Mining for the Stones

[Akio Diachi]

The public transport let out a soft ding and Akio was pulled from his meditation. The ship was over packed, almost past the point of safety regulations, with miners, prosectors, and colonists alike all inbound for the glorious planet of Elrood. It had a fairly lovely climate with great fauna and flora that made it ideal for colonists and settlers looking for a new life.

"Please fasten your seat belts, we are beginning our descent," intoned a worse for wear robotic voice.

There were compliances through the ship, almost all with grumbles, intones of hunger and "its about time" sort of statements. The man next to Akio heaved his squeaky chair into the upright position and somehow managed to stretch the belt buckle over his impressive girth. It was a miracle that the material didn't snap.

The Force never ceases to give us miracles every day, Akio thought as he felt the gravity of Elrood kick in.

 

[Akio Diachi]

A few moments later, the ship, which Akio found out was christened the Jolly Ginger settled in the space port and disgorged its passengers from its bowls. The title, the Chiss had to decide on, was something of an irony, or something lost from better days. With his bag over his shoulder, Akio slowly began to make his way out into the bustling space port. Things here were pretty busy, crowded, and distracting. He could feel pricks on the fringes of his awareness that were like blind spots in the Force. It was almost slightly uncomfortable, like splinters in the edges of his mind.

At least I know I am in the right place, the Chiss thought to himself with a sigh. After consulting one of the nearby maps, he found a directory on where to go. When he stepped outside into the city, Akio couldn't help but feel impressed. The city of Elrooden was fantastically clean, organized and highly regulated. Along these clean streets, the Chiss charted a path. It was rare for him to find a place that was more organized than the Chiss worlds with all their austerity. However, this planet could certainly rival them, he realized as he made his way to the local mining authorities.

 

[Akio Diachi]

Akio got in line and waited in this bureaucratic building. The modern writer would be able to understand the experience best as related to the American DMV. The lines were long, the employees uninspired to move quickly, and it took forever for anything to get done. The line mvoed forward at a snail's pace, crawling through the lobby slowly, one inch at at time. Akio began timing it, each person before him took an average of 15 minutes. And now there were ten people ahead of him. If he was a smarter man, he would have groaned inside, but instead he settled for this pact saying, Everything in the Force happens for a reason.

He looked around and observed the other races here as he waited. There were so many in number, from all corners of the galaxy. But still, there were several trying hard not to stare at him. The Chiss smirked, even in a crowd like this his race still stood out against the others. He wondered if it was because of the Chiss' reclusive natures or if it was more out of some long standing racism. A little girl with her mom couldn't stop her wide-eyed gawking. Akio gave her a smile and a wave, she extended her chocolate covered hand with a wave back, her eyes wide with facination. He sensed her through the Force. Ah, she was Force sensitive, he thought to himself. It would explain why she couldn't stop staring. He made a large footprint in the Force with all his gear in tow.

"Next please," droned the clerk at last.

 

[Akio Diachi]

Akio couldn't believe it! it was his turn. It was almost like a holiday came to pass and he was a gift. Or if he was winning some sort of award. Either way he took a quick step forward to the counter and began to eagerly fill out the paperwork. Fortunately for him, it was all on paper forms. Akio didn't know how to handle computers or much of the modern tech. A few moments later he handed it over to the lady behind the counter and she lack lusterly reviewed the data muttering, 'Meh, you seem ok."

Satisfied with her intense review the clerk ran the paper through a scanner and put it into their database of approved prosectors and miners.

"Stand over here," she ordered motioning to an out of date camera.

Akio's picture was taken and the mining licence was printed out. Akio stuffed it in his sash satisfied before making his way back out the streets. Unlike most of those here, Akio neither had mining handtools nor knew how to deal with the machinery. For that, he made his way to one of several prospector stores.

 

[Akio Diachi]

Like the rest of the city, this store was incredibly neat, organized, and tidy. The Chiss looked it over with an appreciative eye. However, he was beginning to miss the rest of the chaos from the rest of the galaxy. That was really, truly enjoyable. He liked being able to see the beauty in it. But there was beauty in order as well.

"Can I help you, sir?" a droid asked waddling towards him.

