Star Wars: Shattered Galaxy

[UnusualStranger]

Marcus grinned upon hearing about the mask, noting the similar features it had without needing to cover his entire head. Not that he would need such a thing on the planet anyways as the suit he would need to get would cover all of that.

"Laminanium improvements for my armor would be quite nice." Marcus said, looking over the rest of the weapons, noting the vibroblades didn't match his own, meaning he would be fine with his. The blaster pistols, and the beam cutter would do the job as well. However, the offer of actual shields in the area they were going sounded like a nice dream.

"These....are amazing. I think I will have to give my compliments to the Admiral. This is some very nice stuff, and will be quite helpful in keeping us alive." Marcus said, picking up his personal shield and attaching it to his other arm so as to not have his comlink and his shield in the same spot.

All these upgrades, all these armaments, and we got an engineer along for the ride. This might actually work. Don't know what the other teams had, but this might ACTUALLY work....as long as we don't have idiots using explosives and big guns. THAT would kill us all.

"Thanks for the demo of the beam splitters and shields, Garon. All I need now is to reinforce a HAZMAT suit for myself to make it tough and easy moving, and I think everything will be settled here....oh, almost forgot, going to need a good case or collapsible cart or....something that would allow me to grab a few things."

 

[PrinceOfShapeir]

"That shouldn't be a problem, gov. We don't keep 'em here, though, but I'll call down to the hangars, let them know to load one aboard. And it's -cutter-, not splitter. Beam splitters are something else entirely. Usually see them in ACP weaponry. The shuttle's waiting for you down in Hangar Bay Nine."

Down in hangar bay nine, a lone, long-range shuttle was waiting - Hawkbat, one of the new Onith-class shuttles. As had become ubiquitous with Kuat-Sienar Systems designs, it maintained three broad wings. In this case, the lower two folded back, forming landing skids for the shuttle, with the main body a broad rectangle with a narrow half-pyramid forming the cockpit. As had also become ubiquitous with Kuat-Sienar systems, it was obviously not designed to be pretty. Within were a few techs loading gear aboard, the pilots waiting outside the ship - one a Quarren of indeterminate gender, the other a Bith male, both in black flightsuits.

 

[blaze96]

Prenlarr had changed into his new outfit, a patch from graveyard station quickly attached to the arm his armor. As far as he was concerned he was still an engineer for graveyard station at this point. It had been home, and would serve as a constant reminder for why exactly he was going along with this. The patch would be secure, but if he ever needed to change armors he could easily take it off and switch it out onto the new armor.

He walked into the bay with the beam cutter and other new items he had gained from the armory in their proper place. Once he saw the shuttle they would be taking he quickly ran a small eye inspection before he could get a closer look of the outside.

Well it is most certainly state of the art compared to what I usually see. Hopefully once inside I can get a somewhat closer look.

He decided while he waited for the others that he would walk around the outside of the shuttle. Getting as close of a look as he could.

"Amazing piece of work you two have. Between this and the Liberation it is clear why Kuat rose to such prominence." He said as he continued his own small inspection.

 

[UnusualStranger]

"Thanks Goran. Appreciate all the help and supplies. Now, if you will excuse me, I need to go pick up something before we can take off. Take care Goran." Marcus said, looking over everything

Well....fully armed, shuttle is ready to go, and all I need to do is pick up that Holocron and we should be ready to start moving. Here is to hoping I don't have to tell someone to drop what they are trying to take out of the ship. Going to be a hell of a task if they want to take their heavy blaster rifle out and shoot at turrets or droids.

Finishing the upgrades, and finding that nothing else really seemed to interest him with his blasters armed, his blade ready, and his suit now going to be upgraded with some new type of plating, it was time to go check out the shuttle. Collecting the Beam Cutter, the case which was necessary to use the tool later, Marcus made his way to the hanger.

