The Song of the Crystals

[Lief]

The Edge of the Crystalline System​

Onboard The Lunar Moth​

​

"Approaching the Crystalline System, three minutes 'til arrival."

Sat within the Captain's Seat, Zech gave one short nod in the direction of his Navigational Officer and drummed his fingertips against the control system which was built into the chair arm. For a moment he continued to watch as stars streaked across the viewing port, before his index finger slipped to the inbuilt comm-system.

"This is your Captain speaking, expect a brief shift as we leave hyperspace; pilots to the hangar bay, I expect a full survey of the system before we break ground. Two minutes until we break through."

Releasing the button, he slowly rose from his seat and glanced to his Second in Command, "The bridge is yours," he said, before he relinquished control and ventured out into the hallways beyond. Though he knew that there were plenty of competent individuals among his crew, he could not help but feel vapid curiosity when it came to this system and specifically the anomaly they had sensed within.

He'd already received the go-ahead from Aurum to join the landing party, and since everything seemed to be happening without issue he knew it was time to get ready and prepare for such an undertaking.

They had enlisted numerous Non-Je'daii for the task, before setting out on this exploratory venture, some were scientists who were equally as interested in what lay within the habitable zone, others were highly experienced pilots used to flying in unknown conditions. Whatever their reason for being here, Zech had welcomed those who were interested once their background checks had all been cleared.

Stepping toward the hangar once he was in more fitting gear, he glanced over those who were present.

"Anyone who is having last minute doubts about this venture, speak now. Once we leave the Moth there'll be no room for error, and uncertainty is the biggest cause of such."

 

[Saria Messoa]

Saria was uncertain. She had taken this job up out of more need. The Crusty Boon could only get her so far, and there was only so much piracy she could do with it. But she was here to try and do her best, earn the money she needed and make connections. Connections seemed to be what made this galaxy go around. It was hard to find good connections, but Saria was putting herself out there all the same. She sat in the mess hall staring at the cup of brewed tea, wistfully. There were so many people here and she could hear and feel them all. It was a pain for her, almost like a noisy street corner where no one stopped talking. Thankfully, there didn't seem to be any horribly dark people around to make it even worse.

"This is your Captain speaking, expect a brief shift as we leave hyperspace; pilots to the hangar bay, I expect a full survey of the system before we break ground. Two minutes until we break through."

The order to the hangar jolted Saria out of her thoughts. That was her cure. The small woman left her cup there for the galley staff to clean and quietly made her way to the hangar. As she made her way through the crowd of people, her shoulders bowed in, it felt like she was bracing for an impact, for someone to hit her. It probably looked that way to outsiders too. There had been a few well-intended people who had tried to help Saria learn to cope with her empathy, but so far it was still all mostly the same.

She waited with the other pilots. Most wore some sort of flight gear, but Saria didn't have any of that in her possession. Instead she wore a simple, flowy green halter, high waisted blue jeans, and a gun belt with her DC-14 strapped to her thigh. In her left hand she clutched probably the only pilot-looking thing about her, her tan flight gloves. She suspected because of the size of the Crusty Boon she would have passengers and probably cargo, if not both. It looked like there were a lot of sciency, smart folks around. Saria hoped she got stuck with someone who was nice enough to tolerate her.

"Anyone who is having last minute doubts about this venture, speak now. Once we leave the Moth there'll be no room for error, and uncertainty is the biggest cause of such."

She had more than her fair share of doubts, but Saria knew she didn't have much of a choice in the matter. She needed money, and they needed a pilot, so her choice was clear. Her ankle-high tan leather boots remained planted there until given the clear to go. She climbed up the loading ramp to the Crusty Boon and began her pre-flight checks. The engines hummed to life on the clunky YT-2000 and she sighed, "Here goes nothing."

[member="Zechiel Wyse"]

 

[Lief]

No murmurs of uncertainty.

Nobody turned to leave, though he did sense a few waverings in the Force... The brief hints of doubt. Nothing that wouldn't sort itself out once the adrenaline hit, of course. So long as they were willing to do this, then that was what mattered.

