Private Voices From Within

[Matthias Colcrip]

Voices From Within

Voices From Within
Tags: Closed, Onrai
Location: Ord Mantell City, Ord Mantell

Turns out having friends paid off, or so Matthias was hoping it would. Not long after befriending an Imperial agent on Tatooine, and brief respite on Denon, she contacted him giving him information on where he might possibly find someone who could help him find the Dark Empire. He had spent years learning what he could about the far more shadowy sith faction but only found whispers and rumors despite their clear influence on several worlds.

Blue, the agent, as he nicknamed her, didn’t say or offer much beyond a location: Ord Mantell. The world had a history of both Imperial and sith influence dating back to the Old Republic. Therefore it didn’t come as a surprise that there might be someone there with more information regarding the Dark Empire.

Walking along the sidewalk of Ord Mantell City today, however, would paint a much different picture. The air was cleaner, the City was once more the capital, and the various districts had undergone significant reconstruction or refurbishment. Even the Old City had most been restored, a sight truly to be beheld by anyone who knew their galactic history. To Matthias all the progress was a testament to the Dark Empire and only reinforced his resolve to join their ranks. It was clear they knew how to make the surface appear clean while keeping a tight rule from the shadows.

Matthias could feel the cold voices slowly fading into his mind, “This is the place.” The childlike tone was ever cold and chilling, though since Tatooine he was a little less bothered. “Place. Place. Place.”

Matthias was still following their guidance despite the brief moment of disobedience he displayed with Blue. He wasn’t sure if they could read his mind, he still wasn’t sure if they were even real, but he was hoping, in secret, that whoever he found on this planet would at least make some sense of the mysterious voices within.

Without realizing it he had been walking straight up the stairs of a local government building. Not the capital building yet official enough to sport guards and security droids heavily along the exterior. The voices had led him here, without even knowing. Taking a breath he pushed forward, ready to face whatever was ahead.​

 

[Onrai]

Matthias Colcrip

Stepping into the building in question he was immediately met by a desk with a secretary seated across from him, a Chiss man who had been steadily typing away at the console in front of him. An eyebrow was raised, a modicum of curiosity provided towards him as he looked up. “What is it you need, stranger?” He asked. The curious arrival of this person was something out of the ordinary, and soon enough, Onrai would come to guide the apprentice towards that which he was looking for.

But not yet.

 

[Matthias Colcrip]

Matthias glanced momentarily at the Chiss before continuing to glance around at the obsessively cleaned building. In typical imperial fashion the entire place was sterile and free of any imperfection.

He finally returned his gaze to the Chiss after a moment with a calm nod, “Yea,” he stated plainly, “I’m here to see your boss, I’m expected.” Of course he didn’t know who was in charge, or if the person in charge could actually help or point him in the right direction, but Matthias spoke as if he truly belonged. He had hoped it would be enough to convince the Chiss to at least get him further into the building, and potentially closer to someone that could provide him what he sought.​

Onrai

 

[Onrai]

"Expected?" The Chiss looked at him quizzically. "Allow me to get in touch with someone who may be able to help you."

After sending a brief communique, a door opened and a relatively youthful blonde woman wearing simple black robes exited, eyes locked onto Matthias himself. "Matthias Colcrip." She said, with the barest hint of recognition, even if she had never seen the man personally before. "What exactly are you asking for from me here on the world of Ord Mantell?" She was surprised at his arrival and admitedly curious as to the young man's rationale for coming - perhaps he desired to learn the ways of the Force.

Or perhaps the Anti-Force.

Matthias Colcrip

 

[Matthias Colcrip]

The acolyte shrugged with a grin upon seeing the woman clad in black appear. As she spoke there was a strange void that filled the air between the two. It wasn't just the dark side that Matthias could sense. Or rather he wasn't sure just what it was besides the dark side he sensed, but the force surrounding this woman was unlike anything he had encountered before. For a moment he wasn't exactly sure what to say though on the outside he appeared calm and in control.

Standing more at an attentive stance he gave a shrug, "Training."

It was a simple answer but one that rang mostly true. He hesitated a moment, giving a side-eyed glance to the Chiss sitting at the desk. Before continuing he raised a hand in his direction and began choking him through the force. Even while the Chiss struggled and fought, Matthias never broke eye contact with the mysterious dark sider. A few more moments and the Chiss fell forward, the last breath leaving his lips. A breath later Matthias returned to his previous more attentive stance, "I hear these voices," he explained; this was the first time he had ever told anyone about the voices within his mind. "I don't know if they're real, but they've guided me to you."​

Onrai

 

[Onrai]

Vanessa stood and watched as the Chiss was pointlessly choked. She watched as said Chiss, a survivor of the Maw's invasion of Kinoss and Ool, and one of the survivors Onrai had taken in during her time there, had his life ended by the upstart Darksider in question. If she was disappointed by his loss, she gave no visible sign of it. "Voices?" She said, looking back at the body of the Chiss in question before sending a tremendous burst of energy towards Matthias, seeking to slam him into - and possibly through - the wall. If he was merely slammed into it, she would step towards him - and if he went through, she would head through the opening in question.

