Star Wars Roleplay: Chaos

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Protect Us: Excavation (PM for Invite)

Shy little girl, you grew into a dancer and leapt into the stars for fortune and adventure. You fell in love and drifted off with the universe's contractions and expansions, crashing back to your husband's orbit. An Empire called you and in your whimsy you caterwauled into its borders. Little girl, where have you gone? "Little girl, where have you gone?" Aditya Amadis chirped in a soft, whispering voice. She pushed her forehead against the cold transparisteel of her impromptu on-ship office and sang the lullaby her mother had sang in the tender moments of her youth. Pulling her coat across her body, Aditya looked back at her data pad and swiped across the screen to a functional scouting report of Seltos' planetary mineral deposits.

One deposit in particular caught the young wife's attention and sent her zooming at hyper speed to the far off neutral planet: Phrikite Ore. Perched within the mining ship she'd commandeered from the Imperial Shipwork, the Senior Prefect had gladly hatched the plan to find as much of the indecently valuable ore as she could muster. The R & D would be amazing, and if she had a little left over? A tiny bit unaccounted for, or 'destroyed' in the smelting, who would mind?

The Emperor had in his wisdom given her the lengthy leash to aide her husband @[member="Kei Amadis"]' Army of Light and in that capacity she had descended onto Bimmisaari with the hopes and dreams of the wide eyed Pirate, an idealist who had robbed banks before. There was no precident for what she saw in her first encounter with Sith Warriors. Bile rose in Aditya's throat as her mind drifted to images of the woman in red, blood caked to her body, her throat and lips and hands, who laughed and cooed at the horrific nature of her crimes. Tugging her coat shut, Aditya sipped her tea and pushed her index finger and thumb into the hollows beside her nose. Kei was out there fighting those people. He was leading an army and he would need something more than an old leather flak jacket and cargo trousers to come home to her alive.

Heck, she would need more than that to go back out there. Phrik alloy was deemed lightweight, pliable to a purpose and extremely protective against various energy-based weaponry. If she could get the ore, begin the smelting process and combine it with tyridium. . . the ship slowed out of hyperspace. Aditya walked onto the Bridge and nodded at the CO.

"How long till we break into orbit?" She asked, running mental calculations.

"A half hour, Ma'am."

"Scan for the ore, prep mining crews 2 through 4 for immediate deployment. Find what we need and get us off this rock."

"Yes Ma'am."

Aditya was already gone back to her office to re-read the geologist's report. Somewhere on that planet below was a mine worth more than gold, and Aditya would find it.
 
The clinking of his armor was something to be heard, and Preliat kept a stoic face, even under his helmet. To most of the galaxy, it was common that Mandalorians truly had no face. As Boba Fett had said, the helmet was their face. Beskar'gam, Iron skin. He was so attuned to his armor that it had felt like a second skin, and it showed in the way he walked. Some people adjusted the way they walked to accommodate armor, Preliat wore it like regular clothes. He shouldered his blaster, nodding at the various people on the ship. The singing woman with the Jedi for a husband had taken him for protection detail, and he appreciated it greatly. He turned to the woman on the bridge, speaking stoicly. He had put up a good act for the past several months, ever since the Dark Harvest event, of being tougher than he actually was. But he was no less determined than he was before, that was for sure.

"Are you expecting any trouble, or am I just here as a...precaution, miss?"He said, his helmet facing outwards, towards the blackness of space, but his eyes were using the 360 field vision that came with standard Mandalorian helmets to stare into her eyes. Something was deeply worrying her, just like something was digging away at him. Behind his helmet, he gave off a sort of sigh and a solemn look, before disabling the 360 field vision and turning to face her, awaiting her response.

@[member="Aditya Amadis"]
 
@[member="Preliat Mantis"] was the sort of hired gun the former mercenary engineer knew she could rely on for the given time. Seeing the man in armour gave Aditya a momentary comfort, if the Mando could walk unimpeded, then there was some grace in the rather clunky starter designs she'd pictured in her mind's eye. Streamline, panel and protect. It would all be a pipe dream if her teams didn't find the ore. The young woman breathed through her nose, holding the atmo in until it hissed lazily out her lips.

