The Titan Makes His Choice

[Alric Kuhn]

Alric stood on the bridge of a Titan Industries MCH.

The massive vertical ship cut through space at a surprisingly fast pace, around it were little less than a dozen or so other capitals ships. Three Wyyrloks, five Razor Frigates, two Dark Blades, all of them were designed to protect the MCH in its foray. Most of the ships were on a red alert, their weapons prepared and their fighters ready to launch at any moment.

It was a precautionary method of course, nothing more.

The area of space they were in had once belonged to a faction that for lack of a better term had been zealots. The Moross Crusade. The massive sprawling religious faction that seemed to have disappeared entirely.

Where to Alric could not have said, but then again he didn't really care. All he cared about was what they left behind, one of those things being the planet that now loomed in front of him. Demonsgate. It was a world of hellfire and rock, nothing upon it save death and a toxic atmosphere. Yet he had a keen interest in it, though that was for one reason and one reason alone.

Phrik.

The precious metal that some called indestructible.

Alric wanted it. He wanted a substantial amount of it for dual purpose. The first was simple and straightforward, weapons. The other...the other was more complex, more personal.

He smiled slightly as he thought of that second reason, letting her image float across his thoughts before quickly sending it away. The smile didn't fade however, and as Demonsgate drew closer Alric found himself with more than a touch of joy.

 

[Alric Kuhn]

The MCH approached the planet surrounded by its fleet. The slow lumbering vessel traveled faster and faster by the moment, slowly being taken in by Demonsgates Gravity well. Alric simply watched with lazy eyes as the hellfire world closed in on him, that slight smile still tugging at the corner of his lips, that pleased expression painted on his face.

“Have we found a suitable landing site?” Alric asked no one in particular.

“Yes sir. Far northern hemisphere near one of the Crusades abandoned mines.”

Good.

Beginning on a mining shaft that was already tapped would mean that the equipment aboard the MCH wouldn't have to work too hard to reach the Phrikite ore, something that would save both money and time. Briefly Alric looked at his chrono, checking to see what time it was on Coruscant.

She would be waking up right about now.

Of course he had told her of this trip, there was no way that she would ever think he had abandoned her. She knew now. He had finally told her, finally told her what he should have the day they met.

That thought made the smile spread even more.

 

[Alric Kuhn]

The ship touched Demonsgates Atmosphere.

It grazed the very top of the planet first, dipping slowly into towards the surface and further pushing. Alric watched through the viewport, his eyes following the compression of air along the hull of the ship slowly turn into red streaks of flame. There was a slight creaking, but he new that the MCH was built for this, made specifically for this purpose.

As far as he was aware this was the first time the ship was used on a planet such as this.

Demonsgate was a harsh environment, almost as harsh and Mustafar. The only difference was less lava swells and more massive rocky crevices. The MCH dipped down further into the atmosphere, dropping within sight of the planets surface, the thin red shield around it slowly hazing away into nothingness.

Alric smiled.

He could feel a shake of the ship, a whirring sound as the massive repulsor engines of the MCH kicked into life, stunting the fall of the ship.

 

[Alric Kuhn]

“Sir. The target location will take five minutes to arrive at.”

He nodded silently, watching the ensign in the reflection. Of course the rest of the Fleet had stayed behind in orbit around Demonsgate. Of the ships only the five Razors could have moved into the atmosphere, and they would have been useless anyway. No, the fleet would stay within orbit and protect from any rogue Crusade elements that may appeared.

Slowly like a lumbering beast the MCH inched forward, surging through smoke filled skies and breaking cloud into pieces. The Vertial vessel hovered over mountains, lava flows, and everything else that Demonsgate tried to touch it with. Eventually the vessel began to dip below the clouds, revealing the scarred and broken surface of the planet below.

Alric let out a loud whistle.

“I wonder.” He mused to himself. “Can we terraform something like this?”

 

[Alric Kuhn]

The ship came to a stop, its massive Repulsor lift generators grinding it to a halt over a flat plateau that had been evened out by great mining drones owned by the Crusade. They were long gone of course, the mine having been stripped and abandoned when the Crusade left Demonsgate for good. Alric knew this because a former Crusader was within the Sons, he had informed Titan of this good fortune.

The MCH slowly began to lower itself, its massive vertical form crashing down to the earth below.

“Brace!”

