that more difficult to understand.
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Post by Veren Gal on Jan 31, 2012 0:26:06 GMT -5
Melek jumped as Arley began climbing up his body, he turned around and began waving his sonic pistol. Arley managed to get to his shoulder and pulled on his horn. Thankfully the horns weren't full of nerve endings or the like. Between Arley's noise and the crackling of the comm unit he didn't hear any telltale sounds of something stalking the pair.
"Damn rodent! Stay still!" Melek's head jerked to the side and his hand jerked, firing the sonic pistol...right into the comm unit. The thing threw sparks, briefly illuminating something on the ground near Melek's feet.
Melek shouted in alarm, dropping his suitcase right ontop of it as he dashed towards where he saw the door. He fired wildly behind him, the sonic pistol sending out lethally concentrated sound waves. He remembered to turn just in time to only bang his shoulder hard against the opposite wall. He pushed off and ran down the corridor.
"Char, get your butt down here! We're...uh, get down here!" he shouted, not sure if the bounty hunter could hear him or not.
Ten meters away, a blast door began to drop. Melek sent panic-induced adrenaline to his muscles. The space in the center of the shutting doors shrunk, a closing iris to safety and freedom. At the last moment, he dove and prayed to whatever was listening.
They just made it. Melek found himself in a lighted corridor with Arley still clinging to him. He had lost his briefcase of drugs and supplies, but he still had his shock baton and sonic pistol. The thing to do now was get back in touch with Char, and meet up. He walked down the corridor a ways. This corridor seemed pretty clean at least. When he found a comm unit he saw the cheery glow of the panel lights, they were working.
"There's still things moving down here, something attacked us. I think. We're safe now, I hope. We're in corridor..." he named off the coordinates for the corridor. It then occurred to him that he just announced his location to anyone listening. Oh well, too late now. Maybe they didn't notice.
Then, he saw the lights further down the corridor, a few dozen meters down a clean corridor, begin to flicker and dim. "Please hurry."
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Post by Char Khan on Feb 20, 2012 23:47:57 GMT -5
*Char didn't hear Melek scream down the corridor to get down to him. Though Char didn't know how to get to him in the first place. He had tried the comm unit a couple of times, but to no avail. It was no longer working.*
Hopefully it's just this thing and not the internal comm system.
*He glanced over his shoulder, supposing C'iel was still there.*
Come on. We need to get out of here and move on. Something is watching us. I feel it.
*Char went for the door to leave the room. However, as soon as he got in the doorway, his ears twitched. Char quickly leapt backward with catlike reflexes and attempting to push C'iel out of harms way if she were in it. The door had slammed shut so fast that it almost cost the Cathar. The Cathar let out a low hiss as he approached the door and tried opening it. It wouldn't open. He glanced over to see that any other door leading in and out of this room was just as uncompromising.
He tried manually prying it open, but even with his ferel muscles he just couldn't do it. Prying turned into kicking, as he repeatedly kicked at the door, but still nothing. He let out a roar of frustrationo then quickly grabbed his blaster and gunned the door down, managing a sizeable hole for a large Cathar and a Twi'lek to exit out of. Char was the first one to exit the room. He looked down the hallway to his right and left.*
All cl-!
*A zapping sound was heard and soon a thud as Char hit the floor. After a moment, he groaned in pain. His leg had been hit by...something. Char sluggishly grabbed his blaster and pointed it in the direction he had been hit from.*
Fight me fair, coward!
*Char fired off a few rounds down the hallway, but he could hear them hit a wall. Char growled and slowly got himself up, using the wall as support. Char glanced down at his leg. There wasn't any indication of a blaster wound. The pain wasn't even coming from his leg. More like from his backside, when he fell.*
Stun round. Could mean a couple of things. Neither of which I like.
*Char knew he couldn't put his full weight on his left leg now. He could only hope the stunn effects would wear off quickly. For now, however, he was prone. That seemed to be how the shooter wanted it. Just as he was beginning to move down the hallway, he could hear the intercomm. It was Melek! Char, however, had no way to contact him immediately. However, he knew where he could locate him now.
