Diplomacy All That Remains

[Jyoti Nooran]

(This thread is open to all Great River faction members, as well as guests who signed up at the discussion thread here.)

The Oswaft race is now going through a period of great upheaval. Threatened by the encroachment of the Sith Empire and the Bryn'adul hordes on either side of their home nebula, and increasing pirate raids for their valuable space gems, many Oswaft have made the momentous decision to relocate from the Outer Rim to a new nebula located within a neutral sector of the Deep Core. The genocidal campaign of the original Galactic Empire still remains within living memory of much of the population, and they wish to avoid a similar fate with current hostile powers. The Deep Core region is much closer to more friendly factions, and the space provides natural defenses against attack. With the blessing of the Senior Elder of the Oswaft, thousands have already made their way the new Nebula, seeding the space in advance of a mass migration of millions more.

However, as a reclusive species, a divide has emerged as a significant portion of more conservative members of the population currently refuse to leave the ThonBoka Nebula. Chief among their motivations for remaining is the Cave of Elders, a massive artificial gem structure that holds near religious significance to the Oswaft, forged over the course of eons. Carefully lodged within the competing orbits of three dwarf stars at the center of the nebula, the rather fragile structure was never meant to be moved out of their gravitational grip, much less across the galaxy.

Desiring to keep the Oswaft together as one, the Senior Elder has requested outside help to convince his conservative counterparts to leave the ThonBoka Nebula. Another important task is assisting the Oswaft in devising a method to relocate the Cave of Elder intact through a long hyperflight voyage.

Objectives:

• A: Speak with the leading members of the conservative remainer movement (lead opposition NPCS controlled by me) to convince them to leave the ThonBoka Nebula for a new home in Deep Space. All those interested in assisting in diplomatic efforts should board the courier Apollian, which will then transport them to the Cave of Elders for discussion.
• B: Lacking the ability to craft complex tools on their own, Oswaft engineers are seeking help to figure out the means to safely move the Cave of Elders from the gravitational pull of the three suns, and then transport the gem structure to the Deep Core. Participants can interact with each other and Oswaft engineers (feel free to write them on your own) in and around the space station Beldon with their own vessels.
• C: While quite gifted in both physical and mental capabilities, the Oswaft lack formal military training necessary for future conflicts. Experienced fleeters are encouraged to help the Oswaft learn tactics and strategy in naval combat, and to help develop new combat drones tailored for their use.
• D: In the effort to seed the new nebula, help the Oswaft collect and catalog local fauna for transport.

Special NPC Objective:

• To raise public awareness and support for the plight of the peaceful Oswaft, the independent holo media company Curiosity Broadcast continues its long-running documentary series, Interstellar, the latest episode focusing on the Oswaft colonization operation as well as the spaceborne fauna unique to the Thonboka Nebula. Every so often, NPC Curiosity reporters will appear to interview PCs participating in the thread and showcase different elements of the ThonBoka Nebula.

Spoiler

Allyson Locke , Jerec Asyr , Xzaien , Caedyn Arenais, BB-4001X , Kelsie Sylvan , Junko Ike , Lucien Dooku , Salamander , Amea Virou , Gir Quee , ADM. Reshmar , Taiia Locke

 

[Jerec Asyr]

Well Jerec Asyr had a plan and some gear
And total disdain for the regs
His goals were to save all the Oswaft held dear
And take the Sith down a few pegs

Sixteen ganker limpets to hijack the Cave
With struct'ral integrity fields
Inertial reductors and tensors and tape
And all that an outlaw tech wields

He worked alongside that notorious crew
Of heroes and scum from afar
Young Vyri the killer, Amea Virou
Stood firm as a cold neutron star

And Ay Ge and Lucien Dooku the same
These cubs with their doonium grins
And Quekko's berth empty, the Jedi to blame
A reckoning owed for their sins

But when they were called, in good faith they all came
And summoned their friends far and wide
For never shall free spacers fall to the shame
Of leaving the helpless behind

From "Ballad of the Oswaft," attributed to Connory, the so-called Bard of the Hyperlanes. (May be apocryphal: Connory presumed dead circa 858ABY.)

Jyoti Nooran

 

[Nova Casamyr]

Location: Aboard Oasis
Objective: B - attach an extra fuel tank to Oasis
In conjunction with: BB-4001X, Jerec Asyr , and any others working on moving a giant hunk of matter across the galaxy. In one piece. Safely.

Nova hummed a tune to herself as she stepped off the deck of the port-side bay and into space below, tether to Oasis and an additional cable trailing just behind her. She had heard some of the other spacers earlier singing the words to the tune, but she couldn't quite remember them. The melody was catchy enough. Naturally, the earworm had become firmly lodged in her brain and wouldn't leave. But singing to herself helped with the overwhelming silence of a spacewalk.

