Star Wars: Shattered Galaxy

[PrinceOfShapeir]

With a beep, the turbolift doors slid smoothly open, revealing a small room that had visibly been heavily reinforced with durasteel beams, and by the looks of it there were concealed shield generators and various other defensive measures taken. As they filed out of the turbolift, the sense of dread and fear seemed to redouble, particularly as they moved into the room. At the end of the small room was a huge door with a control console next to it. As they moved closer to it, the insectoid Jedi Master reappeared briefly and chittered again, the red light on the console shifting to green.

Master Skzhikl turned to them. "The Vault is ready to open."

 

[blaze96]

"I suggest that all those with combat experience take the lead. Whatever is causing this fear and dread seems to be coming from there, and so those who know what they are doing should head in first. Probably at least one experienced person should take the rear though, with those of us who are more liabilities taking the middle." Prenlarr said, he wasn't about to turn back but at this point he got the sense that they really shouldn't be there. Fear and dread were a very large constant right now, and the best he could do was try to calm himself and not let it show.

Hopefully it's just this place that is causing it and not something much worse. he thought.

 

[Smagmuck_]

Knaake stepped forward. Scanning the room for any movement. There was none. Satisfied, he began to inspect the vault door for any way to open it. It was old, very old. And it actually looked like it was about to fall off it's hinges any minute. But that was only his assumption, he had no idea what state of repair it was in.

"Alright, let's crack this crypt." He said, he found what passed as a lever. He gripped it with both gloved hands and pulled down. It barely budged. He gave it a better grip and made good footing before trying again, it still didn't move. He kept trying, and it finally gave way, Knaake fell to the ground as the lever slid loose and opened the Vault.

"That's gonna leave a bruise." He said, in slight anguish.

 

[UnusualStranger]

"Noted Prenlarr. Other than the uncomfortable atmosphere, I think we have enough time for us to show some form of tactics..." Marcus said, nodding slightly to the Master as he spoke the long code to get the....Vault open. "Many thanks, Master Skzhikl. Your assistance is greatly appreciated."

"If you say that again one phrase again, I swear I am going to punch you. NEVER say something like that, because the Force has a damned sense of humor. So, avoid tempting it please. Matter of fact, maybe that bruise is a reminder of that." Marcus then said to Knaake, shifting about with his blaster in his other hand. He looked at the large door, hoping that there was nothing...unwelcoming that had found its way into the chambers. Firing a blaster down here would probably be a poor idea, especially with the artifacts that likely lingered about.

Tampering with old tech, deep underground now, going into who knows what, with some people who I barely know, and one of them just HAS to say that.

Marcus shook off the feelings that were now seeming to claw at his senses. This was no time to panic or fear. He had work to do, and things to collect, and turning back now would make him a coward, which he refused to be. Reaffirming his grip on the Holocron and the blaster, he took note of the surroundings first, wanting to make sure that there wasn't anything waiting for them as the doors began to open. He began hoping against everything that the dread was not some Sith or something. Otherwise, running like a coward was all they could do.

 

[PrinceOfShapeir]

With the sound of hydraulics squealing and the rasp of metal on the door slid back and then rolled to the side. Inside was a pristine corridor that went on for a considerable distance. And then the sense of danger redoubled. Even to their untrained senses, they could feel something, or a mass of somethings awakening from whatever chaos the opening of this Vault had caused on the surface. The lights dimmed and a massive crashing sound came from above, making the room shake and kicking up a considerable amount of dust. It seemed like a massive earthquake, but they knew what it was.

Buildings collapsing.

 

[CounterAttack]

"What in the name of..." Rec began as he snapped his head upwards to look blindly at the ceiling. "Sithspit... I am inclined to think this mission just got a lot more complicated. We should move quickly lest the entire place crush us under its weight." The game hunter was the first into the Vault, dropping to one knee and holding up his rifle to fire at anything with a Force aura that moved.

Since this was a vault belonging to the Jedi of old, it stood to reason that a lot of things inside were connected to the Force in some way. None of them appeared to be living beings, however.