Arriving at Hanger Bay Nine, Marcus took a good look around, noting any of the other shuttles and spacecraft in the area. Walking over to where Prenlarr had gone, he assumed that was the one they had been given to do their task. Placing the mask he had been given on and testing the visor modes, Marcus gave off a sigh, seeing there was little to do until the others were done with their equipment needs. He glanced at Prenlarr as he commented on the ship, and continued looking over everything he had collected, pulling out each blaster, examining his mask, even looking over his vibroblade.

And now, nothing to do but wait, and hope they don't get bloated heads and grab grenades and high powered weaponry...

 

[PrinceOfShapeir]

Spoiler: OOC

If no one has any objections, I'm going to move us forward. We're dragging our feet here.

 

[Smagmuck_]

<spoiler=OOC>Whenever you're ready.

 

[PrinceOfShapeir]

Within an hour, the group was assembled aboard the Hawkbat, the pilots running final equipment checks in the cockpit. Admiral Cath stood in front of the ramp, addressing them.

"I wish there was more I could give you to help, but I think you've got everything I could give. When you get to Coruscant, the pilots will handle informing the Aullanger and taking you down. Once you're landed though, they'll take off and return to orbit to wait for your signal. Aside from that, all I can say is good luck. If something goes wrong, Liberation and my battlegroup will still be here and will be within a few minutes jump of the system." She stepped off the ramp, then turned and saluted them. "Good luck, Jedi."

The ramp slid closed, and a minute later the shuttle lifted and shot out the hangar, leaping into hyperspace.

Eleven minutes later, they emerged from Hyperspace into high orbit over Coruscant. The once glorious city-world was now a ball of dull gray with thick brown clouds, the vibrant lights and lines of the city now extinguished into the cold of a dead world.

In the distance, a small gray dot could be seen, somehow distinct from the stars around it. With sensors, or high powered scopes one could see that it was the Kuati Frigate Aullanger.

 

[UnusualStranger]

Marcus rose from where he sat, already in his suit, prepared for landing within the minute. He had felt them fall out of hyperspace, which meant they were at Coruscant. Which meant the moment where he would either become a legend or another dead salvager would become apparent. He wasn't going down there like the rest though. He was going down there to the Jedi temple to not loot for cash, he was down there to really find out what this Jedi business was about, and if he really was meant to be one.

Good luck, Jedi. Hah...Never thought that would be directed at me. What is going on in the galaxy?

"Alright ladies and gents, you do know how to deal with this type of environment, right? Please tell me now so I know if I need to give you a crash course or not on how to deal with working in a wreck." Marcus said, looking around without his helmet on for the moment. He hefted the Beam Cutter, testing his grip and weight in the suit, and was satisfied at his maneuverability. Setting it back down, he quickly began hoping that no one had foolish ideas about bringing along frag grenades or other nonsense. That would mean that some of them had zero experience, which did not improve his chances of coming back alive.

 

[CounterAttack]

Rec looked over at Marcus, having elected not to don the helmet of his new enviro-suit either. He didn't like his current position; he had had to exchange his regular armour for the armoured suit that had been provided, and he had no knowledge of its defensive capabilities. He doubted that the enviro-suit, though it had armour plating over the top of the sealed undersuit, was capable of stopping fire in the same way as his trusted armour. In addition, not having the armour Rec regularly wore deprived him of his vibroblades, which could be a problem if a situation turned violent. He would have to rely on his pistol and sniper rifle to get by, both of which were secured in a holster and a strap respectively.

"I know nothing of working in ruins and similar environments," he answered the Nautolan. "That crash course, as you put it, could be of some use, should you have need of my assistance." The game hunter envisioned himself providing the services of a guard while Marcus and a few of the others searched for... whatever it was they were looking for. There were the crystals, of course, but there might be something more that the Jedi Temple had to offer. More holocrons, perhaps, or some other source of information to help the small band along with mastering use of the Force.

 

[blaze96]

Prenlarr had been in full suit since he had stepped aboard the shuttle. He looked at the patch on his arm of graveyard station.

