Operation Burnout [CIS Dominion of Thaere]

[Darth Metus]

​

Thaereian System, Zham Hlar Orbit​

Bridge of the Black Mamba, Approaching Burnout Station​

The silence of the Thaereian System was broken by the spontaneous manifestation of a single vessel from the depths of Hyperspace. T'was a Scion-class Stealth Corvette, dubbed the Black Mamba, and aboard was a cadre of elite personnel hailing from the Confederacy of Independent Systems. Known as the Venom Squad, this unit had been dispatched in order to put to ease the minds of the Thaereian System's citizens by investigating a source of endless myth and rumor: Burnout Station. For centuries, following the Gulag Plague, the station had drifted silently about the world known as Zham Hlar...and any attempts to investigate that which was aboard had resulted in personnel who were either rendered insane or missing by the experience. In time, fear claimed the hearts and minds of the local population in response to this hulking behemoth in the night sky...

...And as such, Venom Squad was sent to discover what the kark was going on.

To this end, Isley Verd, the young Mandalorian who now held the rank of Colonel, strode forth from the depths of the Black Mamba and came to a halt upon the bridge. With a nod to the communications officer, he then spoke into the adjacent console and projected his voice all across the ship. "Venom Squad to the bridge for briefing. I repeat, Venom Squad to the bridge for briefing." came his voice, slightly distorted with a metallic edge due to the presence of his helm. Once he had completed sending his message, the Mandalorian busied seated himself at one of the few, open seats on the bridge and awaited the arrival of his fellows; busying himself with the cleaning of his blaster pistol in the process. He had no idea what this station had in store, whether it be some sort of biological nightmare, plague, rogue AI, or anything in between...but he had faced down numerous challenges before and lived to tell the tale.

This was just one more chapter for the history books.

@[member="Chloe Hinata"], @[member="Rayn H'voc"], @[member="Strask Ak'lya"], @Cross, @[member="Desmond Voralis."] @[member="Sephoria Lasranae"], @[member="XV-265"], @[member="Xalus"], @[member="Alek Skywalker"]. ​

 

[Xalus]

It was the Gen'Dai's first day here serving with the Confederacy of Independent Systems. Rather than stooping to fulfill his measly jobs in killing random crime lords or their enemies, Xalus found himself in a military conflict situation. He didn't feel like standing 0n the sidelines doing Bounty work. The near invincible specimen of a commando now had a rank of 1st Lieutenant and a vast armory to use when selecting his toys for the slaughter. Garbed head to toe in his hulking armor, he perked his helmeted visage up at the sound of loudspeakers and closed into the briefing room.

 

[Ak'lya]

Strask stepped out of the shadows of the bridge, and took a seat at the far side of the table. The bothan spy placed the J1 he had been holding back in his pocket, but never took his hand off it. "So, what do you think we've got in store today?" ​ he asked @[member="Isley Verd"].

 

[Charlyn Nairne]

Chloe was good at tracking down information and finding things others wished to keep hidden. She prided herself in being able to slice in the galaxy's most secure systems. There wasn't a thing that had totally stumped her until now. Zham Hlar was a hard planet to crack and she had been trying to gather for ages now on what was going on down there. Every avenue that she went down Chloe was coming up empty handed which was frustrating to say the least but Chloe didn't give up. She loved a challenge and hopefully would come up with something useful to the squad before they touched down.

She walked to the briefing room with her datapad still in hand trying yet again to find information on the planet they were going to be going to. Chloe didn't have much luck with a blaster so her slicing skills was how she was to be useful to this squad which unfortunately were failing her at the moment. The place seemed to be a mystery to everyone and everything. Taking a seat she kept her head buried in the datapad as she waited for the meeting to begin.

 

[Cadmon Geller]

He had a legacy behind him, one people waved in his face every goddamn day of his life and then yelled about how so much was expected of him. The Skywalker didn't give a KARK what his ancestors had done, he was himself, he'd determine his own path. Currently his path led him here, to Thaere, where he and his newest employers, the Confederacy of Independent Systems, were going to take over a damn planet in the name of Independence and stuffs. Strolling though the halls of the ship and onto the bridge, the Knight of the Confederacy stood in utter silence.