"Your first lesson, acolyte. Never waste a sentient asset unless you have no other choice." The callous disregard for her servant was, to say the least, something that left a sour taste in the former Sith Lord's mouth. He could be instructed, yes, but he had much he would need to learn.

Matthias Colcrip

 

[Matthias Colcrip]

With the wind in his chest expelled exponentially quickly, Matthias slammed through the reinforced metal wall of the governmental building. Landing hard on his back he quickly gasped for air.

His vision was blurred as he attempted and failed once to stand. A second attempt was more successful though his vision was still partially disrupted. As he finally got himself upright he could hear the woman’s sinister voice echo and reverberate through his body. It was clear she was powerful. However in the moment Matthias could only respond with anger as he launched his arms forward with his body following, attempting to summon all he could in the hopes of throwing the woman back. To further help he threw some of the debris from the wall forward as well. It was all in the hopes of either throwing the woman off her own feet or, at the very least, some of the scrap metal from the ruined wall would incur damage.
​

Onrai

 

[Onrai]

The debris struck the woman's body, a fist striking the rubble as it was hurled towards her and fragmenting it in a shower of dust and ruins. As the cloud cleared, Vanessa still stood there, but from her wounds, an infinitely black ichor dripping from the gouges and scars in her false flesh. She stepped towards him again, grasping the table with the power of the Anti-Force and hurling it at the wayward acolyte, seeking to, at least for a time, crush him between it and the damaged wall behind him.

"If you keep this up, there may not be much left of you to try and train." She said, a threat and passing comment.

Matthias Colcrip

 

[Matthias Colcrip]

Matthias barely had time to catch his breath when out of the cloud of dust the woman appeared, thought not as she had prior. The strange blackness that came forth from the, now apparent, fake flesh was unlike anything he had ever seen before.

Just then the desk the Chiss once sat at was launched through the air. In one quick motion, Matthias activated his purple blade and sliced through the table. Though not quick enough, as his right shoulder was still struck by that half of the desk, causing him to temporarily lose his footing.

As he stood upright he could feel the malevolent force surrounding the woman. But there was a strange unfamiliarity to it. Matthias could sense power he didn’t even know existed. For a brief moment just the mere thought of this power took hold in his mind. “Power.” “Power. “Power.”

The voices were interrupted when the woman, in a passing fashion, speaking words Matthias was quickly realizing we’re likely true. But the voices again wash over his mind, “Power…”

Matthias clenched the lightsaber tight in his grip, the pain of the voices fueling his adrenaline and anger. Without a second thought, and perhaps even against his own will, Matthias stepped froward and launched himself toward the woman, his blade coming down atop her head in the hopes of at least throwing her off balance.
​

Onrai

 

[Onrai]

"Power."

A hand reached up, wrapping itself around the blade of the lightsaber, the sizzle of its energy barely constrained against the mimicked skin of her palm as she restrained it with what power she had. Another hand reached for the throat of the acolyte, a contemptuous smile formed on Vanessa's lips. Flesh began to tear and crack. Eyes became milky white orbs consumed in a sea of darkness that swallowed up the facade of skin beneath it.

"If you want to choke someone, do it the right way." She squeezed on his neck, not enough to kill him, but enough to make him struggle to breathe. The mask was off - there was no more Vanessa Vantai, only the shadowy humanoid that was Onrai.

Matthias Colcrip

 

[Matthias Colcrip]

Matthias clenched the lightsaber in his hand tightly, the anger in his eyes quickly fading. Instead a new, unfamiliar, feeling began sinking in. For the first time in his life Matthias felt true fear as he gazed into the eyes of the now undisguised woman, if one could even call her that.

Truthfully he had no idea what this was but the dark side of the force expelled from her in waves that overwhelmed him nearly as much as the physical action of being choked. Struggling for air, in another moment he released his saber, which deactivated and fell to the ground beside them. With both hands he attempted to pull the hand away from his neck, though he could feel his strength quickly failing.

After another moment he had fallen unconscious, left to the devices of the mysterious being before him.​

Onrai

 

[Onrai]

Matthias Colcrip

When Matthias awoke, it was in a blank, mostly featureless room clearly designed more for ergonomics than aesthetics. The bed he had been placed in was simple yet relatively comfortable and the room had minimal shelving, including a table which his lightsaber and other personal possessions had been placed on. He had not been changed or otherwise transmogrified in any form or fashioned - even the clothes he had worn were the same. The door on the far end of the room opened and the once more near-human form of Vanessa Vantai entered the room, still looking somewhat cross at him.

