First Reply Wasted Away Again In Mek-Sha

[Alioth]

Location: Mek-Sha
Tag: Open
"Alioth" | "ⱫɆ₦ł₮Ⱨ" (Zenith)
Prologue: Here
​

Alioth never had a drinking problem. That is what he told himself as he downed his next shot.

The whiskey hit his throat like a speeder once again. He tried to convince himself that it was just early hyperspace sickness. Too much time spent staring out into the blue and white swirl of stars. But that voice...it sounded so real. One that he could not get out of his head, no matter how much alcohol he consumed. After passing out, his vessel's emergency protocols flew Alioth to the nearest inhabited system, which happened to be Mek-Sha. The man had spent a lot of time here as a kid after his homeworld was destroyed by the Bryn'adul. It had been many years since he had returned. Some of his childhood friends were probably still here, working just to survive. But he was in no place to visit with them.

Leaning his head down, Alioth closed his eyes, trying to silence all of the noise around him. Though as soon as it became quiet, almost as if you could hear a pin drop, a familiar voice responded from the void.

"ɎØɄ ₵₳₦₦Ø₮ ⱧłĐɆ ₣ⱤØ₥ ₥Ɇ ₣ØⱤɆVɆⱤ ⱧɄ₥₳₦."

Whipping his body around on the barstool, Alioth looked out into the dimly lit bar, trying to see who spoke. The crowd was small tonight, but they still gave him looks of unease. This was the third time this had happened tonight. Patrons were starting to notice his crazed state. He had to get out of here. Dropping a few credits on the bar counter, the man hurried out of the building and onto the streets. He only made it a few steps before collapsing onto his knees. Against his will, a blood-curdling scream escaped his mouth, frightening those around him. Three otherworldly tendrils started to protrude from his back, made up of what looked to be decaying flesh. Whoever infected his mind was slowly taking over, and unless he fought back, there would be no way to stop it.

Spoiler

The premise for this thread is the Alioth's mind and body were merged with a Starweird after a hyperspace incident. The two of them have only been merged for a few hours, so they are both fighting for control. Think like Eddie Brock/Venom (my inspiration for this character.) Feel free to help Alioth fight against the Starweird, try and subdue the man to eliminate the threat, or something different entirely!

 

[Razmir Tezhyn]

The sharp scrape of a lighter clicked as Razmir lit up a cigarette, taking a deep breath full of the tobacco. Relief flooded his system like a warm, summer breeze on Alderaan. He tried to keep the grin off his face. He'd needed that after weeks of stimcaf withdrawal.

The medtechs, well, the medtech—a member of his crew—had cleared him for stimulants again after his encounter with a crushgaunt to the face. His first order of business had been to make a cup of Corellian spike caf, but it turned out they'd run all out of caf-beans. So, he'd volunteered to make a quick supply run at the shadow port they'd been laying low at.

If memory served him right Yerda's should be just around—

A sharp scream cut through the evening air, much too close.

Razmir jumped, fumbling the cigarette between his fingers. The roll wove through his desperate attempts to catch it mid-air, trailing a thin line of smoke, and dropped right into a puddle. It winked out as it slipped beneath the surface of its watery grave.

Shavit.

Well, he'd picked up another one from the spacer earlier, though he'd hoped to save that one for the return trip.

Razmir pulled the cigarette from his suit pocket, digging for his lighter. He gave a glance in the direction of the cantina entrance, where the scream had come from. The cantina owner, a burly man with an apron that sported too many dried stains, stood in the doorway looking down at a man writhing in pain barely a few steps out the door. Something on the man's back made wild motions, and the distress in that face made Raz think he might be in his death-throes following some kind of animal attack.

Razmir lingered. The scream had rattled him right awake, and the caf beans could wait a little longer. He'd been long overdue for a misadventure.

"You're not lookin' too good there, stranger," Razmir said, walking closer.

He knelt down a few feet from the man, dropping one hand to the concealed holdout blaster while he proffered the cigarette with the other. If the fellow really was dying, better he have the last drag before he exited the mortal coil, Raz figured.

Up close it became clear the strange movement on the man's back wasn't some kind of wild animal trapped under his shirt, but a set of coiling tendrils. He couldn't see any blood mixed on them, eliminating the possibility that it was a parasite bursting from the man's back. The things actually looked like they were attached to him, growing out of his back.

It was certainly above Razmir's paygrade as a thief, but likely nothing a blaster bolt couldn't handle.

Raz nodded to the cantina owner, who walked back inside, relieved to have someone else deal with the problem. The foot traffick around them started up again as well, save a few who remained to gawk at the strange sight.

"So, what's your trouble?" Raz focused on the man, extending the subtle touch of the Force to calm his emotions.

He still wasn't sure why he could do it. Every attempt to train other applications of the Force failed miserably when he attempted. He'd always guessed it was a small parting gift from his late mother, or maybe something he'd developed as a survival mechanism on the streets. But it sure came in handy, even if it was merely subtle, guiding nudges rather than the complete dominion of a mind, like he'd seen with some of the Cloaks.

Alioth

 

[Alioth]

Location: Mek-Sha
Razmir Tezhyn
"Alioth" | "ⱫɆ₦ł₮Ⱨ" (Zenith)
​

Looking up from the immense strain he was under, Alioth saw a figure approach.

There was a sort of calm demeanor that the man carried that seemed unfitting for the situation at hand. The spacer knew that if he saw someone struggling as much as he was right now, he would not be offering the same help. Nevertheless, Alioth locked eyes with the individual, trying to formulate words.

"Y-you've got to help m-me..."

The Follower of the Rapture was connected to the Force as well, so he felt the calming outreach from the man. Slowly his breathing was returning to normal, and unknown to him, the Starweird that possessed him was becoming more docile. Shifting his weight, he went from sitting on his hands and knees to resting on his hip, propped up on an elbow. The tendrils were no longer waving wildly, as if they were trying to escape. They now moved at a more methodical pace, almost rhythmically.

Reaching his hand out, Alioth graciously accepted the cigarette. While he never was a smoker, this seemed like a better time than ever to give it a shot.

"Ever since the h-hyperspace incident...my mind hasn't b-been the same..."

While not many details were offered, it would be clear to the man that Alioth had been through a lot in these past twenty-four hours. What was supposed to be a normal trip across the stars turned into disaster when a Starweird attacked the man while he was travelling through hyperspace. The man did all he could to defend himself before the creature fully took over his mind. But before the mysterious beast could complete its assault, the vessel was thrown violently from hyperspace. Unbeknownst to Alioth, the two of them had merged together - mind, body, and Force. It had something to do with the cosmic events occurring all across the galaxy.

Taking a drag from the cigarette, the man let out a deep cough, clearly new at this.

"₮ɆⱠⱠ ₥Ɇ ɎØɄⱤ ₦₳₥Ɇ."

A voice spoke from Alioth's mouth, though distinctively different from the one he was using prior. It was the Starweird trying to communicate through him, maybe even attempting to steal any Force energy he could from the stranger.