@[member="Isley Verd"]

 

[Darth Metus]

Once the initial four had filtered into the Bridge, the Mandalorian decided that now was the time to kick off the briefing. As he was just now getting started, he felt that those who had yet to arrive would not miss anything too crucial, as he'd be reviewing the facts that most would have known before stepping aboard the Black Mamba. Rising to his feet, he regarded each and every one of them with a nod and gave them an initial look over; as some were absolutely new to him. First was the Gen'Dai mercenary turned Lieutenant; a silent type from what little Isley knew of him. Then was the Bothan: an enigma to the Mandalorian completely, for he had no clue who he was aside from name and rank. Next was the Slicer, a woman whose sole talent was hacking to various systems...she was damn fine at what she did, but if push came to shove and poodoo went down, she'd need extra support or they'd be down a Slicer. Isley made a mental note of this, of course. Lastly, there was the man who carried the Skywalker name, but aside from that he knew nothing about him as well.

Between the five of them was enough skill, in his opinion, to complete the mission; but knowing Lady Luck, missions never went the way they were supposed to. Isley, of course, did not voice these thoughts; or his initial impressions about the team, but focused solely on the facts. After slipping his blaster into its holster, the Mandalorian stood to his feet and addressed those present with a confident tone. "Alright, gentlemen and lady, let's start with a reviewing of the facts." As the words escaped his lips and sounded through his visor, his fingertips danced upon the console that was built into the table. Once the sequence was finished being keyed in, a holographic projection of Burnout Station came into view. "The people of the Thaereian System are karking scared of this: Burnout Station. It's been sitting in Zham Hlar's orbit for centuries, and every attempt to explore it has either resulted in the poor sods going bantha-poodoo insane or missing. In exchange for figuring out what the flying kark is going on aboard that ship, the System has agreed to sit down with the CIS big wigs and talk about joining."

"So, our job is simple. Get in, see what's kicking, get out. If need be, we blow the karking thing outta the sky and move on with our lives. Now then, we're going to be splitting into teams and relying on boarding pods to get us there. Our primary focus is to see if we can get some power restored to the station, in addition to geting the life support back online. From there, we hit the ship's black box to see what the kark's been going on...and hopefully we won't go insane or die along the way. We'll be in constant contact over comm the entire time; any questions so far?"

@[member="Chloe Hinata"], @[member="Rayn H'voc"], @[member="Strask Ak'lya"], @Cross, @[member="Desmond Voralis."] @[member="Sephoria Lasranae"], @[member="XV-265"], @[member="Xalus"], @[member="Alek Skywalker"]. ​

 

[Rayn H'voc]

A single light, far off into the corner, lit the room where Rayn sat in meditation. Her force-imbued blade, Heartpierce, laid on the floor before her, glowing a neon blue with the Force mated with the blade. Her mind stayed quiet a peaceful as she sat there, eyes closed, and breathing slow. Sneak. Slice. Repeat.

The commanding officer's voice came through the comms, awaking Rayn from her meditative state. "It's time." she said to herself. She grabbed the hilt of her blade and slid it into the sheathe before rising from the cold metallic floor and walking towards the bridge.

She entered through the blast door onto the bridge. Her usual ebony leather bodysuit hugged her skin tightly and her leather heels clicked with each step she took towards the briefing area. She said no words from her lips. Just a simple salute to the commanding officer and a head nod to everyone else. Rayn listened intently to the briefing given to the squad by Col. Verd. "No questions from me, sir." Rayn replied.

 

[XV-265]

>>/ Main Powercore Reactivation Initiated.
Progress...0%
25%
50%
75%
100%
>>/ Main Powercore Reactivation Completed
>>/ All systems Operational
>>/ Memory Core Reactivation Successful
>>/ Welcome back XV-265

6 Minutes later
The door to the Bridge opened and someone large stepped in, just as the man who seemed to be in charge finished talking. That someone was XV-265 the prized killing machine. He was here to aid the Confederacy of Independent Systems in some matter, which hopefully would involve killing many organics, or ''Fleshlings'' as XV calls them. He didn't care about the history of this place, nor did he care about why they were doing whatever they are doing here. The only thing he cared about was killing Fleshlings and getting paid. ''Mission parameters accepted.'' The voice was deep and sounded synthetic. ''This unit will assist in completing mission objectives. Where and with whom will this unit operate?''