"After the last few weeks, I'm expecting anything from a bunch of dancing Ewoks to a sentient mountain trying to swallow us whole. I'd like to think there'd be no danger, but Seltos ain't known for milk and cookies." Nodding to his attire, Aditya Amadis smirked tiredly, her lips pressed together. "You got the best sight of all of us, methinks. Once we secure the mining site, your duties should be on the easy side of getting paid. . . rest upon safe return 'course."

The geologist's station bleeped and a protocol droid (who let that in there?) bumbled up with a message that a suitably sized vein had been found. "Oh, oh dear! Goodness, ma'am, it's in the mountains, ma'am!"

"And that's goodness-y for what reason?"

"Passes won't fit our treads. We'll have to drop in, fly out." The Captain grimaced, he ran the risk of losing precious equipment to a heavy drop. Aditya pulled her arms over her nubile chest and pouted. "Then we do it. Start figuring out the landing trajectories and match them with weather patterns. Scan for the nearest settlement, see how far away we are from disturbing the locals."

"Yes Ma'am."

"Ever get that feeling you've hit the pause button before a really big explosion on a holoscreen, Preliat?"
 
Preliat watched the woman work. She was a...unique leader, that much was obvious. But a good one, nonetheless. He smiled, and turned to face her, but realized that she couldn't exactly read him well. Mandalorians, and other Mandalorians alone, seemed to have the innate ability to read each other's helmets for expressions and feelings. It could be perhaps a connection to the person, but Mandalorians could read helmet-talk. He doubted very seriously that the lady before him understood that unspoken language. He turned his head to ponder her question, and then turned back to the view of space, as the planet approached.

"It all depends on how you look at it, ma'am. For one, I could have the easier job. Protection is simple when it goes right..."He paused, thinking on his next sentence, a rare trait on some Mandalorians.

"Then again, I could have the hardest if things were to go wrong, terribly wrong."He said, sighing, reaching up to his helmet's magnetic locks, he let the helmet hiss as the environmental seals undid themselves, and his head, and more importantly, hair, were free to do as they wished. His hair was pulled back in a ponytail slightly, with the rest flowing downwards. He turned to face Aditya, smiling at her, however briefly.

It was a sign of trust from Preliat, and a sign that he wanted to build trust with someone who wasn't a Mandalorian. He wanted to put a face to his metal face."Miss Amadis, the galaxy is on a pause right before a big explosion, so it's a feeling I've gotten used to."He said with a smile, his pearly whites pulling against his darker Epicanthix skin.

@[member="Aditya Amadis"]
 
Aditya couldn't read Mando Helmet Talk. She couldn't even translate Mandalorian Shoulder Shrug Talk, the words were appreciated. As the surface atmosphere of Seltos rocked around them, the crew were hustling to zero in on the position of the Phrikite Ore vein the geologists said within a 90% certainty was there. Eggs in baskets, the first of the droid-based deployment capsules began to break off the hangar deck and into the Seltan sky. At the sight of his face, Aditya smiled. She hadn't the healthy education in Mando'a culture that some mercs had, but seeing one's face? Although unaware of the significance, Aditya did appreciate getting to see the man eye to eye.

"I hope you're bored. Really do. It's a sad state on the universe if a girl can't even undergo a mining operation without being shot at, or potentially maimed by some unknown. . . Guess you're right. We always have been on that pause. Someday I wonder if the Galaxy'll get the chance to take a long drag of atmosphere and a drink of something fruity. Your armour. . . how long'd it take for you to get used to it? I know. . . I know how that sounds, but consider it research. It's my husband more than me, he's a fighter. Don't wanna get the circle wreath and an 'I'm sorry to inform you...' from survivors. Maybe I'm paranoid, but. . . no, I'm not paranoid."

