Kohlma

*Kirith slid down the ladder, for once grateful for the gloves the borrowed armor came with, as it made moving quickly down the ladder a lot easier. Still, it wasn't an outfit she found herself wanting to spend a particularly long amount of time in. She liked being able to feel a bit more of a breeze when she was walking, and smell something other than her slowly increasing B.O., not to mention the rather unpleasant smells of the former owner.*

"No. It was on the other side of the door, and I didn't feel like going up to it and <i>touching</i> it," *said Kirith, deliberately ignoring whatever it was Corr was trying to imply.* "Especially since it doesn't sound very friendly, and I had my hands busy with other things."

*Corr tutted loudly.*

Not like you, Kir'ika. Thought you'd jump at the opportunity to ask some embarrising question in that vapid way of yours...

*At an intersection he eyed each corridor suspiciously. Another glance at the hologram on his wrist projector confirmed that he had no clue where they were. He kept this information to himself, obviously, but doubted he'd fool either of the annoyingly outspoken females.*

I shoulda bought droids. *He muttered under his breath before continuing in a louder voice.*

Can you get a com signal to Cat? We need to get a schematic of this place from those files.

*He wanted those schematics for several reasons. One of which was to find out how Kirith stayed with his when he went up a ladder and she went down...*

It was like a comedy act with these two. When Sid wasn't stressing out and wanting a cigarette, she was shaking her head at their antics.

Well if you had brought droids, I would know for sure that I'd be getting out of her unscathed.

Sid let Corr go ahead of her and waited so she could follow him.

I don't know about you two... I really don't.

Sid still held a tight grip on her blaster as she went. She was definitely uneasy but was trying to not let it show.

*Kirith had managed to keep with Corr for one simple reason: magic of the narrative. Occasionally someone, somewhere, misread posts about ladder directions, but for the sake of the plot, everyone ended up going in the same direction.*

"Sure," *she said, pulling out her comlink. After a brief exchange and a few snarky comments, she added*, "She's sending them to you now, Corr. She said it was one of the first things she managed to decode out of the data we sent her."

*Ponders to himself whether Kirith needs to go to specsavers but refrains from commenting further in accordance with a "the plot must go on" stance. Pictures Kirith with glasses. Pictures Sid with glasses. Hmm...
With his helmet screen still offline he called up the display on his gauntlet and found a file waiting to be read. For all its quirks nobody could say Cat wasn't efficient. Unfortunately the section of maintenece walkways they were in was just a jumble of different corridors and walkways, crossing over each other in a haphazard fashion. Trying to find his way anywhere specific from this map would be an act of futility. Instead he concentrated on getting them back to the complex proper.*

If we go this way... *He gestured with his chin to the left-hand passage* We should be able to find a hatch into the generator room.

*The low, red emergency lighting made it difficult to see and Corr again curse the blast to the head that had damaged his visor. He ruefully conceeded that he relied on technology too much these days.
With visibilty low he drew his beskad, switching his blaster to a left handed grip.
He lead the way with a flippant comment.*

Watch out for rats...

Sid froze in her spot. She couldn't move another step. She knew it was something she had to deal with, and being who she was, and her culture, this shouldn't be an issue... but...

"Rats? You didn't say anything about rats." Sidara's breathing quickened and her skin broke out in a cold sweat. Where in the hell were her cigarettes. She hadn't admitted to Corr that she had an irrational fear of rodents. They made her skin crawl and left her blood cold.

"Um, Corr, sweetheart, I... uh, didn't tell you something... I mean.. you should know... I .. rats... " Sidara started to hyperventilate under her bucket.

"Corr, I can't... " she gasped. "I have a very... illogical and irrational.... fear of rats."

*He glanced over his shoulder as he reached out with his beskad and prodded the wall to his right.*

Don't worry, cyar'ika. I've never met a rat I couldn't best in a fair fight.

*Finding the wall to be solid, too thick to cut through at least, he moved on with a catious step. He had to assume that the files they had retrieved already would be all the information they would get from this tomb-of-a-facility and he had no desire to stay her one second longer than necessary.
There was, however, no way he was going to leave this place in one piece hence the trip to the generator room.*

One foot in front of the other, Sid. If you see a rat you have my permission to blast it.

