First Reply Bespin: The Other Cities Among the Clouds

[Nova Casamyr]

Tibannopolis.​

Despite numerous attempts by opportunists, enterprisers, and other risk-taking businessfolk, no other floating tibanna mining platform could ever come close to competing with Cloud City. There were several that hung in the skies of the gas giant of varying sizes but Cloud City got all of the business. The capital city didn't just get all of the mining, but also the tourism and even the majority of the seedy underworld dealings as well. There just wasn't much interest in using the other stations. And no amount of credits thrown in their direction had changed the course of the auxiliary cities. They were derelicts, hanging within or just above the cloud line, quiet and deserted.

Mostly deserted anyway.

Plenty of Bespin's wildlife made use of the lonely hunks of metal and plastic for nests or brief areas of respite from otherwise relentless flight. The other cities also occasionally received sentient visitors. Maintenance crews dispatched to ensure that the derelicts didn't fall too far into the atmosphere below. Sure, the stations were useless. But it was cheaper to keep the stations afloat than it was to deal with the fallout of one dropping below, getting crushed by the ever-increasing pressure, and spreading toxic waste into the incredibly valuable tibanna gas.

So when a modified Baudo-class star yacht set down on one of the many empty landing platforms, no one was around to be surprised. A few rawwks squawked at the arrival, but barely paid the freighter any more attention.

"Well, we've been in worse places," Nova said from inside the freighter. She looked out of the bridge's viewport at the gray and burgundy and muted red colors of their surrounding. The tones of the buildings and platforms were quite close in shade to the puffy clouds and the sky beyond, reinforcing how bleak and remote the "city" of Tibannopolis was. She could tell that the station was expansive. Not nearly as large as Cloud City, but probably an eighth of the size of the main, massive port of call of Bespin.

BREEP bop TREEEeell oooOOWEP?​

"Yeah. Nar Shaddaa was pretty bad. There was also that quick run to Lotho Minor."

WOop WOop.
​

"At least this one should be easy. Look around for some collector-level junk. Salvage anything we might find useful. And look at this place. Quiet as the dead of space. We won't have to deal with any competition. Easy credits between transport hauls." Nova strapped a blaster holster onto her belt. "Watch over the ship you three. The Captain of Oasis walked out of the cockpit to a chorus of affirmative responses from her team of astromechs.

As Nova Casamyr descended the ramp, she discovered just how unquiet Tibannopolis was. The wind was howling.

Spoiler: Note for anyone interested in joining...

You're welcome to take this in many different directions. You could be an adversary hunting for the same junk (tbd). You could come upon me doing my job while you're on yours and decide it best to work together. Or you could already be on my ship, having taken on as a part-time crew after we made our last run. Play it however you like, those are just some suggestions. Looking forward to a little treasure hunt!

 

[Leenic Ellsil]

Leenic watched through his helmet's rangefinder as large ship descend onto one of the direlect landing platforms nearby, letting out a singular passenger onto the platform a few moments later. "Karabast." He muttered, grabbing his NT-242 off of the roof he had perched on and checking it to make sure it was working. "This place was supposed to be empty. But I guess you can never really trust a Mon Calamari, now can you." He then raised up his viewfinder and made his way slowly around the building before using his jetpack to get to the platform beneath him. Once he landed he slung his rifle across his back and drew his lighstaber, eyeing the large doors in front of him. "Better make this quick, then." He growled, igniting his lightsaber and wincing at the huricane-like noise it made. Sticking the pure white blade into the door, he began the process of cutting it open.

As he pressed the blade through the door, he tried to remember exactly what it was that he had been sent to grab. Searching his memory, he found that he couldn't recall if the client had even told him what he was looking for, instead just telling him that it would be worth more credits than it seemed. Although he would have preferred to know what it was, the offer of 20,000 credits for a successful mission was too good to turn down. "If this scavver doesnt screw it up." He said, leaning into the blade as he got about halfway done with the door. "Because, of course, she shows up right when I figure out where the damned thing is."

 

[Nova Casamyr]

Pbpbpbpbpbt.​

The mechanical replication of human flatulence in Binary droidspeak cut through the blustering wind. Nova rolled her eyes before turning around, hands on hips, to see R5-F1, or 'Fifi,' rolling down the ramp. "You know I can handle myself Fifi." The spacer slung a finger into her utility belt causing her plethora of tools to jangle about. "See? Packed and prepared."

wom wonk OOooeeE?
​

Nova sighed at the frustratingly persistent little droid. "Yes. Thank you for freely offering your help, Fifi. I will try not to be so ungrateful. Come on." She was grateful for the help, probably more for the company. But the astromech had a knack for insults that often got on her nerves more than what was worth. Still, Nova had been flying with just her astromech crew for the last few cycles. So having the droid around for conversation was better than Nova just talking to herself the entire time.

The Captain of Oasis strode off away from her ship. The freighter's ramp lifted and closed as the R5's treads hit the metal platform and the pair made their way into the abandoned city. Walkways, platforms, and buildings connected in several aesthetically pleasing patterns, curved edges being a common feature. Whoever had designed Cloud City probably had input on Tibannopolis as well.

The job was a simple one. Look for something that was obviously valuable. Considering the station had been mostly derelict for several centuries, Nova had a hard time imagining how something valuable remained after so long. The place wasn't hard to find. Salvagers, treasure hunters, and ne'er-do-wells of all sorts had easy access to the uninhabited and unprotected floating city. How was there something valuable here?

