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Tauve
Apr 9, 2013 11:31:59 GMT -8
Post by Whill Shaman Erevis on Apr 9, 2013 11:31:59 GMT -8
*The History is Currently Unknown*
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Tauve
Jun 22, 2013 15:48:51 GMT -8
Post by The Corruption on Jun 22, 2013 15:48:51 GMT -8
The city of Tauve. It was located on the continent of Dysis, sharing the landmass with another city named Kel. And it was where Darth Miros had decided to establish his foothold on the planet.
The Mandalorian lynch mobs had tried to kill him in Algarine. They had failed. He had carved a path of destruction through the city, before procuring transportation to a less hostile area. It had taken him a while, but he had finally settled on Tauve.
The Shadow of the Corruption stood on the rooftop of a building that looked as though it had been painted an awful blue, staring out at the sunset. Every night, he took another building; soon, the whole city would be under his sway. The usual Mandalorian patrols had already learned of his endeavours, but they had been unable to actually pin him down. Three of their squads had already disappeared in the hunt for the fugitive, and soon they would either lose all of their men or just give up trying.
He never stayed in the same place for too long. Miros never tired, never lost his stamina. He did not share any of the weaknesses of the flesh-and-blood beings that inhabited this world. The Sith Echo smiled as the light from Algara's sun reflected in his deep-blue eyes. This was the perfect world for him to further the Corruption's military might..
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Corr
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Tauve
Jun 24, 2013 15:45:42 GMT -8
Post by Corr on Jun 24, 2013 15:45:42 GMT -8
A plague wracked the city of Tauve with a steady virulence that defied any form of control or containment, spreading its foul contamination as if governed by a sentient mind, moving with polluting purpose through a town already discordant with strife and rebellion. Being the center of the previous terrorist activity, its populace the most resistant to their Mandalorian overlords, Tauve had resisted their armoured governors with more vigor than those in Algarine had done. Being more rural int he sense of extra-planetary visitors the place was home to an insular culture of Xan preferring to alienate any not of their world. Ironic then that they were steadily falling prey to an entity that couldn't even claim this galaxy as its own, that's origins had never truly been sought and investigated, even by those that had stood staunchly in its path in the past. Even in the data banks of the Jedi at Yavin IV where there was extensive records of encounters and battles, it was merely referred to a UCE, or Unidentified Corrupting Entity. Said data explained some of its properties and abilities but nothing concrete as it seemed to change and adapt with every manifestation. Like a virus it evolved to subvert or supersede any counter measures the Jedi of Yavin IV and their allies tried to step the tide until brute force, perhaps a final act of desperation, had finally driven it off.
Driven it off but not destroyed as some truly thought. Such records as there were of this alien symbiot were always left open, almost as if the writer had expected its eventual return, or had merely been unsure as to the success of whatever measures had been taken to see to its demise. There were projections as to how long the thing would take to consume the entire galaxy if left unopposed to wreak havoc upon the populations of planets in merciless hunger. It was also speculated that, assuming it came from an extra-galactic source, it had likely consumed and absorbed a thousand life forms on a thousand planets and now wanted life forms in this galaxy. Further speculation postulated that it could assume the forms of any of these life forms and that this galaxy had not seen the unspeakable horrors that this entity could assume and use to further whatever myriad and nebulous goal it sought. Whether these theories were baseless or real fears is one for you, as reader, to decide and I won't try and influence you into swallowing any of this with my flowery and insipid narrations.
Just ask yourself this...
What would make a good read?
So came this disease, this harbinger, to Algara two, a world that had lost so much in such a short period, a place that was attempting to rebuild from a disastrous era in its life. Down it came upon an already wounded beast, like a shark scenting blood, picking off the weakest of the pack. The Mandalorian presence in Tauve was nearly nonexistent such was the hatred for them in this fanatical bastion of the defeated but not destroyed Xan Brotherhood, the average citizen knowing nothing of such insidious threats that this interloper represented. Woefully unprepared for such a foe the authorities, such as they were, both Xan and Mandalorian, could only watch in horror as more and more of the city fell to this unknown and unknowable contagion. Entire streets fell deserted as their inhabitants, blue veins marring their heads and faces, became insane and dropped everything to wander blankly towards buildings aglow in eerie blue incandescence to take their places within this unholy fraternity. What parts of the city were still free of this blight were soon in full panic as loved ones failed to return home, or worse... returned home to infect the healthy. Nobody knew what was going on and certainly nobody from the outside was going to venture in to investigate. Very early on a report had been dispatched to Algarine of a possible contagion. Subsequently Algarine had ordered Tauve a no-go area and had withdrawn all support for the area. Both Mando and Xan loyal to the Vhett regime were on their own, as were the populace and the terrorists of the Xan Brotherhood, all still divided despite their common enemy. Perhaps if they consolidated and worker towards finding the cause of the malaise then perhaps... perhaps...