That wasn't quite accurate. Space was silent. But inside a spacesuit? Not so much. There was one thing, ever present, that you can hear in a spacesuit: yourself. The noises a person made in a suit were the normal sounds a body produces all the time. Except that there was no ambient noise to drown out the body noise. Sounds like breathing, blinking, lip smacking were among the least disturbing. Pay attention just enough and Nova could faintly hear her blood sloshing through her veins. She shivered just thinking about the idea of the sound. Pay attention too closely and plenty of newbie spacewalkers drove themselves insane. But Nova was born and grew up in space. She had had long since learned to cover up the things she didn't want to hear with more pleasant sounds, like singing, whistling, humming, or just plain speaking. Nova considered herself lucky that she enjoyed the sound of her own voice.

Floating there, maneuvering thrusters fired on the back of her spacesuit, propelling her toward a large tank suspended just beneath the starboard bay. This was no ordinary spacewalk though. She was in the middle of a nebula. Gas was accompanied by organic material and creatures capable of surviving in a vacuum. As she grew closer to the tank, she wondered if the creatures living in the nebula had to listen to their own bodily functions or if there was enough ambient space noise for them to filter everything out. Did they even hear the way planet-born organics did?

Questions that would have to wait. Nova triggered the comm. "Approaching the tank," she stated, her voice being carried back up the tether directly to her crew aboard Oasis. "Once we get this attached, we'll be able to carry enough fuel to support our limpet all the way from here to the Deep Core." In her hand, she attached the clamp attachment for the port-side landing claw to the correlating side of the tank. "First cable secure. Moving to the other side." Keeping a firm hold of the tank, Nova crawled along its surface to the other side until she could clearly make out the interior of the starboard-side bay. "Ok. In position. Soft-fire the starboard claw." She waited for the cable to be within reach. "All of this is gonna be for nothing though if we don't figure out a way to attach those limpets to the superstructure. Any thoughts on that Beebee?"

 

[Xzaien]

The Hegemon, has heard the pleas of the Oswafts. Their message being heard by the Hegemony's peoples. All across Cathay, the people were awash with a need to give. A need to help the less fortunate of the Galaxy. They have heard the call of the Oswafts, their fear of the Bryn'Adul. The mortal enemies of the Hegemony. And the Sith Empire, unwilling to compromise with their beliefs of a safe galaxy for all those deemed needed. A shameful display, not only of the Sith's ability for uneeded cruelty. But for their inaction against the Bryn'Adul. A sad prospect.

The 'Cathay Rahtai' the flagship of the Autocrat herself. One of only three known ships of its class has reportedly disembarked the current garrisoning of newly acquired nuclear wasteland known as Avidich. And seemed to have arrived on Cathay with a call to arms for its civilian workers. A quote of 200,000 Workers and Engineers of all types to help facilitate the relocation of the Oswafts away from the major fighting of the Galaxy. Even though the Hegemony has only been heard about in whispers from the Chiss Ascendancy. All rumors were to be answered. The Autocrat herself, along with three of her twenty Space Marine Divisions consisting of the 'Sons of Xzeench' 'Blood Marines' and the 'Ravager Marines' have been embarked to assist the Oswafts by any means possible. Alongside an offering of gifts and supplies to help make the transition from the Outer-Rim to Inner Core as painless as possible. Alongside her vaunted Space Marines, the Autocrat had chosen to arrived with two-thousand Catharian Psychers. Renowned for their power in both the Light and Dark aspects of the Force. A detachment, of 10,000 Army Troops have also been slated to arrive as well. Loaded to the brim with Humanitarian supplies and Combat Engineers. Also, Three of the Twenty Progenitor Sons and Daughters of Xzaien were slated for arrival. Lord Commander Relian Dorn, Commander of the 'Sons of Xzeench' and the eldest among the Twenty Chosen. Lady Commander Xenas Requsita of the 'Blood Marines' and the famed Praetorian of Cathay, Deriun Augustus, Lord of the Ravager Marines. Beings of power derived from Xzaien herself. Demi-Gods among men, ready to serve the Oswafts.

As Xzaien's flagship hyper-space jumped into System. A collective sense of unease would follow as the massive Black and Red hulk of a ship approached the rudimentary Space Station which hovered miles above the surface. With fighting going on, only a few star systems away with Bryn;'Adul and Sith fighters. A collective call has been given to Xzaiens Troops. Defend the Oswafts at all costs. Perhaps if the Bryn'Adul chose to invade now, they would be met with Legion after Legion of Space Marines, and Army Troopers. The Oswafts could consider themselves... well-protected in their endeavor. If the Catharians were as battle-hardened and experienced as the whispers would leave them to be. Then they would have nothing to fear. The many hangars of the Cathay Rahtai were seen opening, and dispensing with a great many of Landing Craft, and Cargo Vessels loaded down with supplies who made headway down onto the surface.