 

[Xalus]

From behind his mask of durasteel, Xalus couldn't help but pity those tiny beings surrounding him. They'd never stand out in a firefight. They'd probably scatter, seek cover, and make a mistake and end up getting blown to shreds by high explosives or caught in crossfire. This little Venom Squad thing was pathetic. He could tell these people had no real combat experience. Xalus had been alive in this galaxy for over 900 years and he had seen some deep poodoo situations and these little ones showed that fear in their eyes.

"Advance."

That single word uttered from behind the Gen'Dai's mask spoke more than enough than these others would say. For those who actually paid attention, it meant "let's go ahead already."

 

[Desmond Voralis.]

Desmond absently twisted a half empty pack of cigarettes in his palm as he listened to the briefing. The worst part of being aboard ship was how few of them let you smoke.

He glanced between everyone else who had been scouted for this little project. Venom Squad. Ominous. Foreboding. In a story it was a name that would almost certainly go to the bad guy.

Desmond didn't think of himself as a villain, but the concept he'd been pitched was interesting, at least. In truth after Rostu's tribunal he'd been close to leaving CIS space for a while, but the talent scouts had given him a very tempting offer. And a haunted station? Well, it was certainly something he hadn't encountered before.

He grinned as Isley finished his briefing, "We got any idea at all who might have built the smegging thing? I guarantee you I can get the systems online, but if we know what sorta equipment to expect I can get it done faster. Would make scuttling it a little more straightforward if it comes down to that, too."

@[member="Isley Verd"]

 

[Charlyn Nairne]

Looking up from her datapad she placed it down on the table for a brief second to talk. "No, I have searched all the inter webs of the galaxy and there is nothing on whom built it. It's almost as if it came out of nowhere which is silly I know but there is ziltz on the station. I can help you get the systems back online, it shouldn't be that hard. What worries me though is what may happen when get them up and running. We don't know what type of system we are working with here."

The only thing that she came up with when looking through different files were horror stories on the station and what would happen if one dared to enter. Those in the underground spoke the same tales and had no insider information. There was no telling what they were getting into.



@[member="Desmond Voralis."] @[member="Isley Verd"]

 

[Darth Metus]

Once the initial portion of the briefing had been concluded, the Mandalorian hearkened his attention to the words of those seated about the room. There was no questions from one of the later arrivals, one "Agent Banshee" according to his information, to which there was a silent nod of acknowledgement. Another of the final arrivals, a droid unit known as XV, simply inquired as to who he would be teamed up with in order to accomplish his part of the mission. The silent Lieutenant sounded his desire to get the show on the road, and the leader of Curtain Call inquired about the specs and story of the station. Sadly, the information that Chloe had pulled up was the same information that the Mandalorian had on the subject: next to nothing. Four Hundred Years of Darkness were a long time, and practically anything could have taken place on the station...and they were about to find out exactly what.

The Mandalorian decided to answer Desmond's inquiry first, as it was something that the remainder of Venom Squad could "benefit" from hearing. "Sadly, the information we have is next to nothing. All the relavent data has been lost over the centuries. What we know is what I've shared thus far." he began, before reaching out to touch the holographic projection. Where his hand touched the light, a circle of red appeared, designating four points of entry that their boarding pods would home in on. "Life Support. Bridge. Infirmary. Armory." he said, before standing straight. "We'll break into teams of two and each board at one of these four points."

"@[member="Alek Skywalker"] and @[member="Strask Ak'lya"]. You both will be headed for the Armory. Strask, I want you to focus on slicing into that portion of the system and see if you can find anything useful. Schematics, intel on bio or mental weapons, etc. You get anything interesting, you let me know. Skywalker, you keep Strask alive, understood?"

"@[member="XV-265"] and @[member="Xalus"], you're headed for the Infirmary. Due to the reports of madness, I'm leaving it to you both to kick down the doors and take a look around; as I'm sure you two will be the least susceptible to whatever the kark is causing the insanity. Medical logs, cryo-pods, etc; turn over every table and let me know what you find. If anything's...alive...in there, and doesn't look remotely friendly, kill it."

"@[member="Rayn H'voc"] and @[member="Desmond Voralis."] You two are headed for Life Support. Rayn, I'm relying on you to get the Life Support systems functional again; and the same deal applies. Hack into the systems, see what the kark you can find out on your end; and if anything moves down there, put two in its face."