Settling into her coat, Aditya nodded @[member="Preliat Mantis"] with her as an assistant came carrying the necessary datapad, and essentials in a pack on his back. The Mining Ship's Captain turned as Aditya started to exit the bridge. "Sr. Prefect Amadis, I'm scanning local activity moving toward our droid probes. You sure you wanna go down there, Ma'am? The Emperor'd get dreadful touchy if he lost his Epicanthix Star."

"It's my idea and my authority we're here in the first place. I'm going down. Besides, our Master Mando will protect me. Stay in airspace, keep me posted."

"Yes Ma'am."

As she sat in the shuttle for the journey down, Aditya went over the initial readings from the droid probes, noting their chisel rate as they cut through the top layer of mountainside. The area seemed to be uninhabited, yet there appeared to be a settlement a few hundred clicks off, nestled in a valley with a lake of green water. The Assistant took the yoke, thankfully enough. Aditya couldn't fly to save her life, or at least in anything but a straight line. "If something goes ridiculously wrong and you can't save me, which I severely doubt will happen, get the ore back to the Ship. Take it to @[member="Kei Amadis"] at his Army of Light, and give him the datastick I gave you with my holotransmission on it. But barring everything else? Save me, please. I'm too young to die."
 
Preliat remained silent for a moment, and then pulled his helmet to his side, holding it by the edges and letting it rest in his hand. He looked downward, and sighed sorrowfully."You can never have peace, Miss Amadis. The galaxy will never truly know peace. Peace is like a lake, even the tiniest drop can create the biggest wave, you know? It's all perspective. It's not about peace as a whole, but peace as an individual. That's what you should strive for. Even as a Mandalorian, I don't want to wake up in the morning to kill or fight. I want life, I want to drink it from a goblet and never have to put it down. But with all this, all this death, greed, destruction, slaughter, war...people like you, me, your husband, everyone, will never have a chance to do that."Preliat placed his helmet down on the console ahead of him, turning to face her. His brown eyes met hers, and he crossed his arms at her question about the armor.

"As for the armor, the name implies how much we cherish it. Beskar'gam, is not just a term for armor. Beskar may be what we call Mandalorian Iron, but Beskar'gam means Iron skin. I wake up, and wear it. I go to bed, wash it, and keep it near. It's a part of me as much as I am of it."The young man sighed and glanced over at the only other Epicanthix he , smiling."Remember, in war, Miss Amadis, there are no unwounded soldiers. My fallen brothers and sisters would appreciate the worry that they received. Keep him in your thoughts, because I know he's thinking about you."He reached into his helmet, and tapped the datastick that was taped to the top, safe and secure. He smiled, tapping his chest.

"How could I let a pretty woman die, Miss Amadis? And the fact that you're the only other Epicanthix I know helps too."He said, crossing his legs, watching the ship descend towards the planet.

@[member="Aditya Amadis"]
 
Individual peace. Maybe that was worth a shot, maybe there was nothing else she could go for but bundling up some mean spirited bit of time to grab for herself and her husband. If Preliat was right the galaxy would never be finished and neither would the Sith. Kei was right, every second Sith in a force cage would have to do. "Good thing we know how to defend ourselves. And some of us know enough to ask for help. What about you, have any family or dear ones out there? Any moments of peace?" She smirked self-deprecatingly, pointing at her own temple.

"Now I've got to design the armour so he'll wear it. He's all others my Kei. Cares so much about how everyone else is, he doesn't take the time for him. Something that makes him feel no different. Does feel good to hear that it gets easier. Iron Skin. . . I like that." The young wife blushed, tugging at her hair and tucking it behind her ear. "I will. Got to keep the home fires burning, eh?" Aditya laughed from her belly, punching a few combinations in the air from her seat, "Yeah, we Epicanthix are sturdy I'll give you that. Got to stick together, lest our brawling ways get lost forever in a sea of crazies."

The droids had all hit the surface, each reporting a slow dig down to the core of the mountain. "Looks like a glacier plain dried up. . . what's the content on that liquid down there?"

"Sure isn't water, Ma'am. I'd rather not have you try swimming. Alkaline. It'll melt your bones."

