Devastator Risen (Lucerne/MCS Development) Complete

[ADM. Reshmar]

The submersible slowed then shook as a metal on metal clank resounded throughout the passenger compartment. The small craft locked onto a docking hatch and the faint hiss of air, from the docking ring equalizing pressure, began to grow in volume. Reshmar nodded to an officer and he cracked open the hatch to a damp smelling umbilicus. The short corridor stretched from the submarine to a large construct sitting off away from the hulk of the buried war machine. The large submerged structure lit up the ocean floor for hundreds of meters in all directions. The murky darkness of Mon Cala's ocean fought back against the light but, in the distance, through the clear access tube, the dark grey hull of something massive could be seen. Reshmar motioned toward the hatch and spoke.

"This will take us into the engineering station we have set up. From here we can go down and board the vessel near the aft port section. It was the first section to be cleared, I believe the engineering section has been prepared for us and is safe now. After you Admiral" he said to Gir with a slight eye roll and the closest thing a mon calamari could make to a smile.

[member="Gir Quee"]

 

[Gir Quee]

Gir gave an appreciative nod to [member="Reshmar"] before he ducked under the door frame and into the engineering station. As he entered the underwater structure,he was immediately struck by how moist it was. The sensation brought back pleasant memories of his foster home on Hast, though he was certain if the humidity was an intentional element of the design made in order to make the mon calamari and quarren workers more comfortable, or if it was an unintentional effect of the facility's actual construction. His eyes wandered through a transparent plane towards the obscured behemoth that was the World Devastator. He found it rather ironic that the very world that it had been sent to destroy was very gradually destroying the automated war machine.

The blonde man waited for Admiral [member="Reshmar"] to enter before he spoke, "So how far have has the crew made it inside?"

 

[ADM. Reshmar]

Reshmar stepped in and closed the hatch behind him. He turned to watch Gir look around the facility then he spoke. Reshmar smiled as much as he could and roled his left eye in a gesture of pride when he answered. "We have made it into most of the remaining levels that are not crushed. Most of the craft is intact but burried. Our teams have about forty percent of the hull uncovered and we project another four weeks before we have it all unearthed. The lower decks and a good portion of the starboard sections are crushed and unaccessible. But the engineering command and control and most importantly the furnace is intact. Though I am told it will never work again due to erosion while it was submerged. I am sure my engineers can get some very useful data from it." said Reshmar as he walked into a side room which lead to a large doorway. He opened the door hatch and the wet air rushed into through the hatch.

"Come aboard old friend, I have wonderful things to show you" said Reshmar as he motioned for Gir to enter the ancient hulk of the world devastator "Welcome aboard Inquisitor Seven"

[member="Gir Quee"]

 

[Gir Quee]

Gir gave an appreciative nod to [member="Reshmar"]'s remark before they began their walk into the bowels of the giant droid-starship hybrid.

The New Republic had once used a captured world devastator to recycle old starships. Having seen archival footage of that craft, Gir guessed that they had entered the lower levels of the Inquisitor Seven, which meant that there weren't too far away from one of the craft's molecular furnaces. The concept of a molecular furnace was ancient and basic variations of it were exceptionally commonplace. Basic mining and construction droids for thousands, if not hundreds, of years had used them from the peaks of the spires of Coruscant to grimy shafts of the most backwater mining world. Yet the one devised by Umak Leth under Emperor Palpatine was exceedingly exceptional through its sophisticated and efficient method of magnetically separating materials into their elements. Once in that elemental form, the device used force field and beam technology guided by automated processes to make new materials. While many had attempted to recreate Leth's device from scratch, none had succeeded to Gir's knowledge. Some have endeavored to copy the rare intact devices, and they had been much more successful. But they guarded that technology very carefully, if they even acknowledged that they had it. The blonde man heard rumors that ArmaTech had managed to do so with one device, which gave him one competitor that would boast of the same advantage for the Lab's current project.

The two rounded a corner in the ancient hulk to come upon one of the control rooms for the device. Gir's blue eyes swept across the room as he tried to imagine being one of the Galactic Empire's slaves, technician, or officer that had once worked in the mechanized behemoth. It seemed strange to think that they wouldn't be working in a traditional starship, but rather in the compartment of a giant droid. The man from Hast noticed a classic data-socket near one of the consoles. He pulled out the modified Xcalq-3GA portable computer that he always took with him to work on his starships. After plugging it in, its slicing software, highly modified by Azira, began to work its magic. The computer's display screen quickly identified the target's identification, as well as presented its suggested method of automated slicing along with a pair of other options.

"Repair and maintenance inquiry..." muttered Gir, reading the first option.

Being gigantic droid in and of itself, Inquisitor 7 was often capable of diagnosing and doing some repairs on its own. But it relied upon an organic crew and a host of droids to affect the many smaller repairs of its equipment. In its likely fragmented state, full knowing that it was damaged, any still active remnants of the droid's security would likely view it as a legitimate request. It probably would help that his computer would also be the one providing power to the parts of the control station computer that it was trying to access. He tapped a button on the screen, approving the program to begin its slicing efforts to access the molecular furnace's technical schematics and programming. The man turned to face Admiral Reshmar.

"Found any surprises in the wreck yet?"

GIr had happened across a few derelict starships during his time in space. Some of them were little more than hulks stripped of anything of value by scavengers, but a few had been mostly intact. Those ships often carried their cargo and secret intact: both of which could be immensely valuable. But with that often came other problems, such as automated security systems or battle droids.

 

[ADM. Reshmar]

Reshmar stood watching Gir communicate with what was left of the vessels control system. It was old but relatively intact from what his engineering team had told him. The main data storage and droid brain had been in an area of the ship that had maintained containment and stayed dry. Much of the ship had remained sealed and dry, more so towards the center of the massive hull. Those area had even shown signs of crew which had survived living there for years and possibly decades trapped below the surface of the watery world. Gir asked about surprises, that was the biggest surprise Reshmar thought.

"We found nothing of value, some of the crew survived the attack and crash but were trapped. They survived down here for awhile it seems. Some logs were found but I have not had a chance to watch them. It no doubt will make a fascinating study. How they lived down here for years. I am sure once we make the find public the University of Cala will send someone from its anthropology department to study it." said Reshmar as he powered up the control console. The screen flickered a couple times then came online. Its screen cracked in one corner and dusty from centuries of dust. Reshmar knew there had been skeletal remains found and thought about just what the dust really was. How it must have been trapped down here. no way of escape and no communications with the world or galaxy. How the survivors made it would be something no one would ever truly know. The logs would only go so far in shedding light to how it must have been to live and die trapped.

"I believe we can get what were looking for from here" said Reshmar as data began scrolling across the screen. He motioned for a group of Mon Calamari engineers and the men came in and set up their equipment. "Get everything you can from here. I have a crew working their way to the core and the data storage. once we have everything let me know. I believe we will be returning to the surface now. There are other issues pressing." said Reshmar as he typed into his wrist computer. He turned to Gir and spoke.

"Once you have gotten what you need join me on the surface. I have another issue I need to discuss with you no pertaining to this." Reshmar nodded to Gir and left the room after the human responded. The Devastator project was important but was currently shadowed by another problem. One that seemed to be far worse than he or the other Directorate leaders could have even imagined. One that would have to be dealt with.