The Truth of Things

High Mage Serratus

Darth Serratus tapped his fingers as he leafed through the many reports on his desk. Some interesting developments in bio-aug. Serratus had to smile. Rancors with lightsaber for elbows. Sounded bizarre, but the report had good connotations. Serratus suddenly remembered that Prophet Crozeus was supposed to be visiting the facility today. He buzzed his secretary.

"Ara, Darth Crozeus will be arriving soon. Inform me the moment he touches down."
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If you see dreadlocks and a staff coming towards you very rapidly, you're in trouble.

High Prophet Crozeus

Crozeus was being taken to the facility across the sands in a highly modern speeder, a brand new model. He smiled slightly at the thought of the Mages funding. He was scanning through various memos dropped to him, none of them of any interest, and he was surprised when his driver announced their arrival.

The guards of the Mages saluted him, which brought a twitch to his lips. Trying to remain formal he approached Serratus' office and spoke to the receptionist about their meeting.
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High Mage Serratus

((The roleplay is taking place on Tatooine at the Krayt Graveyard R & D Centre, not the Mage HQ on Kuat, all the guards are privately hired.))

There was a buzz and Serratus looked up from his reports.

"Director, Prophet Crozeus has arrived."

Serratus pushed the button.

"Tell him I will be down in a moment and offer him a drink and a hazmat suit."
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If you see dreadlocks and a staff coming towards you very rapidly, you're in trouble.

High Prophet Crozeus

"Drink, sir?"

Crozeus looked up and smiled, taking a small glass of brandy from the tray. Sipping at it he looked with surprise at the other item she had placed before him.

"What is this?" He enquired.

"A hazmat suit, sir. The High Mage requests you wear it."

Crozeus frowned, but knowing the sort of thing Serratus got up to he clambered into the bulky suit. Unable to sit anymore he clutched the drink in the massive paw of the suit and waited patiently, confused. 'Something Alchemical' was taking a new meaning, it seemed.
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High Mage Serratus

The High Mage descended down the stairs to the reception. He saw Crozeus had already donned his hazmat suit.

"Prophet Crozeus, welcome to the Krayt Graveyard Research and Development Centre. Sorry about the hazmat suit but the room we're going to contains a highly...dangerous isn't the word...intrusive substance and the hazmat suit will protect you. To give you an idea of how intrusive this is, I too will be needing a hazmat suit."

Serratus quickly donned his own custom suit before turning to Ara.

"Tell Dr. Kanh that Prophet Crozeus and I will be arrive in the Moonlight Chamber momentarily and to prepare it for entry."

He turned back to Crozeus.

"Shall we?"
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If you see dreadlocks and a staff coming towards you very rapidly, you're in trouble.

High Prophet Crozeus

Crozeus nodded, before downing the brandy and pulling up his hood. "Let's." He followed Serratus out.

The Moonlight Chamber. How peculiar.
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High Mage Serratus

Serratus and Crozeus walked briskly through the Centre, through the microbiology section, through the crystals department and finally turning into the newly-constructed Moonlight Chamber. The room was perfectly circular, about seven metres in radius with a high ceiling reaching forty feet into Tatooine's skyline. A two-armed, propeller-like apparatus was hanging from the roof,with a pair of tubes protruding from each wing. A small man with a clipboard was standing in the middle of the room.

"Ah, Director Serratus, the Chamber is ready as requested. Will it be an internal or external observation?"

Serratus simply motioned towards the hazmat suits.

"Of course, of course, internal it is. I'll get into the control room and release the subject."

Serratus contacted Crozeus via the Force.

Do not be alarmed when the project begins. As long as we are in the hazmat suits, we cannot be exposed.
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If you see dreadlocks and a staff coming towards you very rapidly, you're in trouble.

High Prophet Crozeus

Crozeus followed, aware to how oblivious he must have seemed. He could feel... something, but he did not know what.
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High Mage Serratus

Dr. Kanh retreated to the control room and pushed a red button. A panel in one of the walls slid back to reveal a delapidated human male with a hazmat-suited guard. The guard prodded the man with a shockprod and he stumbled into the Chamber. Serratus raised one finger to Kanh who nodded. Kanh pressed a button labeled "1" and a fine sprinkle of dust fell from the two tubes. It landed lightly on the man and for a moment he transformed into a fit, handsome male surrounded by mountains of credits and three scantily-clad female Twi'leks before transforming back into the weak feeble man that had emerged from the walls.

Serratus raised a second finger to Kanh. The short man pressed a second button labeled "2". The propellers started spinning slowly, sprinkling the dust all around the dome. This time the same illusion happened but occured for a much longer period of time and the illusion included the man engaging in questionable acts with one of the Twi'leks.

