Space

[Ads-Gop Flif]

When the man Ads had called out to turned, it was with his blaster drawn. Ads was slightly startled, but he was already yelling and adrenaline had been flowing even before he started yelling, so he was already in an excited state.

 

"Who the hell are you and where is this ship going?"

 

"Whoa! No need to kill anybody else here!" Ads exclaimed. Continuing, he replied, "I am Ads-Gop Flif, J...former Jed...i...kinda. I've never gotten much training, but I have been trained a few times. And I have no idea where this ship is going. I've simply followed my gut and it's lead me onto this Hellhole, of all of the God damned places in the galaxy. I heard some other people go into the turbolift down there," Ads pointed to the closed door, "I was trying to catch up to them, but it had left by the time I could get there.

 

"I think that the three of us should stick together, there's some scary shit going on here. I already thought that I saw the bodies moving...but the really scary part is that it comforted me at the time. Something's messing with my head. And by the look on your face and how you captivated this corridor seems to have you, I would say that you're having similar feelings, no?"

[Scorp Jedi Knight]

Such wanton slaughter. It decorated everything. The floor the ceiling the walls. It permeated the deck and the hull. Hang in the air, so think it felt even his Lightsaber blade could not penetrate it.

 

He had been taken by surprise at first, upon entering the ship, he had begun working his way to the Engines. After all he had been operating the reason why the ship had landed was due to a malfunction. So he had hoped to find the perpetrator of the slaughter perhaps slaving away at making his gruesome ship move amongst the galaxy again and no doubt add more bodies to the pile.

 

Yet when the ship had suddenly lifted and departed from its stop over world. He had simply put lost it. His gut still hurt from the ordeal. Yet he had pressed onward all the same if only to be disappointed as he moved from room to room in search of potential quarry or clues.

 

<>

 

 

<>

 

~A sudden and almost depressing void of darkness crowded his vision, as the some what silent member of the three man group put forth her input as well~

 

<>

 

The stalk through the Desolate Yacht was a quiet one. All focused on unraveling the mystery as well as retracing their steps forward. Even so, a particular area was avoided, as it brought forth new feelings of perhaps embarrassment.

 

He stopped suddenly when he drew to near a presence. Cloaking himself with in the shadows, he was uneasy with how easily he found himself with the act. Still it did not prepare him for what he saw, wondering alone in the shadows of the Yacht. At first he had thought he had stumbled upon some sort of specter. Especially amidst the carnage that he was unfortunately strolling through. Not pausing the check his mental state, at first he merely observed, as the situation was tenuous as it was.

 

Then he mentally slapped himself as the being before him was clearly flesh and blood. No doubt another traveler called to this bloodythirsty ship and now locked inside of the hurtling meatcrate. Moving to approach her, he stopped himself suddenly as what he saw did not match at all with most things living. It was as if dark tendrils where twisting themselves into her body. His first instinct was to scream, and his second was to run. Logically he simply drew back. Content to observe.

 

 

<>

 

He glanced down at himself, as he withdrew fully from the room. Content to let the woman wander alone in the shadows until he got a better grasp over himself. He did not see the same apparition upon his own being as he had seen, and breathed a sigh.

 

I seriously need to get a hold of myself here. I am letting this ship get to me. With every step I take, I feel like I am being watched. that none of the bodies are staying still, and that everything has shifted when I move through an area the second time. Yet, I have no proof any of that is happening. Therefore I am hallucinating.

 

He reached into his belt and took out a ration bar. It was clearly break time. Mediation was far to difficult in this environment, so instead a simple rest and recovery would do. He did not trust meditation in this environment in the slightest.

 

Cracking the stick open, he devoured it in two halves, and finished with water before retaking stock of his surroundings. Nothing of significance seemed to have moved, and he was a lot calmer. Having finally seen another humanoid shape that was not dismembered and plastered into the hull, wall, deck, and wherever else bodies could be wedged.

 

<>

 

It was like a wave. A sudden spike in the force, yet it wasn't his own distress that he felt. It was instead he distress of others that seemed to be on his senses.

 

Having lost track of the woman from earlier, and feeling what seemed to be some form of distress. He momentarily forgot to follow up with the one and only potential lead he had and instead rushed forward.

