Public Misfortune in mining (RTL)

[Ellie Omera]

Location: LN4431-2A, mining system close to Kabal

She had to admit, in an odd and deadly sot of way, it was quite the beautiful sight. The various shades of blue that danced across the atmosphere in waves spreading out slowly in all directions. The asteroid belt surrounding the planet glistened like charged diamonds as the light reflected off them with a dull blue glow, while what seemed to be lighting sparked from one matelic rock to another every so often. Ellie watched this show from the bridge of her star destroyer that was orbiting the planet at some distance. The vessel and its accompanying fleet resided on the night time side of the planet, keeping it between them and the systems blue sun. A sun which had recently released a massive solar flare, like a giant spindly arm that stretched thousands of miles outward.

Admiring the scenery wasn't exactly why she was here. No, that reason belonged to the faint distress signal they had recieved a few hours ago. Honestly they almost missed it, for how faint it was and coming from a basically uncharted section of the sector. It wasn't until the recieved a second, stronger signal did they arrive. The second one coming from an orbital depot on the edge of the system. According to their accounts, they had lost contact with a newly built mining facility built into an asteroid within the belt itself. Communications had become weak or sporadic when the solar flare had kicked up.

"Any sign of the base?" Ellie asked, never removing her gaze from the asteroid field. The base itself was supposedly built into an asteroid roughly four times the size her star destroyer. An easy find, right?

"No, unfortunately. We have narrowed the signal down to a small section of where it should be. However, there's to much interference to get an exact location."

Ellie took this into account as she watched the as the asteroids coming from the sun side begin to loose their bluish glow, along with the strange electrical sparks. Even from where shestood, she could watch the large rocks on the sun side breaking apart. "What exactly are we looking at?"

The officer in question looked down at her datapad before responding. "The solar flare is making it hard to get accurate readings. But, from our understanding this asteroid belt contains large amounts of metal. Such as iron, nickel and some traces of cobalt. We believe that the solar flare, or even something in the atmosphere is charging these asteroids and turning them in large magnets. At least in theory. Which is why they're pulling each other apart. The strongest asteroid wins out, the rest are turned to debris."

Ellie had to admit, that was a new one. All the asteroids on the day side of the planet were now in a tug of war with themselves, but calm on the night side. And somewhere down there was their missing mining facility and its crew. Things just got a little more difficult. "Send out a request for any of our available rescue vessels. Then get ahold of the Rimwards rescue services. We're definitely going to need help with this one."

 

[Vera Tillian]

RRS ENDURANCE
RANITE-CLASS ARMED TRANSPORT
​

"Incoming transmission for you captain," the voice was soft on the chime and Vera opened her eyes and sat up with a start. One hand was already on the sleeve of the armored vacsuit everyone had just been issued. It took a few heartbeats for her brain to register the message. She let out a deep breath and sat up slower, holding the blanket around her shoulders to ward off the chill, metallic air.

"Play it through," Vera replied, rubbing one eye with the back of her hand. The Arsenians-- it had been a while since she had heard from any of them. A solar flare caused a disaster at a mining outpost.

The other half of the message confused her.

"Bridge, repeat last," Vera said after a moment, "The asteroids are dancing?"

"Close," the reply came back through the intercom, "They've been magnetized." She pursed her lips for a moment, deep in thought before letting out a deep breath.

"Forward the message to the nearest Rescue Station- we'll need some back-up. And probably some of the Stryx-class patrol vessels." Smaller, faster, and somewhat more nimble, they may have better luck in the chaos of a magnetized asteroid field. "And set the course- get us there quick as possible. I will be on the bridge shortly. Summon the special missions team."

 

[Karissa Saitel]

She did not expect League to welcome her with open arms. Caution followed by gradual acceptance was her anticipation. Should they do anything less, Karissa would have doubted the viability of their security. She was a a former imperial, after all, and worse, an ex-ISB agent. The Lorridian kept nothing from the League, who she was, what she was, and why she was there.

Karissa had become supremely disenchanted with the powerful governments she had served, the First Order, then the Imperial Order. They promised order and peace. They brought neither, and Karissa saw them for what they were. She saw what she had become. She fled, took as much gear as she could carry and ran to the Outer Rim.

So, there she was, earning trust. ORION immediately saw the benefit Karissa could bring, if she were truly 'reformed'. The ex-NIO agent would not be assigned to a cell, not until the coordinators could fully trust her. In the meantime, she began the education of how the League worked. That brought her aboard the RRS Endurance, and to Lieutenant Commander Tillian. Who better, she was told, to show her how the Rescue Service operated?