I guess I'm a jedi now, or at least a jedi in training. Still an odd thing to get used to.

"I myself have never worked in ruins, but Graveyard was enough of a primer. A tip to everyone here who has never been inside of a crumbling wreck before. Be careful in everything you do. You never truly know what is stable and what is just about to give way. Even something as simple as clearing a path could lead to any number of problems." He knew it was bare bones, but he had known a few people who had died because of some falling object when an engineer was in the crawlspaces of Graveyard. It had always been a reminder to every single one of them that even though they lived and worked there every day, they were still in a dis-repaired space station that was falling apart around them.

 

[Smagmuck_]

Joseph stood where he was. He felt the weight of the entire suit on his body. Especially the weight of the air tanks in his pack on his back. He heard Marcus ask his question on weather or not any one had any experience working with wreckage. Oh, if only Joseph had the time to tell his story. He knew what not to do, don't use any explosives unless deemed necessary, don't shoot wildly at anything; and most of all, watch where you step. He felt confident he made his choice in Equipment, a good set of EMP Grenades, and a scoped Blaster.

Jedi. Funny, we're not even training yet and we're being treated like we're some almight force.

Joseph chose to keep to himself during this flight. He didn't wan to cause any altercations with any other party member unless he absolutely had to. He began looking over the others, visually inspecting their gear for any faults. Rana's looked good, as did Rec's and Marcus's, Prenlarr's looked a little off. Knaake stood up and approached him. Without saying a word, Joseph began to manually inspect Prenlarr's Suit. A loose clamp that was holding the tank pack to the suit. He quickly tightened it and gave Prenlarr an "Good to Go" tap on his shoulder. He noticed the Graveyard Station patch. Some people were sentimental.

 

[UnusualStranger]

Marcus shrugged, finding the "no" and "yes" kind of showing what he was going to be working with. With a sigh, he figured he would build off of what Prenlarr said.

"Alright, Prenlarr has the general idea right. Don't use anything explosive unless you are willing to have nearby buildings collapse around you. Don't go just shooting at things, even if it is just with a blaster pistol. This place hasn't been maintained, and relatively untouched, meaning that it might just need a tiny push to bring everything crashing down." Marcus explained, looking at everyone to make sure they were at least awake.

"And watch your step. Stay away from edges, or places that look like something crashed into it, or just questionable areas in general. While we might make good money from something grabbed, won't do you any good if your weight is enough to make the floor collapse from under you. Simply put, don't go wandering off, don't go knocking down things that you don't know what they are connected to, and don't just start shooting unless you got damn good reason. Otherwise, just pay attention, don't go touching everything at once, and don't shoot unless you know what you are hitting." Marcus finished, wishing he could go into some form of detail, but that would bring up questions that he felt really didn't have the time to explain it all.

Sitting down now, Marcus took a deep breath, somewhat excited to actually be going to this legend of a planet, to a legendary place, to collect legendary artifacts to USE. It was obviously not just another salvage job, but he would need to treat it as one. Especially if he wanted to make sure he got out of there without being crushed...or shot.

 

[blaze96]

"One more little rule from my end. Maintain a safe distance from each other. Sometimes an area will collapse if the balance of weight is shifted too much. if we all stand close to each other we stand a better chance of making a weakened floor buckle by putting more weight on a single point. This isn't a building meant to have tens or hundreds of people crammed in a relatively small space anymore. It is a ruin that might barely be able to support its own weight. Oh, and if you can help it don't lean on anything because you might shift something."

Prenlarr added, again imparting knowledge from his schooling and experience.

Hopefully somebody will listen to an engineer about structural integrity. he thought.

He checked his beam cutter to make sure it was securely fastened with the rest of his equipment, the last thing he needed was anything loose on his person.

