Ring of Fear (Illyria)

[Illyria]

[member="Sumiko Tanaka"]
Illyria was a bit out of her depth salvaging ancient tech, but she could be reassured that Qual would be even more disadvantaged. Thus, with perfect confidence and no shows of doubt, she got to work on the ancient tech.

If one thought finding a modern commlink or datapad charger was hard, imagine trying to make one work after centuries! Still, with a bit of solder, some electronics knowhow she’d picked up and a bit of random poking, she managed to get some things working.

A charitable impulse occurred to her though, and from her pile she handed over a small box to Qual. Inside were flimsy-sheet records, badly aged and cracked, but that was something the Xioquo could do without knowing electronics.

A grudging respect? Possibly, or she didn’t want to try and read faded scribbles on fragile paper. Still, it was nicer than even she expected.

Illyria meanwhile, through the mystical union of mechu-deru, managed to reharmonise some of the ancient data spindles. What emerged were a collection of eighteen recordings.

However, four of these were grouped together into a special category and probably therefore the most important ones.

They were listed in date order, and were entries 365, 368, 375 and 383.

 

[Qual'Zyanya]

[member="Illyria"]


Zyanya hated not knowing things. She loathed the idea of being backward and less intelligent than the outsiders. Far from being a barbarian, she was actually a learned woman and had read voraciously ever since departing Tygara, trying to catch up on the knowledge she'd previously been ignorant of.


Hence why she mostly communicated in Basic or Eldarai these words, despite despising both languages. However, it did not take long for her to realise that she could not make heads or tails out of the complicated ancient tech. It was not much of a comfort that it was thousands of years old, which meant that even humans ought to have trouble with it.


Bottom line, the Xioquo had a slight inferiority complex. Finally, when she was ready to pull her hair out due to frustration, Illyria passed a box to her. Zyanya looked suspiciously at her, wondering whether this was an attempt to mock her, but then reluctantly accepted it.


She did not need electronics to read the records. Perhaps the Eldorai simply did not want to read them herself...but it was a gesture the Xioquo appreciated. So she gave Illyria a nod and set to work. Conveniently, her eyes were adjusted to the dark. She began translating and making notes.

 

[Darth Libertas]

[member="Illyria"]


Mechu-deru was the pathway to many abilities some considered to be...noncanonical. Almost like fringe canon. Probably less absurd than eating an entire star, though, but this writer digresses. In any case, while Sumiko could not use it to control droid armies, she was able to breathe life into the data fragments. Enough to gain access to eighten ancient recordings. Of these, four stood out in particular. While her two minions did their part, Sumiko accessed entry 365.

 

[Illyria]

[member="Sumiko Tanaka"]

Recording 365 was one which showed a hologram of an officious Imperial officer. Occasionally the hologram flickered or the speech became garbled, but overall it held up very well.
“Major Isavor Barr, entering code clearance.” The hologram leaned forward to insert something into the computer, probably a code cylinder.
“Considerable progress has been made on the subjects. Seventeen of the Rakghouls were successfully herded into captivity to be experimented on. Trooper TRL-1121 was careless and received an infected scratch. As per regulation 216A the trooper was summarily executed to prevent contamination. The body has been cremated in accordance with all relevant regulations.”

“Extraction of the virus has shown considerable promise for its refinement. Subject 64, a female human of between twenty and twenty-five years, has been selected to be the first test subject. Manipulation of the virus has been carried out by the scientist corps. They have been seeking a way to inhibit the bestial nature of the Rakghouls, and they feel through genetic manipulation they have managed to find a way. Subject 64 will be injected and closely monitored.”

“Report concluded.”

The hologram vanished.

 

[Darth Libertas]

[member="Illyria"]


The Galactic Empire was guilty of many atrocities: Planetary genocide, slavery, heinous medical experimentation on sentient beings. This made it all the more baffling that, even today, it had so many fans who could not stop prattling about how it had 'brought order to the Galaxy'. They were usually unable to define what 'order' meant, though they were terribly insistent that the manifold sentient beings that dwelt in this universe could not cope unless an all-powerful autocrat told them how to live their lives and purged anyone who disagreed.