Karissa lay in her bunk. Already awake, her thoughts had rendered her sleepless often since arriving in the Outer Rim. There were footsteps in the corridor, hurried steps. Curiosity brought her from the bunk and she hastily donned her un-marked uniform and opened the door. She made her way to the bridge, eager to see what had stirred the crew so early. When she arrived the agent remained at the back of the bridge. A bridge officer informed her that a message for assistance had been received. Karissa looked for the Lt. Commander.

 

[Vera Tillian]

Ellie Omera Karissa Saitel

RANITE-CLASS ARMED TRANSPORT
RRS ENDURANCE
​

"The station at D'qar is sending two additional ships and contacting all other vessels within range," the communications officer said, looking up from the screen. "They won't be here soon enough for a methodical approach through the asteroid, but we can stabilize and ascertain the situation; they can help the rescue operation. One doctor aboard each vessel."

"Very good," Vera replied, securing the straps on her vacsuit. "And have the bridge officer take the ship to Condition Yellow- Search and Rescue. Half gun-crews on standby, primary focus on tractor beams."

"Aye, captain," the reply came. Vera stepped out of the 'fresher and magnetized the helmet of her suit to the side of her legs, before zipping her coat on over the suit, and striding down the corridor. Around her, lights flashed yellow through the corridor while the words echoed through the bulkheads.

"Search and rescue parties, to your stations- tractor crews to your stations. Search and rescue parties to stations- tractor crews to your stations." The crew surged past her, parting to let her pass as she strode down the center of the corridor. The hatch to the bridge slid open and she stepped aside.

"Ah, Saitel, good to see you," Vera said, moving to the central chair.

"Captain has the bridge," the first officer said, rising from the chair with a salute.

"I have the bridge, aye," Vera replied, returning the quick salute before taking her seat. "You're in for a treat today. Search and rescue at a mining station. Sounds like abnormal solar activity has magnetized the asteroid fields." She cracked her knuckles quickly before looking over her shoulder. "You may want to suit up and buckle in. The flying may get a bit rough on this one."

 

[Karissa Saitel]

Karissa had only been on an imperial warship once, but the commander and crew of the Endurance matched the NIO naval crew organization and precision in every way. It was clear that everyone knew their role and place, taking their station or hurrying off in an orderly fashion to man distant positions. Lt. Commander Tillian exuded a confidence that was almost palpable, and the crew seemed to thrive off of her presence.

"Yes, ma'am..." The ORION agent replied to Tillian as readily as if she were one of the crew. With a nod, Karissa hurried to her guest quarters and pulled out the vacsuit she had been issued upon boarding the vessel. She donned it quickly. Glancing up at the small blaster on a shelf in the locker, she grabbed it, then hesitated. The suit did not have accommodations for the holster. She did find a small sealable pocket and shoved the small weapon inside.

Snatching up the helmet, she tucked it under her arm and hurried back to the bridge. The agent caught Tillian's darting gaze to acknowledge her return, then found an empty chair. Karissa sat, slipped on the helmet and strapped herself in. Adrenaline pulsed through the Lorrdian's body, creating an excitement and anticipation that was like a small high. She was going to see her first action since arriving in the Outer Rim.

 

[Vera Tillian]

Ellie Omera Karissa Saitel

"Reverting from hyperspace in five minutes," the navigator said, pressing a button. A chime sounded across the ship. Vera glanced over her shoulder and nodded as Saitel returned in the vacsuit and buckled in.

"All hands, prepare for hyperspace reversion," Vera said over the comm. "It may be rougher than usual." She tightened the straps, looking around the bridge at the officers and technicians at their stations before giving a firm nod of approval. "May the Force be with us."

"We're gonna need it," someone grumbled in a low voice from elsewhere on the bridge. Vera allowed herself a smile.

"Not if you fly the way you're supposed to," someone else called back, and Vera relaxed into the seat. Through the viewports, the clouds of hyperspace shifted to lines, and then dots.

Ahead, the massive display sprang to life as they watched the magnetized asteroids hurl themselves across the system. It was silent, but Vera could almost feel the impact of their collisions in her bones.

"This is the RRS Endurance- Lieutenant Tillian commanding, responding to the distress call. How can we assist?"

 

[Ellie Omera]

Holograms, charts and frequent radio updates filled the bridge as rescue crews carefully plotted a course through the electrified hell. Ellie watched a real time hologram of the planet and its asteroid belt. Little blue blinking dots indicating dropships that were attempting to reach the mining station. Little yellow dots indicated probe droids that were attempting to find a safe route for the rescue teams in this ever changing landscape. Sometimes the yellow dots would phase out, either do to static interference or just the belt itself. Occasionally, the dots never came back on, something she hoped wouldn't happen to the blue dots.