Relian Dorn was the first to announce the Catharian Arrival in-system to on Planet. A glittering god of a man, clad in the finest power armor ever created by Catharian hands. The man himself was a White-Haired Giant who echoed with throes of power, and force of will. His armor decorated with ancient battles, and the heraldry of the Catharian Hegemony. A magnificent sight for the uninitiated. On his face, he bore the expression of determination, and spoke with words straight, concise, and to the point.

"This is Lord Commander Relian Dorn, Catharian Navy detachment, T94-22. People of the Oswafts, the Hegemony has arrived."

The fanfare of such a figure was suddenly stopped as a small landing craft exited from the bowels of the Cathay Rahtai. A landing craft bearing the Black and Red markings of its Autocrat. It idly flew to the docking area of the courier vessel Apollian. Dispatching its load of One Autocrat, and Two Catharian Psychers. She was here to commence diplomacy with the local conservative inhabitants and to get them out of their idiot lapse of judgement...

Meanwhile, the landing craft on the ground off-loaded their complements. A squad of Space Marines here and there, loaded among formations of hundreds of Army Troopers armed with Shovels and Blaster Rifles. As they stood at attention before the greeting party of Oswafts, the three Progenitors stepped forth. Dorn in his golden heraldry. Xenas Requisita in her Blood Red Power armor, and Augustus, in his Red and White heraldry. Each of the Space Marines accompanying their Commanders held massive power-spades in place of their conventional Bolt-Guns, which were seen maglocked to their hips. Each Marine was about half the size of their Progenitor, standing at seven-feet tall or eight-feet tall for the senior most members. The Progenitors themselves towered over their subordinate Marines. Standing at ten-to-twelve feet in height... What made them so? They all seemed ready to help, given the approval of the local leaders to do so. Here, they simply awaited that approving call.

Maybe this could end in some good press for the Catharian Hegemony afterall...

Allyson Locke Jerec Asyr Caedyn Arenais BB-4001X Kelsie Sylvan Junko Ike Lucien Dooku Salamander Amea Virou Gir Quee ADM. Reshmar Taiia Locke ​

 

[Amea Virou]

A Good Cause​

.-.

Crew
Jerec Asyr
Vyri
Kelsie Sylvan
Lucien Dooku
Ay Ge

.-.

Others:
Jyoti Nooran
Allyson Locke
Caedyn Arenais
Junko Ike
Salamander
Gir Quee
ADM. Reshmar
Taiia Locke
BB-4001X
Nova Casamyr

.-.

Ah crap. Subtle mandolins pandering to a Dantooine countryside, enough acoustic Corellian pluck to turn even a nerf deaf. Jerec had found his music collection again and it was hard to miss it throughout the ship. Amea gave the nearest person a look of discomfort before she shook her head and went for the bridge.

“Captain.” Amea grimaced as she sat down next to him and began to fiddle with the navcomputer, making sure they were still on the right path, all that.

With one pod in her ear she tried to drown out the music with music of her own. A solid beat, a choir with heavy reverb re-used throughout the intro with an occasional ‘yeah’ to truly emphasize the weight of the beat. It was a rhythmic description of life in one of Corellia’s more ‘vulnerable’ areas. Not exactly the stuff Amea thought she would listen to, yet the genre had grown on her immensely since she found it. It had a certain realness or weight to it.

It ain't hard to tell, I excel, then prevail
The mic is contacted, I attract clientele
My mic check is life or death, breathin' a viper's breath
I exhale the yellow smoke of moonweed through righteous steps

Guilty pleasure to say the least. Amea turned to look out the viewport and then went back to her recalibrations again.

“We trust those dinkle-boppers or whatever will work?” She asked everyone yet no-one all the same. “Shank Giblets? Dank Jugglers? I forget.”

A new song came on, yet another classic. Same artist.

It drops deep, as it does in my breath
I never sleep, ‘cause sleep is the cousin of death.
Beyond the walls of intelligence, life is defined,
I think of crime when I’m in a Deep Core State of Mind.
​

 

[Allyson Locke]

Location: Engineering Lab - Beldon
Objective B

Exhaling, Allyson mentally kept telling herself to relax. She was good at this, but being on a space station still gave her the nerves. Being blown up a few times will do that to you.

At least she was here to do some good.

Humanitarian work was something Allyson had grown to love. Before, when she was with the original Galactic Alliance, she believed the way to help people was to take up a weapon and fight. When she was a pilot, she shot down Sith, Mandalorians, whoever faced the Alliance - ‘Team Lightside.’ She believed that it was the right thing to do, but her eyes opened to other ways of helping, and it didn’t always take someone dying.