Regardless, no emotion crossed Sumiko's features while she listened to the entry. Someone with an actual moral code would have been disturbed or outraged by the idea of deliberately infecting a human being with the horrible Rakghoul virus. However, Sumiko was a Sith and thus a sociopath. Kindly Sith were not true Sith. "Interesting," she remarked when the scientist talked about efforts to control the bestial instincts of Rakghouls, then she accessed the next recording.

 

[Illyria]

[member="Sumiko Tanaka"]
Recordings 366 and 367 were fairly dull, merely progression reports noting minor updates.

368 though had been marked as an important entry though.

“Major Isavor Barr, entering code clearance.” Again the ritual of entering a code cylinder.
“I can report considerable success with our efforts. Subject 64 completed a full transformation. Our efforts to restrain its bestial side need tweaking but has produced results. The creature is able to listen and comprehend orders. It also seems to have a sense of self. What we have not been able to do is communicate with it, and any visible human still produces uncontrollable rage.”

“Subject 65 has perished due to a wild mutagenic strain of the virus causing complete organ failure. The cell has been dosed with severe radiation to kill all possible microbes. Subject 66 is the most interesting potential test. This is a male human from Taris, formerly of the Jedi Agricultural Corps, though he has demonstrated no usable Force manifestations. We have received permission from the Vizier to conduct this experiment.”

 

[Darth Libertas]

[member="Illyria"]


Sumiko watched the recordings with a mixture of morbid fascination and a cold, dispassionate expression. If the gentle reader is getting the impression that the Sith sorceress was an evil queen, they would be correct. Dark Side did not always mean evil, but there were no kindly Sith. Their Code was nothing but a pseudo-philosophical justification for casting morality aside and becoming an amoral sociopath.


You placed yourself above everyone else and viewed other people only as threats or assets. Sumiko had long been fascinated by what effect exposure to Rakghoul or zombie viruses could have on Force-users. Was it possible to maintain their connection? This could create a powerful...but also very dangerous minion. The evil ring pulsed, as if pleased by this train of thought. She accessed the next recording.


It never occured to Sumiko that there had been a time when even she would've been repulsed by such experiments. As an Inquisitor, she'd infiltrated dark cults and participated in their evil rites to maintain her cover, but she'd been disgusted by them. However, now she was...different. These last vestiges of morality were just chains that bound her, so it seemed reasonable to break them. Consciences are like leashes. They bind the weak and the inferior. Her thought or that or the ring? As a Sith, she would overcome all limitations placed upon her. The Ring glowed faintly, and she felt a feeling of validation.

 

[Qual'Zyanya]

[member="Illyria"], [member="Valiens Nantaris"]


Though its features and speech are repulsive to me, I must admit the beast was not wrong, this was the realisation that Zyanya slowly came to accept while she translated the old records. What is the human saying? Even a broken clock is right twice a day.


The Nekghoul looked like a monster. It was the sort of creature that should serve its betters...but it possesed insight. She could feel the power emanating from the ring and coveted it deeply. But the more she listened to the ripples, the more she could sense that there was a sentient will guiding it. It was alive and hungered. It whispered into her mind, trying to draw her into its web.


Sumiko had always been a cruel mistress, but now she seemed more vicious. Of course, this might just be the effect of power in general. She glanced towards Illyria. Her loathing for the Eldorai ran deep, but if Sumiko was exploiting their rivalry it might be tactically advisable to...provoke the Eldorai less, though that would require the arrogant woman to play ball. If push came to shove, neither of would hesitate to kill the other.


I cannot rely on Lady Tanaka alone. I must seek out other ways to further my understanding of the Darkness. Otherwise I shall always be dependent and a mere pawn. She cannot suffer intimates, only slaves, she decided in this moment. Her eyes were drawn to the ring, then she looked back at the records.

 

[Illyria]

[member="Sumiko Tanaka"]
Entry 375…it was different. The entries to leading up to 375 reported on the success of Subject 66, but when the Imperial did his recording the results were different.
“Major Isavor Barr…entering…entering code clearance,” he said, quickly inserting the code cylinder.
“The experiments on Subject 66 have proven to be more successful than we could have imagined. Subject 66 is showing sentient levels of intelligence, though I believe it is concealing its true intellect. We have administered sedatives to Subject 66 in order to properly secure them for further testing, but they seem resistant to pain and conventional interrogation. We are preparing new alterations to the virus but we must be careful that we do not give them too much intelligence.”

