transmission // outgoing :: @darkestshadeofgrey
all around him was the violent beauty of volcanic terrain with its pitch-black peaks and fractured calderas. but he found no peace in fragmented serenity, his attention was wholly absorbed by the jagged formation above. ren could hear it, the artifact trapped within calling to him. its voice seeped through the porous stone.
the sith only dared look away to investigate a growing ruckus behind him. cardo, his arm cannon still smoldering from recent use, approached ren with a tight grip on the prehensile neck of a squirming villager.
❝ the only one left, ❞ the knight of ren gave his prisoner a shake, ❝ thought it might know the door but can't understand a thing it says. ❞ cardo was entirely unbothered by the villager's mournful flailing as it kept looking back towards the distant pillars of smoke.
the babbling was making ren's ears itch. ❝ no need. i will find it. ❞
❝ as the ren says. ❞ a rapturous trill slid off cardo as he released his grip. the prisoner scrambled, mistaking the act as mercy. as it bolted down the uneven slope, it never saw the artillery shot that eviscerated its body.
with nothing left to kill, cardo joined kylo as he studied the terrain. ❝ it's loud, very loud. ❞ all the knights of ren were force-sensitive. they could all feel the pull of the unseen but only kylo had the strength to obey it. ❝ don't die? ❞
kylo rapped his knuckles against cardo's pauldron in assurance before embarking up the slope. there was no established trail and kylo picked his way through the serrated rocks with maddening slowness. once at the base of the formation, the sith pressed his hands against the igneous flesh, following his onerous instincts along the perimeter.
ren finally found his prize hidden in a shadow as black as the rock it cut through. it was a verticle fissure, tall enough for him to stand straight but the width of it threatened to crush him. even in the darkness, he could see where the stone twisted in angles that promised an agonizing journey.
undeterred, kylo slunk into the earthen scar. he kept his mind focused on the singularity of his mission to keep his heart from imploding against his chest. just as ren thought he could take no more, he stumbled to his knees into an empty chamber.
but his relief was short-lived. the force here stirred with something he hadn't expected. it pulsated with blood and breath as the red glow of his lightsaber reflected off the obsidian walls.