Aditya sighed and snapped her fingers. "But @[member="Preliat Mantis"] and I were going to try synchronized swimming. Guess mining for a rare and precious material will have to do." Little did Aditya and Preliat know then that a band of pirates had taken to Seltos' western hemisphere and their band leader had seen the probes landing. They started to mobilize and were keen to investigate.
 
Preliat turned towards her, tilting his head and nodding."Beskar alone is expensive, miss, but Beskar'gam is even more so expensive and costly. I only know of one Jedi that wears it, and wears it well. Other than that, it will be damn-near impossible to get a suit like this. You'd have to commission a blacksmith from Mandalore to make it, and even then, you might have to get in touch with someone even higher up. We're very selective of whom we give it out to."He looked solemn for a moment, having chosen to ignore the family question right away.

"I've got a big family back home."Was all he said, and that was about all that would be mentioned of the topic. It was a sensitive one, one that hadn't really been discussed very much.

Preliat grimaced visibly at the mention of Alkaline. Something like that would impede progress heavily. Preliat had been keeping an eye on the sensors in his peripherals, and snapped to them when they changed. Situation awareness was obviously one of his strongsuits. He pointed to it, raising a brow."Please tell me this is a part of the plan, or more crew that you neglected to brief me on."His grip on his helmet tightened as he prepared for something less than pleasant to occur.

Preliat also avoided the question about peace, because he hadn't felt at ease since the Dark Harvest campaign.
@[member="Aditya Amadis"]
 
"And that is why we're on Seltos mining Phrikite Ore. It's not Beskar, but it's as close as I can get without becoming some sort of immigrant Mando and doing many honourable deeds in battle. My first big battle really sucked. I mean, is it just me or are cannibals . . . Kei needs armour. I can't get Beskar, Phrik will do. And Armourweave. Or Synth-weave." She pulled her arms tight to her chest and waved away the thoughts of Bimmisaari. They did not need to be there. The oldest daughter, beloved of her father Aditya had a raging case of Den Mother Syndrome. She'd feed whoever was hungry and put her arm around the sad ones, bringing everyone in with her inclusive smiles and sometimes crazy antics. As his face turned and she watched the expression there, Aditya had a mean urge to give the man a hug. Probably wouldn't end well, not like it had the last time. Deep inside Aditya wished that Jedi Master would be struck with an eternal itchiness, like some alien and disastrous alchemist of old. "We make it through this and you've got one more person in your corner." She played at pushing a soft fist at his jaw, a sort of affectionate little spar as the scanners beeped.

"No, we brought everyone down with us. . . aw are you . . . come on!" It had to be something, these things were never simple. "Game plan, whatever you do, nobody mention what we're mining for! If they figure out there's Phrikite Ore down there, we're all that much closer to gun shot and floating in a vacuum. You've got a good eye."

From the scan it looked as if the first wave of blips were an hour off their position. As the shuttle touched down in the centre of the drill droids, Aditya hopped out and scanned the skyline with a pair of binocs. "See the ridge to our four? That's where the geologist says the primary deposit should be. The bogies are coming in on our seven, what's the chance they're bringing hot tea and a bunch of flowers to reward us for paying them a visit? I like flowers. They smell nice."

Unlike the atmosphere, which stunk of solvent, as if the area's surface was bathed in bleach. Coughing, Aditya rubbed her eyes with the back of her sleeve. "Geo, I thought you said this air was breathable?"
"It's the drills, they're kicking up alkaline pockets. Hey, you wanted Phrikite, where do you think it was created, the cold of space? It's resistant against corrosion, where else would create the stuff?" The Atrisian Geologist said, pulling on a breathing mask. Aditya spat and the ground bubbled minutely. She stared at it. "Tell me this is speeding up the droids."

"Two through five, yes. One, and six are slowing dramatically."

Aditya checked the sky again. "What's the eta on that ore?"

"Another four hours we might figure out where it is. From there? Two days, and that's a conservative estimate." Aditya pursed her lips together and scanned the whole of the basin. From this perspective it looked as if a vast volcano had created it, she licked her lips. "We've got this, gentlemen. Keep those drills working at 95%. Get down to the ore. Don't stop for anything, you hear me? Not a thing. What's the plan, @[member="Preliat Mantis"]?"
 