Captain Harth snarled out a rancid oath in Mando'a as he stared in dismay at the map spread across the table in front of him, beating an armoured fist down on it so hard that the legs groaned in protest, trembling violently with the impact.
"How the hell is it spreading from district to district after we've sealed them off?"
Stood in a top floor room of one of the better hotels in Tauve the commander of the Mando forces here closed his eyes for a moment in utter despair. Still thinking of this infection as a plague with no clear, thinking, consciousness behind it was driving him to distraction. Unfortunately he had no reason to think it anything other than a viral disaster that had hit the city, similar in essence to the death seed plague. Amusing, then, that should he have studied his history better, or knew anything about Star Wars canon, the death Seed plague also had a certain sentience to it. Funny wot?
"Did you tear down some of the buildings in sector seven to create firebreaks?"
One of the soldiers with him nodded and muttered something in Mando'a, gesturing here and there on the map. When the contagion had first been noticed it had been confined to a few areas of the city, a few specific districts. As it spread, threatening to become out of control, they had decided that they could isolate and burn it out to save the majority of the city and population from such a grim fate. Unfortunately the disease had outwitted them and now fires ran unchecked in certain areas.
"Good. We don't want to lose the entire city."
There was little feeling behind the words. They were spoken in a dull monotone and several of the assembled soldiers looked at each other knowingly. They all thought what Harth was thinking. That saving the city was a foolish hope and one that had no place in their minds any longer. It was a very real possibility that they'd have to drive all the uninfected citizens out into the surrounding countryside and burn Tauve to the ground. Unfortunately for them the infection wouldn't allow such a thing and, again little did they know this, the disease could imitate anyone it came across and absorbed into its collective. That was how it got around every countermeasure put in place. That as how it was always one step ahead. That as how it knew what they would do before they truly knew it themselves.
Harth turned to a Mandalorian with a vivid BLUE visor.
"How long will it take you to get to sector twelve?"
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Tauve
Jul 2, 2013 16:43:20 GMT -8
Post by The Corruption on Jul 2, 2013 16:43:20 GMT -8
The Mandalorian looked up to face Captain Harth, his buy'ce having previously been oriented towards the map on the table.
"Half an hour's march, sir."
His voice was completely flat, with no trace of the Corruption that held his body in its grasp. It was masking its own presence; it couldn't keep itself out of his visor, but it could still stay out of his voice. What the Mandalorians didn't know would hurt them even more than what they did know.
"Are we to deploy military countermeasures there?"
He dropped his gaze to look at the map once more, as if scrutinizing the field before them.
"If I may, sir.. I've never known an infection that couldn't be fixed with a good dousing of flames."
He didn't smile behind his helmet; the Corruption took no enjoyment from the constant deception and subterfuge it was throwing at the Mandalorians. That was for an Echo like Miros to take part in, not the pathogen as a whole.
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Corr
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Posts: 940
Affiliation: Clan Vhett
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Tauve
Jul 11, 2013 17:09:02 GMT -8
Post by Corr on Jul 11, 2013 17:09:02 GMT -8
Harth looked back to the map then lowered his head for a moment. His eyes closed, teeth gritted, the veteran commander blew out a huge breath in a sigh before raising his head to look at blue-visor again.
"Are you suggesting we raze the entire city?"
It wasn't so insane an idea but Harth certainly didn't want to be the one that came up with it. Perhaps if he'd had more of a backbone he could have saved more of this city and its people, he thought savagely, though he just couldn't seem to yeild to the fact that the city may well be doomed.
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Tauve
Jul 12, 2013 23:38:51 GMT -8
Post by The Corruption on Jul 12, 2013 23:38:51 GMT -8
The nameless Mandalorian started to shake his head, then turned it into a shrug instead.
"If absolutely necessary, sir. But a good dousing of flames on the perimeter of the infected areas may provide us some time to catch our breath. Perhaps razing the area around that perimeter, too. If not..."
He shrugged again.
"Raze the whole thing."
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Corr
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Posts: 940
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Tauve
Jul 13, 2013 11:29:57 GMT -8
Post by Corr on Jul 13, 2013 11:29:57 GMT -8
The Mandalorian Captain look at a loss for what to do, staring hard at the map as if he could glean some inspiration from the static hologram. Some of the other warriors looked at each other uneasily as they watched their commander flounder with this situation. A few others cast strange looks at the man in the blue visor, wondering where this new-found ruthlessness had come from. Lorik Frath, for that was his name, a fact we have been remiss in stating previously, was usually reticent to the point of being mute yet here he was leading the argument for the destruction of a city...
Harth cleared his throat, bringing everyone's attention back to him, then hesitated. His tongue struggled over the order and he was saved from uttering it by the arrival of another warrior.
=Sentry=
"Al'orad..."
The man fired off a hasty salute before continuing.
=Sentry=
"The crowd is getting ugly outside, sir. Xan are gathering demanding to know what is being done to restore order. It doesn't make sense, sir. They've never looked to us for answers before, barely acknowledging us as an authority... At least in this city."