It looked like a grey offshoot of a protocol droid and its name badge said "Steve."

"Greetings, Steve, I am looking to procure some mining tools. I was hoping you could assist me."

"Oh of course! We are very glad to help equip all miners of all races and genders at SocMin Fed. How many are you equipping, sir?" the droid asked.

"Just myself. Its something of a smaller operation, I didn't bring any workers on."

"Oh, I see. Very good sir. May I recommend our standard prospector package then? It comes with a pickax, containment been, lantern, and mineral identification unit."

Akio shrugged slightly, "I do not see why not. I must warn you I do not have any money," he dug in his pocket and pulled out a few semi-precious gems, "But I do have these. Will you barter?"

 

[Akio Diachi]

The droid looked at the gems in his blue palm with a critical eye for a moment. "I am sorry, sir, but we are not allowed to accept barter here. Company policy. Moreover, those are not valuable enough to cover the package."

"Oh I have more," Akio interjected reaching back into his pocket.

"I am sorry, sir, we cannot accept barter. If you would like to come back later with your cash, we can work out a deal." the droid trundled off stiffly to the next customer.

Akio shook his head, slightly disappointed. Some days it really sucked being poor. He was half tempted to return back to the assassin work and stop trying to start a new life. He knew that he could make so much more with that without near as much effort as this. But he had promised Dryzl and this was the beginning of a new day. He shook his head and turned back out of the shop. He had to find a way to make some credits, and he had to find it sooner than later.

 

[Akio Diachi]

"Hey, hey, buddy," said a voice coming up behind him.

Akio turned and saw three men step out of the store after him. The Chiss could tell instantly that they were prospectors with their dress and the way they carried themselves. They were slightly dirty and dingy, it was pretty obvious by the thin coat of rock dust that covered them that these men had been doing this quite some time.

"My name's Lem, and these here are my brothers Sam and Larry. You looking to mine these here rocks?" the leader asked.

Akio smiled ruefully and nodded.

"Well, if you got the idea, you could hire us."

"I am afraid I do not have any money," Akio said with sorry frown.

"Well, what, you planning on selling them or something?"

"I was intending to make a armor of sorts out of these void stones--" Akio began.

"Hey, that's perfect," interjected Sam, "We will just split whatever we get four ways if you're willin to work with us."

"Yeah, how's ten percent sound?" Larry asked.

"Shush you two, I will be doin' the talkin!" Lem corrected his brothers, "How does that sound, buddy?"

"I think that sounds very reasonable," Akio said with a slight chuckle.

 

[Akio Diachi]

Lem extended his dirty hand and Akio shook it. The miner had some sort of massive, meaty hands, just like his brothers. He could tell they were incredibly well built.

"Well, you come on with us to the outpost, we will work on finding us a vein of the ore to find," Lem said nodding to a speeder.

Akio was used to poverty. For many months now he had been living hand to mouth, what he could gather, work for, or catch, was what he could eat. However, when he saw the speeder something inside him cringed and cried out. It was rather large with a truck-like bed in the back, two cabs, and was covered in rust from one end to the other. The dirty that covered it was intense, you could probably have shook it off and made a small hill. When he saw the tattered seats inside he felt even more cringing. It took a great deal of his willpower to climb in and sit next to Larry as Lem started the jalopy of a speeder up. With a roar and a jolt it began to make its way through the streets, out into the idyll lands that made up most of Elwood. The sound of the engine, the shuddering speeder, and the terribly aweful seats made for a horrific ride. If that wasn't enough, Lem turned the speeder's radio on to some country song. The chiss felt his ears bleeding as the brothers began to join the tone deaf singer in caterwalling words that would haunt Akio more than any dead man's eyes,

"Baby you a song
You make me wanna roll my windows down and cruise
Down a back road blowin' stop signs through the middle
Every little mine town with you
In this brand new SoroSuub with a lift kit
It'd look a hell lot better with you up in it
So baby you a song
You make me wanna roll my windows down and cruise"

 

[Akio Diachi]

Spoiler

To the Factory judge who has to undergo having that song stuck in their head, I am truly sorry.