There was a disturbance off camera, muffled words. Major Barr looked both stunned and irritated. “How did this happen? Initiate containment. Entry ended!” he said, snapping the recording off.

 

[Darth Libertas]

[member="Illyria"]


After pride comes the fall. It would be ironic if Sumiko's own attempts to control and cow the uncontrollable would one day prove her undoing. The last entry was blurry and of poor quality. Though almost a millennia separated them, she could practically taste the Imperial's fear.


Barr was alone, in a dark room. His fatigue showed, his eyes were blood-shot and he had not shaved. "This is Major Isavor Barr. I don't know if anyone will receive this...but it's over. The Rakghouls are everywhere. We made a big mistake trying to uplift them. Now they're everywhere. Subject 66 managed to turn our own automated defence systems on us. It's only me now, but I...."


There was noise off camera, screeches and the sound of claws on the ground. A Rakghoul pounced out of the shadows, then another. A brief scuffle developed, one creature was gunned down, but the other managed to get close and slash at Barr with its claws before he stabbed it. Sumiko watched with morbid fascination as the officer began to go into a seizure when the virus infected him. In desperation, he put the pistol to his mouth and shot himself.

 

[Illyria]

[member="Sumiko Tanaka"]

“Thus it ends…” Illyria said softly.

The recording continued on of the blank room for a while. However, the shambling form of a Nekghoul emerged.

“The experiment is over…our time begins,” he growled, then reached forward and pressed the button.

It was hard to tell bestial voices, but Qual might notice this one seems familiar.

 

[Qual'Zyanya]

[member="Illyria"]


The shambling form of a Nekghoul appeared and stared right into the camera. It was hard to tell the bestial voices apart...but this one sounded very familiar to Qual'Zyanya. It was the same Nekghoul who'd spoken to her earlier and cautioned her about Sumiko. An expression of surprise crossed her features. This was the creature who'd instigated the rebellion against the beasts' creators. Far from being mindless, he'd possessed the intelligence to use their own tools against them.


Yet now he was a relic, while his brethren flocked to a new mistress, eager for power. The realisation that he was no beast hit her like a freight tram. "He was right," she said quietly, speaking in her native Xioquo language. And so the cycle continues, she thought to herself.


"Something to say, Qual?" Sumiko demanded.


"No, Mistress," she said quickly. "I see the Imperials' folly was their own undoing. They were human males, so I am not surprised," she added in her haughtiest tone, saying exactly what was expected of her. Pandering to the stereotype.


"They thought they were dealing with animals. But we have the Force and shall know better. This research will be very useful. You two have completed your tasks?" While she spoke, she downloaded the research data into a Space USB stick.

 

[Illyria]

[member="Qual'Zyanya"]
Illyria flashed the Drow a suspicious look. She was naturally a pretty cynical sort, and so it was whenever someone launched into a long explanation when challenged.
She said nothing though, partly because she was disturbed by the recordings herself.

“Is there anything else we require, Mistress?” she asked.

 

[Darth Libertas]

[member="Illyria"]


Sumiko examined tech and records her two slaves...err, minions, had salvaged, looking content. "We're done here. Pity the Imperials did not leave behind a sample of the virus, but I should have enough data to recreate it in time. I took blood samples from our 'friends'," she said casually, chuckling a bit. Somehow, the sound was rather disturbing.


"You've done well," she reached out to stroke Zyanya and Illyria's ears. Somehow, that gesture was disturbing, too. It was not one of affection, but of possession. Both elves belonged to her and she held power of life and death over them. There could be no love or affection in her black soul.


"Thank you, Mistress," Zyanya stiffened, feeling like she was back in the Underealm again, submitting to a more powerful mistress. "What shall we...you do with this data now? You mentioned it being a path to wealth. Is there a buyer?" Zyanya did not really care if the creatures slaughtered humans, but she was not sure she liked the idea of the virus being proliferated.


"Oh, there's at least one very wealthy, powerful individual who'd pay a fortune for this. Little do they know that I don't just want their money, but everything they possess. I shall have to tell you about the Reki." That was the Atrisian Yakuza. "For now...let us leave...and celebrate."