One of the ensigns yelled loudly.

Alric turned and grabbed onto one of the handrails that ran all along the bridge, holding himself against it as the MCH fell down onto the ground. A massive quake shook the ship, rustling things about and shaking everyone and everything. For a moment, Alric stared flatly at the landscape about him.

Seconds later a loud whirring noise could be heard followed by the sounds of what could have been cannons.

The MCH shook again, grappling itself onto the planet below and pinning itself in place.

 

[Alric Kuhn]

The MCH anchored itself onto the planet, digging in deep with support struts and massive steel cables. The ship was of course what equated to mobile headquarters. This particular MCH was filled to the brim with mining equipment. Droids, drills, and experienced personal that knew how to operate it all.

They were here to do one simple thing, re-open the mines of Demonsgate.

It sounded like an easy task, but Demonsgate had a toxic atmosphere and an even more toxic environment.

Work here would be dangerous, and continuous operation more so. Alric knew this, but Phrikite ore was more than worth it in the end. The Material, when correctly processed, was immensely strong, nearly indestructible and resistant to lightsabers. Alric knew what that could mean what it could mean for things wrought out of phrik.

Of course, he didn't just have weapons or armor on his mind.

“Begin as soon as we are able. I am eager set things up.” There was a flurry of activity and Alric finished speaking, Soldiers, ensigns, and miners immediately setting to work.

 

[Alric Kuhn]

Over the next few hours the MCH was a buzz of activity.

Men and women in enviro-suits set to work in unloading cargo. Gunships and dropships were used to unload equipment. Temporary habitats were set up, pre-fabricated buildings, everything that one would need to build a small mining colony was quickly created and set up.

It was an impressive feat, one that took nearly twelve hours, half of which Alric slept through. When he awoke he found that dawn had arisen on Demonsgate. With its whirling hellish winds he found an almost calming peace.

He had dreamed of her, he always did when they were apart.

If she hadn't been teaching him better, he would have guessed that it was some trick of hers through the force, some way she had of making him think of her even across half a galaxy. Yet the education she had been giving him told him otherwise.

He simply missed her.

 

[Alric Kuhn]

It was the simplest explanation, and also the one that he knew to be true. Lying to himself did him no good, and trying to make himself appear macho to...well himself served absolutely no purpose when he already knew the truth of the matter.

He simply had to accept it.

“Is this what its going to be like?” Alric mused to himself as the door to the bridge slowly slid open. There he found once again a flurry of activity. More than a dozen holo-screens active and in front of each one a Titan Industries employee. Some of the screen showed seismic activity, some showed stock reports, and half a dozen others just random bits of information that would take him more than a glance to decipher.

Yet it seemed that everyone was busy.

That was a good thing, it meant that progress was being made and the objective was being pushed. It meant that his teams had like pushed through into the old mines and were beginning to set up their equipment now to clear away any rubble.

 

[Alric Kuhn]

“Progress?” Alric asked as he wandered through the bridge and towards the viewport.

What he saw startled him.

Instead of the tiny mining encampment he had expected, instead of the small pre-fabricated buildings and tiny tents, Alric found a huge sprawling mass of Mining equipment and what looked to be genuine buildings. His eyebrows raised, and he whirled around to look at the members of his crew, all of them were smiling in some way.

“The Crusade holdings sir. It seems they did not strip away their camp. It was merely buried beneath the lava flows.”

Ah.

That explained it. The mining base had been covered by ash and the flows of lava, within the twelve hours of his wait his team had chipped away at this accumulated mass and simply repaired the old base instead of creating their own, using materials from the MCH to do so. Clever.

 

[Alric Kuhn]

He smiled.

Oh this was just too perfect. It would make things so much more simple. The mine would be able to be opened in days not weeks. The Phrik would be extracted, stored, and perhaps even processed here. Excitement broiled within him, and he grinned slightly, not only because of thoughts of success, but because of what it would bring.

“The Mines?” Alric asked quickly. They were what mattered after all. If they could get the mines working faster, then Alric would get what he wanted. It was difficult to not grin any further as one of the ensigns informed him of the progress of the drills.

Everything had gone so smoothly.

Did he have any right to be this lucky?

Did he have any right to have everything? A working mine within a day, A corporation that spanned the galaxy over, wealth beyond belief, and a woman that loved him to his very core.

Alric truly did have everything.