Breathing was not a problem for Preliat, as soon as he put on his helmet, at least. The smell didn't bother him, there were far worse smells that he could have been smelling or remembering. A visible shudder went up as he remembered something he wished he could drown in booze. Preliat's rangefinder attached to his helmet began to lower, and scanned the area, and zoomed in, more importantly. He shouldered his rifle, and tapped the glacier beneath them."You know you don't have to use my full name when you're talking to me, Mrs. Amadis. Makes me feel older than I feel already."He said, letting his rifle hang low. He thought for a moment, and then turned towards her.

"Scan how thick the ice is, and then tell me if we have any mining charges that will create an explosion large enough to sent them into the alkaline but won't destabilize the glacier itself. If we can get them to land and fake a surrender, we make the only landing spot near here visible, and then when they land..."He made an explosion noise and motion with his hand, followed by a dropping and faux screaming. Preliat tapped his helmet, thinking some more, sighing from behind his helmet.

"If that doesn't sound too peachy, I could lead them away and play hide-and-seek with them over the next few hours or days. I'm guessing pirates, or worse. So, not the brightest bulbs in the box....but fairly well armed."He checked his rifle, just to make sure. He adjusted the large Beskad on his back, one of the more impressive and identifying weapons in his possession. He carried a rifle, a sidearm, and the Beskad over the right shoulder, vertically. In one fell swoop, he could attack and draw the beskad in a devastating smashing maneuver, which the blade was designed for. Preliat's age seemed irrelevant to the man he was slowly becoming, though many would say that it wasn't the man he was going to be before.


@[member="Aditya Amadis"]
 
Aditya tied a rebreather around her mouth and nose, securing it over her braided hair and taking a few deep breaths before she continued. The woman swayed like seaweed immersed, her sturdy constitution splayed open at the alkali gases until she took a few better gasps of cleaner air. "Give me that liberty and I'll start calling you Eli. You know, Preliat, minus the pr-at. Your choice!" Her eyes scanned the horizon, punctuated downward by every noise made by the drilling droids, and the mining crews.

They had started setting up their camp in the middle of the drills, the bulbous tents covering over a wire framework electrified to strengthen the polymer. It could take a rock slide, but extended fire? Aditya bit her lip underneath her breathing apparatus. "We've got some fifteen meter thick ice in the centre, and along the north and west sides. The ice is thinner over. . . there" she pointed to the area on the horizon, where the mysterious ones were gathering. "We've got charges. It'll take some manner of precision to get the desired effect without blowing us all. . . but it can be done. Give me a few minutes to get the calculations done."

It was worth a shot. And if it ended up costing more than one shot, well, they'd accommodate what they could. "Hide and seek, eh? Aw, Eli you just wanna have fun don'tcha? What's worse than pirates? Wait! Answer me this first, do I want to know what's worse than pirates?"
 
Preliat stared off into the distance for a while, before checking the charge on his rifle and speaking softly."Dark Harvest, to name something."He said, sighing. He didn't know what else to say or do, but slowly turned to face the woman.

"If all goes well, the alkaline makes the pirates all nice and calcified, and we get away with a nice batch of cortosis."He said, flicking the safety on and off, before turning away from the woman, and making the cloak that went around his shoulder fall behind him.

@[member="Aditya Amadis"]
 
"Dark Harvest?" Perhaps it was the way @[member="Preliat Mantis"] said it, more than the words themselves that shuddered into the marrow of her spine. Ignorant of the Dark Harvest, the young Epicanthix wife shoved her hands over her chest and huddled in her coat. Whatever it was, the damage to Preliat had been raucous and clear. "I hope I never get to see that." Anything that could make a Mando shiver was worse than sin, worse than warfare or pirate shenanigans. It was decay and death itself and Aditya reached out to put a hand on his shoulder, but stopped an inch away.

"Yeah! Yes. Calcified and . . and we could put them in funny positions to warn people, or . . . okay old me would say sell them to an art collector as statues and ultra modern art, but new me is supposed to be responsible and not . . . not yeah that would be mean. Giggle worthy, if they're trying to is that a missile?"

