First Reply Like Locus

[Precursor]

It was as if a swarm of locus had descended on the quiet world of Niran. No, worse than that. It wasn't just fields of crops picked clean, it was houses, buildings, all stripped down to the very dirt they were built upon until nothing seemed to be left. Lifeless dirt, at that, as if something had sucked the very nutrients from the ground. There wasn't even anyone to explain what had happened, as if whole sections of the world's population had up and disappeared. What was clear was it was targeted, controlled.

Hungry.

In truth, the Corenet was hungry. There was no getting around the need for resources to keep the machine brain running. It needed more than power. Resources, organic and machine both, to build unto itself, grow further and further in the quest for perfection. The Marasvin hungered for perfection above all else. They needed to grow. They needed to assimilate more to their cause, and they did. It was another town where the simple plan came to fruition. Take some of the people who lived there, download them to the Corenet, then send out the improved versions to spy on the town. Guide the masses to where it would be even easier to run through without unnecessary loss of life.

Each addition to the Corenet was another step towards perfection.

The agents were in place, and the call had been set out. The Marasvin would descend and take everything. The Precursor stood in their newest version, cybernetics and flesh barely indistinguishable as gleaming eyes watched from a distance. The Corenet already knew what the next step was. The moment the sun set, they would descend upon those sleeping. Curfews had been placed in an attempt to keep people from going missing.

Those homes would be their gateways to freedom within the Corenet.

 

[Lord Ki]

"We gather ourselves...for another quiet night."

The loud rumbling as a pre-recorded message would play on a slow loop. The soft rumbling of lightning would echo in the dreary distance as something...unusual was starting to occur. Curfew had indeed been enacted, small arcs of lightning arced into the slowly setting night sky, heat lightning one would guess from all the missing dirt, nutrients...parts of the world starting to vanish. With another crash of lightning, in a small religious building, part of a large casket shook for a brief moment with hinges starting to pop off.

"Through the darkness, we came into the light, to find ourselves living. When that light goes-"

The top of the casket would come off completely, breaking off as a blue skinned Chiss would slowly raise up from the coffin, skin drenched in orange and yellow liquid as red eyes pierce through the slime like substance. Starting to stand up slowly, the lightning crackled far more violently outside, as if responding to something that has occured, something that has been reawakened.

"-so does the return of darkness. When the darkness once again, brings forth the light again, that is when we are blessed-"

Moving slowly towards a small altar from nearby, seeing pieces of his past left on display. Without hesitating, he would grab a nearby towel and wipe the liquid off, listening to the audio as it became apparent that he was summoned once more. The great beyond, the one where he wished to lay in sleep for all eternity, no longer allowed for a reason. Picking up thin pieces of cloth, he slowly dressed himself as the voices kept going.

"-to see one reborn. To see the eyes of the light and darkness all into one. Those who do not fear death but that of life-"

Grabbing the two lightsabers on the table, he would flip them around as he examined the charred portions of the leather, having been burnt in yet another funeral pyre set aside for himself. Focusing onto them, they would give a soft glow before the familiar burst of red and yellow erupted, one on each hand as he gave a simple twirl upwards, examining them and listening to the crystals haunting words once more.

"-for when they are awakened, they are called upon for great purpose. Life, Death, Reborn with Purpose."

Putting the final pieces of his old armor on, he pulled slowly on his large gauntlets as the voice shrieked out in an echo, the lightning finally having calmed itself. Flipping the lightsabers downward, he breathed in and heard the last part of the planets prayer, one he had given them when he settled down so long ago, his eyes looking towards the large stone doors.

"Arise Lord of Rebirth, we hear the enemies come near. Arise Lord of Rebirth, your work is needed. Arise Lord of Rebirth, your duty has purpose."

With that final echo, the recording went silent as the Chiss exited from the old chapel, the darkness greeting him outside like an old friend.

Precursor