 

[ultrachicken]

Rana trembled in fear momentarily as the earth seemed to shake itself apart, but regained her bearings as quickly as they had been lost. She jogged inside the vault, and despite her awe, wished nothing more than to be out of this place as quickly as possible.

Rana kept her blaster in its holster, not wishing to fire into something valuable - which was everything in this room. But what is the most valuable?

"What are we going to take?" She asked the group as she scanned up and down the room, pacing around the perimeter of its walls, "Maybe we should ask the holocron what we need most."

 

[UnusualStranger]

Marcus quickly stepped into the vault, his mind already running through the scenarios in his head as to what kind of aftershocks that the building above them collapsing would have. He at first hoped that there was a secondary lift, or otherwise it would be a long climb back up. Otherwise, they would need to dig out some in order to properly escape this place. Even then, the location might not be as stable now, meaning that they would need to run a little bit further away before they dared call in the ship.

Pausing once inside the hallway, Marcus looked about, not quite sure what to make of the considerably long hallway. One thing that was sure was that unless things began leaping through the walls, they were relatively secure.

"Rana, we are going to take anything and everything we can carry without slowing ourselves down. We don't need to consult the Holocron to do that. Lightsabers, crystals, more Holocrons, visors, robes, or anything that might be even remotely Jedi, or useful, we will be taking. And if this vault is filled to the brim with things we don't recognize, then we should probably ask it." Marcus explained, still rolling scenarios through his head about what exactly they would need to do to get off this rock.

Good thing we brought the case and cart. Otherwise, we would be lucky to be able to carry more Holocron's back, let alone anything else that might even be useful.

 

[PrinceOfShapeir]

As they examined the Vault, they could see that it was quite gigantic - the corridor they were in went on for a considerable distance, with another corridor intersecting it in the middle. To the sides were several doors with various signs - 'The Jedi Order' 'The Sith' 'Force Cults' 'The Yuuzhan Vong & Zonama Sekot' 'Stasis Chambers' and 'Maintenance'.

As they stepped inside, their helmets beeped one by one. An indicator on their HUDs stated that the air was clean and breathable.

 

[blaze96]

Prenlarr didn't exactly trust his helmet at this point, for all he knew or cared it was a malfunction at this point.

"Hmm, can I get someone to go with me to maintenance and then stasis pods. I want to make sure what my helmet is telling me is correct before we do anything." He said as he looked around.

"I'd also like to know what is being kept in the pods, see if I can't figure out what they were used for and if they are still useful." He was unnerved by the collapsing buildings but the sheer size of the vault was so overwhelming it pushed every other emotion out of the way as curiosity took over. In the back of his mind he knew he should leave, but he didn't want to at all at the moment.

 

[Smagmuck_]

"I'll go with." Joseph offered. "Something about this place is... Off. I also don't recommend taking off the helmets, the door may have been open for a few seconds, but that doesn't mean the air is clean."

He nodded at Prenlarr, the Go Signal for him to begin walking for the Stasis Pods. He looked over at the Miraluka.

"Stay here, make sure no one tries anything stupid." He said. Waiting for Prenlarr to begin walking. He didn't like being in the Vault. They were trapped under what possibly could be a destroyed building.

 

[UnusualStranger]

"Whoa whoa whoa! We are not going to be waking anything up from stasis. I would rather not wake up someone who 'seems nice', only for them to be some mad Jedi who decides it would be fun to throw us around." Marcus said, already not liking this whole idea.

"And second, we are not going to be splitting up. Why don't we next suggest each of us take a room and tamper with something? I mean, just wait a damn moment. We all go to maintenance, check we are clear, then take off these bulky hats and go check out the Jedi Order. Rather have information than some sketchy pods we know nothing about.

And....this is why I hate working in a group. Second you come across something, everyone thinks its fine, lets just grab and be on our way. That is EXACTLY when people get killed.

 

[blaze96]

"Who said anything about waking them up? I meant looking for records, seeing if they ran any experiements or tests and what the results were. I'm not about to wake anything up, just looking for information, maybe a list of who or what's in stasis if I get lucky. Besides sooner or later you need to trust at least one of us other than yourself to be competent." Prenlarr said as he began walking towards the stasis pods. Hopefully there would be a central computer he could use to get a list of what these pods were for.