Once this illusion too had dissipated, Serratus raised three fingers to Kanh who promptly pressed the "3" button. The propellers started rotating at frightening speeds before releasing a literal storm of the dust. Inside their hazmat suits, Crozeus and Serratus were fine but the abrasive dust quickly stripped the man of his skin as he screamed in agony. Soon his muscle too was eviscerated and then his organs and finally his skeleton. But a trace of the man still remained. A pulsing, gelatinous mass. Serratus smiled and raised a fourth finger to Kanh.

The propellers stopped immediately as Kanh pressed "4". Three men in hazmat suits came out of the walls. Using a number of strange instruments, they seperated the dust, the man's remains and the amorphous gloop. When they had all hurried off with their findings, Serratus turned to Crozeus.

"Well? What do you think?"
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If you see dreadlocks and a staff coming towards you very rapidly, you're in trouble.

High Prophet Crozeus

Crozeus nodded, mulling over the possibilities of using such a tool in his mind.

"It's... interesting, to say the very least."

He had no idea how such a simple dust could cause such a reaction... or such a variety of reactions. "So you could trick one into believing he was having the time of his live, slowly upping the dosage until he becomes... that?" Crozeus gestured after the remains of the man.

"Could you apply it to a projector, or a capsule for food or drink?" He asked.
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High Mage Serratus

Serratus shrugged.

"Perhaps. Our research has not developed that far as of yet. This dust, according to my source, is called the Dust of Muunlite. It is reveals the truth of things. If someone has concealed their appearance, it will show their true form and if someone has not concealed their appearance, it will show us their true desires. And they will experience them for as long as the Dust is in effect. When the Dust reaches high velocities it becomes super-abrasive and strips away skin, bone, muscle, organs, all matter except for midichlorians. We have not yet worked out why, but this is an important step in midichlorian research. We can harvest them from subjects and perform experiments on them. And between you and me, we can inject them into subjects and make them Force-sensitive. Or increase their Force potential."

He turned to Crozeus.

"I need your help. I am planning a trip and I want you to come with me. With the research into this Dust and midichlorians and what I hope to find on the trip, I think I can regain a somewhat normal appearance. I will also need your help with the actual procedure and from primary research, some of your DNA. What say you my friend?"
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If you see dreadlocks and a staff coming towards you very rapidly, you're in trouble.

High Prophet Crozeus

Crozeus thought for a moment. He was unfazed by the prospect of using his own DNA, he had done so many times before in the Church. "Very well," he said at last. Serratus started to leave but Crozeus reached out and placed a bulky hand on his shoulder, making him turn.

"But in return, I expect all findings and research to be shared with the Alchemical Centre on Fondor. I would very much like to study this more." Before carrying on and asking where Serratus was planning to go, he waited for a reply.
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High Mage Serratus

Serratus nodded quickly.

"Of course, of course. If all goes according to plan, you will have plenty of the Dust to study, and more."

Serratus took out a datapad.

"As you may have read in the declassified version of my report on Vjun, I encountered a Sith Necromancer and Alchemist beneath the Chateaux Malreaux. It was from his corpse I gathered the Dust of Muunlite. He claimed to be the "last of the great Alchemists of old". After extensive research, I have located the Sith order to which he belonged. He was most certainly not the last. They are called the Wayland Order after their founding planet but they have not dwelt on Wayland for centuries. As of about three hundred years ago, they have been operating out of Mandalore, Concord Dawn and Vorpa'ya. They are powerful Force-users but not very good at physical combat. Luckily, we are both. We need to locate the leader of the Order, the Prime Alchemist, Darth Anthrax. He, I think, will hold the knowledge necessary to reverse my transformation. I know that Anthrax is not on any planet within the Mandalore Sector, nor the Outer Rim for that matter. We are going to Mandalore to interrogate his second-in-command, the Alchemist Superior, who goes by the name of Darth Knot."
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If you see dreadlocks and a staff coming towards you very rapidly, you're in trouble.

High Prophet Crozeus

Crozeus nodded, the idea seemed sound, though it was bizzare he had not heard of this Order before. "I shall alert the Mandalore Chapter to be a base of operations. They are sworn to secrecy."
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High Mage Serratus

Serratus nodded.

"Very good. Let us go to my personal abode. I need to collect some weaponry. We will be taking one of the facility's Infiltrators. Come."

Serratus turned and started walking towards the tube-life that would take them to his unluxurious abode.
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If you see dreadlocks and a staff coming towards you very rapidly, you're in trouble.