Char suddenly heard a crash in the distance. The Cathar wasn't the only one who knew where Melek was, it seemed. Char cursed under his breath and limped down the hallway, making sure to stay against the wall for support and his blaster rifle in hand and ready to fire at whatever else this ghost ship was going to throw at them.*
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Post by Veren Gal on Feb 21, 2012 2:25:33 GMT -5
Melek looked to the left and the right, there were some doors in this corridor but none were open. The lights continued to flicker and Melek turned to look at Arley. They could try to hole up in a room, but Melek wasn't sure what would be behind the doors. For all he knew, "they" wanted him to do just that.
"Let's go, Arley, we need to move."
He headed down the hall at a trot. If someone was trying to trap or corral them he was currently playing into "their" hands. But the only other option was to stay still and if that thing on the other side of the blast door was any indication, that was a bad idea. Melek kept his sonic pistol in hand and buttoned up his coat.
The lights behind him stayed bright and inviting while the ones ahead started to flicker more aggressively. Poodoo! Melek broke into a run and prayed to whatever was listening that the lights stayed on long enough to find a way out of there.
Up ahead he thought he saw an opening on the left side, running was hard with the strobe effect the lights had now. Further down the hallway he saw two man-shapes. It was hard to make out details in the flickering lights but Melek didn't want anything to do with them.
Then, the lights went out. Melek reached out and touched the left wall. He felt along it trying to find the opening. His heavy breathing was drowning out any quiet sounds. His blood was pounding in his head and made the root of his horns throb.
He felt a gap in the wall, this must be the opening. He hadn't seen if this was a hallway or a room. If it was a room and they went inside, they were dead. If it was a hallway, they might still be in trouble but at least it kept known trouble behind him.
"Don't suppose you have a light, Arley?"
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Arley
Trader
Have super-good Shiny? Trade'ja?[C01:970047]
Posts: 49
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Post by Arley on Feb 22, 2012 0:41:02 GMT -5
By the time Melek leapt through the closing iris of the blast doors and dislodged him, Arley's fur was standing on end and his bulbous rodent eyes were madly wide. He was literally jumping with his residual manic terror over the scuttling thing in the dark room. When his red, horned companion took off at a run to follow the light, Alrey similarly charged down the hall.
As the lights went out again, the jittery squirrel collided with a section of wall. He flailed about trying to locate Melek but succeeded only in finding a door jab to an open door. Then the other's voice piped up in the pitch black.
"Light? Light! Arley have light?" the small sentient panted, trying to regain himself. He crouched by the open door and blindly rummaged through his ruck sack, though at first his paw-hands were to fast from adrenaline to locate much.
What was that? The crystal shiny. And that? A teck piece. There was the blaster. And what could either be a power box or a squarish piece of teck. And a comm unit. A knife. And that flat thing?
"Know-pad! Arley have know-pad," the scavenger squeaked as he withdrew what felt like a datapad. He fumbled with the buttons along one edge for a moment before locating the on switch. The device's flat face gave off a dull glow which illuminated only the immediate few inches. It was by no means a good light, but it was a light source.
Arley flashed the device around as quickly as his unseen head was certainly snapping around. After a moment, the weak light grew weaker and the rodent chirped in dismay before discovering a button-push reawakened the light. When he eventually located Melek some arm's length away, he quickly clamped onto the larger sentient's leg again and waved the datapad around in a vain attempt to see things that were as likely in his head as were real.
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Ci'el Ntaryl
Jedi Padawan
"Circoo aj passi ya'kii zela'jumu kijaleei." / "There is good to be found in everyone."
Posts: 42
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Post by Ci'el Ntaryl on Feb 22, 2012 2:30:15 GMT -5
*Ci'el is relieved to hear that Char is not concerned at her changing appearance and powers.*
"Let's move forward then. I want to get away from the dead... whatever it was. And we need to find Melek and Arley as soon as we can. We were never supposed to be separated in the first place."
*He tells her to stick close and she nods her head, her hand always positioned near her lightsaber in case an emergency occurs and she needs to ignite it.*
*Char heads down the hallway and comes to a room with a flickering light. There is a loud crash and the lights flicker off. Char's instant reaction is to head straight for that room. This surprises her, after all, they had no idea what could have made that crash. She goes to stop him quietly so as not to draw attention to themselves but he has already made it to the room by the time she can say anything. Mentally cursing, she follows cautiously behind him, light still held up in her left hand. She enters the room just in time to see him pointing his blaster at a chair, which then falls over and something crawls away from it. She lets out a half-scream and a decent amount of curse words before holding her hand over her mouth.*
Good job, Ci'el. If they didn't know where you were before, they know now. Whoever "they" are.