A few of the other Mandalorian nodded in agreement, a man named Fyor turning to face Harth, helmet tucked under his arm. Harth was a newcomer to Tauve compared to some of the others, a few of them even serving with Maraak before the Concordian spy had left the planet. They knew all about the city's allegiance to the so-called Xan Brotherhood.
=Fyor=
"The Xan here have never accepted our authority. The terrorists controlled the city before and resentment still runs deep. We are blamed for the death of the Xan premier and for several bombings conducted by the Brotherhood. It was ever their goal to drive a wedge between us and the populace, a feat they have always managed here."
He looked around, getting confirming nods from the other Tauve veterans. Each had dealt with the jeers and name-calling in the streets and a few had even served in some of the other locations on the planet. Algarine and the other settlements weren't nearly as hostile as the Tauvians were to their masters, even welcoming in some area's.
=Fyor=
"If riots are being incited at a time like this then-"
His voice was cut off as a thunderous explosion rattled the walls. The windows shattered inwards to spray shards of transparisteel everywhere and the ground shook as if in the hands of a violent child. The Mando's reacted like the trained soldiers they were, covering faces and dropping low to come back up with weapons in hand, trained steadily on the now ruined windows. Minor cuts decorated most of the men in the room, those still wearing their helmets having evaded any damage.
Harth looked around, blood trickling down his face from half a dozen cuts, growling low under his breath. He looked a couple of warriors and made a curt gesture, indicating they were to secure the front of the building, while he crept cautiously to the window.
Flames were now billowing from the building opposite, a supply dump for munitions. They had used the building for its close location and the relative isolation from the flames raging through the other districts. That it had gone up was either a gross oversight, massive negligence, from someone or...
Harth spun to look at his men, eyes wild. There was no way he could save the city now. This fire would spread and worsen, linking with the other fires creeping closer. He didn't have enough men to get fire breaks up in time and they were now cut off from area's where they needed to act. Things were unraveling fast and he knew that drastic measures were to be taken.
=Captain Harth=
"I want to know if that mess was accidental or intended..."
He gestures to a few of his men.
=Captain Harth=
"You lot, see to it. You," He gestures to another four men. "Go help secure the crowd. Advise tem to leave the city as fast as they can. Fire on them if you have to..."
His voice was taking on a rather frantic edge now as he glanced once again at the towering inferno that was now beginning to warm the room.
=Captain Harth=
"The rest of you pack up..."
He glanced at Lorik Frath, a nameless warrior before hand now a trusted confident, and nodded grimly.
=Captain Harth=
"We're leaving."
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Tauve
Jul 15, 2013 18:13:23 GMT -8
Post by The Corruption on Jul 15, 2013 18:13:23 GMT -8
Lorik Frath, as his name had suddenly come to be, knew that the time had come to leave this place, and not just because the good captain had said so. They were evacuating this city, and the time for stealth had ended. He assisted with the packing as was expected, until a moment when the others in the room had their attention on their duties, not on their captain.
He approached Captain Harth, placing a hand nonchalantly on the man's shoulder.
"Don't worry, sir. We may yet win the day."
And, in that moment, Harth's fate was sealed. That touch was enough for the pathogen in Frath's body and armor to transfer to the Captain's. It was only a matter of time, now, before he started feeling the effects. Frath walked away again, to keep up the guise of packing up, and glanced over at the still-burning building, knowing already that "that mess" was intentional.
Down below, on the streets, the Xan were not the only beings in the crowd. There was one, in dark robes, watching the chaos and smiling darkly. Darth Miros was among them, making certain to brush up against as many people in the crowd as he could.
The Mandalorians encased inside the building were in for quite the surprise when they came outside. Although, to be fair, they were in for quite the surprise if they stayed turtled away in their little hidey-hole, too.
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Corr
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Tauve
Jul 16, 2013 13:30:09 GMT -8
Post by Corr on Jul 16, 2013 13:30:09 GMT -8
The situation in Tauve deteriorated rapidly as the flames spread from sector to sector devouring everything in their path. Without a cohesive authority to coordinate countermeasures the rampant destruction continued unabated and soon the roaring inferno was way past any possible attempt to control. Hundreds of thousands had already lost their lives while tens of thousands more were now under the sway of the mysterious plague that robbed beings of their independence and sanity, reducing most to mindless drones in thrall to whatever strange idea's the illness perpetrated. Medical experts had tried to analyse its nature, maintaining their own safety by wearing biochemical suits to avoid contact. These effort, while sufficient for a while, ultimately proved fruitless as they failed to reach a conclusive diagnosis of the ailment. Each doctor, scientist, or biologist had eventually either succumbed to the disease, the patient they were studying either flying into a rage and tearing them from their suits, or had died in the blazing maelstrom of flame that sought to consume all.