His cloudy gaze turned toward the pilot of a slightly larger ship. Most were one man starfighters, but this newcomer, someone that was here on commission, had a whole freighter at her disposal. That was good, Zech didn't have a ship outside of the Moth and he couldn't exactly take her down to break ground, now, could he?

"Alright, buckle up. Krayt Squadron survey the system, relay back to the Moth, the rest of you form up, when we break through into the System we'll be headed for the habitable zone." There was one specific planet in mind that had garnered the interest of his science team, but they hadn't exactly given it a name yet. Besides.. it may already be inhabited. In a Galaxy such as this anything was possible.

Stepping up toward the Captain of the Crusty Boon once she was onboard and beginning her checks, Zech inclined his head in a short nod. "Room for one more?" he asked, though this wasn't the only ship that would be able to take him he was interested in seeing what this newcomer was made of.

"One minute 'til break through," rang the voice of the Navs Officer.

"Showtime."

[member="Saria Messoa"]

 

[Saria Messoa]

"Room for One more?"

Saria felt the presence of the Je'daii captain still nearby, but she was so focused on her preflight checks, she didn't feel him come on board. When he spoke she jumped, spinning on here heel terrified. She relaxed slightly, but she was still tense and anxious when she saw who it was. Her lips curved upward in a polite smile. She was expecting passengers, but certainly not someone this important. "Uh, um, yes. Sure. Make yourself comfortable. I mean strap in--I mean," she quickly turned back to the console, her face a bright crimson with embarrassment.

She was sure at this point she had botched her first impressions with the boss. Her chances of getting hired back here were quickly dwindling to next to zero, if they weren't there yet already. It took the aged Boon longer to warm up than most, if not all, of the ships in the hangar and was one of the last to rise off the duraplast flooring. It unsteadily rose off its landing props with Saria at the helm.

"Here goes nothing," she murmured, "You may want to hold on to something, she handles a little rough, the inertial dampners are kinda dicey."

The Boon lurched forward out of the hangar into open space. The ship gave a wide, uneasy curve along the Lunar Moth, crossing its keel with a wide berth. As Saria drew near crossing the Lunar Moth the Boon's engines sputtered, jerking it forward without warning. She winced, "Sorry, bad fuel cells."

The planet they had come to explore loomed before them, it was gorgeous, Saria's eyes lit up with wonder as they came closer to its brilliant surface. She would never get used to the wonder of the beauty of the galaxy, especially with planets like this that were out there.

"Wow," she breathed out as they neared the low orbital zone, "Tell me where you want me to land."

[member="Zechiel Wyse"]​

 

[Lief]

"Relax" came the smooth voice of Zech, when he noticed how skittish she was being, no doubt she hadn't been anticipating his arrival on her vessel, he hadn't exactly called ahead.

Stepping further into the cockpit he gently rested a hand upon the woman's shoulder, giving it a light squeeze of reassurance, before passing her by just as quickly and taking a seat in the copilot seat. This wasn't his ship, and as much as he loved to be in the pilot seat today was not that day for him.

Besides, he'd spent so long in the Captains Chair that who knew if he'd be able to fly this thing.

"Your name is Saria, right? There wasn't much about you in your file..."

He turned just enough to watch her as she finished up the pre-flight prep, a curious raise to his brow. She had returned to her seat at this point, and had told him to hold on tight, but he was no stranger to the throws of space travel, even an unruly ship, so when the jolts came he managed to stabilize himself.

"When this is over, do you want me to take a look at her?" He had a knack for ships, after all, and she was doing them a favour by being here. When the ship broke through into the system, the woman was quick to draw out of the hangar and brought the ship toward the planet Zech instructed her to.

It was beautiful.

Truly it was, even with his limited sight, even though all he saw was through the Force, he knew as much. Of course the woman's exhale was something to go by too.

"Take her in easy," he told her, "Find an open plain, somewhere flat that we can't be ambushed in... Who knows what lays below."

Reaching for his comms, he spoke into the frequency he had provided.

"This is Captain Wyse, landing party on us... Prepare for possible engagement."

[member="Saria Messoa"]