[Delta73]

Delta looked back to Arlan after his question...."I don't know General, it looks like the Federation is moving up they should be here by nightfa....what the hell? What did I just say? I don't know whats wrong with me sir!" Delta put his blaster into its holster and turned toward the Jedi, his mind seemed to be like a corrupted holo-file, stuttering and jumping from one time frame to the next. And Delta could do nothing about it. He had another moment of clarity,

 

"Generals....I mean master and padawan, I don't know whats wrong with me, I am re-experiencing the events of my past, it started with a comm transmit to my helmet, and it startled me so much I guess I threw my helmet at one of you...my apologies for that..."

 

He heard the familiar clank of a battledroid down the hallway, he turned around, whipping his blaster from its holster and fired three shots at were the battle droid should have been...Startled by there being nothing there he looked over to the Jedi again. They appeared to be dressed in the armor worn by those Jedi that felt more or less attached to their clone units. Delta saluted,

 

"General" He was speaking to the eldest of the Jedi, "The Trade-Federation is using some type of weapon to effect our minds, is Count Dooku here? That would explain alot of the variances in my memory, I thought for a moment that I was on some weird ship..."

[ObliviousKnight]

Armiena was about to depart to find a way to the bridge, but the whine of a blaster carbine caused her to whirl about, her lightsaber igniting with a silver flash, ready to defend against a sudden threat””but even moving at the supernatural speed that a Jedi could summon, it would be difficult to defend from being shot in the back at point-blank range, especially with no warning from the Force.

 

However, she immediately closed down her weapon, seeing that the commando had fired his carbine at thin air””possibly a hallucination. He seemed to think he was fighting in the Clone War. Maybe Delta-73 was one of the original clones after all””his posture in firing his Deece was exactly like what Armiena had seen in the holos of the Grand Army.

 

”œYou are on some weird ship.”

[Silas]

Vesper stood painfully silent as the young man before him began to explain himself.

 

"Whoa! No need to kill anybody else here!"

 

Yeah, we'll see about that.

 

"I am Ads-Gop Flif, J...former Jedi...

 

Vesper quickly grew tired of the "former Jedi's" ramblings. He lowered his weapon, but kept a tight grip on it, ready for anything that might happen to pop up. He had indeed noticed the "strange shit" that was going on on the mysterious ship, and if he had to be honest with himself, it scared him. He had seen many traumatizing things in his life but this ship was beyond anything he had ever experienced.

 

It had something beyond mere creepiness. Pedophiles were creepy. Abandoned warehouses were creepy. LAP was creepy. But this ship had such an evil aura radiating from it that Vesper felt like he had entered the deepest level of Hell. He inhaled sharply when he thought he saw one of the dead bodies that he recognized twitch, but reassured himself that that was impossible.

 

"Indeed, we should stick together. Perhaps we should find the others that you speak of? I'd like to know exactly who I'm stuck on this blasted ship with and what we have to work with."

[Delta73]

Delta started at Armiena's answer, so he was on a ship....the camp sight faded from his mind as the Jedi stood...and pulled a blaster and short lightsabre from her belt. Delta retrieved his own blaster, and followed the Jedi towards the bridge. He retrieved his helmet from the clutches of a corpse. He pulled and the hand parted from the corpse, still attached to Delta's helmet. Delta was rather disgusted, but he was already falling behind the brisk pace that the Jedi had set, so he simply put his helmet on with the hand still attached. A little gross but Delta had been through worse.

 

Delta ran through the field of rotting corpses after the Jedi. His foot found every place that hers had been. He didn't know why, but he felt safer walking where a Jedi had just been. His Jedi commander had once led his entire squad through an enemy mine-field into a field operation base of the Confederacy's. It had been a slaughter, and in fact it looked exactly like this when it was over, there had been bodies everywhere...he skidded to a halt as the Jedi turned around with her blaster drawn. It was a sign to Delta, whenever a Jedi sensed danger, it was usually better to keep your eyes to the shadows. Their abilities surpassed even the highly tuned senses of a commando. A being with the 'Force' was the best ally a trooper could have, and the worst enemy.

 

Delta crouched into a firing position next to the Jedi, ready for anything. "Did you see anything General?" An ounce of fear crept into his voice as he spoke "Did you sense something? He kept his blaster up and ready.