Alerts were now blaring all over Algara II as other settlement took not of the city's fate, most thinking it a resurgence of the Brootherhood, one of their terrorist acts gone horribly wrong. Rumours of a strange malady had put the other city's on alert, Algarine perhaps looking to be placed under martial law just a few short weeks after the last such period had been lifted. Once again people sought to vacate the planet before all spaceports were locked down, not wanting to be stranded on a world in the grips of anarchy. Protesters once again lined the street of the major populations centers, blaming the Mandalorians for bring strife and discord to their home, inciting hatred and violence against the armoured overlords. Riots and looting had been reported globally and security forces were on the defensive as frontier law prevailed in the more remote parts of the larger towns. Rural settlements were cut off completely, preferring to ride out the proverbial storm in isolation, letting the city folk deal with their own mess while they waiting for things to return to normal.
Little did they know it but such normality was a thing of the past. The life form in their midst would consume and grow, spreading like the parasite it was until all of Algara was covered in the alien blue sheen of its corrupt essence, poisoning the world in its fetid musk until it was ready to seek out its next feast.
An explosion sent flames soaring into the murky sky, a billowing mushroom cloud of chemicals and heat that fanned out to spread its inky blackness across the already darkened noon sky. The flames had turned day into night with their noxious smoke, blocking out the light from the planets sun and casting the entire city into a grim dusk that signified more than the coming night. The end was nigh and the Xan population prayed to whatever god they held dear to be spared the coming apocalypse. The lined the streets that were still free from the inferno, beseeching, furious, resigned, and a host of other emotions that would bubble forth in times of stress. Some vented their frustrations on each other, fights and bloody murder erupting everywhere, while some merely dropped to their knee's and wept, all flailing in the throes of despair as their city died around them.
Through this madness skulked four armoured figures, all that was left of the Mandalorian presence here. Moving cautiously in two-by-two cover formation they stuck to the deepening shadows, doing their best to avoid a populace that would seek to tear them apart should they be discovered. The leader, a man in battered armour, charred severely as if from an explosion, held up a balled fist to halt the procession at the mouth of an alley way. Hunkering down he waited as the trailing two figures caught up and dropped to their haunches besides him, each peering in a different direction.
The last figure, a man in partial beskar'gam, his armour looking as if pieces had been ripped off him one by one, tore his battered helmet off and made a noise halfway between a wail and a sigh.
=Dom=
"What the fuck are we doing stopping, corporal?"
Dropping his buy'ce to the floor Dom tore a waterskin off his belt with a trembling hand, pouring some of the liquid into his mouth then attempting to wash some of the soot and grime away from his eyes. His eyes were wild and his head twitched uncontrollably on his neck.
=Dom=
"After what the capt..."
He paused and shuddered before starting again.
=Dom=
"... that thing that was the captain did to Yorkie I don't wanna stop for anything!"
Corporal Tarpor nodded his bare head grimly at Doms words, his own hands steady despite his own horror at what they had witnessed. The four of them had managed to escape during all the confusion as their own brother had turned on their own, devouring what was left of the Mandalorian presence in Tauve. Growing blue tentacles, strange eyeballs appearing in the strangest of places, jaws gaping wide to swallow heads whole... He had seen Felicity's torso tear in half, a whip-like tongue lashing out from the tangled mass of her guts to snare Sergei around the throat, dragging him kicking and screaming across the ground to be devoured in her bosom, his screams unable to blot ot the chomping and crunching of the grizzly feast.
=Tarpor=
"I hear ya, Dom. Hector? Any traffic on the comms?"
Hector Suarez, a steady presence in any situation FUBAR, took a moment to respond, finding it hard to get his own emotions under control in such a mess. He shook his head grimly, never taking his eyes off the street behind them as he scanned back and forth, rifle at the ready.
=Hector=
"Nothing. Its been dead since we bugged out..."
Finally he glanced over his shoulder, flicking a quick look at the first two before laying a longer, more searching look at the fourth member of their little team. Kayleigh was the youngest member of the detail in Tauve At just sixteen years old she hadn't said a word since witnessing the horror of the last several hours. Still, she had kept up with them and had covered her quarter without missing a thing. You didn't make them like this any where but among the vode, the other three thought admirably.
=Hector=
"You think command got our call?"
Wiping a grimy hand across and even grimier face, the Mandalorian corporal sighed low, a sound that came across more snarl than exhale. His expression was one of hate and fury rather than the loss and madness that Dom's portrayed, the rage at this unknown assailant bubbling forth into everything he did.
=Tarpor=
"Maybe, but I don't know what good it will do us. Those things could be anywhere and with them... them... taking over our boys we can't rely on any help from nearby..."
He stood slowly, scanning down the alleyway and nudging Dom to get his shit together. No doubt the things were on to their trail. He had seen them sniff out hidden civilians the way a Nek Hound would track its prey and was sure that they could pick out their scent.
=Tarpor=
"No. We're on our own. If we can get to the outskirts where things aren't as chaotic then... Maybe we'll..."