[quote="Lord Terror'ak":3osf79j8][color=#0040BF:3osf79j8][u:3osf79j8][b:3osf79j8]Imperial Research Facility 517. Western Sector.[/b:3osf79j8][/u:3osf79j8][/color:3osf79j8]
[narration:3osf79j8]After rounghly forty minutes the Team Three had discovered a way inside the facility. A natural cave ran down into the bedrock and ended at a large blastdoor, the same as one on a capital ship airlock.
As the team attempted to run a bypass the other reinforcements arrived in the form of Squads one and four. Soon the doors slid open and eighteen troopers and three Sith entered the darkened complex.[/narration:3osf79j8][/quote:3osf79j8]

[action:3osf79j8]Vastu slowed his pace as he felt the searing font of despair errupt again from somewhere to the east of the facility. While an adept of the Darkside and a star pupil of Lord Bajos he found the feeling somewhat repulsive. It was too primal to be of any use to a trained Sith and, while not effecting him detrimently as he was sure it would a Lightsider, it was still an unwelcome experience.
He paused as the six troopers with him investigated yet another room. The corridor ran laser straight and was punctuated with heavy doors at regular intervals. The troopers were well trained and searched each room thoroughly but they were yet to find anything of import. A mess hall, several sleeping quarters in disaray and a few store rooms that had been ransacked.
It was starting to seem like a waste of time apart from the strange sensations and the knowledge that someone else was searching the complex.[/action:3osf79j8]

[color=#800000:3osf79j8]=Squad Sergeant=[/color:3osf79j8]
[comlink:3osf79j8]Nothing here, Sir.[/comlink:3osf79j8]

[action:3osf79j8]Lord Vastu let out a sigh as the troopers gathered in the corridor again, moving in two-by-two cover formation, flanking him on either side of the passageway.[/action:3osf79j8]

[color=#FF0000:3osf79j8]Very well, Sergeant. Lets procceed.[/color:3osf79j8]

[action:3osf79j8]They started down the corridor again. He was getting closer to his prey. He could feel it...[/action:3osf79j8]

Sidara swallowed the lump in her throat and her grip on her blaster tightened. She knew logically that she was bigger than the rats. She knew logically that she had been through much worse than being face to face with one. But their little beady eyes, and their twitchy noses....and all the disease they carried.. and their sharp little teeth and claws...

Sweat trickled down her back, but she shivered at the thought of running into a rodent. She breathed slowly. She would get through this, right? Soon, she would need a cigarette.. or she would hurt someone. Very soon she would need to have one.

It screamed until it throat hurt. He didn't know about pain. He just felt an uncomfortable feeling that spurred its anger on even more. It had some idea of existence from when it had controlled the scurrying creature that it had encountered when it first "awakened" in this strange place. He knew it was a "laboritory" and that things were "researched" here but it had no idea what these concepts meant.
They had called him My Lord. The concept of name meant little to it and it wasn't sure what was meant b y it. The concept of a title had intruiged its primitive senses. It somehow felt it deserved a title just like its passions told it that it desrved to rule.
It was also understood that it was a "he." Again, gender made little or no difference to the monster. All it had room for was its ambition and desires. Its passions and hungers.
Right now it hungered for those that had escaped it.

So the thing that was a he, the monster that was a Lord, stared at the immobile chunk of metal he knew as a door. It wouldn't move and he had grown impatient with cutting. A foul reek came oozing through the door after the loud bang had gone off on the other side and the smelly fumes made him dizzy.
He paused as something else touched his senses. Others had entered his domain.

With a feral grin the monstrous Lord turned away from the blast door and stalked down the corridor heading west...

*They didn't see any rats though that didn't stop Sidara from grumbling about the conditions all the way. First it was too damp. The too dry. Too dusty. Too dark. Too green...
Finally the complaining prompted Corr to comment on whether it was "The time of the month" which promptly got him dirty looks and the silent treatment from both women for the rest of the trip.
Standard Corr.*

*He could feel the frosty glares of Kirith and Sidara boring into the back of his buy'ce as he surveyed the route into the generator room. Massive turbines and intakes gave off a deafening roar that made the walkway tremble beneath them and the air seemed to thrum in their lungs.
Their route was compromised by a damaged walkway that teetered over a chasm that, when investigated, opened over a twenty-foot fan, spinning in happily instant death below.
The silent treatment from the two females was starting to grate on Corrs nerves and prompted his decision of their next course of action. Luckily for him Kirith was used to following his lead in such situations and Sidara was too much a Mando soldier to argue with a Clan leader.*

:: I'm gonna use my jetpack to cross and rig the genrators to blow... ::

*He spoke over their closed comm units, Kirith and Sid both wearing helmets taken from the Sith soldiers earlier, keeping his voice even.*

:: Find us a way back to the surface and keep the way open. ::