[Arlan Vass]

Delta's sudden -- and second -- outburst caught the Padawan off guard. The moment Armeina's lightsaber sprang to life, his own was out and readily ignited. He spun around, every sense and ounce of alertness trained on the clone trooper. However, he wasn't shooting at them. Quite the contrary, actually.

 

He was shooting at nothing.

 

"There's nothing there..." Arlan began to say, but he trailed off. Were they under the influence of different hallucinations? Him with his vision of a blood-sodden Armiena, and Delta with recurring memories of the Clone Wars? He wouldn't deny it; he was timid. The bodies and various fleshy extremities strewn along the corridor didn't help any.

 

"We need to make our way to the bridge. That's our best chance of finding out what's going on."

 

"I'm with you," he said. He followed her, wincing every time he stepped on or trudged across a fallen body or organ. Blood, crimson and fresh coated the floor, walls, and even the ceiling. What hellish incident had taken place to mar the vessel's preceding occupants was as heart-wrenching as it was nauseating. Arlan tapped into the Force to calm his nerves, and did his best to ignore the stench that fought to overwhelm him.

 

Without warning, Armiena stopped. Her emerald orbs were trained on the stairwell on the other side of the corridor. Was somebody there? He hadn't heard anything.

 

He waited in silence, making not a sound. After a long moment of watching and listening, Arlan approached his master and set his hand on her arm.

 

"Come on, let's get to the bridge."

[ObliviousKnight]

Armiena stood there with her blaster aimed safely at the deck, her form silhouetted by the dim red lights. It was incredibly unlikely that anyone had survived, but if there was a possibility, she considered herself bound to investigate that possibility, both as a Jedi and a woman. And if the commando and her Padawan were experiencing hallucinations, could Armiena trust their judgment?

 

As if the veteran warrior””and mother””needed further encouragement, her eyes gradually fell on one of the many corpses that littered the corridor to the bridge.

 

”œGet to the bridge.”

[Arlan Vass]

”œOn it.”

[Delta73]

Delta watched as Arlan walked off toward the bridge. He had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach as the padawan walked off into the shadows. Delta looked to Armenia then back to the disappearing Arlan. He decided to follow the Padawan, it was something the Clone Wars had engrained into him. When a Jedi was sent on a special mission by his master it was better to accompany him. The master could usually fend for him or herself, and a Jedi in training usually appreciated the assistance from a Non-force-user. Plus they were not as frivolous with the lives of their friends/troops. It was something about the Jedi, the older they got, the less attached they became to those around them. So”¦Delta decided to follow the caring padawan.

 

Arlan was still In front of him as Delta groucho-walked through the corridors, a method of walking taught in the commando academy, allowing the commando to fire his gun accurately from an almost run. He stepped over the threshold of a blown-open door, he saw a distant blue glow in the distance, so he went towards it. His comm buzzed again, causing Delta's heart to leap into his throat again. Before anything else strange could happen Delta took his helmet off and sat it on one of the still standing tables. A scream echoed from his helmet. Again! Delta turned towards Arlan,

 

”œSorry about the noise General, my helmet comm must be malfunctioning.”

[Arlan Vass]

Arlan slid the commlink back into his pocket.

 

”œI don't hear anything,”

[Delta73]

Delta put his hand against his head, and leaned heavily upon one of the nearby support beams. His head and mind swirled...he almost collapsed. He steadied himself then stood straight again. "Arlan, your mas...the General has not come up to the bridge yet...is that a problem?" Delta slung his blaster across his back, then walked abck towards Arlan. He looked at the planet name again, He had never heard of this planet before. And he had the sinking feeling that this wasn't a contest, and more like a very dangerous mission. Oh well, he had been on many before.

 

Another corpse twitched, and Delta grabbed his rifle. He was extremely tense, and he did not like that. "Commander Arlan, is there anything you can do to halt these hallucinations...I have no experiences dealing with the force..."

 

(Sorry about the delay, Finals...yuck)

Delta completely trusted the Jedi padawan, and perhaps after this ordeal was finished, they would all remain allies and friends. War and suffering brought the strangest groups of people together....

[ObliviousKnight]

”œRemember, five minutes.”