He didn't finish the sentence, not wanting to instill any false hope in any of them. He cast his own searching look at Kayleigh, his face mirroring his concern despite the barely controlled anger that threatened to leak out with every moment. She ignored him, blank face staring down the sights of her quietsnipe as she scanned the road to the right steadily.
With a silent sigh he rose and waved a hand forward.
=Tarpor=
"Lets move."
The four figures resumed their lonely journey through a city that disintegrated around them, desperately seeking an escape from this madness alive and, hopefully, sane.
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Atia
Member
Posts: 1,232
Affiliation: Nightsisters of Dathomir
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Tauve
Aug 7, 2013 14:08:21 GMT -8
Post by Atia on Aug 7, 2013 14:08:21 GMT -8
"There. Put me down there."
She didnt know that she was pointing at the foundation of one of the first buildings that was lit afire. The yellow twilek mistress pointed at the smoldering building, all that could burn had allready burned, only ash and glowing. The other yellow twilek was piloting.
-Theia-
"Yes mistress. Shall I land? It looks dangerous."
"No, hover above, I will jump down. Meet me to the north of the city. If I dont find out what is happening here by the time I get out, we wont find out."
The Last Vargaari hovered just above the ruinned building as its ramp lowered and a seemingly twilek mandalorian jumped out of it from neckbreaking height, and just stood up as if she had jumped from the third stair on a staircase.
The inferno around masked her descent well as she used the force to land, as if she had force jumped. The ship with her slave Banshee and her sister, Wiko left and flew off to the north.
She was armed with a wibroblade, an E-11 blaster, several smoke canisters, a cloaking belt with sound dampners, a fire estinguisher, a mando'a translator, a field medpack, a binacular,water, rations, a military grade comm device and a scanner. Of course, she was garbed in a custom made mandalorian look-alike beskargam made from durasteel and duraplast to make it lighter.
She herself started to run towards the north with blaster in hand, finding cover in some rubble. She moved from cover to cover trying to find traces of what might have been going on. Her suit was watertight, she could have survived vacuum for a couple of hours if she so wanted. She needed it if she was to walk through smoky areas. Also, she had several types of vision to help her grasp of surroundings.
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Tauve
Aug 15, 2013 14:21:30 GMT -8
Post by The Corruption on Aug 15, 2013 14:21:30 GMT -8
The four surviving Mandalorians -- Dom, Tarpor, Hector, and Kayleigh -- and the yellow Twi'lek were not alone in the scorched wasteland that had once been a major city. Shambling through the burnt-out, debris-covered streets were hundreds of beings that could best be described as walking corpses. Some were former civilians, some were comrades that the four had watched fall, some were comrades that the Mandalorians had never gotten around to knowing properly, and now never would. Other shamblers were scarcely recognizable: twisted masses of burnt flesh that was hobbling or sometimes dragging itself along on broken, decrepit limbs; in some extreme cases, torsos were trying to wiggle their way forward. The place had gone from a bustling city to being a hive of a horrible affliction, whose denizens wanted nothing more than to escape, not out of fear or panic, but because they wanted -- needed -- to get out to infect the surrounding area. But the inferno that had consumed Tauve was still burning around the perimeter, and these denizens were trapped.. for now. Perhaps there were still some other survivors: citizens who had not yet been consumed by the infection, who were free from the pathogen's clutches, but they were not making themselves known. To show oneself to be uninfected right now would be foolhardy; it was impossible to know who was clean and who was infected, if the disease had not destroyed their visage.
There was one person who walked among the streets, whom all the plague victims gave a wide, respectful berth (when possible). A lone figure in black robes, with brown hair and unnatural blue eyes, a lightsaber hilt on his belt, an expression of arrogance and intense scrutiny on his face. Miros knew that there were others here, other untainted souls defiling his city. Several were familiar, in that they were survivors of the devastation: he would deal with them in all due time. One was new, and Force-sensitive by the feel of it.. He smiled, then reached out with his senses to first brush against the Mandalorians' minds, long enough to let them know that they had been detected by something much more powerful than them, before turning his attention to the newcomer.
Miros allowed his presence to fill the Force and weigh down on her mind.
<< Welcome to my city. Do feel free to stick around.. >>
He laughed, the sound echoing through the minds of all the city's inhabitants, infected and survivors alike..
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Corr
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Tauve
Aug 18, 2013 5:51:51 GMT -8
Post by Corr on Aug 18, 2013 5:51:51 GMT -8
The sense of impending dread, of something looking down on them with a mind to quell their life-force beneath its booted foot, washed over them in a steady wave, the taste of it horror staining their mouths with palpable bitterness that had all four of them scrunching their faces up in disgust. The laughter, following closely on the heels of the sensation, sent icy daggers of fear lancing through their souls. They were tracking steadily through the smoldering remains, careful to avoid any contact, as they tried to quit the forsaken city of Tauve. The broad avenue down which they crept was a grim black corridor of ash-laced destruction, a hallway to absolution down which they were forced to tread.
Dom, eyes bulging out of his head as he tried to look everywhere at once, shook his head in despair as his trembling hands attempted to keep his rifle steady.
