Friday, November 24, 2017
Stars Wars Saga Adventure Path - Episdode I "The Crystalline Heart" Part 03b
As they arrived, the Mon Calamari hailed them and asked them to identify themselves and business. After the regular information was transmitted, they were allowed to dock/refuel and visits the station's amenities. The Loxley Station served Communication and Relay Station, mostly checking that satellite transmission could be relay and buffered to other such stations throughout the sector. They were assigned visitors quarters for their stay and shown a brief tour of the bar, cafeteria, and small vendor area for trade. Aryn and Lupi would stay in quarters why the rest headed to the bar.
At the bar there were two Duros space pilots and a few Mon Calamari. It seems that the majority of the station was staffed by Mon Calamari, with the rest of the individuals just stopping by to either deliver or pick up cargo, refuel, or just sit and wait for some better opportunity. Every once in a while human pilot and some Bothans would come into the bar and then leave. As Zhato Rem explained, the station also served as a meeting place for Black Sun Operatives, as it was out of sight and out of mine. It was an insignificant post amidst the darkness of space, used as a relay station mainly for ships not capable for making long jumps into Hyperspace. At this time nothing more was going on, they returned to their quarters hoping that their late companions would soon make contact.
After a dew days they began to get reckless. There was still no word on the delay. Khorrahg'ga, R-90, and Tizzit decided to head up to the observation deck "B" to speak with the commanding officer to see if there was any work to be had. Lt. Akbar, the Mon Calamari in charge of Loxley Station welcomed them. Not much was going on, but there was a report of a distress beacon in a nearby sector. Lt. Akbar told them that if they were interested they would be compensated 5,000 credits for their time and free fuel. It, was a distress beacon on a nearby mining colony that needed investigation. They had received no response and it was still transmitting. They were short staffed at the moment and if the group were to just investigate and report. It was easy money so they all agreed. As they made their way back to let Aryn know they stopped by the bar to see if they could find a local familiar with the area. L had pegged them out an introduced himself. He was a male human space, more of a vagabond that took odd jobs and wandered from port to port. His resent companions had ditched him, left his stuff in the cargo bay and just left. It seems they didn't think they were a good fit. Tizzit and Khorrahg'ga finding him trustworthy told him they did have a job and ship, and if he was interested he was welcome to join. The jump would only take five minutes to make once the calculation were entered in the ships systems. Aryn and Oshua would stay aboard the station waiting for word from the other Padawans.
The jump was simple and they made it to the mining station, it was located on the third satellite of a planet in the system. R-90 had the ship scan, but the ship's A.I. was being feisty and reminded the attractive droid that he was not that kind of ship, it was "basic sensors only". The ship attempted to contact the mining facility and there was no response, and the ship was able to easily follow the signal to the landing platform. The satellite was mostly covered in water, the atmosphere was breathable and had temperate overcast weather. The platform was accommodating enough for their little ship with a hangar and covered access area that connected to the facility which seemed to be underwater. When they landed no automated routine ran, no droids came out, no security, no communications.....nothing....it was eerie. They decided to step out and investigate. Ana would stay with the ship while everyone else made there way to the hangar. As they began to walk across the platform they noticed some movement in the water. At first it seemed not of any concern, but the creatures seemed to circle back and then swim at an accelerated speed toward the platform. L, Tizzit, and Khorrahg'ga stopped and grouped up to deal with the incoming creatures. R-90 ran toward the hangar hoping to find an access port and find out what happened. Several creature jumped out of the water and landed on the platform. These creature were insectoid in nature, and Tizzit could barely sense what they were intending....KILL....KILL....KILL. The creature looked like large aquatic fleas with very sharp claws and they scurried toward the group. As R-90 made his way toward the hangar, one of the creature landed atop of roof by the door and clicked it mandibles menacingly. R-90 decided it was best to go back to the group. As he ran back another group of these insects from the opposite side jumped onto the platform and scurried their way to the group. Tizzit and Khorrahg'ga had already been shooting them, with L revealing that he was a force user. Unlike Aryan, Wrabbler, or Talia.... L was not holding back his abilities. The unfortunate creature he encountered were flung bout and crushed by his skill with the force. Tizzit and Khorrahg'ga took not how his yellow eyes flared with each creatures death. One of Tizzit's weapons malfunctioned, and Ana came out of the ship to throw a new pistol for Tizzit to use. R-90 was almost ambushed, but he used his grapple to get himself onto the ship and away from the creatures. Ana though was an easy target and they moved in for the kill. Ana was jumped, sliced, and hacked into small pieces. Tizzit was angered, and she lead the charge to avenge Ana. Fortunately they were able to eliminate the current threat, and they decided to get aboard ship and retreat. As they left, Tizzit was mourning Ana's death, as they escaped into orbit a Galactic Naval Ship was headed their way. The ship's A.I notified them that they were locked on and being scanned. Soon they were hailed. The Galactic Naval Ship told them that they were answering a distress beacon and wanted to know why their presence was here a this mining facility. They transmitted that they were on a mission from Loxley Station to investigate the distress beacon. They were attacked by unknown creatures and had wounded and were heading back. The Galactic Ship verified there presence and allowed them to head back, while they dealt with the issue.
