First Reply Minatory

[Makai Dashiell]

RELTOOINE

Wearing | Gear : X | X | X | X | X | L3-37 | Interacting With : OPEN

​

Near the gas giant of Reltooine, on a nameless moon, a massive mining operation was underway. Typically not a company to mine on asteroids, Aina Holdings was moving into the area. Moving a company fully into the Corporate Sector was never easy and he was still eying two planets for a potential headquarters. A project that would take years if he was being completely honest with himself.

For now a refurbished mining colony would be a toe forward. Reltooine's many moons were often tourist destinations, tourist destinations that didn't want to see heavy commerical traffic. Lucky for them the moon and asteroids in question were towards the end of some of the resort worlds, although it wasn't unusual to see a cruise yacht fly by on a journey to their next stop.

Makai was walking through one of the corridors on his way to observe an intake procedure being piloted by one of his younger interns. Space glittered like a jewel outside the transparisteel, the sound of his droid's servos whirring behind him. Peaceful in its own way.

Until it was broken by klaxon alarms echoing through the entire structure.

Thirty-Seven immediately stepped closer, raising his vocabulator to speak above the din.

"Rogue vessel entering sensor range Sir. We best get to the control rooms."

AINA HOLDINGS CONTROL TOWER - ASTEROID DIVISON

Multiple sentients were huddled over sensors, one using macrobionoculars to look out the massive transparisteel window. Small groups of conversations fluttered in the room with each section of the control towers, trying to plan next best steps.

"...does the vessel have any life aboard?"

"Scans not picking up much Ma'am thus far. According to two of our cargo vessels just a ways out all escape pods are in tact."

"A ghost ship? In a tourist sector?" A Mon Cal seemed aghast at the thought "I expect the CSA to have better controls on their hyperlanes."

"Yes but we're off the hyperlanes. Although I agree Roi, this part of this system is a tourist destination..."

"Hailing the vessel now ma'am."

"Unknown vessel, do you copy? Unknown vessel this is Aina Holdings. You are on a crash course with our mining operations. Unknown vessel, do you copy?"​

​

 

[Ivory Syn]

So I looked, and behold, a pale horse. And the name of him who sat on it was Death


​

"Sithspit."

Ivory muttered the antique curse under her breath as she wrestled with a nest of stubborn switches and half-responsive toggles in the captain's seat. Assuming a new identity, it turned out, did not include complimentary flying lessons.

She'd never been a good pilot. Now she was paying interest.

Somewhere in the aft of the ship, an alarm howled—high, insistent, and absolutely not the kind you ignored. A thin ribbon of smoke curled up from a panel she was fairly certain hadn't been smoldering a minute ago. The ship itself looked like it had lost every argument it had ever been in, but on her last job it had at least stayed airborne. Whether this current disaster was a mechanical failure or pure user error was still up for debate.

Probably both.

The comm unit shrieked to life before she could argue with herself any further.

"Unknown vessel, do you copy? Unknown vessel, this is Aina Holdings. You are on a collision course with our mining operations. Unknown vessel, do you copy?"

Ivory slammed the comm switch with more force than strictly necessary. "Copy," she snapped. "Not intentional. Controls are unresponsive. This thing's coming in hot."

She glanced back at the smoking panel, then out at the rapidly approaching sprawl of industrial metal on the viewscreen.



Makai Dashiell

 

[Makai Dashiell]

Wearing | Gear : X | X | X | X | X | L3-37 | Interacting With : Ivory Syn

Ivory slammed the comm switch with more force than strictly necessary. "Copy," she snapped. "Not intentional. Controls are unresponsive. This thing's coming in hot."

"Copy that unnamed vessel." The controller flicked off the comm, ready to speak freely. "Not sure how she's snippy with us. We're an asteroid range."

"Certain death will do that to a person Jae."

"Our shields are far too weak to stop a vessel. Meant only for space debris."

"Alert ground crews if they haven't looked up already to evacuate underground. All non-essential personnel move to the bunkers."

[ Sir, you should retreat to the bunker. ]

"Not at the moment Thirty-Seven. I want to see who or what is crashing into our mining operation."

[ Could be a terrorist plot Sir. ]

"Possibly." Makai ran a hand through his hair. No other signs of vessels but it didn't mean this one wasn't rigged with explosives. A suicide runner sent while others were a small hyperjump away. "Have security ready."

"Medical team on standby...word from the medbay is triage is prepping right now." Mining colonies, believe it or not, had superior medical services. "We've alerted sector authorities as well."

"...working on using the tractor beam to slow descent."

"Its not strong enough." Typically used for large cargo containers ladened with ores. Powerful yes, but nothing that could contain a crashing vessel. "Damage will still be substantial."

 

[Ivory Syn]

So I looked, and behold, a pale horse. And the name of him who sat on it was Death
​

Ivory barely registered the response as she was too busy seeing her life flash before her eyes. One of these days she really needed to take a flying lesson. This was getting beyond ridiculous. Hopefully there would be a chance after this crash, that is if she didn't end up as a pile of dust of course.

"jate'kara"

She whispered the word, almost like a prayer for the luck the word represented. Behind her something sparked but she chose to ignore it. The vessel was beyond repair and it was time to get her behind to an escape pod. She leapt over the pilots chair and started towards the back, her boots clicking as the armor hit the floor. She grabbed a rifle from her weapons store, just in case, and entered the code for the escape pod.