=Dom=
"We're fucked. We're never gonna get out of here..."
He was cut of by a growled word in Mando'a and a raised hand from Tarpor as the Corporal cocked his head to the side as if listening. There it was again, the scraping sound of footfalls from ahead and left. With a motioned wave down he indicated that they were to drop low, seeking cover behind the ruined wall of what had once been a public garden or a park.
=Tarpor=
"Uur! What's that?"
They scanned the dismal view ahead, Tarpor and Dom at point with the other two flanking them and slightly back. They were all coated in ash and merged into the surroundings as they hunkered down in the debris of the street, camouflaging themselves in the detritus, just four more ruined bodies in all the carnage.
They came shambling out of side streets, some dragging themselves. A sight of horrors flooding into the already nightmarish image. Most were civilians, or had been, chewed up and burned nearly beyond recognition. Every here and there was an armoured form, grotesquely disfigured and disheveled. Twisted mutations of their former selves.
The four held their breath and their fire as dozens of these monstrosities ambled into the avenue, randomly stumbling this way and that. With good cover and adequately disguised they hoped that this unholy brigade would pass them by but, to their horror, the wave of despair and horror came over them again. This time it seemed to scream, the laughing voice now seeking to highlight their position, making them all feel as though they stood naked and bathed in light before the groaning horde. To their utter dejection the feeling wasn't imagined and the satanic swarm turning in their direction with a chorus of howls and began to close.
=Hector=
"Kad save us..."
In unison the four began backing away in a crouch, keeping weapons trained on the oncoming crowd but refrainin from firing. Without any firm plan for resupply they dare not waste shots and would conserve until they had no option, seeking to make each shot count.
Tarpor cast about desperately for some inspiration, his gaze finally alighting on a building that seemed somewhat intact. It was charred and covered in the same grey grime that coated everything but the walls seemed intact and the massive doors, made of some kind of ultra-hard wood, were still in place.
=Tarpor=
"There!"
He cried and the four of them sprang up, scurrying across the street and through the open doors. The building appeared to have been a church of some kind, a long isle with pews to either side that ended in some kind of podium and altar. Various statues depicted scenes but the four didn't really stop to pay attention to what they displayed. Dom slammed the doors behind them while Tarpor and Hector grabbed a pew, wedging it against the door while Kayleigh stalked cautiously towards the podium, sniper rifle sweeping back and forth.
=Kayleigh=
"Clear."
She called softly, the first word she had uttered since the beginning of this mess. A second and a third pew went across the door just as the first body slammed against it.
Pale faced and sweating, whiter lines streaking his face from where the sweated excretions had washed away the ash, Tarpor glanced around.
=Tarpor=
"Kayleigh and Hector, do a quick recce and check we're secure in here. Dom and I will stay here to make sure this doors not gonna give. Be back in ten."
Kayleigh and Hector nodded grimly and headed off while Dom looked at him with despair in his eyes....
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Atia
Member
Posts: 1,232
Affiliation: Nightsisters of Dathomir
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Tauve
Aug 18, 2013 8:46:52 GMT -8
Post by Atia on Aug 18, 2013 8:46:52 GMT -8
*The city stank even through the "made in china"-level beskargam copy air filters. It wasnt the stink, she knew, she just immagined the stink unwillingly. The smoke and the smoldering flesh all over. She tried to find a somewhat full body she could scan. That is when she felt the presence.
A sith... HIS city? HAH!
You should fire your zoning commity. I would be ashamed to call this mine.
You disgust me sith, But you DO have driven off the mandalorians. I want a meeting.
She found a corpse that had escaped the flames just to be killed by the smoke. It was rotting, but she could try and get a good read. She kneeled down beside it and took out her scanner. Flicking out the display and activieating the device, she scanned the bodie for whatever things that could have caused whatever did this to the city. She didnt feel anything through the force but this pressuring feeling of impending doom...
... she was immune to it. She have had that feeling all her slave life.
While the scanner worked, she looked around to get her bearings. The fire had lit up the sky to the north, projecting its light upon its own smoke. To the west she saw some kind of religious tower, or a church not far away above the town debrees. She might check that out to get more of an idea how she could get around the flames and to the north...
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Tauve
Aug 21, 2013 18:00:17 GMT -8
Post by The Corruption on Aug 21, 2013 18:00:17 GMT -8
She thought that he was a proper Sith. Miros almost laughed at that. Him, a Sith? He followed no Sith Code, nor would he ever. He served a much higher purpose, a superior species, the species responsible for his creation.
<< I made this city the way it is. I feel no shame; my victory is one of many passed, and many yet to come. >>
The scan of the corpse revealed slight traces of an unknown pathogen, not recognized by any of the device's databanks. Interestingly enough, however, even though the body was dead, the pathogen itself was still alive, still spreading, still Corrupting the corpse's flesh, and a faint blue tinge would be visible on the outside now.