Twisting her wrist, Allyson waved her hand and opened the hologram screen. Focusing on the HUD of the wrist communicator, she moved through the menus and connected with the small slicer spides she had with her. The spiders quickly began to work on clamps and weight-bearing machines. One of the engineers looked at her and nodded, he understood what she was attempting to do, but Allyson still explained herself.

“Going to try and control these mechanisms to help extract securely, but without crushing the delicate lattice.” The engineer nodded, understanding what she was doing again, but he, along with the others, had their doubts. Closing down the HUD for the spiders, she moved to her comms and sent a message out to the others that were working with her on this.

“Hello, this is Lt. Commander Allyson Locke,” Allyson paused after realizing her rank probably meant nothing to anyone, she continued slightly embarrassed, “Is everyone close? The quicker we put our heads together on this, the easier this is going to be.”


Jyoti Nooran Amea Virou Jerec Asyr Vyri Lucien Dooku Ay Ge Caedyn Arenais Junko Ike Salamander Gir Quee ADM. Reshmar Taiia Locke BB-4001X Nova Casamyr

 

[Charlie Nooran]

Location: Small Shuttle - Croissant
Objective: D
Pals: Finley Dawson

The Seoulian girl gripped the controls of the shuttle tightly. She wasn’t the best pilot, but she tried. The shuttle shook as it drew closer to the nebula. With the distance they were at, she needed to cut the power a bit, leaving it to float and not damage anything. Charlie took one of the entrances, the shuttle coasted through, and Charlie leaned back in her chair and sighed.

“Why was I piloting again?”

Straightening up, in the chair, she looked over her shoulder. “Finley! We’re here.” Pushing off the chair, she wandered to find where the boy had gone in the shuttle.”

 

[Salamander]

Objective: A
Location: The courier Apollian, en route to the Cave of Elders.

The Shi'ido appeared in his usual form, that of a senior Human male in maroon robes striped with white. Strong hands gripped his staff, preparing himself for the task ahead.

Internally, he was running through what he knew about the Oswaft, the ThonBoka Nebula, and the Cave of Elders they were so desperate to save. The power of his orator's voice would be useless here, for the Oswaft communicated using microwaves. Not even his primitive natural telepathy would suffice to breach the gap. Still, he would make the attempt, relying on his ability to persuade with his words.

Jyoti Nooran Amea Virou Jerec Asyr Vyri Lucien Dooku Ay Ge Caedyn Arenais Junko Ike Gir Quee ADM. Reshmar Taiia Locke BB-4001X Nova Casamyr Charlie Nooran Allyson Locke Xzaien

 

[Ay Ge]

Ay might have not been the best at expressing emotions but she had slowly gotten the gang of understanding it from others. The expression made by Amea Virou not going unnoticed as the new tracks by their captain blared through the ship. "Assumption, I take it you are not a fan of this type of music"? She commented as her fellow crew mate vacated the area towards the cockpit, either in an attempt to cease the sounds or for more information on their current task.

It was yet another large scale op, that, if history was anything to go by would be complimented with a good amount of problems, most likely directed at their captain. The man just seemed to attract all sort of misfortune, some rather humors, others not so much. Regardless Ay would be putting in just as much effort as always, they would certainly need it if Sith started to show up. While personally wanting to avoid such confrontation the cybernetic women wasn't going to shy away from a fight if one presented itself.

Her hands finishing their current task on the costume virbo blade Ay took into battle, securing the scabbard onto her back before following Amea's action. Slowly pacing towards the cockpit to get a view of the incoming objective, the more information, even if it was minuscule would benefit their company in some way. "Query, what is our ETA"?

Jyoti Nooran Jerec Asyr Lucien Dooku Junko Ike Vyri Allyson Locke Charlie Nooran

 

[Vyri]

Vyri entered the cockpit, bright orange ear plugs sticking out of her ears. The woman hummed an entirely different and more modern tune to herself, taking a large bite of a bar of chocolate.

Both chocolate and ear plugs were not hers.

She kicked up her legs, spilling across the seat as she looked out the window uncomprehendingly. She was a bit behind in the update, not that it mattered. Jerec brought her places and she helped out. She didn't ask questions. She was handy in a pinch, but useless on ships. Unless you called burning through food a good skill, her part would come later.

She tapped her feet on the control panel and bobbed her head, trying to drown out the old beat with a new one.

Jerec Asyr Amea Virou Ay Ge

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

Lifeline Connect Ltd.
EF76 Nebulon-B escort medical frigate.