[Arlan Vass]

In a matter of minutes, what Arlan could access of the ship's Aeronautics' Log had been uploaded to his data chip. He slid it into his datapad, mindful of the plan to give it Armiena once they were in rendezvous with the rest of their group. She hadn't responded to his missive about Nhagathul, so indubitably, he was eager to get back to her.

 

”œShe's fine,”

[Delta73]

Delta saluted Arlan and followed him into the corridor, Delta's head still ached , and it felt like his skull was about to crack open. Perhaps it was the smell, or perhaps it was another vision. As they walked a small blue-glowing figure walked beside them. It was his old general...crap...it was another force-vision. Delta continued to walk beside Arlan and he stopped to hear what Arlan's master had to say. It was nothing serious, but now the master was having visions as well, and that meant no-one was safe...

[Scorp Jedi Knight]

Dark writhing tentacles withering all about, they twisted and turned and the came... came for him. He attempted to reach for his lightsaber but could not move. As they drew closer he could feel a panic rising up in his chest. His chest felt strange, glancing down he watched as what seemed like a roaring inferno played out across his chest. Unable to scream his eyes suddenly snapped open and he looked about.

 

Sprawled up against a bulk ahead he shook his head to clear his some what spinning vision. Then suddenly he wished his vision wasn't as clear as he noticed the pile of bodies he just so happened to be lying in. He had seen plenty of death and rotting corpses but, that didn't mean he got use to the sight or smell of such things. HIs stomach wanted to revolt like it had earlier but, he was more than disciplined enough to keep it down.

 

Drawing himself up to his feet, he could hear the worry in his apprentice as he was coached back to conciseness.

 

 

Only a silence was the reply back. Bending down he clipped his lightsaber back to his belt. He remembered a few things. He remembered seeing the dark tentacles coming out of that one lady who had been strong in the force. Then he remembered blaster shots the fear and panic radiating strongly, followed by nothing.

 

He looked down at his chest, where his robes had been some what singed. He was unsure of the entire turn of events but it was of no matter, he needed to get his bearings.

 

 

Clearly through out my time exploring, I have no found the necessary clues, to determine what happened here. As the Ship is clearly moving, my next move should determine the destination. Only way to do that is see if I can access the nav computer. Yet whatever caused this could be still upon the bridge, as it is not like this day has been going right for me so far. I shall be extra cautious.

 

Their responses were brief, yet moment's later they began stalking their way toward the bridge. All three beings working in conjunction to their best of their abilities on the search for traps. more living beings and perhaps the cause of it all. As the one most unsettling thing so far was, the 'decorator' never seemed to be present in any of various scene of disfigured and grouped together bodies. Nothing but victims every single time. He couldn't even tell if there had been a struggle and that was truly terrible.

[Darth Furion]

Julio couldn't help but be pleased with himself. He was in a good mood, and it wasn't often he could let himself show it. He had felt so guarded for so long, constantly watching for the movements and intentions of those he backhandedly called brothers, as well as everyone else in the gor'ram galaxy. But here, out in the vast emptiness of space he was alone, and he could finally exhale the long held breath and be himself, if just for a little while. Well, at least the natural self. There were so many versions of Julio, often he even had trouble keeping track of which ones he really was, and which ones were masks he donned out of necessity. Some would find this unsettling, even frightening to lose yourself in your own web of manipulation, but he never really worried. He always knew where he was, deep down inside, compartmentalized and set aside until time could be made for it. Headed to his only true spot of seclusion, there would be time enough to...

 

Stop

 

It hit him like a brick wall, but much of what he felt through the force since his reawakening had come to him with similar lack of subtlety. Without hesitation he pulled Ezra out of hyperspace and hit the sensors. He didn't bother waiting for the readings before pulling the mech to the right descent and cruised toward what anyone else would guess to be just more of the emptiness of space everyone was so accustomed to. He felt something peculiar, like something pulling him toward something. Whatever it was, there was no harm in checking it out. The Force was funny like that. For as much as the Sith, and even Julio himself liked to believe that they used the Force as a tool, whatever method they chose to use it as, they often found themselves answering some distant call. Often times it was nothing more than an itch in the back of your mind that simply wouldn't go away, incessant and unwavering. Sometimes it was so faint you may not notice it if you weren't listening, and through your inattentiveness inadvertently pass by one of the greatest opportunities of your life. The Jedi called it fate. Julio liked to think of it as the Force understanding what it was that he wanted, and through some obscure way helping him get one step closer to that ultimate goal. Things just always seemed to work, assuming you are still doing your best toward what you desire. Whatever it was or how it worked, he never dared to ignore it.