*A door closes behind her and she curses again quietly and gets as close to Char as she can. Despite the fact that she knew she could probably defeat Char in a battle, his sheer size and musculature are comforting to her. She knew she could protect herself, but she also felt like he could protect her, so she sticks close."
"What the Sithspit is going on in this karking ship..."
*Ci'el is pretty certain this is the largest amount of curse words she's used in several months. Another crash is heard down the hall and Ci'el grips Char's arm."
Damnit, girl, get a hold of yourself.
*She lets go of his arm, quickly, embarrased, and mumbles an apology. The interaction with Arley and Melek via the comm link only serves to freak her out more, though. She nods her head and follows Char again out of the room. Char guns down the door. The moment he takes a step into the next room her Force senses warn her of danger. Char is shot with a stun blaster and Ci'el knows there is no more time for caution. She whips out her lightsaber, ignites it, and force jumps into the room, ready to defend Char. Whatever shot him, however, is already crashing down the hallway... right in Melek and Arley's direction.*
*Ci'el imagines Char probably has a very shocked look on his face right now. She looks at her lightsaber, the purple light reflecting off her skin.*
"No time to explain. Melek and Arley are in danger. Let's go."
*She gives him her shoulder to lean on so that they can limp down the hallway a little faster. She makes the light in her hand a little brighter with some concentration, so that now they can see about three yards in front of them.*
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Post by Char Khan on Feb 22, 2012 13:08:33 GMT -5
*Char couldn't believe what he was seeing. C'iel was now holding a...lightsaber? He was quiet for a few moments, staring at the color changing, glowing Twi'lek trying to wrap his head around it. When she says there is no time to explain, Char simply nods and leans on C'iel. Having her for support and beginning to limp down the hallway, Char finally speaks up.*
You just keep getting more and more interesting.
*Char was now feeling a little dumb for his instinctive protective ways over the smaller Twi'lek woman. If she was one of those Force Users, then she could clearly protect herself. Her lightsaber was evident of that.
Elsewhere on the ship, the thing that shot Char was barreling down the hallway in the direction of Melek and Arley. The duo were foolish enough to give away their location. However, locating them exactly proved to be difficult. There was still area to cover. It took the thing awhile but he finally located Melek and Arley. The thing could see a very faint light being waved around.*
You fools. They will find us!
*The voice was not loud by any means, but it should have been enough for Melek and Arley to hear. The "thing" was obviously some sort of sentient. The voice didn't sound mechanical, which might indicate a droid. It sounded quite human, or near human anyway. Whatever this sentient was, it could speak clear basic.*
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Post by Veren Gal on Feb 22, 2012 23:51:38 GMT -5
Arley's light wasn't much help, perhaps he could see better than Melek could. All Melek got was the loss of what little night vision he had. The hallway was pitch black so Melek couldn't tell how long or wide it was. He could picture something horrible creeping up behind them soundlessly. Looking behind himself, he couldn't see anything. The intersection was completely dark, not good. Melek took a few more steps down the hallway while Arley held on to his leg.
"Give it here, I can't see anything."
Melek grabbed the datapad and held it towards the wall. It was just blank wall unfortunately. Melek wasn't sure why some hallways seemed to have a lot of rooms and others were blank.
"This light is terrible, you're telling me you don't have a better light? What type of scavenger are you?"
"You fools, they will find us!"
Melek's head snapped up and he pointed the datapad, and his sonic pistol, in the direction of the noise. "Who is that?!"
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Ci'el Ntaryl
Jedi Padawan
"Circoo aj passi ya'kii zela'jumu kijaleei." / "There is good to be found in everyone."
Posts: 42
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Post by Ci'el Ntaryl on Feb 23, 2012 11:31:20 GMT -5
*Ci'el snerks at Char's comment. He was cool and collected, that was for sure. She decides she trusts him, for better or for worse, at least while they are on this ship.*
"You don't know the half of it."