Caedyn Arenais stood aboard the Nebulon Medical Frigate moving alongside the rest of the voluntary fleet that had arrived in the hope of aiding these Oswaft beings. He had never encountered their like before, however they were sentient, in need of help and that's all he needed to know. It was a good opportunity to partake in one of the operations that his Non-Government funded Organization would commit itself to.

Being a Jedi Knight was a full time job, however having the financial backing of House Arenais behind him also enabled Caedyn to reach out to support and enrich the lives of others through other various means, such as this. His Father had become well known for such alternative methods while an acting Jedi Master, and during his parents leadership of Commenor, they had made the most of their influence in similar ways.

Today however would be somewhat different, and Caedyn was curious where they would be most needed. Much of his people were skilled medical staff, but they also had the machinery on board to do the heavy lifting if required. Droids to help establish shelters and homes, technology for those without. There were a plethora of ways in which they sought to help the general public, though most of their clients were humanoid and not of such a diverse biological make.

The Captain of the medical Vessel would relay their compliance with the rest of the impromptu Fleet to signal their readiness to proceed, whilst Caedyn would remain far from the bridge, for the most part a spectator until he was needed for anything more hands-on.

Apologies for the lateness in my response, I've been quite hectic today!
​

Jyoti Nooran Amea Virou Jerec Asyr Vyri Lucien Dooku Ay Ge Junko Ike Gir Quee ADM. Reshmar Taiia Locke BB-4001X Nova Casamyr Charlie Nooran Allyson Locke Xzaien Salamander

 

[Gir Quee]

Bridge, MB-C1 Medium Transport Pulsar Wind II, somewhere in the ThonBoka Nebula

"Are you sure this is what you guys used to listen to?" asked Gir, "nothing about this reminds me of my dad."

But Dav just bobbed his head up and down with the music. Gir slowly shook his head. The blonde man couldn't just imagine his father listening to something so...bright and unsophisticated. Some string instrument provided a constant, catchy background of sunny major chords while a feminine sounding singer interjected with smooth and spontaneous sounding lyrics. Other instruments and background vocals seemed to slowly glide in and out this duet. The man felt that he was listening to a bunch of adolescents jamming in their Outer Rim garage as they tried to get a handle on what exactly was music. Well, he's in a good mood at least. I guess I should probably just be happy with that...

"This reminds me...did Kell ever tell you about the time we tried to sell Glimmer Rocks to some saurians on Etti IV?"

Gir spun around in the rickety swivel chair to face the older man and shook his head, "I can't say I ever heard of it."

"Man, we thought we had it made. Glimmer rocks are these super cheap trade good, or at least they used to be...and the saurians seemed enamored with it since they were so shiny and bright. Anyways, we almost made a killing until one of them tried to shipjack the original Pulsar Wind...that kind of killed the whole deal..."

Gir slowly nodded his head. The anecdote only brought more questions to his mind. Killed it figuratively or literally? Gir could easily see the old Corellian whipping out his blaster and gunning down whatever a saurian was in a heartbeat for any sort of suspicious act. Yet the fact remained that Dav probably knew his father better than he did before the elder Quee disappeared into the depths of space. I can only hope that dad wasn't this much of a scoundrel as Dav here is...He found the older man's glimmering emerald eyes boring him into him; the type of feeling that Gir felt was the old smuggler's way of trying to make up for some sin committed in the distant past.

"...Things aren't always what they seem to be. The saurians were never interested in the gems, only in making us think that they were. We thought that we were conning them, completely oblivious to the fact that they were trying to con us too. I don't know what made you think that coming here is a good idea. This just isn't a matter of training some 3rd rate planetary defense force and handing them out shiny new toys from your shipyards. You can't even speak to the Oswaft... not in their native tongue at least, and I have the distinct feeling that the idea of galactic standard technology is something alien to them."

"Everyone's an alien to something somewhere in the galaxy," mused Gir, folding his hands behind his head, "it's only a matter of when and where."

"Well," growled the old Corellian, "it won't be if some empire sweeps through the galaxy...not that I'm wishing that on anyone..."

 

[Kelsie Sylvan]

T H O N B O K A
N E B U L A

Tag: Jerec Asyr Amea Virou Ay Ge Vyri | Open​

---

<<"We're locked in. Asyr, get the fuel tankers going,">> Kelsie called out over the comms. The ganker limpets were set in place around the enormous Cave of Elders. For a long time Kelsie had believed nothing to such a scale could be artificially built, and certainly not by any race other than humans. Ever since she'd arrived here, her Imperial preconceptions had been chipped away at; now she was just amazed by the beauty of the structure. She didn't know much about the Oswaft, but she was reminded of a certain Chiss Grand Admiral from her day and his habit of reading the art of other species and peoples. This Cave of theirs was a work of thousands of generations, a symbol of their race and culture. Instead of fighting wars or trying to rule the galaxy, the Oswaft were content to live their lives continuing to build such works. If they had ambition, used their intellect and ability to propagate and go beyond their nebula, they could've done incredible things.

