OMAKE: Precognition of Coming Horror
Diana Tarkin The niece of Wilhuff Tarkin felt…troubled. Ever since the recent pirate attack she felt this uneasy feeling of coming doom as if an invisible voice whispered in her mind furiously that something terrible is coming and must be stopped or all is lost.
Which was odd for her, she made a reputation of taking down most dangerous beasts and she herself fought hardcore criminals before she could say confidently that she held no fear about the recent wannabe pirates that dared to attack Eriadu and yet….she felt like this Uncanny Valley sense like a prey instinctively feeling about the coming of a predator which surprised her, outraged her and for once for after long scared her.
Diana Tarkin never felt scared for so long, worried and the adrenaline in trying to save her own life when facing dangers yes but ... .scared in a truly existential way no less.
It both perplexed and frustrated her to no end, hating that she is feeling like a prey when she of all people made a reputation in slaying mighty beasts. Did not matter….she rather fight for Eriadu than waste time as some royal pet in the Core, even her own Uncle knew she was being wasted in the Core and had to come help him in the defense of their world.
Little did she know…it was going to become even worse.
ORSF guards found a strange nonhuman that seemingly tried to infiltrate, even more bizarre the nonhuman showed resistance as if she planned to get captured.
Diana leaning forward, arms crossed analyzing the nonhuman in front of her cuffed in this interrogation room, she could tell it was near-human though not of any known type in Eriadu database with a blue skin and striking red eyes, this nonhuman wanted to be taken and she had to know why "Let's start with why you were hiding in the Outer Rim Security Force. What were you doing there?"
The nonhuman did not look at Diana, her voice steady and cold "I was gathering information. The galaxy is not as safe as it once was, Tarkin."
"Is that why you disguise yourself as a human? To gather intel without drawing attention?"
"Yes. But the threat I uncovered is beyond your current understanding."
Diana raised an eyebrow "Try me. I've taken down criminals and beasts and saw some crazy kriff in my time. I think I can handle a little intel."
The nonhuman finally meets Diana's gaze with a serious expression "What I speak of is not to be taken lightly. It is a force that even the Celestials feared so much they erected the galactic barrier."
Diana scoffed, but she felt an undercurrent of tension "Celestials? That's a myth. You expect me to believe that's what you uncovered?"
The nonhuman, her tone still cool as ice continued "My name is difficult for your kind to utter. But what I say is true. The barrier exists for a reason, Tarkin."
"And what would your name be?"
"Th'mara'kth'u"
Diana doubled over and said "Say that again?"
"Th'mara'kth'u"
Diana registered that name and tried spelling it under the lips "Uh huh… that is a difficult name, I'm just gonna call you Marakh if you don't mind." She leaned in closer, "You're saying something worse than the Pirates is coming?"
Marakh shook her head "Not merely worse. An entity that infects life and torments sadistic pleasures. The galaxy is shifting. Can you not feel it?"
Diana bristled "Feel what? You think I'm going to fall for some old horror story?"
Marakh slightly raised her eyebrow "You are Force Sensitive. You have felt it, haven't you? The dread creeping on your thoughts, whispering that something is amiss?"
Diana tightens her jaws not liking that this being seems to presume in knowing her "I've fought beasts that can tear through durasteel. I fear nothing."
"Yet your resolve weakens. Not even the strongest warrior is free from fear—only those who refuse to acknowledge it." There was judgement, no jeer, no mockery no it was something even more infuriating for the Tarkin. Pity.
She stood abruptly, stepping back from the table, her mind racing. "Quit playing games with me! This is just a ploy to rattle me."
The nonhuman watched her with unwavering poise "Is it a game if the end is inevitable? The clouds of darkness gather, Tarkin."
" I won't let a bunch of fabricated horror smuggler stories shake me. I'll find the truth one way or another." She turned to leave.
Marakh gives one last warning before she leaves "Remember, it is not I who has to convince you. That dread you feel—it is not a choice. It is merely the truth waiting to be acknowledged. Destroy the pirates, it is there somewhere in their ships before those fools unleash the doom of the galaxy."
Those words made Diana pause at the door, her breath hitching as she struggled to suppress her anxiety, but those words echoed in her mind. She exits the room, leaving Th'mara'kth'u in the shadows, unfazed.
She stood frozen in the center of her childhood home, the familiar walls warped and breathing with a life of their own. Shadows crawled along the surfaces, whispering secrets that sent shivers down her spine. No longer the sanctuary of her youth, the air was thick with a palpable dread—liquid evil that seemed to seep from every crack, its suffocating embrace wrapping around her like a shroud.
Everywhere she looked, the land outside her window was a tempest of decay. Fields that once thrived were now horrid reflections of themselves, suffocated by creeping darkness. The flora twisted grotesquely, their once vibrant colors drained, replaced by a ghastly palette of ashen grays and sickly greens. She could hear the distant echoes of suffering—horrid, pained cries of the living, mingling with the hiss of something… malignant.
As she stepped toward the window, a chill ran through her. Below, the streets of Eriadu were in chaos. People, Animals, Plants; all living beings writhing on the ground, their skin bubbling with necrotic growths, crystalline formations protruding grotesquely from their flesh. It was a plague unlike anything she had witnessed—crystals sprouting from within, feeding on the life force of their hosts, growing ever larger in a macabre display of parasitic joy.
"No!" Diana screamed, her voice swallowed by the darkness. She felt an overwhelming compulsion to help, yet every step she took toward the door was met with the impenetrable weight of despair. The walls whispered her name, urging her to remain, but she fought against the tide of anguish.
Flashes of the impending horror invaded her mind—an eruption from beneath the surface of the planet, a surge of sickly green and black, like a vivid nightmare from which there was no escape. The ground itself was infected, bubbling and churning, festering with the Mnggal-mnggal, the spirit of cosmic malevolence that delighted in suffering and cruelty. It fed on fear, infecting all it touched, laughter echoing in the void—a cacophony of delight derived from torment.
In her madness, she stumbled across a vision—a sight so terrible it gripped her heart with icy fingers. An endless wave of crystal-like growths surged through the landscape. It glowed with an unnatural light, pulsating as if it were alive, a sentient force eager to engulf everything in its path. As the crystalline structures multiplied, they erupted from the bodies of the fallen, tearing flesh and bone, a horrific transformation that left behind the lifeless husks of those she had once known.
"No more!" she shouted, gripping her head in desperation. The echoes of laughter filled her ears, and she stumbled as if the very ground was trying to drag her into its abyss.
The images flickered, and for a moment, she glimpsed her uncle, Wilhuff Tarkin, the stoic man whose face twisted in agony, his ambitions swallowed by the encroaching tide of darkness. Eriadu was lost; it lay at the mercy of a force borne from the depths of the cosmos, one that revealed its dominion over life and the despair it wrought.
Desperate for escape, Diana turned to flee, but the walls began to close in, threatening to consume her in their suffocating embrace. "Wake up! Wake up!" she screamed, fighting against the liquid tendrils of evil that sought to ensnare her.
With a jolt, she awoke in her quarters, her heart pounding in a frenzy. The nightmare clung to her mind, haunting her thoughts. She sat up, gasping for breath, the chilling reality clawing at her insides, whispering unrelenting dread that what she had seen was not merely a figment of her imagination but a glimpse of a nightmare that awaited the galaxy.
She…had to warn everyone! Her uncle first! She doesn't care if anyone thinks she is crazy, it must be destroyed and she will do anything to make sure of that, or else Eriadu and the galaxy would be doomed!