 

[ultrachicken]

Rana was getting impatient, excited to get exploring, but also nervous about the dangers that the group would face once it reached the surface. She gripped the bracers on her forearms tightly, testing their fit, and then placed her palms on either side of her legs, prepared to push herself up and begin walking.

"Unless anyone has more advice, I think we should get going," she suggested worriedly, "No telling how much time we have before the sith realized they missed a spot back on graveyard."

 

[PrinceOfShapeir]

"We're making our approach now." The Bith said. "We should be touching down in ten minutes, assuming we can find a safe landing zone near the Temple. Standby."

The shuttle began it's descent, passing through the layer of grey clouds, and a second later Coruscant was laid out to them, the broken and desolate remnants of the once-proud center of galactic civilization. The great towers were dilapidated and filthy, and in many points the outer shells had fallen or been torn off, revealing the metal skeletons. Here and there, towers had fallen, their death leaving a swath of destruction. But up ahead, they could see the great tower of the Jedi Temple, still mostly intact.

Mostly. Two of the side towers had fallen into the abyss, and the whole structure was worn, obviously in no great shape.

"Doesn't look like there are any safe landing places near the Temple. We'll keep the shuttle on repulsors and lower you as far as we can without causing significant risk, then you'll have to hop out the back. Shouldn't be further than a meter or two. Good luck in there."

 

[UnusualStranger]

"Thanks. You took a look around at least. We'll take the jump from here. Just be sure to be on the lookout for us. Place starts being a little unstable, and we'll want to be out of there ten minutes before." Marcus said, snapping his helmet into place. This was it. The drop.

"Meter is a little farther than I would like to jump, but can't be picky. Should be stable enough." Marcus muttered to himself, standing and grabbing a Beam Cutter for himself, giving it a last testing grip before he was sure he was prepared. Then he took a look around waiting for everyone else to put their helmets on before finally pushing the button to get the door opened, and gazed downward.

Plenty stable enough. Good spot, I'll have to give em my compliments when we manage to get back...

Giving a reassuring nod to the others, Marcus jumped down, landing with a thud he was all too familiar with. With no time to stand around, he took a few steps forward to be clear for the others to jump down.

And...here....we....go.

 

[Smagmuck_]

Joseph thought to himself. The last time he had been on a drop similar to this was during his last Tour of Duty. When the rape of Iziz occurred. Knaake suddenly got flashbacks, he remembered during the last few days of his deployment he and a squad had been dispatched to a sealed bunker in Iziz on Onderon. They were tasked with breaching the Royal Bunker and deal with the Royal Family and their guards. Knaake remembered things to the detail. He stood from his seat on the Shuttle.

It had began raining on that day. Joseph and a Squad of seven other PURK troops had been sent to the remains of what used to be a Palace. Three days ago, the city had been gassed and bombarded with several different chemical agents. The entire street leading up to the Palace was littered with the dead. Guards, Women, Children. All dead. Their bodies had begun to bloat. And the rain seemed to be pouring down harder. Knaake and the rest of the squad pounded up the steps of the Palace, they kept an eye on their six as they ascended. They entered the open building. It was dark, really dark. The power had died. Joseph and the rest of the squad searched the building. There had been Guards, but they died at their posts. Loyal bastards.

They found the bunker after about twenty minutes of searching. It was one big circular door with the family crest on it. It was a very big give away. They began setting up charges, smooth and silent, not a single man said a word. Knaake was tasked with setting up the charges themselves on the door. He put clumps of it on the door hinges, the locking mechanism and the door key pad for good measure. Another trooper slipped wiring into them and a third wired up the detonator. After about thirty seconds, they had finished and taken cover around a corner. The squad leader pressed the trigger and a tremendous explosion shook the building to it's foundation. Bits of debris flew past the corner at tremendous velocity. As soon as the dust settled, the Troopers rushed in. There were screams and shouting what guards there were, quickly surrendered and were shot several times for their trouble. They found the Royal Family, and elderly man, his wife, their adult children and their grand children. Joseph pulled the old man to his feet, but not without trouble.