But instead, they stayed, and now they were being forced out by new Empires, from no fault of their own.

The Razor detached from setting the last of the structural attachments around the Oswaft's home, drifting away from the crystalline structure. She supposed she couldn't change the encroachment of the Sith or Bryn'adul, but she could help here. The young woman, alone on her little ship, looked out at the nebula and sighed. So often she forgot that the galaxy was a beautiful place. She was amazed by the technology brought here, amazed by the power of crisis to bring people together, but most of all she was amazed by the life that thrived in the depths of the void.

For whatever reason she pulled the Razor around, the YT-1300 facing the great crystal structure. Around it the Oswaft swarmed, an intricate dance, as if saying farewell to their home nebula. She flipped a few switches, powering down every system on her ship save the essentials, removing any interference that might be cast by the communications of other ships. Kelsie closed her eyes, and for a short time she could hear their song.

It was more beautiful than anything she'd ever heard. Even just from the microwave signaling of the Oswaft, she could listen to the story they told. Their birth, their growth, the building of their home -- and now, their departure. While it seemed melancholy, soon the tone raised. She felt their hope for the future; they may be forced away, but they had each other, and they would not forget their past. It seemed that they had known for a long time that this day would eventually come. It was uplifting to know that they had not been forgotten by the galaxy. Change was a fact of life. They did not run from it, they accepted it.

Kelsie smiled, knowing their song would stay in her memory forever.

 

[Jerec Asyr]

“Hello, this is Lt. Commander Allyson Locke,” Allyson paused after realizing her rank probably meant nothing to anyone, she continued slightly embarrassed, “Is everyone close? The quicker we put our heads together on this, the easier this is going to be.”

"Query, what is our ETA"?

Allyson Locke 's transmission crackled through the bridge comms just as Jerec nestled the Infinity's Free up to Beldon Station. "ETA is we're here," he said to Ay Ge over his shoulder. "Little gas mining station with nasty defensive gear."

He tapped the comms. "Commander Locke, this is Caprain Jerec Asyr of the Infinity's Free. My friends and I have been setting up what's called ganker limpets around the Oswaft structure - big capital-grade hyperdrives that work together. I'm transferring over a cargo of big inertial dampeners, tensor fields, and anticoncussion fields for you folks to work with. And my Neimoidian grandma would roll over in her grave, but it's all on the house."

He'd actually had a Neimoidian grandma. Duuda had taught him plenty of valuable life lessons.

"I'm docking and sending over my crew to help sort stuff out and stretch their legs."

Lucien Dooku Vyri Amea Virou Jyoti Nooran Kelsie Sylvan

 

[BB-4001A]

Objective B
Onboard Oasis - with Nova Casamyr

=================================================================​

"Once we get this attached, we'll be able to carry enough fuel to support our limpet all the way from here to the Deep Core."

The diminutive Archangel droid was wearing a shipsuit that had been tailored down to fit his frame.

Inside the cockpit of the Baudo-class ship, the afro-haired simulacrum was maintaining situational awareness over a variety of functions at present. The remote slicer enabled him to wirelessly interface with the ship's computer, making him idly cognaizant of the material condition of the ship. At the same time, his active memory was presently engaged with the manual operation of the navigation computer.

From the Centrality to the Deep Core, the amount of jumps required would be a variable that was highly dependent on the precise hyperspace routing. That, in turn, would greatly drive the demand for fuel. The volume that Nova was referencing was adequate for five of the seven available pathways that the droid could calculate as reasonable for the journey. He would assume, then, that the voyage intended to be along one of those five paths.

"Ok. In position. Soft-fire the starboard claw."

Reeve was in position in the cargo bay, the astromech making the necessary targeting and launch adjustments to achieve the desired low velocity and trajectory required to lob the cable over to Nova's position.

Monitoring that transaction, the replicant's active memory was pinged by a new alert on the com-scan. Minimizing the navigation displays, the boy instead began cycling through the different sensor feeds. "A Catharian battlecruiser has entered the ThonBoka Nebula," the droid noted aloud, supplying the information for Nova's situational awareness of the larger space around them.

There seemed a number of entities and interests that were represented on the contact board. The Spacer's Guild had been a group to be anticipated. The Jedi medical vessel was mildly surprising. But a state warship? "The Catharians appear to be engaging the Oswaft diplomatically."

Nova hadn't mentioned the involvement of one of the galactic powers. While still learning the personality and habits of his new employer, the droid estimated this was likely due to her not having been aware.

Working around interstellar governments tended to become complicated rather quickly. Particularly if, or when, the shooting began.