<< I did not drive off the Mando'ade, either. They joined my ranks. >> Finally, he laughed. << Why should you want to meet me? Perhaps you already have. I am everywhere in this city; I can be at any place, at any time. I own it. >>
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The thud of the first body was soon joined by others, pounding against the door, spreading outwards along the walls. The pounding was not the random slamming of palms against metalwork, however: it sounded more like dozens of people pressing themselves against the wall repeatedly, an attempt to spread the infection from their bodies into the actual framework, either to catch the inhabitants off-guard or to bring down the framework itself.
Deeper inside the church, Kayleigh and Hector would find two hallways, lit only by the sparse light that came through the windows at the end of the main hallways. There were half a dozen rooms, each with two doors on opposite sides, opening up into either hallway; the last three had their doors closed. The first set of doors led down into a basement area, and a flickering light from within made it clear that there was some sort of fire lit down there, though the faintness of the light suggested that it was a lit torch on a wall, rather than a spreading inferno.
Something could be heard, very faintly, moving around from one of the rooms -- or, perhaps, the basement -- and not one of the surviving Mandalorians had stopped to consider that the doors to this building had been open for a long time before they had arrived..
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Atia
Member
Posts: 1,232
Affiliation: Nightsisters of Dathomir
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Tauve
Aug 22, 2013 4:16:36 GMT -8
Post by Atia on Aug 22, 2013 4:16:36 GMT -8
Intresting...
She deactivated the scanner and took off her backpack. Putting the scanner back she took out a vial and uncorked it. The top part had a pincer attached to it, so she would not have to be in any contact with the target tissue. She took a sample with the pincer and at once put it back into the vial wich she placed in a secure coolant cannister. Replacing that in her backpack she stood up and started walking towards the tower she saw.
Proove it. Or are you afraid? You are nothing I have met before, that is why I want to meet you. And I assure you. I am nothing you have ever met either.
This sith used some kind of sith magic she had never met. She needed to let her sisters, big or small, to analise the sample both with technological and Force means... this could be a great weapon against the mandalorians.
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Tauve
Sept 3, 2013 14:04:33 GMT -8
Post by The Corruption on Sept 3, 2013 14:04:33 GMT -8
The laughter started up again, and the sample in the container shook to match it, although it was out of sight of the one who had extracted it.
<< My kind knows no fear, fleshling. And we have met many things. How can you be so sure that you are unique? >>
Miros knew exactly where this fleshling was, able to perceive her through both his mental senses. And he had moved to accommodate, standing just on the other side of the building that was at her back.
"To the east," he called out, using the Force to amplify his voice so it carried from all over, making direction difficult if not impossible to determine, "you will find what was once a 'tapcaf.' Go there, and I will meet you if I see fit."
He stayed in the shadow of the alleyway, the door of the mentioned tapcaf in plain sight, though he himself remained hidden. The streets were still filled with corpses, but not all of them were inanimate. He wanted to see how she would deal with getting there while avoiding infection.
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Atia
Member
Posts: 1,232
Affiliation: Nightsisters of Dathomir
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Tauve
Sept 3, 2013 15:08:06 GMT -8
Post by Atia on Sept 3, 2013 15:08:06 GMT -8
She was about to answer in the force when the "Sith" belowed behind her and she snapped around. Nothing was visible, not even on the different vision options this helmet had. Nothing. She smiled. This thing is playing a game! She loved games. She knew a good many herself.
I am unique because I had to make copies of myself to not be that.
She would have said, but it was no reason to bang her chest. She got her meeting... or a trap. She would handle both or flee. Nobody knew who she was, so fleeing was on the menu.
She walked through the dead streets, blaster in hand going east. At a corner, she slid up to the charred wall of a building and looked around the corner into the street...
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Tauve
Sept 3, 2013 17:03:17 GMT -8
Post by The Corruption on Sept 3, 2013 17:03:17 GMT -8
The scene before her was a grim one. The street was lined with former citizens, blue veins clearly highlighted under their skin. There were about a dozen of them between her and the tapcaf, plus one more guarding the door: something that could only be described as what used to be a Mandalorian, its armour laced with the same blue veins evident on the others, its entire right arm missing, replaced by a bundle of tendrils hanging loosely from its arm socket.
And, as if that weren't bad enough, all of them were looking right at her.
"Well, then, fleshling," they said, all speaking as one. "You wanted a meeting. I told you.. I am everywhere in this city."
They smiled (although the Mandalorian merely tilted its head) at the yellow Twi'lek.
"Is this not what you wanted?"
The Corrupted citizens began their advance..
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Atia
Member
Posts: 1,232
Affiliation: Nightsisters of Dathomir
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Tauve
Sept 5, 2013 5:53:16 GMT -8
Post by Atia on Sept 5, 2013 5:53:16 GMT -8
Atia smiled in her helmet, not a sincear smile mind you. She had trained herself and her banshees to lack fear, how did she do that? She had let them and herself feel every kind of pain immaginable, and she was a good mistress with great imagination. Pain did not scare her, and thus, enemies and their weapons did not scare her. She was fearless in combat, because she knew what could be done to her, she had felt it, and she could withstand it.
