Lady of Patience
The Wastes of Nycteria
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[SIZE=10.5pt]Unknown Regions, Noch Sector.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]In Orbit over Nycteria.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]1300 hours.[/SIZE]
The Shadow-Class Reconnaissance Corvette circled slowly as it drifted down to the surface, shaking slightly as it passed through the winds of the upper atmosphere. The sun sat high in the sky, and reflected dully off the dark ice. In patches, where plateaus of white rock rose from the dark surface, the light was almost blinding. Down below, still out of range of sight, lay the Nycteria Exploration and Research Base. It was totally unchanged from three weeks prior, when two probes had been deployed from orbit, and taken pictures of the base. There were no signs of recent human activity or of any activity, for that matter.
The objective was simple, land on the Eastern Plateau, and determine if Nycteria is a suitable setting for an FOSB supply base, to allow FOSB operatives to gain intelligence on Sith Empire systems. The secondary objective was to confirm the fate of the 3000+ settlers in the Base, as nobody had heard from any of them in many months. Though they are presumed dead, nobody knows exactly what happened to the base and its occupants. Perhaps this mission would change that.
From the vantage point of the Corvette, the numerous pits and geysers dotting the equator could be spotted by the tell-tale jets of steam that rose from them. North of the equator was a great, dark plain of ice, broken only by the large Eastern Plateau, which housed the Base. Even further than that, the land was rutted, covered in deep gorges and crevasses. Up there, the conditions were cold enough to kill them in a matter of hours, even in their FO-O2 Snow Trooper Armour.
Two days earlier, the ship had arrived at the Noch system. Entering realspace just outside the shimmering planetary nebula that shrouded the mysterious system. There was no mapped hyperspace route to Nycteria itself, so they had to make the rest of the journey by power of the engines alone. For the next 48 hours, the Corvette navigated the Noch system, on its way to the planet. Outside, the nebula shifted and shined, a dazzling array of light and colour. After passing the system’s asteroid belt, the pale dot of Nycteria came into view, gradually growing larger and larger as their craft approached. The crew didn’t know what lay ahead, they were unaware of the danger they had put themselves in. The Noise was not an ominous, dark presence in the Force. It was a part of the planet itself. Only the strongest of precognitions would reveal anything other than an acute sense of dread to those seeking to understand its nature.
Sitting comfortably at the controls of the Recon ship, Cryptolinguistics Officer Emilia Ravel of the FOSB perused her charts as the ship shed altitude. The hostile conditions of Nycteria were concerning to her. Everyone on board had to take care that their Snow Trooper armour was properly sealed upon exiting, and that no one went off after dark, or Force forbid it, strayed too far North. Emilia flicked through the aerial photos, pausing to stare at the tangle of wrecked metal that had once been the luxury cruiser known as The Silver Wonder. There was no doubt that everyone who’d crashed there had died long ago, but the image disturbed Emilia, she imagined the wounded survivors, huddled against each other, succumbing to the brutality of the elements. She shivered, placing the photos and maps back in her bag.
The ship shuddered, protesting the powerful winds that swept through Nycteria’s upper atmosphere. Soon enough, it had passed below the weather, and the violent gusts were replaced with a quiet, gentle breeze. The ship continued to move downwards, the exhaust of the engines immediately condensing, and forming two white trails behind the corvette.
3000’ now, hopefully her Team Leader, a woman known as The Major, had assembled the team, and was ready to disembark. 2000’. Emilia quite liked the mysterious Supervisory Special Agent, but she was intimidating, and she wasn’t sure the woman could be entirely trusted. She was well known amongst her peers, however, and was a reliable and safe pick to lead this mission. 1000’. The team leader was not the cause of Emilia’s anxiety today, however. No, it was the presence of the Knights of Ren aboard the vessel that unnerved her. While it is true that the Security Bureau frequently relied upon the combat expertise of the Ren, Emilia’s own experiences with the saber wielders had been… Unpleasant. Memories of Zmej Ren forcing her to shoot an unarmed prisoner were at the forefront of her mind whenever the group came up in conversation.
She concentrated on her flying, the Research Base was visible now, its corridors and low buildings stretched across the flat expanse of the Eastern Plateau. The base had housed over 3000 colonists. It was hard to believe there was no sign of what had happened here. Maybe it was all buried underneath the snow and ice, or hidden in the mist. Across from the base was a dark lake, its waters rippling slightly in the slight breeze. Emilia turned her head, for some reason she didn’t want to look at it. From the ground up to about knee level, a white fog of ice crystals and water droplets covered the stark landscape as far as the eye could see, and in the air, sheets of mist drifted up to heights of over 20m. The world was alien and unwelcoming, and Emilia wasn’t looking forward to stepping outside.
Emilia touched the ship down gently, its landing pads crunching softly against the snow and ice of the ground below. She got out of her chair slowly, grimacing from the pain in her side. The injury she’d sustained in Theed was yet to fully heal, and she was troubled with muscle aches and stiffness from her hip up to her left shoulder. Stretching her aching muscles, she yawned and made her way down to where the rest of the party was donning their gear, preparing to go out into the cold.
It was time to explore.
[member="Raijin"] - [member="Zul Grimm"] - [member="Varas Kyrel"] - [member="Nemesis Nemonus"] - [member="Myrne"] - [member="The Major"] - [member="Jude Falkrowe"]