*He didn't have to state that they were likely to find this place as their tomb if they didn't find a way out. He couldn't risk leaving this place in one piece when they left.
No answer came from the two women but he could feel their acknowledgement and heard them move off towards a maintenance hatch leading back to the facility proper.
With a sigh and a soft curse he activated his jetpack, wincing as it made his armour dig into his injured side and flew across the chasm.*

Covering distance at breakneck speeds the towering bundle of pent-up fury and rage paused at a junction in the corridor it had been following. Like a Blood Hound it raised its head, red lighting glinting of its bald pate, as it seemed to taste the Force, like a serpent sampling its surroundings.
Red, beady eyes roved around until it located what it wanted. A hatch far above. It could sense that it run parallel to the corridor. It didn't know how it knew, didn't care, but knew that this was the way to get at its prey.
With a bounding leap it literally flew through the air and smashed into the metal hatch. The metal bucked inwards and, with a scream of rage, the massive being tore it away as if it were flimsy.
Continuing on hands and knee's the monstrous thing scampered along the narrow tunnel, scraping its shoulders bare to the bone and leaving a slimy trail of blood behind it.

Several minutes later it peered through some grating at the forms moving down the corridor below. Seven of them, only one with the same kind of feel as the sensing stuff he seemed to do naturally.
His red eyes focused on that one as it prepared to spring its attack...

=Team Three. Imperial Research Facility 517. Center=

*There it was again. the surge of fear, anger, dismay and rage through the Force, this time followed by a howl of... need? Desire? Agony? All of them and more.
Vastu saw the troopers look at each other, their faces mirroring their fear.
He didn't chastise them but drew their terror into himself, letting it fuel the darkside within him, storing up the boiling energy to be released later in a glorious flood of death and destruction.
His hand slipped to the saber hilt beneath his robes as he felt the hungry surge in the Force again. Closer this time and drawing closer still.
The troops seemed to feel it too and formed a defensive line facing down the corridor the way they were heading. To the east, if anyone needs to know.
Three men kneeling with blasters ready and three men standing behind. They were well trained troops, Vastu thought to himself as he drew his saber forth and held his thumb over the activation switch.
It was only then that he realised one of his more mundane senses was screaming at him for attention. The sense of being watched sent shivers soaring along his spine and icicles stabbing into his brain.
His eyes rose to the ceiling and a grated ventilation shaft.
His blade sprang to life as a warning started to form on his lips.*

He didn't so much break through the grating as tore down the entire ventilation system.
With a massive screech of tortured metal and a deafening rumble of sheets of durasteel banging against walls, down came the monster with steel rain falling all around.
He landed in the mids of the soldiers, eyes flickering around hungrily as scarlet blades sprang to life from both wrists, bathing the overlarge face in an otherworldly glow and ledning the massive being a demonic aspect.

The fear and anger flooded through him in a wailing strom of woe and misery that quickly morphed into rage and ire, despreation and anger, pity and despair...

On and on the flood went, drowning those that could feel the Power.

His eyes alighted on the other with the Power as one massive hand shot out to grab at the first soldier within reach. He didn't bother with his blade but grabbed the poor mans head with his right hand and crushed the skull, squeezing soft and supple brains out between his fingers.

The other saber flashed as it started to weave a defensive pattern as the monsterous being kept his eyes, and Power on the other Force-user.

<< Yeild... >>

It didn't come through the Force in a word but in a compulsion. A compulsion wrapped up in all the pain, misery and despair that came slamming through the Force like a roaring avalanche.

[narration:2rw3h4k0]Corr was examining the hatch into the generator room when the wave of negative emotions reverberated through the Force like a toxic wind, drowning out his senses and overcoming the defences he'd erected around his mind.
He staggered into the door and crumpled to his knee's as a low moan escaped him.
Teetering for a moment he finally collapsed onto his side, gasping for breath as his vision tunnelled.
It was only through stubborn determination that he remained concious.[/narration:2rw3h4k0]

[quote="Project X":2rw3h4k0][force_speak:2rw3h4k0]Yeild...[/force_speak:2rw3h4k0][/quote:2rw3h4k0]

[narration:2rw3h4k0]The thought thundered through Corrs very being. It was so strong that he was starting to pull himself to his feet so he could grovel before the sender. He paused on his hands and knee's and shook his head furiously as if trying to dislodge the troublesome thought.
The fear, pain and despair grew stronger as he resisted and his vision swam in and out of focus.
Finally, after retching and vomiting up his lunch, he was able to stand on trembling legs.[/narration:2rw3h4k0]