The ride could not end soon enough. When the speeder finally stopped, the brothers climbed out of the speeder and Akio did everything in his power to muster the strength to get out. When he looked around he was--well not too surprised at what he saw. Almost every building in this small mining outpost was made from locally felled timber. The outpost was about the size of a small town, a very small town, and walking around were almost exact copies of Lem, Sam, and Larry, only some in different races. There weren't too many women and to Akio's horror--he could faintly hear more people singing that dreadful song. He could feel his heart shrivel up inside. It was going to be a real challenge getting through this without killing anyone.

The three brothers lead Akio to what looked like some sort of bar or tavern. Over the next hour they drank a few of their alcoholic beverages of choice--mainly beer and talked with several of the patrons.

"Hey, let's put that jukebox to good use!" Lem shouted, "Larry, put on our favorite song!"

"Sure thing, brother!" Larry shouted with some zeal, making his way to the box.

"Baby your a song, You make me wanna roll my windows down and cruise," the jukebox began to wail.

Akio buried his face in his hands.

"Oh, that's my favorite song too!" the bartender shouted.

"Mine too!" said a stranger.

"Oh me, too!"

"What are the odds?? This is my song!"

Let's just listen to this for hours!" the bartender proclaimed. And soon a chorus of horrific singing voices chimed, turning into a despicable choir for a despicable song.

Akio burred his face in the table and let out a sob.

 

[Akio Diachi]

After what felt like an infinity of hell, the Chiss had never been so close to turning to the darkside. It would have been so easy to turn on these men, to give into his anger and strike them all down for their heinous acts against music--and ears. But, using every ounce of his willpower, Akio managed to not destroy everything around him.

"Hey, hey buddy," said Larry nudging Akio's shoulder.

The Chiss looked up at the man with a pained, look, "Yes?"

"You don't look so good. You alright?"

"I am just looking forward to getting this mining operation competed," Akio said in earnest.

"Oh, well, I heard a guy who said he might know where a vein of Voidstone is," said Larry, "But--"

"Where, where is he?" Akio asked, feeling hope flood him once more.

"Oh, over there, in the corner, the strange fella who is shadowy, smoking a pipe. He's done nothin' but stare at us since we arrived."

'Thank you, thank you so much,' Akio gushed, hurriedly making his way to the stranger.

The man was strange, he wore almost all black, was dingy, had long hair, smoked some sort of pipe and seemed to wear a hood over his head despite being inside. Akio gave him a half bow, "Akio Diachi, I heard you may know of the location of a voidstone ore?"

The man gave a nod.

'May I sit?" Akio asked motioning to one of the chairs.

He nodded again.

Akio sat, smoothing his kimono over, "An honor to meet you mister--what is your name, sir?"

 

[Akio Diachi]

"I go by many names," the man said cryptically, "Around here, they call me Slider."

"I wonder, is that cause of some cryptic, local Ranger thing," Akio thought aloud.

"Its because every time I come in I order a slider with a side of onion rings and a beer," the dark man said.

"Oh, I see, Slider," Akio said with a nod, "what is it going to take for you to tell me where this ore location is."

"It'll take five hundred credits for me to tell you its general vicinity," Slider said cryptically, "Another five hundred to tell you where it is directly, another five to lead you there, and a solid thousand to help you mine it."

"But I already have a team," Akio objected, "And I haven't got five hundred credits."

"Then I guess you'll never know its on Abandoned Watch Tower," Slider said before realizing what had slipped out, "Oh, $%#@. Well, you'll still never know its on the second level--son of a $#@!"

Slider facepalmed with a groan, "But you are an off-worlder, you will will still never know how to get there."

"Hey, you said Abandoned Watch Tower? I know where that's at! Its the old factory where they used to make watches but don't know more! We could be there in fifteen minutes or less!"

"Gaaaaaah!!" Slider shouted, facedesking over and over again.