Aditya scanned the distance with her binocs and squinted. The drones continued to gut the planetary glacier, as a puff of smoke veered faster than the wind toward their direction. The pirates had called in a buddy.
 
"Oh...and Miss Amadis, if we make it out of this...you're going to set me up on a date with a nice girl."He turned to face the woman again, looking solemn beneath his helmet."Miss Amadis, I hope that no one ever has to see something like the Dark Harvest ever again."He said, facing the now, zooming, big puff of smoke. He sighed beneath his helmet, viewing Amadis with the 360 degree viewing inside his helmet.



"I didn't invite any guests for tea, did you? Surely the pirates wouldn't overstep their bounds and try and ruin our little luncheon, now would they?"Preliat said, giving a hefty, slightly sarcastic sigh.

@[member="Aditya Amadis"]
 
"Do you like fighters or peacemakers? I've got both I could throw atcha." Aditya blew him a kiss through her rebreather, keeping the smile in her eyes. Best thing a woman could do, in times like these, keep the morale on the up. "Me too." She turned to her miners and started giving hand signals, as men got closer to the encampment and its' strengthened bulbous havens, the droids working ever on.

"I sure didn't! How deucedly rude of them, Maaaaster Mantis to ruin our Tea!" She stamped the ground and harumphed. "Benji, get the techs in the bubble, batten down, but keep those droids drilling!"

"Or what!?" He cried, pointing at the closing pile of smoke.

"Friendly fire, now get going!" She yelled, hopping to and checking the supply lines. "We've got hundreds of feet to go, don't let them take us out!"
 
"Never dated a Jedi."He said with a bit of a grimace, watching the pirates draw even closer to their position. Preliat shoved one of the miners into the bubble, who was rather argumentative about the fact that they weren't getting up here.

"I find it rather easy to ask myself again and again which direction my life is going, and sometimes I truthfully I don't like the answer. How about you?"He said, half sarcastically, watching the pirates come into visible range. He finally flicked the safety on his M45 rifle to the 'off' position, and turned to Aditya."If one of us doesn't make it, do I have permission to blame you for everything?"He said, lightly nudging the woman with his elbow, smiling beneath his helmet.

@[member="Aditya Amadis"]
 
"Jedi? Scrounge someone up. Breathing, powerful, hot. Yeah, I can dig someone up. Know a space elf, she's quite the woman." She laughed, keeping the atmo light even through her breathing apparatus. Everyone but Aditya and the Foreman were in the protective bubble domes now, extending them out inch by inch to reach the closest viable place where the droid diggers were enacting their engineered skill.

"I get that. Get that a lot. Yeah. The things we do with our time." She quipped, gulping under the mask and rubbing her forehead. Her hand drifted to the blaster at her hip, her pirate ways coming nearer than the CEO she struggled to become. Did CEO's lead from the front or the middle? Back maybe?

"Yeah. Total permission. Blame away." She nudged back, taking another deep breath. The pirate missiles were within range to see, three clustered in for the glacier itself. "Incoming!" Aditya yelled, throwing herself down on the ground by the bulbous tents. Two pirate ships began their entry, each with middles carved open. No guns on the ships themselves could be seen, but the open middles held eight men each, all with their various missile launchers, blasters and bolt guns.

An explosion rocked the glacier above them, doing little but shaking the ground. The glacier was solid, for the moment. @[member="Preliat Mantis"]
 
@[member="Aditya Amadis"]

Preliat stood still while the missles hit, letting his flowing cloak settle before turning at Aditya. He gave off a happy grin, and she could probably tell beneath his helmet. And then, he jetpacked up to the middle. He trucked four, making them fall into the treacherous pits below. He used his rifle to spray two more, and then engaged in a furious brawl with the last two. The first man was simply punched in the face until his ugly Trandoshan face was uglier than before, and the last, he got into a wrestling match with. Preliat rolled around with him a bit, and then picked him by his legs, and body-slammed him on the deck of the ship. Climbing on top of him, the star hockey player began to violently beat his face in, crushgaunts and all. Grabbing him by his collar, Preliat threw his face forward, giving him the traditional Mandaloian Keldbabe kiss.