[color=#FF0000:2rw3h4k0]==========================================[/color:2rw3h4k0]

[narration:2rw3h4k0]Two floors above, and somewhat to the west, Kirith and Sidara were cautiously making their way up a stairwell. The wave of despair struck both woman making their eyes water and their legs tremble. Being slightly further away than Corr they fared slightly better though Kirith did sink down into a sitting position on the steps.
Her head thumped and her hands trembled ferociously.
Sidara felt the horror of the sending but seemed to shake it off quicker. Perhaps having no connection to the Force had saved her from the empathy that made Corr and Kirith more susceptible.
Either way, both women paused in their search for the exit and eyed each other fearfully.[/narration:2rw3h4k0]

[quote="Project X":2rw3h4k0][force_speak:2rw3h4k0]Yeild...[/force_speak:2rw3h4k0][/quote:2rw3h4k0]

[narration:2rw3h4k0]Kiriths eyes widened in shock as the compulsion flooded her senses, eroding her sense of self and prompted her limbs to move of their own accord. she jerked upright, like a droid when its restraining bolt is activated, and turned back down the stairs. Like Corr she paused, fighting the alien thoughts invading her mind and finally freeing herself from the outside influence.
Sidara was also too stubborn to fall to the prompting though her face drained of colour and she couldn't stop shaking.
Both women looked at each other with the same thoughts in their minds.
Kirith voiced it.[/narration:2rw3h4k0]

[quote="Kirith Aridigo":2rw3h4k0]"We gotta get out of here!"[/quote:2rw3h4k0]

*His cry of warning was lost in the screech and crash of falling metal. The entire ceiling seemed to collapse into the corridor as a massive explosion of rage hit it with thunderous force. The soldiers, instead of reacting like the well-trained men they were, hesitated at the edges of the pool of rage and despair that invaded every mind. Their minds unable to shake free of the vicious mental assault they watched, wide-eyed, as the first of their numbers was crushed before them.
Fingers went limp on triggers and more than one man soiled himself at the sight and feel of the ghostly pale beast befoore them.

With a snarl of contempt at their pathetic weakness, crimson blade blazing in his right hand, Vastu took a few steps towards the melee with his gaze locked on the intruder. He would dice this overlarge abomination and turn his attention to disciplining these cowards who called themselves soldiers. How such inferior beings had progressed to become some of Lord Bajos' elite he couldn't guess.
He'd have to have words with recruitment and...

He froze as the baleful eyes locked on his own. His lightsaber fell from nerveless fingers as the wave of psychic energy hit him head on. Targeted on one individual it was as if the suns rays had been harnessed by a magnifying glass. It smashed through his defenses as a wave would destroy a sandcastle. The pain was exquisite as this being tore his memories and emotions apart.

Blood running freely from his eyes, nose and ears, Lord Vastu, one of Bajos' most promising Sith Acolytes, dropped to his knee's...*

*As soon as the things attention was focused on Vastu the soldiers snapped out of their paralysis. Thier eyes regained focus and their limbs regained their motor functions. More than one man swore from the smell and discomfort of the ofal in their pants but all of them raised their weapons and prepared for combat.
The five of them backed away a few steps as their Sith leader dropped to his knee's. Raising weapons, they all took aim at the massive humanoid who seemed to be paying them no attention whatsoever, clicks indicating their blasters priming and...

Blasterfire echoed down the corridors and tunnels of the facility.

They were soon followed by screams of agony.

A wave of despair, fear and rage once again soaked through the underground complex.

Then silence.*

*The silence was worse, Corr decided as he took another charge from the bandoleer wrapped around his upper torso. He had realised as soon as he had examined the massive generator that he lacked the amount of explosive material to ensure the destruction of the facility. After a few minutes of deliberation he had got to work re-wiring the machinery so that the negative and positive couplings ran into each other and would, he hoped, cause a system-wide meltdown of all electrical power sources. That, combined with the charges he was just finishing setting up, should cause the destruction he deemed necessary to bury this abomination forever.

He glanced uneasily at the massive blast door that he had sealed. The corridor beyond was where the "Sendings" had come from, not to mention the agonised screams, blasterfire and general unpleasantness. He could still feel it there, lurking, in the back of his mind. A presence hunting them. Powerful. Ruthless. Barbaric.

He shuddered again and drew on his iron will to push the fear, despair, loathing and rage out of his mind.