The old man grabbed a blaster from his fallen guards and shot him. The Blaster round was absorbed into the armor. Joseph snapped the bones in the man's hands and shoved him back to the ground. Looks like it was gonna be here. Joseph pulled his PBT-82C and pointed it at the old man, almost in Sync with the rest of the Squad.

The was a drawn out burst of Blaster fire, and Knaake and the rest of the squad emerged from the Bunker. Joseph, unlike the rest of the squad walked out with regrets. Joseph knew this was going to stick with him for the rest of his Military Career and his life. They left the building and climbed aboard the shuttle to get back to the Star Destroyer.

Joseph snapped out of his flash back, he was standing at the edge of the platform. Now or never. Joseph placed those Memories in the back of his head and stepped off the edge like he had done on that rainy day in Iziz. He felt weightless for a mere second and then he hit the ground, his legs nearly buckling under him. His Motion Sensor showed all clear. Odd. He stepped up next to Marcus and visually surveyed the building. He switched behind normal and Thermal several times to see if it was clear.

 

[blaze96]

I guess it is now or never. Time to reach my full potential...I guess.

With that Prenlarr was at the edge of the shuttle. He checked to make sure all his equipment was secured one last time before jumping off. He landed and stumbled a bit before catching himself and starting to look around him.

"It is obvious this place has seen better times." He said more to himself than anyone else. The place still held an eery beauty. It was a place that progress had forgotten for quite some time now, it was almost a time capsule. He couldn't help but want to see all of it. So many puzzles just waiting for an answer, so much that had been lost just waiting to be figured out.

It may very well have been that this planet would have been the ultimate place for his people should it still be habitable. It was a massive puzzle that even the best of his people couldn't solve for generations, if not for complexity than for sheer number.

 

[CounterAttack]

This was it. The first real step on the path to becoming a proper Jedi. The thought both excited and scared Rec, though he showed neither on his face as he stepped up to the edge of the shuttle. He paused momentarily to take stock of the ground below before he leaped off, rolling as he hit the ground to kill any remaining momentum.

Springing up from the ground to stand properly, Rec immediately pulled out his rifle and checked it for any damage as a result of the roll. Seeing none, as was usually the case, he flicked the safety off and kept hold of it. It was better to be safe than sorry, particularly in a situation where something could damage one's enviro-suit and thus expose them to whatever was lingering on the dead city-planet.

 

[UnusualStranger]

Marcus found himself grinning as he looked about, the city spread before him, even if it was in it's dangerous cloudy glory. Chances are if this could be an official operation like he had worked once or twice before, the area would be absolutely swarmed with dropships as workers would take anything and everything to put it on the ships to be shipped off, recycled, and reused.

Never would be the case here, unless they could find a way to clear away all this bad air, and leave it for a generation for the stuff to not be soaked into everything.

"Alright, ladies and gents, lets get moving. Don't lag behind, but don't be hugging each other, cause even if the ground took that impact doesn't mean it will be that nice everywhere." Marcus announced, starting his slow walk towards the somewhat fallen Jedi Temple. Truthfully, he was surprised how good it looked even now. Everywhere around it seemed to be in worse shape, but for some reason the simplicity of the Jedi Temple kept most of the decay off of it.

Or its the Force, and the second we step into the thing we disturb it and set something off.

Keeping his eyes and head constantly looking about, Marcus began the slow walk to the entrance, making sure that he didn't happen to strike anything that was weaker, or that there was nothing in danger of falling around him at an inopportune moment. Which was much more likely, the way things just always seemed to be crumbling.

"See anything worthwhile yet? Because I think so far the most intact thing here is the temple, lucky for us." Marcus said, just trying to break the absolute dead silence the city offered. He couldn't shake the feeling that there was simply something wrong here. Kind of like Graveyard station, but yet not. At least there had been people there. This was just....dead.