 

[Akio Diachi]

Akio and his three merry men, at last loaded back up on the jalopy speeder and made their way to the three brother's house. It doubled as a warehouse, and to be honest, it looked more like a warehouse that had been built out of lying around material than a home. The three brothers went in the front doors and came back out with a host of tools and machinery. The Chiss helped them load it on the speeder before they were off and moving again. The country side slid by them with a great deal of speed. It seemed that the sun was setting and Akio was able to enjoy its beauty as they moved through the hills to the Abandoned Watch Tower. He was expecting some ruined stone structure on a hill top that would be assaulted by wraiths, this tower was really just a factory of sorts.

Their rusty jalopy speeder trundled its way up, into the parking lot. The four of them divvied up the load of their tools and carried it into the tower. They went down through the stairs into the basement. Lem held up a handtool and began scanning all around. After a few sweeps, it dinged positively; there was a matching lode right under the duracrete flooring under there feet. Sam pulled a bottle of corrosive acid from his pack and poured it on liberally. After the smoke had cleared, the duracrete was gone and there was a nice open patch for them to start mining.

 

[Akio Diachi]

The brothers pulled out the parts for pneumatic hammers from their bags and quickly assembled them. They had been doing this for quite a long time and Akio could tell by the wear and tear on the hammers, so had their tools. Out of Akio's pack they pulled the power packs needed to make their tools run. Once proper ear protection had been applied, they got to work chisling away. A fresh cloud of dust quickly filled the air as they got to work. The dark purple raw void stone crystal-like substances began to fall apart under the assault. Akio began to do his job--gathering the raw product.

His hands and reflexes were hardened with the speed of a lifetime of martial arts training. He darted between the tools, grabbing the raw ore and quickly stowing it in a metal crate they had brought with them. Even feeling his Force taken from him, the Chiss was still able to grab their raw materials with precision and safety. They brothers soon found they didn't have to work around him as the Chiss sped them along. Soon the crate was full and they carried it down to the speeder together before filling another, and another, and another. Four total got filled by the time the sun rose and the brothers were thoroughly exhausted. Akio had to admit he was worn thin too. The four of them didn't bother going back to the camp, instead they slept for several hours in the speeder and were surprisingly not attacked by wraiths in black hoodies or something.

 

[Akio Diachi]

The trio of miners and Akio made their way back to the mining town. The ride back was even better than their ride there. They all four got about working to unload the speeder's payload. The Chiss worked through the soreness with his new found comrades on pulling the chests out of the back and into the brother's warehouse/home.

"Alright, Akio, what do you want to do with your part?" asked Lem wiping sweat off his brow.

"I was hoping to make some armor," Akio ventured, "I could do this on my own, but this ore will never do, I will need some voidsteel to do that."

"Shoot, why didn't you say so?" Sam chuckled, "We can make that for ya. We kinda can do metalurgy here."

"Are you sure?" Akio asked raising a brow, "I would hate to be a bother."

"Ain't a bother," Lem said waving it away, "Just help us lift this crate with your portion in it."

The four of them lifted the crate and hauled it into the back of the house. Here there were a series of machines that Akio honestly had no clue what this was--or even close to it. Sam went about moving through the machinery pushing this, pulling that. Soon there were flames and smoke. He joined the two other brothers in tossing the ore into a vat where most of the heating was taking place.

 

[Akio Diachi]

The ore quickly turned too liquid before Akio's very eyes. The Chiss could feel seat pouring off his body as he watched the glowing, gorgeous liquid was moved over to another area where the dross was scooped up by some robotic arms. The Chiss and the brothers began to pile in more of the unrefined ore in a new cauldron that also was soon bubbling with liquid metal. The vat went on to have its dross removed as well. Akio wasn't sure what else there was that was changing and clearing these ores up as they went around the machines Sam was operating like a mad hatter in a happy land.

The madman in his element dropped bars of metal into the batches as he worked, humming and singing a tune, they melted almost instantly into their vats of glorious liquid, much to Sam's delight. A few automated mixers began to thoroughly combine the ingredients into a viable alloy. The gooping, glowing mass was poured into ingot molds and cooled. When they were done, Akio examined them. They still felt unnaffectable by the Force. That was perfect.

"I added Duralium and Lanthanide," Sam said as Akio examined the heavy bars, "Strong stuff, they should work for pretty much any armor you go for."

Akio gave the brothers a half bow, "Thank you, thank all of you, and may the Force be with you."