Well the contact on Cloud City that hired her said whatever "it" was would be obvious. She had scanned the city from her ship and nothing of interest had come up on her scanner. So there was no choice but to do a manual search. She made a mental note to purchase some drones for future salvage operations. "Let's start with the biggest structure there," she said to her companion, pointing to a central tower. "I don't know if I would put something important there if I was trying to hide something valuable, but that's the first place I want to check off the list."

Leenic Ellsil​

 

[Leenic Ellsil]

Once Leenic was inside, he deactivated his lightsaber and lowered his helmet’s rangefinder antenna, using its thermal scanner to check the room for any living things. He didn't see anything, but knew better than to trust places like this so he left it activated so that he was ready in case he needed it. Pulling the small transponder off his hip, he sighed as he watched the blinking light get slightly more bright. “Still no luck.” He muttered, putting it away before travelling deeper into the building.

The entire place looked (and kinda smelled) old, with dust clouding his vision and boxes scattered around seemingly at random, and Leenic couldn't help but wonder if there was anything that would be of use to someone other than a collector. But, in all honesty, he figured there wouldn't be much that he would want in here since all he needed was weapons and ammo. Probably all of those are gone by now anyway. He thought as he cautiously climbed up a pile of boxes. Once he got to the top he kneeled down and began searching the area for anything out of the ordinary. With any luck, this object he had to find would be on the same floor as he was.

 

[Nova Casamyr]

The more rubble and ruin they turned over, the less Nova felt like they were making any progress in figuring out or getting closer to whatever they had come to Tibannopolis to find. Computer panels had been picked clean of valuable components. Nonessential, and even some essential, pipes had been stripped of metals. Most of what lay about was debris from crumbling buildings or detritus from some of the fauna that had briefly nested in the otherwise uninhabited spaces. Absolutely nothing seemed valuable.

WOMP WOmp womp.​

"You said it, Fifi. What a waste of time. You'd think that someone on Bespin would have the sense to do something out here. Apartments or hydroponic agriculture or anything useful."

zrreep doooo baaaAA?
​

"Me? Making decisions for Bespin? You don't even like the decision I make on Oasis."

The droid chortled mechanically and Nova rolled her eyes. Still, considering the state of this place, plus the extrapolation of the state of all of the other failed floating cities hovering uninhabited in the clouds of Bespin, Nova was pretty convinced that plenty of people could do a better job. Just maybe not her.

At least the wildlife seemed to make use of the space. The spacer had been to many overpopulated planets that had pushed migratory flighted species to extinction by wiping out their habitats. Here, the Bespin architects had actually created a habitat, a place for the otherwise nearly constantly flying creatures to land and nest.

Wait.

"Fifi. Start checking all of the Rawwk nests you find. If they're like some other bird species, they'll grab just about anything to make their nests. They might even grab knick knacks they find particularly shiny or interesting. They have have nabbed something."

Even though they'd finished the primary building, Nova and Fifi went back over the structure, searching all of the nesting spots they could find.

Leenic Ellsil ​

 

[Leenic Ellsil]

Leenic dropped down from the tower of boxes, using his jetpack to slow his decent. He wasnt able to find the package, or much else of use other than a few old datapads (presumably filled with shipping manifests of long-past freighters). He rubbed his shoulder pauldron as he walked towards the building's turbolift, hoping that it was still intact enough to run, but once he got to it he realized that the panel next to the door had been busted open and all the important wires had been stripped from it.

"Karabast." He muttered, looking over at the door to the turbolift's shaft. "Well, I guess it could be worse." He then ignited his lightsaber and stepped over to the turbolift's doors, ramming the blade hilt-deep through the durasteel that separated him from the shaft inside. He adjusted his grip on the blade's hilt, and then began to cut through the door.

 

[Jacen Rann]

The Traveler jumped out of hyperspace with a violent thud. Jacen cursed to himself, "I'm going to need to get that fixed. Can't continue to leave hyperspace like this." O9 beeped in agreement. In front of them was their destination. The gas giant called Bespin, one of Jacen's favorite scavenging planets. Always brought up something interesting and worth selling. Jacen began the slow descent to the planet's surface. The journey through Bespin's gaseous atmosphere was quiet and uneventful. Eventually out of the gas Cloud City slowly appeared and began to approach the Traveler.

The Traveler touched down on the landing platform and the boarding ramp was lowered. As Jacen descended he turned and told O9 "I'll be right back, just getting a drink, some supplies and see if anyone knows of any good spots." He spent the day gathering supplies and finding information. At night he headed into a cantina for a drink. "That felt great. Haven't had a good beer in quite awhile" he mumbled to himself as he headed back to the Traveler. The next morning they departed.

The next two days were spent scavenging small derelict mining platforms. That night while looking at the pile of scavenged metals and components, Jacen said to O9 and Shorty "Well it could be bigger don't ye think." Both beeped in agreement. "Well then looks like we're going to someplace bigger. O9 what's the closest old mining complex?" O9 answered in binary. "Tibannopolis? Well then, we'll head there in the morning. O9 have the course plotted and ready for when I wake up."

The journey was longer than expected and they only reached Tibannopolis in the afternoon. As they approached, Jacen noticed a ship parked on one of the landing platforms. "So we aren't the only ones here. This could be fun." Jacen landed the Traveler on the platform next to the ship. He got his Longarm and TSF-SBP/01 Heavy SmartBlaster™ Pistol; Gunslinger Edition just incase. "Mind the ship alright you two. I won't be too long hopefully." With that he left his ship and headed into Tibannopolis.