 

After an hour of flying far off the beaten path, the mech came upon an asteroid field. It formed around no particular body of gravity, just...there. None of the asteroids spun or flew. They just sat there, frozen in time, undisturbed for who knows how long. He brought Ezra in through the field, the small ship easily maneuvering through the free formed labyrinth. Yet, the further he got into the asteroid field, the more questions began to arise in the back of his mind. Scanners showed nothing more than dense rock. He certainly didn't feel the presence of any life, nor any special lay line of power. There was nothing here, nothing except....except a small carrier ship dug nose deep into a narrow, dark crevice of the largest asteroid of the field. The mech glided along the surface until finding the hanger bay. It was an imperial ship, maybe thirty years old. A quick mental search through Ezra's encrypted and rerouted connection to the holonet gave him a list of the ship's owners, uses, and cargo before being lost.

 

Interesting

 

Another rudimentary search brought up further history of betrayal and ambition, as well as death and records proclaimed lost while secretly misdirected and misfiled. So, this was what he was meant to find. A couple swift strokes of Ezra's sword cut the hanger doors in twain. Once inside, Julio reached out and touched the particle shields to the door to restore hull integrity and let the automated life support systems restore the lost air. The ship was....interesting, to say the least. The life previously unnoticed by the Sith lord now felt vibrant behind its cage. After stepping out of Ezra, he first made his way to the bridge. All along the way he saw signs of a struggle. Blaster burns here, a trail of blood there. Something had happened here long ago, and he was determined to figure out what. At the bridge door he could feel it. Death and decay stained deep in this place, even through the thick metal plates and transparasteel. He cut the door open in three quick strokes and let the bulk fall harmlessly to the floor. Inside the bridge was the remnants of a battlefield. The imperial soldiers were cut into swaths, lightsaber by the look of the wounds. In the far corner sat what appeared to be a Dark Jedi from the robes, likely one of Hethrir's apprentices. Contemptuously stepping over the corpses, he moved to the bridge computer and wiped away the smear of blood across the screen. It had to be the Dark Jedi's blood, because the soldier's wounds were all instantly cauterized.

 

Julio's gauntleted right hand squeezed into a fist, then reopened, springing a computer spike from the lower forearm. With a veteran slicer's finesse he slammed the spike into the terminal and gave it a twist, unlocking the computer and giving him full access. Imperial codes be damned. He opened the last file, a recording of some sort awaiting to be sent to Imperial high command. The holoprojector buzzed alive in its traditional blue digital haze before developing definition.

• Captain: Lord Vader, I must address some concerns I have with this...apprentice. Some of the comments he's made in passing lead me to suspect that he is going to do something rash. I hear him grumble something about 'his people' and 'freedom' every now and then. I seek your council on the matter and ask what course of action should be taken.
   
  **Loud Bang at the Door**
   
  Captain: What was that? No! I order you to stand down, apprentice! Stand...**choking sounds**
   
  Apprentice: My name is Denheno, once Dark Jedi. I cannot stand by and let my people suffer as they do. Today I am liberating them, and taking them to a place the Empire will not find. Search if you want, but I will disable the communications after this message, and I have already disabled all tracking devices placed upon this ship. It has taken me many weeks to find them all, but I am very certain there are no more. If you...**Blaster fire.** Aaaahhh....
   
  Wounded Imperial Soldier: You traitor...how could you...
   
  Apprentice: I....I'm....so....sorry.
   
  **Transmission Ends**

The feed ends with everyone dead, the crew in a quick, brutal manner done only by one such as he, and the apprentice, shot in the back by a man that should have been finished off, instead of rushed and left to bleed out.

 

Fool.

 

He called the apprentice's lightsaber to him and placed it in the folds of his jacket. The boy could have freed his people once, maybe, but such rash actions could have only lead toward failure, especially as untrained as he was. He felt no pity or sadness for the events that transpired here thirty years ago, only annoyance at such waste. Not only for the apprentice's sake, but for the scuttled ship's as well. He left the bridge and worked his way toward the cargo hold. Score after score of cryo tubes lined the walls.