"Mam, we have an incoming message from the Endurance. A league vessel arriving to lend aid." Ellie only gave a quick glance at the officer before returning to the hologram. "Patch them through." The officer gave a nod indicating that they were now in contact with the league vessel. At the same time the officer sent a data packet containing their current path into the asteroid belt. "Endurance, this is Ellie Omera of the Wayward Sun. We could gladly use your assistance. As of now, we have several dropships and probe droids attempting to plot a safe route to the mining station. Currently we are waiting for specialized rescue vessels, but that may be a while. We would be grateful for any aid you can offer."

Vera Tillian Karissa Saitel

 

[Karissa Saitel]

The ORION agent found her seat and strapped in only a few moments before the Endurance was to revert from hyperspace. She returned the brief nod Lt. Tillian cast her way, ensuring that the ship's guest was squared away. Then the announcement was made and the streaks of light out the portals halted abruptly into the myriad points of light that was space.

What appeared on the display before them was remarkable and daunting. The metallic rocks and the bolts of energy that danced between them drew a furrow in the agent's brow. How was any ship going to find a way through that chaos?

Karissa remained quiet by keenly attuned to the situation as the lieutenant made her transmission. Soon, a reply came from the commander of an Arsenian naval ship. The spy's brow quirked. She had always found the Arsenians rather fascinating, but had never engaged any.

Peering away to a sensor console she could only partly see from her chair, Karissa watched as several dots of light appeared on a scanner, the Arsenian vessels and probes approaching the asteroid belt.

 

[Vera Tillian]

Karissa Saitel Ellie Omera

Vera sat and waited as the transmissions beamed back and forth through the void, her eyes locked onto the display screens around them, tracing an endlessly flickering array of dots flying across the screen.

As the message relayed from the other vessel, she leaned back deeper into her chair, eyes partially closed. "Wayward Sun," Vera replied after a moment, considering her words. "We have smaller patrol vessels en route from the D'qar Rescue Station, but they're still some distance away. Do we have any info on the mining station's condition?"

It was one thing to plan how to commence a rescue operation in a magnetized asteroid field. Seeing it was something else. She let out a deep breath, before glancing up at the others.

"So, we have a phenomenon that has never been recorded, with an uncertain rescue mission in an unknown facility." She summed up the situation in as few words as possible, studying the data pack about the other ship's course. "Time for some analogic thinking- let's put heads together and see what we can discover. Let's start plotting out an intercept course to meet with the Wayward Sun. Full power to the tractor beams and shields."

She glanced over at Karissa. "From a conceptual level, can you think of a similar analogy?"

 

[Karissa Saitel]

Tag: Vera Tillian Ellie Omera

Karissa turned to look at the Endurance's commander. While they waited for a response from the Arsenian vessel, Tillian was already working on a paradigm that would offer some reasonable course of action. It was a sticky situation, with so many variables, and lives in the balance. The ORION agent paused, looking out the portal and over the sensors she could see nearby.

"It's not only trying to avoid the danger of being hit by asteroids in an unpredictable path, or shards of those being torn apart, but avoiding the magnetic pull of the larger ones on the ships." She said, thinking as much out loud to herself as she was to anyone else. "I am having a hard time finding anything to compare it with." Karissa confessed. "Blasting the larger ones would decrease the danger of their magnetic pull, but create more debris." She continued to talk through the facts.

"Its like trying to avoid being hit by raindrops in a rain shower." Karissa posed. "And since you can't avoid every raindrop, you use an umbrella. Something to defect or repel the drops... am I getting anywhere with this?" The agent only knew so much about the situation and the resources the Rescue Service and the Arsenians could bring to bear.

 

[Vera Tillian]

Ellie Omera Karissa Saitel

Vera stared at the display, feeling the minute adjustments in the ship's velocity as the helmsman navigated the vessel into position. "An umbrella..." Her words mused and she turned to study Karissa. "While we have shields, I suspect you are right in thinking that shields may not be effective when dealing with magnetic fields."

She snapped a finger and grinned. "But perhaps we can rig up a magnetic shield, reversing the polarity of the predominant magnetic charges. Excellent analogic think, Saitel. Well done."

Vera leaned over and pressed a button the arm of the chair. "Engineering, do you think you could rig up an electromagnetic shield?"