But when she saw those walking corpses with the blue tendrills going in and out of their bodies, their cloths, their armour, theyr eyesockets... she knew fear anew. It exited her, even as she was fighting the urge to run. She was frozen in place for just one moment.
The thing, that blue thing is all over their cloths, all over their bodies, even on the floor. The WHITE in her feared every part of it.
The PURPLE was full of exitement, it watned to see the blue burst, wanted to see how it could be killed, if it fellt pain.
The Yellow was the mixture of the two, causious, even a bit scared of the blue goo, while curious. She wanted to see what makes it tick.
Quick lookaround, and she took in her enviroment. T intersection, she was looking down the leg of the "T" at the café. Then it hit her.
She had no idea what a Tapcaf was. She thought it was some kind of brand here, like IKEA or TESCO. She realised it when she found the corruption and saw the coffee shop with a different name. Tapcaf. It must be some kind of dialect.
From where?
With calm steps she stepped out into the intersections center, pulling a metal rod from the rubble on the street, and spoke.
"Tapcaf? Dont you mean a coffee shop? Where were you born little one?"
She braced as they advanced, rod held high, ready to strike.
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Corr
Member
You can lead a fool to knowledge but you can't make him think.
Posts: 940
Affiliation: Clan Vhett
Traffic Light: Orange
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Tauve
Sept 5, 2013 14:07:25 GMT -8
Post by Corr on Sept 5, 2013 14:07:25 GMT -8
A couple of blocks away, holed up in the dubious safety of the presumed-abandoned church, Tarpor and Dom backed uneasily away from the barricaded doors, eyes glued fearfully on the blocked portal. The doors groaned and trembled as the press of bodies intensified, followed soon by the shuddering of the walls to either side. Dust rained down from above and the buildings very foundations growled in protest, as if the whole structure was being crushed in a giant hand.
With blasters dangerously depleted and most of their weapon systems damaged a last stand scenario seemed like a poor choice of tactic, but the luxury of choice had been robbed from them, leaving the forlorn group clutching for whatever salvation they could find.
Tarpor glanced around, eyes lingering on the corridor which Kayleigh and hector had took, before spying another door. With a curt gesture telling Dom to stay put, and ignoring the panicked look in the other mans eyes, Tarpor jogged over and tried the latch. The door swung open silently to reveal a winding staircase ascending into what was likely an old-fashioned bell tower. Perhaps they could find a way onto the roof and belay this madness for a few moments longer, escaping this nightmare by rising above it. Their grappling launchers still worked. Perhaps...
A crash broke his train of though, the sound of a window giving way. There wasn't much time before those things were in their laps. He turned and beckoned to Dom as he activated his comlink to the other two...
===============================================================================================
They took one hallway each; Kayleigh on the right, Hector the left. They had opened the first set of doors in tandem, pale faces looking at each other over the dark maw of a descent to some sort of basement. The soft, steady glow of a controlled fire made them cautious though both found it unlikely the creatures outside would get a camp fire going. Still, prudence dictated that they complete their sweep first, as per Tarpors orders. Softly closing each door they moved to the next and once again met eyes across an abandoned room. The rotting corpse of... something assaulted their senses and, after confirming the room unoccupied, save for the decomposing tenant, again closed the doors. They were approaching the last set of doors leading, presumably, to the last room when a sound made its way to Hectors ears. He spun, dropping to one knee. The scant light made it difficult to see anything, the sweat and tears blurring his vision, but he thought he made out a shadowy shape ducking back out of sight near the doorway. He was about to shrug the glimpse off as the hallucinations of an overanxious mind when he noticed that the door was now open.
=Hector=
Err... Kayleigh...
His whispered words were cut off by Tarpors voice coming over the channel but was enough to make the Mandalorian woman freeze. Catching a sound behind her she spun only to take a blaster bolt in the chest. The beskar armour, combined with what was obviously a low-powered shot, enabled her to take the hit with only a minimal stagger before she dropped low and returned fire.
=Tarpor=
Kayleigh? Hector!? Report! Whats going on?
Kayleighs shots burned down the hallway, stitching into the walls around the first doorway, burning fist-sized holes and igniting tiny fires. The blaster fire punctuated the darkness with stabs of light, causing shadows to leap this way and that. One shadow in particular moved of its own free will, diving back through the doorway in a blur of ragged clothing and unkempt hair.
Hector, Tarpor and Dom were all now moving, responding to her alarmed fire. Hector began a cautious advance, blaster trained steadily on the door despite the fear running through his veins. Dom and Tarpor burst through the door leading to the halls only to skid to a halt when a feeble voice called out.
=Voice=
"Wait! Don't shoot! I'm sorry... I... I thought you were one of those things...
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Corr Vhett - puts the "Laughter" in "Manslaughter"..... 