Coming back they need medical attention. The mining colony was overrun by unknown possible indigenous lifeforms. These creature seemed to be large aquatic insectoids of some kind. Khorrahg'ga had taken the brunt of most of the attacks, with L doing his best to fend them off. Sadly Ana was eviscerated into what could be described as chum. Lt. Akbar was sorry for their loses, and they were fortunate that a Galactic ship had answered the distress beacon. They returned to their quarters and waited for L and Khorrahg'ga to be checked out thoroughly and given a clear bill of health. Aryn had informed them that their was still no word from Padawan Talia and Wrabbler. In the evening both L and Khorrahg'ga were returned to their quarters. Meanwhile R-90 had repaired and recharge for the night. Tizzit was still at a loss for Ana, although she was bonded for her for a time ...it had allowed her to understand "Humans" better. The loss of Ana, Sam, and Nox were a new sensation to her, before she the concept that and individuals could always be replaced...but now that mindset and changed. Each individuals in unique and she thought heavily on this.
The next day cycle the group met outside by an engine port to cremate what was left of Ana's remains. A few words were said and she was incinerated and her ashes became one with space. They returned to quarters to ponder what to do next. It wasn't long until the station entered a "Red Alert", the station was being fired upon by unknown assailants. The emergency bulkheads began to close as one of the dock ships exploded, again several more hits could be heard hitting the shield. A few minutes later the stations communications announced "Attention, a Galactic Ship has fired upon the station with reason to beleive that Black Sun operatives are on board. A teams will be boarding shortly. All individuals stay within your areas until a proper inspection and sweep is done. Thank You". The group began to panic as they did not want to be involved in anymore business with the Black Son or the Galactic Senate. They check on the status of their ship, and found out that it was one of the vessels that was destroyed. R-90 hacked the video coms as well and was able to verify that their ship was destroyed and about 50 clone troopers had boarded the station. They were checking personal logs and visitor identification. They had already detained a few for questioning and assembling them in the bay.
It wasn't long before the Clone Troopers made their way to their section of the Space Station. There was no where to run and there was no way of fighting past them. They would just have to let the Troopers conduct their sweep. When the troopers and the Mon Calamari officer came to their quarters they were searched and all but L cleared. The Clone Trooper didn't even seem to notice Aryn standing in his quarters with "Lepi".
The Clone Troopers took L away and the rest of the group breathed a collective sigh of relief. Tizzit was wondering what they could do for L, the best thing they agreed upon was just to wait and watch.
L was taken to a Cargo bay were several others were being held under guard. Lt. Akbar and a Galactic Naval Officer were questioning some of the suspicious individuals they found aboard the station. The galactic Naval Officer was a clone and he was asking each individual directly if they were a member of the "Black Sun" cartel. He Naval Officer said that a ship was identified nearby a mining colony where a distress beacon was found. It seems days ago on Coruscant there was a ritual murder of one Sam, an Asogian engineer traced to that vessel. The captain and the crew were missing, and the ship was believed to have been stolen by the last surviving crew member identified as Nox Phyre. It seems Nox and Sam were last identified working for the Coruscant labor board, but never checked in. A Zero the Hutt had been most cooperative, revealing to authorities the going on at the Barbary Coast and that several members of of the Black Sun Cartel had some unscrupulous dealings.... and Zero gave information on the ship and its crew showing what a reformed individual he was (In truth Zero was just clearing out his rivals and establishing himself as the true ruler the of Dollatre Sector).
All of the individuals bough for questioning were indeed cartel members, as most were branded with identifying marks. When the questioned L, he used the force to convince the naval officer that there was nothing linking him to the Black Sun and he was allowed to leave. Fortunately for him the Force was strong with him that day. Lt. Akbar accompanied the Clone Troopers and Naval Officers to issue a formal complaint at their use of excessive force. His second was left in command of the station until he could return..
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