He set the final charge and made his way to the control board. After a few minutes he had set the mechanism to run a surge of power to all systems in an hours time therefore starting the chain reaction. Raising his gauntlet he was about to activate the charges when...*



*His head snapped around to stare at the blast door that was vibrating like the inside of a snare drum hit with a sledge hammer.
He took a step back as the vibrations made his teeth ache and gently activated the charges before drawing one of his blasters.*



*This time he could see the door flex inwards slightly and dust rained down from the ceiling.*



*This time the sound was accompanied by the tearing sound of something scraping across metal, the agonised scream of rending alloy.
Stepping back into the access hatch from whence he had arrived Corr hope fervently that he had enough juice in his jetpack to make the jump to the next level up.

Another rending tear and a crash indicated it was time to find out and, after sealing the hatch behind him, he activated the jetpack and ascended into darkness.*

Sid heard Kirith's words and the urgency in them. She grabbed Kirith by the arm, and started to run.

:: We have to find a way out of here, or we are going to be blown to bits. ::

She was still pissed at Corr for being smartmouthed, but a bit of worry crept in. She hoped that he got out safe, but there was no way for her to go back now and get him. She had to trust that he would find his way out.

They reached the end of the hall and Sid pulled Kirith to the right and smack into Sith patrol.

:: Aw hell... ::

*Squad for had been working their way systematically from the eastern side of the complex towards the center, taking time to check every room and passageway for their prey. Something in the metal alloy of the walls and floors had made communications unreliable and they had proceeded in comm silence, their Sith commander the ultimate authority down here. As the squad formed up to enter another room, two stacked either side of the door, one ready to breach and clear while the sergeant prepared himself to give the order, two bodies crashed among them from a turn in the corner.
Two armoured forms, one wearing their own distinctive colours but too small for the suit, one wearing brightly coloured Beskar'gam, were among them before they could bring a weapon to bear but pulled up short, seemingly as surprised as the troopers were.

The Sith shock troops were the elite of Lord Bajos' men and reacted with the trained violence common in career soldiers. The two furthest away raised weapons to try get a shot off while the two closest swung their blaster rifles like clubs, one each for each opponent.
The sergeant and the other trooper slung their rifles and drew vibroblades and moved to support their fellows.*

*Silas had hung back as the troops prepared to storm another room. The tedious job of searching the facility was wearying and only the continuous impulses through the force had kept him interested in events here. Something was moving around down here and, though obviously powerful and destructive, the Sith Acolyte was anxious to face it.

A commotion from ahead led him to accelerate from the previous room where he had been studying the carnage caused by some being of enormous strength and rush to the corridor. There he spied the troopers reacting to a threat in their midst. His eyes widened. To slight females, both armoured, were amid the Sith troops who were already raising weapons to engage. A predatory smile spread over the tall humans lips as he drew his double-bladed lightsaber. Leaving his weapon unlit he slowly stalked the edges of the conflict to see what would transpire.

Silas cultivated patience as standard and would await the perfect moment to strike.*

*Kirith's eyes widened as she and Sid suddenly found themselves surrounded by troops who looked decidedly unfriendly, judging from their weapons. She barely managed to duck in time as the trooper closest to her swung his blaster rifle at her head.*

"Damnit, I told you this wasn't the way to the refresher!" *she remarked to Sid, her eyes glancing back and forth between the troopers who were bringing out their vibroblades. Kirith swore outloud. A blaster would be suicide in this sort of close range fighting, and the one vibroblade she had was hidden in her boot. She moved her hand to her belt, prepared to try and deal with this as well as she could with what weapons she had, when her hand fell upon her lightsaber.*

"I don't suppose any of you know where the refresher is?" *she asked , ducking away from a trooper swinger at her with his vibroblade, feeling the Other stirring in the back of her head, feeling it's lust for violence begin to permeate her thoughts, threatening to drive her out of her mind while it took over. She looked from trooper to trooper, desperate for one of them to back down.* "Anyone?"

<< We doubt that you will be able to talk your way out of this one. You know what you must do. >>

*She felt the Other direct her eyes at the man who had just entered the room, smiling in a way that made Kirith's stomach twist, in his hand, the double-bladed lightsaber. Kirith felt herself turn cold. Then angry.*

"Oh by the Emperor's Sweaty Shriveled Balls,"*she swore, ducking from another swing of a blade, until she found herself in the far corner of the room, surrounded by troopers, and realizing she only had one option left.*

"Sid, you hereby have my permission to shoot me. Just in case."

*With that ominous statement, she reached her hand for the lightsaber, and ignited it.*