"All of this is gonna be for nothing though if we don't figure out a way to attach those limpets to the superstructure. Any thoughts on that Beebee?"

It was a query, so even if she'd intended it to be for conversation the droid was obliged to process the question as if it were serious.

Beyond his own onboard memory, the droid accessed the ship's available library. What information was there regarding the structure was limited to fragmentary bits that supplied more commentary than hard data. "The available data on the precise architecture seems incomplete, and the research on the internal structure of the crystalline material is inconclusive at this time. As such, I am unable to render a calculation of its structural integrity," the droid supplied, as each attempt at composing a response returned the same result. The data available to him lent itself to no conclusions at this time. "A better solution may be to try an encase the structure within a drydock type framework, which would theoretically cushion the inherent stress of movement."

It was probable that this was not the answer that she was seeking, but for the sake of completeness the droid followed that logic to its foregone conclusion. "Such a structure would require extensive geological and architectural study for planning, prior to construction commencing. I estimate approximately three-point-eight years for the research and drafting, followed by another one-point-two years for the Oswaft to agree to a final production plan, after which construction -- accounting for interruptions in the supply chain and other variables -- would likely exceed four years. In total, this would require a decade by all conservative estimates."

He'd leave the standard deviation unsaid, to include the probability of such an undertaking failing to ever achieve final construction. A rather notable probability was that such a project would never leave the drafting phase.

"...which, I gather would be inconsistent with the desire to move this sooner, rather than later."

If she was asking him to make a guess, then she was making use of the wrong Archangel model.

 

[Tyl Ro]

Objective: D - save the plankton!
Tags: Charlie Nooran , Finley Dawson
Makeshift research bench aboard Croissant

Sometimes, we follow our own paths. Sometimes, we follow the path the Force has laid out for us. Sometimes, those paths are one.

The mantra Tyl had used for her morning meditation had never been so apt. If anything, the task was made for her, Tyl Ro, Jedi Knight, Kaminoan scientist. She had joked once that being a geneticist was in her genes. Though Tyl had spent little time among other Kaminoans, she had still followed in the footsteps of many of her species in becoming a medical researcher with focuses on genetics, microbiology, and biochemistry. Complimenting her scientific knowledge was her training as a Jedi Healer. She often found herself using her two disciplines separately, one serving as a secondary to the primary. But here, Tyl could use her talents in conjunction.

The Kaminoan leaned over her makeshift workbench, looking down a microscope at a sample brought to the station where she had set up her research. Migrating the Oswaft was not just a matter of moving the people themselves. The destination nebula, while sufficient in certain areas for the Oswaft's needs, lacked the necessary ecological circumstances for long-term viability. And while moving the people was one undertaking. Moving a swarm of interstellar plankton was simply not possible. Sure, the plankton would get there. And that would get the Oswafts meals for a few weeks, or months at most. But after such a dramatic shift in environment for a simple species like plankton, the shock caused would likely cause irreparable damage to the organism's autotrophic abilities and, thus, slowly kill off the species if not cause an outright extinction upon transit.

The key, was to genetically reproduce a species that would be able to be self-sustaining in the destination nebula, and still carry the same nutrient quality that the Oswaft needed for their diet.

And there wasn't all that much time to accomplish this.

 

[ADM. Reshmar]

"Admiral, we are here" said the Human commander as the image of hyperspace resolved into a blindingly bright mix of energy, burning gas, and cosmic dust leftover from long before the Republic was ever born. The blending colors and distant energy discharge were common in nebulae, it was a pretty common cosmic occurrence. The colors may vary but the beauty and wonder that was found in these mysterious cosmic phenomena never ceased to amaze. The three blue-white stars centered in the center of the nebula were dim at this range but visible even on low magnitude. the single egress point into the nebulas lay before the small Directorate task force. Reshmar had chosen to pause here and take some scans from outside the nebula before moving in. The more he knew about how the Nebula worked the better equipped he would be to assist the Oswaft.

"Sir, we are within range." said one of the officers sitting to Reshmars right. "Very well commander, Begin your scan," said Reshmar. A muffled thrum began to vibrate through the deck of the Hawkeye as the massive sensor pod, hung below the prow of the Mantis-class ELINT vessel, began to draw the power needed to conduct the array of scans. The Dopplermagno scanner came online probing deep into the nebula measuring everything from cloud density to time dilation. Radiation sensors, Crystal Grav traps, mass sensors, photoamplifiers, and even heat and motion detectors scanned the stellar cloud measuring every aspect of it down to the last centimeter. The data coming it was massive and much more than the technicians onboard the Hawkeye could deal with under the current time frame. Reshmar was sure his people would spend several years analyzing the data they had taken today. In the meantime the important information and data Reshmar needed to aid the Oswaft would be the priority. His mission here was to aid the Oswaft not to study the Nebula, something he was sure he would have to remind his scientists of more than once today.