 

What to do with them? He thought to himself as he strode slowly down the path, looking into each cylinder individually before moving onto the next. Surely I was lead here with some purpose. To save lives? Possibly, but for the sake of life itself? Hardly. There must be a purpose here.

 

One particular boy stuck out. Though all life within these tubes was suspended, there was still an awareness within them. Their body's functions ceased, but they still dreamed, or rather had nightmares considering the circumstances of their imprisonment. This boy had potential, yet it wasn't a potential one saw in a skilled fighter, or a leathal beast waiting to be unleashed. This was true potential, to be something more than a tool to be made strong and used by others. This one could be Sith. Julio continued his patrol around the cryo tubes and inspected all other occupants similarly, but none stuck out like that one had. Under the circumstances regarding their capture, Julio would have to tread lightly if he were to take on this boy. The shock of such radical change would be harsh for him, especially this one. This boy was not jaded like most who came to him for teaching. This one was pure, untainted. Well, untainted by comparison. He would not take to the ways of the Sith so quickly, but that was what made him such a prime candidate. He still held his humanity, and how it was cut away, remolded, and shaped was entirely up to Julio. The others who came to him were already mauled and chewed up by the viciousness of the world, and sought only to return the favor. But this one...maybe.

 

He strode over to the cryo control panel and accessed the display settings. With a simple command, all the lights on every tube but the boys went out. They were still on, but without operating lights and on a very low mode. It would appear that they were off, and thus everyone would appear to be dead at a cursory glance. Next he hid his lightsabers in the folds of his coat. It was Dark Jedi that put them here, he doubted the boy would enjoy seeing a Sith right off the bad.

 

With everything prepared he walked to the tube and pressed a few buttons. Gas hissed free along the edges of the glass as the door slid open, and the boy was allowed to see the world once again. Julio stood off to the side, awaiting for the inevitable to pass.

[Rezjal-el]

With a sudden rush of oxygen, Vaegir's lungs would fill once more, a loud gasp resounding with the sudden intake for precious air. It was all rather short lived, however. As soon as the young firrerreo had regained consciousness it became more and more apparent that he had long since lost any use of his primary motor functions. Involuntarily he plummeted to the metal grating below, lying nearly prone along the elevated walkway.

 

”œWell”¦ isn't this new and different.....”

[Darth Furion]

He stood watching, detached and observant. It was the mask that fell naturally upon him, but when he noticed what he was doing he cut himself short. He bent at the knees and looked the lad in the eyes, ignoring the stench of bile in the air.

 

"Calm down. You're safe. Are you alright?"

 

The consolation felt...odd, but justified. It was an odd mix of manipulation and genuine concern that motivated him into caring for the lad. He held such potential, but he didn't know it. He couldn't have stopped the fate that brought him here. There was no chance for him to learn or grow enough to stop the Empire from marching upon his planet. But that did not mean he didn't deserve what he got. The weak will always fall to the strong. That was just the way things went. Nothing, not even Jedi blindness could shield the world from that harsh reality. The only one that could look out for you is you.

 

"Here," He said as he sat a bottle on the floor. "Drink up. You're probably dehydrated."

 

First test, boy. I'd hate to make this trip a waste, I've got a bath waiting for me.

[Rezjal-el]

”œYou and I seem to have varying definitions of ”˜safe'”¦ but yeah”¦. As far as I can tell”¦”

[Darth Furion]

"Water." He said with a soft smile. The boy was clever and cautious, at least the Force had given him that much. Perhaps this wouldn't be a waste of time after all. "Drink it slowly. Chug it and you're just going to lose it over the side again."

 

The lad's eyes were out of focus, but coming to rapidly as they scoured Julio and the ship around him like any frightened animal would. "Take your time, don't rush to your feet. Your muscles have likely degraded over the years."

 

Certainly it only took a cursory glance into the Force to see the decline of muscle. It wasn't as severe as it could have been, but the longer he would have stayed in, the more damage would have been done. The freeze is nearly perfect, but it does not counter the natural bio-electric heat the body produces to conduct commands between cognition and the body, or the rapidly firing neurons in the brain that retain memory. What energy is not canceled out and consumed by the freeze is left to seep through the body, burning and degrading it slowly over time like a reactor leak.