Preliat ran up to the ship's controls, and sure enough, no fething guns. But...he did have a ship. He turned it around, and then made it scrap on the side of the other ship. He hoped that what he was about to do would work, as he jetted away, hoping that the pirates would like the prospect of getting their ship back and killing him more than trying to attack a few miners. No offense to Aditya, truthfully.


"Where am I going with my life.."
He said, as the ship zoomed back the lake, hoping to catch a tail.


@[member="Aditya Amadis"]
 
'Oh that happy grinning Mand'o, he's so fun. Hope he doesn't have a horrible death on my account.' Aditya thought, as she shoved herself away from the danger zone. As the sky exploded with the vicious physical battle he frothed into. Worked for her. One of the droid drills flashed on her data pad screen, it faltered and sputtered.

A gas pocket had veered it off course, one of the engineers came rushing from the tent for the Imperial Shipworks' CEO. "Ma'am! It's going to destabilize the glacier. We're all dead if that droid doesn't get fixed on another path."

"Can't we shift its trajectory from here? What'd I pay for if the blasted things don't work?"

"We can try. Come inside, we've tunnelled to the drop points." Aditya took one last look at @[member="Preliat Mantis"] and went inside. The air was much more breathable inside, the atmospheric generators were scrubbing the alkaloid gasses, compressing them in pockets for scientific research. "Start fixing that droid's trajectory! Now!"

The miner engineer tapped madly at the console, the droid was realigning, but the glacier began to shake. Aditya laughed. "Of course we'd sit on the fissure point. Whose job was it to gauge the safety of this mission?"

"Ah. . . Frank." Thom said, pointing at a fidgeting middle aged man.

"Gee thanks, Thom. Way to throw me in a hyperspace lane."

"It was!"

"Guys, kiss and make up already." Aditya groaned, slapping her forehead. "Frank, care to tell me how you borked it?"

"It's the alkaline pockets. They read like sodium on our sensors. Them explosions aren't helping, you know!"

"Yeah, yeah, doom, gloom and we can all get depressed later. That droid fixed yet?"
"Getting there, Ma'am. . . So how are we getting the Phrikite Ore if we can't chisel it?"

"Chisel around it, take the pieces whole. Got that? How much longer does our Mando' friend need to save our backsides?"

"Got a calendar?"

"Shut up, Thom, gosh!" Frank slapped Thom in the back of the head. All was right with Aditya's crew.
 
Sure enough, the pirates were more interested in the guy that just killed about ten of them and had the audacity to take their ship-speeder-thing and run off with it. Preliat, learned, that the other ship, had guns. However, Preliat had bad ideas. Guns vs bad ideas. Bad ideas that were actually pretty awesome, depending on the right light. Preliat...had a jetpack. They had a ship. He had a ship thingy. A barge, that was the word...they were behind him. He was in front of them. It was steak night back home..suddenly, it all came together. He put it in park, and turned the ship sideways, and ran to the back, which was about six feet behind him. He jumped for a while, and then activated his jetpack, barreling through the deck of the other barge, muttering apologies sarcastically, before grabbing the guy at the wheel by his collar, and yanking him back with him. The pirates were stunned for a moment, thanks to how amazing the display of physical prowess (stupidity) and bravery (total disregard of his own life) it was.

The reason Preliat grabbed the poor greedy little Rodian bastard, was because what happened next, wasn't pretty. The Rodian went surfing, and Preliat went riding. Except, Preliat was dying when he was surfing on an alkaline lake. Preliat let him go, and slammed against the glacier, before sputtering his jetpack up to the top. He tumbled for a while, before falling rather still. Broken ribs. Concussion. Dislocation. Well, he would know that, if he was conscious any longer. He lay on the ice, knocked out and maybe a little messed up, but hey, pirates or whatever were gone, so he had that going for them.

@[member="Aditya Amadis"]
 

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