The ship continued its downward spiral and Ivory hopped she hadn't caused any death today. Her escape pod ejected and floated in space while the rest of the vessel went screaming towards the asteroid.

She pulled up the comm unit in the pod and sighed. "Control... I'm sorry about the mess. I hope nobody is hurt."


Makai Dashiell










.

 

[Makai Dashiell]

Wearing | Gear : X | X | X | X | X | L3-37 | Interacting With : Ivory Syn

She pulled up the comm unit in the pod and sighed. "Control... I'm sorry about the mess. I hope nobody is hurt."

"Understatement of the day." Jae muttered, others in the control tower scrambled to assemble the proper response.

"Let's work on pulling in this escape pod she took. Find out why they are crashing into an active operation."

"Copy that."

Just as they had finished conversing, the main vessel hit the asteroid and part of a wing that dealt in intake. A large cargo space where ores were prepared for shipment out. Normally a busy hub of activity, Makai prayed that the workers had been able to scramble away to safety in time. The entire cargo area was crumbled now, a scar where the vessel landed carving itself into the asteroid.

"Inari help us all."

Makai turned to Thirty-Seven.

"Come, we need to get closer. Control, tow that escape pod into the south bays. Keep Thirty-Seven informed about causalities and injuries. Once I deal with our visitor I will need a debrief of the situation."

[ Noted Sir. ]

 

[Ivory Syn]

So I looked, and behold, a pale horse. And the name of him who sat on it was Death

​

Ivory waited as her pod was collected, silently cursing herself and her ignorance of proper flight techniques. Her target, a man wanted in three systems for the murder of two entire families, was likely dead by now. She had no idea if he would survive a crash while in carbonite. She would have to search the wreckage when able.

She felt the pods being pulled in and sighed, checking her blaster to see how much charge it had. Hopefully, there wouldn't be another problem today. She didn't think her nerves could take it.

When she was free of the pod one of the workers whistled. "That sure was an entrance."

Ivory just nodded, feeling embarrassed enough without indulging in the ribbing.


Makai Dashiell

 

[Makai Dashiell]

Wearing | Gear : X | X | X | X | X | L3-37 | Interacting With : Ivory Syn

Mildly irritated, Makai was making his way to the crash site. It wasn't so much the crash and he did hope the pilot was fine. It was more the fact of not being able to fly period. Why even risk it? Especially when it caused such an issue for his crew. Reckless when he had thousands on this lifeless rock all trying to make a living and go home at the end of their schedule period.

So far, from what Thirty-Seven could tell him, there were a few injuries but not causalities. The accident had just occurred and these were preliminary reports, plenty of time for that to change. Hopefully it didn't.

By the time he was able to get down to the ground floor of the facility and crash site, security forces already had the woman surrounded. A mando, perhaps, judging by the look of the sentient. Makai had also seen folks out in the black use their armor since it was high quality. Scavenged or smuggled out. Normally they didn't use the helmet though.

Walking closer, but keeping his distance, Makai nodded to one of the security personnel. All stayed in place.

"What brings you here, and what others are aboard?"

 

[Ivory Syn]

So I looked, and behold, a pale horse. And the name of him who sat on it was Death
​

"What brings you here, and what others are aboard?"

Ivory's helmet tilted slightly toward the speaker, visor reflecting the scattered emergency lights and drifting smoke. Her posture stayed upright, controlled, though every line of her armor carried the tension of someone who'd just wrestled a disaster into something survivable. She gestured back toward the scarred hull with a small jerk of her gauntlet.

"I was running a live bounty. Mid-jump, my ship started throwing pressure warnings that something ruptured in the drive system. No crew. Just me. The bounty's secured in the hold. Carbonite slab. Fully contained, or was."

Of course if the criminal wasn't secured that meant a live serial killer was now loose on this rock.

Great job Ivory.


Makai Dashiell

 

[Makai Dashiell]

Wearing | Gear : X | X | X | X | X | L3-37 | Interacting With : Ivory Syn

Makai listened. Straightforward and plausible. However he also wanted to confirm such a story with his own eyes. It was possible the Mando was lying in order to allow for potential stowaways to enter the station. The carbonite story of someone escaping just didn't sit with him. Carbonite tended to be quite strong. Plus most were sick after leaving its hold.

If it was true the serial killer wouldn't get too far. If it was false and his theory about more waiting to ambush them, the half-Galan hoped his security team and the mining crews were ready to assist.

He motioned towards the smoking vessel.

"I would like to see this sentient in carbonite with my own eyes. For assurances."

 

[Ivory Syn]

So I looked, and behold, a pale horse. And the name of him who sat on it was Death

​

"I would like to see this sentient in carbonite with my own eyes. For assurances."

"Lead the way to the wreckage then."

Ivory was interested in seeing if the carbonite was still intact as well. She imagined it was, given how strong the stuff was, but she wasn't as familiar with the technology as she would have liked.

Together they walked to the wreckage site, and her guilt tripled when she saw all the damage she had caused. The good news was that there was indeed a slab of carbonite with a man imprisoned in it. It lay awkwardly below some debris but she could see the end of it sticking out.

"There." She pointed.

Makai Dashiell