High Prophet Crozeus

"Your humble abode it is." The Prophet followed obligingly, more and more interested in the idea.
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High Mage Serratus

Once they were outside the Moonlight Chamber, Serratus removed the hazmat suit and tossed it to the floor. He and Crozeus entered the tube lift which whisked them uphill. They emerged in a house with pure white walls and furniture. Near an empty fireplace, one third of Serratus's personal armoury could be seen. Serratus walked over and browsed through the weaponry. He selected a belt of Vrakolian spin-blades, a pair of crushgaunts and the Dark Blade of Ajunta Pall. He twirled the black blade around once in his hand before sheathing it.

"Come out front, we will get into the Nightblade and forth to Mandalore."
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If you see dreadlocks and a staff coming towards you very rapidly, you're in trouble.

High Prophet Crozeus

"As you say." Crozeus smiled as he saw the Dark Blade. He had given that to Serratus as a gift, offering him a vairety of ancient weapons and equipment the Church had found and stored in their Chapter on Onderon. It had other purposes as well. Crozeus had come prepared, bearing four lightsabers on his person. He only really needed the Force, but cutting things was far more satisfying.

The two Sith reached the Infiltrator and climbed in, Serratus taking the helm. Soon they were above Mandalore, named after the Mandalorians.
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High Mage Serratus

Serratus brought them down smoothely onto the landing pad outside the Mandalore Chapter. He unbuckled and climbed out of the ship, looking around the diverse landscape. He turned to his companion.

"Care to lead the way, Prophet of the Dark Side?"
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If you see dreadlocks and a staff coming towards you very rapidly, you're in trouble.

High Prophet Crozeus

"Absolutely." Crozeus walked forward across the tiled floor towards the huge metal gate which lead to the fortress like Mandalore Chapter. A domed building, it was encased in a wall manned by a battalion of five hundred elite troops, and it served as a detention centre for Prophets who had done wrong, and a prison for non-Force Sensitives. The guards at the gate wall saluted and stepped aside and the huge door cranked open, when it was open enough the two Sith walked into the courtyard, unknowing they had been scanned by top-of-the-range equipment and their files checked.

The courtyard was filled with plants and the like, a massive contrast to the bleak grey walls. Crozeus sat at the bench of a fountain and waited while Prophet Yorm, the Chapter Master, came down to meet him.

"Prophet Crozeus, to what do I owe this unexpected honour?"

Crozeus waved a dismissive hand. He didn't like Yorm, he was snide and sycophantic, and very snooty. "We need to use the Chapter as a base of operations for a private mission. Give us a room with all facilities open to us, and leave us in private."

Yorm bowed extravagantly. "Of course, sir, you may use the Reliquary." Crozeus nodded and stalked into the Chapter, leading Serratus to the large room. "You may use the facilities here however you need. There are archives, computers, armouries, refreshers, restaurants... whatever you need."
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High Mage Serratus

Serratus whistled as he looked around the room. It was a fine setup indeed. He crossed the room to one of the computers and quick as a vjun fox, started typing.

"From my sources, Knot should be in one of the thirteen sectors, I have here on screen..."

A number of images showed up, seven of which were cities, two towns, one a village, two more jungle and one arid desert.

"The desert, one of the jungles, four of the cities and one of the towns are almost certainly not where we'll find him...so we're looking at Keldabe, Enceri, Kyrimout, Balor'abesh, Ca'fett and the A'den Jungle."
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If you see dreadlocks and a staff coming towards you very rapidly, you're in trouble.

High Prophet Crozeus

Crozeus nodded, the Chapter had a man in every town, although not the jungle. He pulled out his comm and spoke a few words, before crossing to the window. An unmanned drone buzzed overhead, going towards the jungle. It would search the area and produce a live feed, both of visual image, heat signatures, and Force signatures. Moments later, the feeds popped up on a screen near Serratus.

"Not all our funding goes to making solid gold Chapter houses," Crozeus smiled.
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High Mage Serratus

Serratus watched the screen intently, waiting for feedback. He caught sight of numerous indigenous creaturess in the jungle and he was beginning to give up hope when the drone found something interesting. A small building with a large underground complex, home to no less than thirteen Force- and heat-signatures.

"They're in the A'den Jungle."
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If you see dreadlocks and a staff coming towards you very rapidly, you're in trouble.

High Prophet Crozeus

Crozeus nodded, he expected so. Otherwise the Chapter would have picked it up. He called for a speeder and looked to the High Mage.

"Got everything you need?"
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High Mage Serratus

Serratus nodded.

"Spin-blades to use Knot as a whetstone, crushgaunts to snap his limbs one by one and the Dark Blade to run over his skin before slicing through multiple unimportant arteries."

_________________

If you see dreadlocks and a staff coming towards you very rapidly, you're in trouble.