"Last and not least, @[member="Chloe Hinata"], you're coming with me. We're heading for the Bridge to see if we can't get the main power on. Everyone, let's be absolutely certain to stay in constant contact, comm channel one. If there are no questions, then let's get this show on the road."

With the order's dispatched, Isley stepped back from the table and gave the hologram a wave, dispelling the projection. He then began to head towards the Pod Bay, where both the escape pods and boarding pods could be found. Before leaving the room, he gave Chloe a motion of his hand, instructing her to follow, and selected Pod 4 upon arrival. The doors slid open with a hiss, revealing a relatively cramped space with seats enough for two. "Ladies first." he said, smirking from behind his visor.

 

[Charlyn Nairne]

She was a little surprised to hear that she was going to be paired with Isley. It wasn't that she minded the pairing at all, she hardly knew the man it was just the fact that she was being paired with the squad's leader of sorts. The only logical explanation for that was that they had discovered she was a terrible shot and he was to protect her. When it came to a blaster Chloe always had problems from hand shaking to shooting herself. It only happened once but it was enough for her to make a name for herself. If it wasn't for her super slicing skills there would be no way anybody would have yet her on this squad. She was sure some even thought it unwise still.

Grabbing her datapad off the desk she headed with Isley towards the escape pods to which she entered and plopped down. She knew it was rude to have her nose buried in the datapad but she was still trying to figure this place out. It was like a puzzle to her and was fascinating. She was sure that nobody else saw it that way but that was their lost. Since they were headed to turn the main power back on she shifted her attention to that. Chloe knew where the power grid was at a normal station but she had a feeling this was anything but normal. "If we can find the power source or anything technical really I can turn the power back on. I'm not sure what that will mean but I can do it. What do you think is in the station?" She had faith in herself that she could do it and in honesty she was curious as to what would happen when she did.

@[member="Isley Verd"]

 

[Rayn H'voc]

Rayn gave Desmond a quick look and nodded to him with a smirk. "Hear that, Des?" she chuckled. "You're stuck with me." Rayn gave him a slight punch to the arm. Her cold, silver eyes turned to look at Isley. "You can count on me, Colonel." she stated with a smile. She realized everyone depended upon her to get the job done. that was motivation enough for her. She wouldn't dare let the rest of the squad down. Not today. Not ever.

Rayn followed behind Isley towards the pod bay and went for pod 2 with Desmond. "Try to get comfortable, Voralis. Won't be that long of a ride, thankfully." she said as she maneuvered her way into the pod and equipped the gear she would need in order to breathe happy and breathe healthy aboard the station. She sat and awaited orders to start take off.

@[member="Isley Verd"] | @[member="Desmond Voralis."]

 

[Desmond Voralis.]

Desmond's grin grew slightly as he lifted a fist to pantomime returning Rayn's blow. His stopped well short of his assigned partner, and he let out a slight chuckle. This was looking good already.

"Oh you aren't gonna hear a single fething complaint out of me, Ms. H'voc," he shook his head with a final laugh, grabbing his helmet and pulling it into place as he followed her to the drop pod.

"Not gonna be a problem," he replied, climbing in after her and finding a seat. He sealed his armor's environmental protections and did a quick tally of his munitions and kit. If worst came to worst, figuring out how to scuttle this place would be his job, and he had plenty of explosives in his pack to do it, "Here's hoping we land in the right smegging part of the station, eh?"

@[member="Rayn H'voc"] @[member="Isley Verd"]

 

[Cadmon Geller]

@[member="Isley Verd"]

"Consider it done." Alek responded to the leader of Venom. He looked to the Bothan @[member="Strask Ak'lya"], and gave him a nod. Skywalker, unlike his ancestors, wasn't multi-talented in the force, he was a raw telekinetic user, he didn't have the ability to do anything else. While that in itself was a major loss, it did have a single significant gain, his telekinetic powers were master level easily, but that was still all he could do. His hand moved to his side, resting on the single emerald bladed saber which hung from his belt loosely.