 

[PrinceOfShapeir]

Before Prenlarr could reach the door into the stasis rooms, the door into the Maintenance area slid open and a droid with a battered gold shell stepped out and examined them. "Oh, dear. I am sorry for not meeting you at the door, I was loading a deuterium rod into the power core. I am L-9ER. Master Skywalker referred to me as 'Niner'. I am the chief caretaker of the Jedi Vault." The droid's mouth and eyes lit up brightly. "It is most excellent to finally see another Jedi. It has been terribly quiet down here for many years and the destruction of the surface fourty-seven standard cycles has completely halted all visitation."

 

[CounterAttack]

"One thing, Knaake," Rec answered the PURK trooper quietly, lifting the supporting hand from his rifle as he did so. "If I may be so bold, who put you in charge? I'm more than competent in the field, so... really not much sense in giving orders to people who don't really need them."

The droid that had shown itself - surprisingly functional, given its age - seemed to be friendly enough. Or at least non-hostile, and that was good enough. Rec could never tell with artificial beings; they were lifeless, less than non-sensitive. The game hunter didn't trust them for the most part.

 

[Smagmuck_]

Joseph was more perplexed by the Droid then Rec's protest.

"Is that? Oh No, not one of those things." Joseph said. "They're always so chatty, and annoying, and they get in the way of everything." He groaned. "But, I guess he could be of some use, security codes, maps, much needed information." Then it hit him.

"Wait, another Jedi?"

 

[PrinceOfShapeir]

"Yes, another Jedi. Before the planet's devastation, Jedi frequently brought artifacts of all sorts into this place, added more information into the databases, and did other things that are really beyond me. I am sorry, I will not be of much assistance to you, I'm afraid. I'm mostly just a maintainer and archiver. I can point you to what you're looking for, but most of the real information is in the database. My memory banks are already strained simply holding the names and physical descriptions of everything in these vaults."

"As far as security codes, you've already come down here, which means you're either Jedi Masters or authorized by a Master. There's no need to make you input further codes."

 

[UnusualStranger]

Marcus was prepared to step forward to tell Prenlarr this wasn't a damn lab....or it shouldn't be anyways, when the droid showed up. After it announced it's model, and it's purpose, Marcus nodded. It was about time they encountered something not trying to kill them.

"Greetings Niner. It is good to see that you have maintained your duty rather well. Is the air in this room as fresh as our suit sensors claim it to be? Outside of the vault it is quite a bit more dangerous, you understand. And...where is this database please? We are somewhat in a hurry." Marcus said politely, preferring to be friendly to a being he hoped would be able to show them a good direction.

Well, I think this just might make things a lot easier for us.

 

[blaze96]

"Hmm I guess once you are done with his request I would like to make one of my own. An inventory, at least one of material that would be considered of extreme importance to the jedi and their locations. I would also like to know what is kept in the stasis pods if it isn't much trouble." Prenlarr said, he figured Marcus had his own way of dealing with it, but Prenlarr was sure the droid already knew the answers and simply asking might yield some results. Especially if they were pressed for time, it would be quicker if the droid told them rather than searching through a computer.

 

[PrinceOfShapeir]

"One moment, please, Master." The Droid buzzed for a moment, then the Vault's door slid shut. Sound of ventilation kicked in for a few seconds, then Niner nodded. "All traces of Fex-M3d, the Rakghoul Plague, and Imperial Bioweapon 171C have been removed from the Vault. The air is being set to the optimal conditions for your racial mix - Seventy-seven percent nitrogen, Twenty-two percent oxygen, one percent a mix of Argon, Carbon Dioxide, Neon, and Helium. I've also taken the liberty of adding a bit of mujaberry scent."

Niner turned his attention to Prenlarr. "This may take some time. Could you tell me what you are looking for?" Niner's eyes blinked for several seconds after Prenlarr mentioned the Stasis pods, then he said, "I am afraid the Stasis Pods are empty. They were intended to be used in the event of a catastrophe - like the one here - but the Jedi did not make it here before they were killed. Is there anything else?"