 

"You look fine. No broken bones or bruising. No signs of a concussion. You don't appear to be suffering from internal bleeding at a glance, but I'll have to do some tests on you later and give you the full rundown. If that's alright with you, of course."

[Rezjal-el]

Vaegir would nod at that, slowly lifting the bottle to his lips to take in a short sip. The water flowed down his throat with a revitalizing rush of sweet hydration. He took the man's advice to heart, only allowing himself the small amount before lowering the bottle to his side.

 

”œThank you.”

[Darth Furion]

Eyes met for a moment as Julio debated how delicately he should go about telling the boy. He knew he was still out of focus, but clearing rapidly for the confused young man. After a moment of matched gaze and a soft sigh eluding him, he took a deep breath.

 

"Because you were the only one I found alive on this ship, boy. Each and everyone of these tubes had fallen into disrepair over time. I assume the crew aboard this ship was intended to do maintenance and repair to keep the cryotubes in working order, but I found them all massacred in the bridge. I found a holovid of the captain's report."

 

He paused to set down and lean against the grate in a similar fashion as the boy had, not out of tiredness, but to bring them to even eye level. What he was saying was heavy, and having the boy look up to him wouldn't help soften the blow. This one was delicate, so easily broken or bruised it would take a single careless word to break him apart at this point. For all he could manage, Julio stepped very softly, and let himself be exposed in his voice and face.

 

"Apparently one of your people who turned and was working for the Empire decided to try to free all of you. He intended to wipe out the crew, clear the ship of any means of trace, and release all of you and take you someplace safe. But his plans fell short and he was shot in the back by a dying man. With no one left to take care of the ship, it went adrift and landed in this asteroid field. The tubes fell in disrepair over time and the people inside just....never woke up."

 

He paused for a moment and simply let the gravity of the words sink in, waiting to see how the boy would react to such a loss. Would he be angry, sad, would he explode in emotion and tear the ship apart? How he handled it would define him as a person. His emotions, unchecked and relentless, would be the purest form of expression he could ever use. And little did he know Julio would be there to see each colorful display in turn, inwardly detatched and observant while outwardly concerned and paternal.

 

"I'm so sorry, lad."

[Rezjal-el]

A short cough escaped the younger man mid gulp, water trickling from his nose. Every word struck him like a slap to the face. Everyone he may have known aboard the ship”¦ gone. His home planet”¦ gone. The world about him, every last inch of the derelict ship, it had to be destroyed. What filled him was not rage, nor despair; it was desire, pure and simple, ebbing from every fiber of his being. And what he desired was to see that which held him captive obliterated from existence.

 

”œI wish to leave this place.”

[Darth Furion]

It was an odd transition to watch. With each added bit of reality Julio hammered into the boy, he could see the cascade of emotions pour from one swirling torrent to another. Sadness encroached so deep within his heart it threatened to consume the boy. His spirit persisted on stubbornly as it always does, and he was left to deal. But that sorrow was too much at this moment, too awkward and undefinable to really handle. Dealing the only way he could, despair fell to anger, an emotion easier to direct and quantify. This ship, and what he thought to be a mass catacomb, was that symbol for his hatred, and destroying it was the only thing that would bring him some measure of peace. Julio knew that peace would only serve to be a lie, but it was a lie that could let the boy mask his grief for some time, and time was all he needed for now until he could ease himself through the pain and come to understand it.

 

Destroying the ship wouldn't be too difficult, as Julio had resorted to sabotaging his own ship on a number of occasions for one reason or another, but the question of all the remaining Firrerreos held fast in the front of his mind. There were so many things he could use these men and women for, their lives holding so much potential it was almost a sin to consider what was asked of him, but he had set it all up to lie to the boy and make him feel that Julio was his only way out. Telling him they were alive now was out of the question, as doing so would betray any and all trust he had established in the rescue. A concerned look easily fell upon his face, and tension eased into his already sore muscles. He had no reason to hide this, at least.

 

"You sure?" He said with such gravity there was no question of his hesitation, giving the boy a long, hard moment to think his choice over. The lad obviously wouldn't understand the real implications of his choice, but Julio had to be sure his answer was final.