 

[Ak'lya]

Skywalker....... Where do I know that? Strask asked himself. "Copy, sir." He said, hoping the blatant fear in his voice went unnoticed. He stood and headed to the pods. Bio weapons..... not something that you want to hear.
@[member="Alek Skywalker"]

 

[Darth Metus]

The motivation behind the pairings that the Colonel had doled out was simple: Slicer and Protection. Each duo had one who was an expert in the art of hacking into electrical systems of all sorts; and as such Isley was convinced that they would be able to break into the systems of the ancient station with relative ease. Once the Mandalorian's chosen partner had made her way into the pod and settled into her seat, he set about opening one of the adjacent compartments and procuring an oxygen mask for her. He then stepped within and lowered his head, claiming the seat in front of her. As she spoke, he nodded his head affirmatively, before exhaling in response to her question. He had no idea what was aboard the station...but he sure as hell had an idea of what to hope wasn't waiting for them.

"If you can get the power back on, it'll make navigation about the station that much easier. In particular, we'll be able to activate the artificial gravity, and then browse the databases at our leisure." he began, holding out the oxygen mask for her. "In all honesty, I have no idea what we'll find aboard; but I'm hoping it'll be answers. Now strap in Miss Hinata, it's going to be a rather bumpy entrance." Isley took his own advice and strapped in before reaching up and pressing the "magical, red button" that would jettison the boarding pod across the black of space. There was a sudden screech of metal upon metal before the pod launched forward, causing Isley to lean back in his seat in response to the forces. "You'd best get that oxygen mask on quickly, Miss Hinata." he advised, before speaking on the open channel.

"Pod 4 Away."​

It took about thirty seconds for the boarding pod to rocket across the distance between the Black Mamba and Burnout Station; and arrival consisted of the sudden kicking on of blades. As a whole, the boarding pod looked much akin to a throwing dart; and it literally impaled the hull of the ship at the designated position. There was a loud, mechanical drilling noise that filled the pod as its blades began to rotate and literally tear through the hull; and once complete the front of the pod opened up to reveal a makeshift entrance to the station. "And so we go." he murmured, activating the lights upon his helmet before unbuckling his straps and kicking off in the now-weightless environment. He slid through the pod's opening and landed on his feet in what was once the Bridge of the vessel. It, like the remainder of the Station, was dark...and characterized by what seemed like a firefight. The metal was scorched black in numerous places, deep, ragged cuts spanned the length of the walls, and the skeletal remains of personnel were scattered about.

"Well, this certainly looks promising...Team, report in once you've entered the Station, over."​

@[member="Alek Skywalker"], @[member="Strask Ak'lya"], @[member="XV-265"], @[member="Xalus"], @[member="Rayn H'voc"], @[member="Desmond Voralis."] @[member="Chloe Hinata"].

 

[Xalus]

And after much unneeded wasted oxygen, the mission parameters were set in stone by their commander, Isley Verd, and soon he was assigned to work with that hulking thing of a droid. Given his past experiences with droids back on Balmorra, the Gen'Dai had come to favor them as allies and even friends in his pursuit of meaning in the galaxy. Xalus caught the droid's gaze and nodded from behind his durasteel helmet.

"Board."

He hadn't been given a weapon yet, so he'd probably end up jumping into combat unarmed. He didn't really care. It wasn't like whatever was on this station could cause him any real harm. The only thing he had to really protect was his head. The Gen'Dai elders had told him that too, the brain was where his soul resided and it was essential to provide shielding from harmful actions.

 

[Rayn H'voc]

Rayn had herself tightly strapped into her suit, oxygen mask on and ready. "Just try to keep up, Des. I'd hate to leave you behind in this accursed station." she chuckled. Before they knew it, their pod shot from the ship with a sharp hiss. Pod 2 glided through space towards Burnout station, the site of many horrid and eerie tales. "Alright, when we get to Life Support, I'm going to need you watching my back. Can't cut the air back on if I'm dead, hmm?"

The pod pierced the hull of the station, creating an entrance for Rayn and Desmond. Tuning into her commlink implant, Rayn sent a message to all of Venom Squad on the mission. "This is Rayn. Desmond and I and inside and headed for Life Support." she messaged. Rayn grabbed onto the hilt of her blade, keeping a firm grip upon it should she need to draw her weapon. "Stay close, Voralis." she whispered as she started pacing towards the Life Support systems.

@[member="Isley Verd"] @[member="Desmond Voralis."]