*She considers asking Char to wait here for a moment so she can run forward and protect Arley and Melek, but separating the pack up even more than it already is just doesn't seem worth the risk. She whispers quietly to him, so that whatever they are now following will be unable to hear her.*
"We've got it surrounded on both sides. The question is, can we take it... or them... on? And should I turn my light off so they can't see us coming from a mile away, or is it better to just keep it on so we can see them?"
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Arley
Trader
Have super-good Shiny? Trade'ja?[C01:970047]
Posts: 49
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Post by Arley on Feb 28, 2012 23:15:39 GMT -5
The little scavenger squeaked in indignant irritation as Melek snatched his datapad and then preceded to disparage its quality. There were few worse insults in the world of a haggler than theft followed by devaluation of the stolen item. By comparison, Melek's question of his mettle as a scavenger was a minor offense.
All feelings of being slighted were instantly gone when a new voice showed up right beside them. Arley nearly jumped right out of his hide when the chiding voice "appeared" out of the dark. Almost instinctively, he latched onto Melek again… or what he assumed was Melek anyway. His grip and little claws were likely enough to draw blood.
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Trisana Marrik
Fringer
"Men are shallow creatures. I've yet to meet one who doesn't drool at the mere sight of me."
Posts: 25
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Post by Trisana Marrik on Mar 29, 2012 1:16:37 GMT -5
*Trisana Marrik arrives at The Atropos after receiving coordinates from a drunken man in The Works. She enters the clearance codes she found on the datapad on the flight over here and boards the ship.*
*She enters the dark ship warily, stun gun set to high setting in one hand, and her real blaster in the other. She feels the need to whisper out, 'Hello?' because of the eery silence of the area, but knows better than to bring attention to herself in such a place.*
*She walks down the hallways for several minutes, only coming upon room after room with nothing and no one inside. Doors creak, ceilings leak, and she thinks she sees some slithering things in the corner of one or two rooms, but she just leaves them as quickly as she came. She takes on the form of a dark blue Nautolan, to blend in better with the shadows. Her eyes are more adjusted to the darkness, as well, since Nautolans have excellent low light vision. Somehow she feels more at home as a Nautolan, on this dark, damp ship.*
*Tris keeps walking, getting frustrated that perhaps the drunken man had given her a false lead and this was a pointless hunt, when she hears a sound to her left. Voices... distant, quiet... but they're there. She follows the sound swiftly, and as quietly as she can.*
*She slinks through room after room until she sees a light, down at the far end of a hallway. It's too far away and blinding for her to see what the source of the light is coming from, but she stealthily moves forward, staying behind cover whenever she can, whether that means ducking behind some fallen debris or leftover storage boxes. Upon moving closer she sees a muscular cat-like creature and a red Twi'lek. The Twi'lek seems to be holding the light in her hand, or rather, just above it. Her skin is red, but the tattoos on her forehead are unmistakable. Tris wonders if those particular designs are common in Twi'lek culture. But even so, those lips, her eyes... her facial features are too dramatic and unique for this to be anyone else.*
Can Twi'leks... dye their skin? Perhaps as a drastic measure to avoid detection from Morn? Or perhaps even from the Sith? She was a Jedi after all, and a not-well-trained one at that, and she was separated from the Order and left to fend for herself, according to Morn's sources. Identity protection is something I can relate to. Well, Ci'el Ntaryl or not, she's a damn pretty thing and she'll certainly sell for quite a lot on the slave market if nothing else. Hmm... maybe I should go into slaving. Ryloth probably has an abundance of sexy little Twi'leks like this one. I could get 'em free and sell 'em cheap. Trisana Marrik, Bounty Hunter and Slaver. I like the sound of that. But now's not the time to be thinking of future business endeavors. Let's focus.
*A determined look and cocky smirk cross her face, and Tris switches the blaster in her right hand for another stun gun. No reason to hurt the Cathar, after all, if she can just knock him out for a few minutes, get the Twi'lek, and run. She aims her guns, the one on the high setting pointed at the Twi, and the one on the low setting pointed at the Cathar, just high enough to keep him stunned until she can escape. She shoots with perfect precision, and watches as her unsuspecting victims fall to the floor.*
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