[Rezjal-el]

”œNo”

[Darth Furion]

He slowly stood with the boy, eying him carefully as if he were weary of such physical activity after such a monumental moment. He offered no assistance to stand, but rather let the lad do it on his own. He had to do it on his own. He had to pull himself through this of his own strength if he was to take the first steps on the enlightened path Julio would soon offer, should he be willing to walk it. He couldn't simply trick the boy into choosing the path of the Sith, he had to make the decision of his own volition. Otherwise, he would never truly be Sith, but rather just another tool, created to be used and disposed of. He would have a very special purpose, should he choose to walk the dark path. But all of that was years down the road. For now, the matter at hand was showing the boy what he needed to see.

 

"I'll see what I can do. I know my way around computers well enough."

 

He stepped aside the boy at set his stride long. The terminal was on the tier above their present grated path, and down the ship some forty feet. By the time the boy would get to the terminal, Julio would have roughly a full minute before he hobbled over. More than enough time to slice the terminal and feed it the results he wanted the boy to see. Assuming he wouldn't have to display his skill with computers again for a while, the boy wouldn't be able to fathom Julio capable of doing all it was he would be doing in such a short time.

 

Before the terminal, his gauntleted right hand closed and opened to release the computer spike in a flash. The spike slipped in smoothly, and a quick snap of the wrist unlocked the terminal for full access. His neural implant sent signals to through the computer spike as quick as lightning, streaming code across the screen faster than a normal set of eyes could manage. Not that he needed to see the screen to see his work. Instead, he watched the boy as he worked his way to the terminal, observing his progress as determination overrode his body's weakened condition.

 

With a soft touch he reached out to the lad, riding his outward pain and emotional distress to tread amongst his awareness. Picking through the outward stimulus, Julio shut out any sound the lad would notice as every tube in the cargo hold locked shut. The lights within the cryo chambers were already off, and running at the lowest possible capacity. A simple program and they would shut down for a few hours, then restart. Those inside would awaken after an hour, long after they'd left, and remain trapped in the tubes until they started back up and refroze everyone. With no outward change to give them context, they would have no idea when they awoke, or when they refroze. They would remain safe and forgotten. No sense in killing them unnecessarily. If that wouldn't sell the lie, then Julio could still rig the ship to blow. He just had to set back and see how the lad took it.

 

Running immediately after the lockout and restart program, the screen restored itself to the original screen, yet ran an underlying program that would shut down and overload the terminal should anyone try to access it. It was all rather easy, given that he had already sliced his way into the ship's bridge terminal earlier, and the programs he was running were both rather easy compared to some of the more extensive security programs out today.

 

"I'm having trouble getting in. I think it may be too damaged." The spike slipped back into the cache of the gauntlet just as the the lad reached the top of the steps. "You know anything about Imperial Navy security scripts?"

[Rezjal-el]

Vaegir had by this time set about hobbling along the walkway, keeping himself balanced against the railing as his feet slid inch by inch. With every motion his speed seemed to increase, beginning at a snail's pace he was easily up to that of a tortoise after a few shuffles of his feet. There was a sense of triumph to be found in the clumsy movement, at the very least it was a slight accomplishment, certainly it was better than lying atop the metal grating.

 

”œNavy scripts? My father owned a dealership, man.”

[Darth Furion]

Julio couldn't help but smile, seemingly for the lad's capability to keep himself in light spirits, especially given the circumstances, but in truth he was please the boy was able to push himself so. Perhaps before all of this had transpired, before the Empire brought the war to his people, the boy would have been soft in the life he had grown so accustomed, but in such a short time, under heavy distress and radical developments, he was capable of the change necessary to survive. Whether or not is was merely a momentary evolution or not was yet to be seen.

 

"I can try, sure, but with the ship in its present condition...."

 

He braced inwardly for what was about to hit him, though made sure to leave himself free of any visual apprehension. A few rushed keystrokes and the chain reaction was set off. The terminal locked up as ordered, and the full charge powering the terminal danced across the screen and surface, arcing wide and catching both of them with a heavy enough shock to daze a healthy man. Julio made sure he would take the brunt of the electrical blow, but the young lad would certainly get a taste if he were close enough.

[Rezjal-el]

The sudden rush of electrical current would strike Veagir's every cell. Matted hair would stand on end. Eyes would roll back in their sockets. The sheer force of the shock would send his weakened body to the ground, falling first to his knees.

 

”œOw”¦”