"Good, you're awake. Grab your things and clean up. We start in fifteen minutes."

 

[Matthias Colcrip]

VOICES FROM WITHIN

As he lay asleep in the void of the force, the only image that could fill the unconscious mind of Matthias Colcrip was the white void of the mysterious force-user’s eyes. It was a void that sent fear straight into his heart, an emotion he had never once tackled with before.

Waking up to the once more disguised woman, he could only muster the strength to sit up. For a few minutes he didn’t move; instead meditating on the fight and his opponent. After what felt like forever, he stood and moved about the room. First he double checked his physical well being: despite being choked out he was okay otherwise, with a few minor scrapes and bruises on his back from being thrown through the wall. Next he checked his lightsabers, both of which he activated and deactivated a few times as well as giving a few swings. With everything in order he turned to the woman and give an affirmative nod.

He didn’t have anything to say. Now it was time to learn.​

Onrai

 

[Onrai]

Matthias Colcrip

Vanessa traveled through the structure with her new apprentice is tow until they exited the facility. Directly next to them, standing at least two kilometers above the surface of whatever hellworld they had come to, was a gargantuan cube, coated with dulled platinum scales from between which wept a thick crimson ichor. On the side facing them, a massive hole that was hundreds if not thousands of meters in diameter had been blasted through the face of the cube, revealing the barest traces of the flesh within and the crimson sky of the planet behind it.

"There are things you're going to learn here that may very well drive you mad. Your first test is to survive them."

The entire planet's geometry was wrong. Things seemed to unnaturally fold into each other, an innate wrongness in everything from the plasmatic landscape to the sky, itself filled not with stars, but with aberrancies, things that looked just enough like stars to seem normal until one focused on them. They flickered wrongly, moved wrongly - were shaped wrongly. Everything about them spat in the face of the galaxy as they knew it. The Two soon traveled over to a stairwell they began to climb, which led to a hole bored into the cadaverous cube.

"Are you familiar with the tale of Waru?" She asked as they entered, passing the boundary of scales, whose thickness and thinness was both impressive and irregular as they penetrated through a tunnel of flesh that seemed to go on forever. In time, they reached it - the grandiose interior of the cube, which further defied all logic: while the exterior was likely one and a half to two kilometers square, the interior of the creature was vast, a whorl of hundreds if not thousands of kilometers of pulsing flesh, ichor lakes, bridges, tunnels, and pathways that violated the laws of physics.

"Think of this as the father of that creature."

 

[Matthias Colcrip]

VOICES FROM WITHIN

Matthias was sure he was already mad. The voices that only he could hear, the very ones which brought him here in fact, were all the proof he needed to be convinced of his madness. Yet being here, with this powerful force user and on this strange and force-warped world, he was sure he was the sane one.

As they approached their destination he couldn’t help but feel sense of absolute dread. He had no idea what was about to happen or what this ‘training’ would entail. He had heard the name Waru in passing but in truth he didn’t know much. Had it been any other day with any other person in the galaxy, he very likely would’ve lied and kept pressing on, nobody being the wiser. Today wasn’t any day and this wasn’t just any person. Swallowing his pride he shrugged, “What is it?” he asked, his voice steel but his nerves clearly rattled.
​

Onrai

 

[Onrai]

"A godling."

The two would proceed to walk along the pathways of flesh within the god-cube's unliving husk, the wound to the being mortal and unhealable - fatal by any account, yet evidently not based on the faint perambulations of cystic masses and the endless flow of syrupy ichor. "This being was spawned by the one known as El'Shuddem, worshipped by the most profane cults in the galaxy as the Soulworm. It is one of four of the worm-mother's spawn, and was the second last to die - the last itself cannot die, not without rituals even I cannot wield the power to perform. Others - Typhojem the left-handed god, Tharagorograht the mother of the Black Nest, and of course, Mnggal-Mnggal, the cancer god." She said. Soon enough to Matthias it would be evident that they had not only walked to a completely different place within the cube nowhere near their point of entry - but they were walking at an angle that was physically impossible according to the gravity they had once been standing in. They were now walking on the inner flesh-wall of the cube, several hundred meters away from one of the great points of entry where a dreadnought-scale weapon had penetrated the being's flesh.

"You are a child. You have been told your entire life that the Sith are their own gods. That they are obsequent only to themselves and their own desires. The truth is that there are very many gods and godlings about, plying for the devotion of the galaxy - and most of them want the worst for you."

Matthias Colcrip