"Scan complete Admiral, powering down the array." said the commander at the sensor station. Reshmar nodded to him them waited for the thrum of the Doppler array to stop.

"Captain, Take us in now. Let's not keep our hosts waiting" said Reshmar. The captain of the vessel nodded and began to give orders. The small group of ships slowly began to move into the small opening of the Nebula towards the beleaguered Oswaft and their Cave of Eldars.

 

[Xzaien]

​

The Hegemon's /Fleet/ of one Primaris Dreadnought and its escort Legion Ships made into atmosphere. From the bowels of each of the three Legion ship and the Dreadnought itself came forth plenty of pickett ships of all types. Each likely manned full of Army Personnel with a multitude of Tractor beams to be able to push the cave out of the Nebula. Fortunately, it seems that leaving the ship wouldn't happen at all.

Xzaien on the other-hand readied herself aboard the Courier. Ready to go.

(Sorry, I mistook everything for cave = planet in my small brain. :0)

​

Jyoti Nooran

 

[Amea Virou]

A Good Cause​

.-.

Crew
Ay Ge
Jerec Asyr
Kelsie Sylvan
Lucien Dooku
Vyri

.-.

Others:
Allyson Locke
BB-4001X
Caedyn Arenais
Salamander
Gir Quee
Junko Ike
Jyoti Nooran
Nova Casamyr
ADM. Reshmar
Taiia Locke

.-.

There was no good way to put it. It wasn’t that the ‘countryside-oriented’ music didn’t appeal to Amea. It was actually pretty good, but it also had a certain playful deviousness to it that in this moment didn’t strike the woman’s fancy. She needed that low-hitting beat, the rhyming patterns and the social commentary on the inequality between the working class and the Coruscanti wine-sippers. Having a favorite nerf or being a certified outlaw was all good and dandy, but not what she needed in this moment.

As Vyri came into the cockpit to do nothing, Amea gave her feet a look before she looked at the woman. Chocolate, ear plugs… Wait, were those… Her eyes squinted at the woman to discern whether those were the ones Amea had lost on the trip to Cosm’s Well or not, but the sound of someone over the intercom pulled her attention away.

Oh hey, Kelsie was here! … And someone named Allyson. Seemed military. Was this a military operation? Amea gave Jerec a look of confusion before he turned towards them to relay that order that they were getting off the ship.

It was hard not to frown, but if that was the job then that was the job. Her head shook as she stood up from her seat. The music turned off and she was back to Jerec’s tune.

“Well, you heard the captain. We should prepare for ground work.” Amea said and stepped out of the cockpit. She had to go ensure that she had everything in order for that.
​

 

[Finley Dawson]

Objective: D - Survey and Collect Local Wildlife

While monitoring the sensors in the copilot seat, Finley held up a pair of fingers in response to Charlie's question.

"Two reasons. Firstly, my young Padawan, you need the experience."

Charlie wasn't actually his apprentice, more like his part-time assistant in the Explorer Corps, but that didn't stop the Junior Knight from teaching her lessons from here in an effort to be a decent Jedi.

"Contrary to popular belief, us Corellians aren't simply born as ace pilots, we're just all intensely motivated to pick up the skills to get out of system - what's left of it, anyway. You don't want your first time gettin' familiar with the yoke to be in the middle of a trench run."

His attention turned back to his console, readouts flaring up from intense electromagnetic signatures.

"Secondly....I'm a tad occupied coordinating with our new friends."

Almost on cue, the front viewing pane of the shuttle became dominated by the milky blue underside of an Oswaft flying overhead. At adulthood, each of the giant manta like space creatures was well over the size of space cruiser, dwarfing the Croissant. He couldn't help but crane his neck to view the Oswaft as it created between them, smiling. The microwave bursts the shuttle had detected was from the Oswaft itself, their unique form communication. A program had been installed to the onboard computer to translate the microwaves into text speech and vice versa.

"Alright, his name is...Wensenobifsaus - say that five times fast - he'll be acting as our guide through the nebula as we go around collecting specimens."

He swung his seat around to face Doctor Tyl Ro in the back, who was currently working quietly at her station. As impressive as it was to see the Oswaft, it certainly wasn't every day that one came across a Kaminoan. The extragalactic race of bioengineers had played such a pivotal role in galactic events and warranted investigation. He had so many questions for her! Unfortunately, those would probably have to wait for later as they dealt with the task at hand.

"Doctor, would you like to add a few words to my message back to Wen?" he glanced over a Charlie. "You too."

Charlie Nooran Tyl Ro