Touring the Pit (Corvus)

[Noah Corek]

Fondor
The Omega Holographic Training Facility AKA 'The Pit'

Noah stood in front of the main entrance of 'The Pit' the biggest and most advanced training facility in the galaxy, maybe even ever. It consisted of the main facility, a forty by forty kilometer holographic simulator that could simulate any enviroment in the entire galaxy from the deserts of Tantooine to the ice plains of Hoth and even the sprawling cityscapes of places like Taris and Coruscant. It also had places for training force-users, areas ranging from meditation chambers, saber dueling rings and even rooms filled with objects for telekinetic training. It had a armory and motor pool filled with every vehicle and weapon that modern factions used, from standard issue weapons in the Protectorate to weapons used by the Crusade and One Sith. But not only was it the largest training facility in the Protectorate, it was also one of its most defended forts, consisting of ninety-six Omega SAM Turrets and Light Turbolaser Cannons, forty-eight Medium Turbolaser Cannons, twenty-four Heavy Turbolaser Cannons, twenty-four 'MINI-JAVELIN' Hypervelocity Cannons, twelve 'JAVELIN' Hypervelocity Cannons, 22,500 ODF soldiers, 300 O1 Bhesj Main Battle Tanks and 460 HBD-300 Droids of varying versions. The base screamed of the Protectorate militarism and its massive fleet and ground forces. Today though was a day for helping a ally and helping them to strengthen as well. For that matter, Noah would be meeting with Jedi Master [member="Corvus Raaf"], the head of the Jedi Academy to help her and the Jedi with refurbishing the Academy.

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Fondor was a planet Corvus had never visited. In fact she'd never entered Omega Protectorate space before. As she exited hyperspace and approached the planet, she was minded of the history that was associated with it. Specifically its affiliation with her own home planet during the Second Galactic Civil War.

So she took in the six moons but as she drew closer she was surprised at the terrain. It seemed to be mostly desert, wasteland or urban sprawl. As she confirmed her final approach to the training facility and punched in the coordinates to allow the astromech to complete the landing, she walked to her cabin and changed before hearing the ship come to rest in what she presumed was a hangar. The robes she put on were identical to the ones she'd just taken off - just brand new. Well - she was representing the Republic and the Jedi now.

She clipped her saber and koto to her belt and, smoothing the hem of her robes with the palms of her hands, she walked to the exit ramp.

She'd heard a lot about the facility here but had deliberately avoided looking it up on the holonet. She wanted to experience it first hand. Her first impression was that it had...a lot of guns. So she stepped forward and waited to see who would greet her. She'd been told it was a high ranking Officer, but that didn't help her much. So she stood patiently, keeping her hands by her side, looking see who would approach.

[member="Noah Corek"]

 

[Noah Corek]

[member="Corvus Raaf"]

Noah was dressed extremely different from his Jedi counterpart, Noah was dressed in the standard issue Pyre and ODF fatigues, a digital camoflague pattern ranging in all darks colors, mostly grey and black. Unlike most ODF soldiers who tended to wear theirs properly, Pyre contractors usually whore it either without the jacket that went over the black undershirt or with the jackets sleeves rolled up to the elbows, like Noah had his currently. Not only did Noah have this un-regulation style of uniform, he also had a un-regulation sidearm, a Merr-Sonn Power 5 'Lazy Eye' Edition nestled snuggly in a shoulder holster, he also his honor blade and scabbard tucked into his belt.

Sighing Noah walked towards the shuttle as it landed and spied the Master Jedi he would be touring around the 'Pit' as she came down the shuttles ramp. She was a young person for a master, Noah guessed she was either in her late teens or early twenties. Sighing Noah shook his head to where she couldn't see his head shake. "Of course there is a fething kid as one of the leading members of the Jedi Order, idiotic space wizards." Noah said quietly to himself as he approached her. "Am I correct in assuming your Master Raaf?"

 

[Corvus Raaf]

She recognised him immediately. Clothes don’t make the man. They may have been standard military issue and worn in a way that would no doubt have Caid Centurion considering a court-martial but the man oozed power and confidence and had sufficient swagger to carry it all off.

She noted the weapons but could hardly comment. He was a soldier and was arguably less well armed than she was – and she was a peace-keeper. And then the Force told her he was so pleased to see her! She did her best to suppress a smile and bowed as he approached her.

“Yes indeed. Jedi Master, kid, space wizard. You can choose the name but I’d prefer it if you’d call me Corvus. And should I refer to you as Commander?” Her face cracked into a broad smile before he could take offence. Dangling the implied insult would have been fun – but she was here on business and couldn’t afford for the meeting to start badly.

[member="Noah Corek"]

 

[Noah Corek]

[member="Corvus Raaf"]

Noah chuckled when Corvus said what she did, he had to admit, she had balls, for a Jedi of course. "Well Corvus, I'm Colonel Noah Corek, acting Colonel of the Omega Pyre, you can call me Colonel, Noah, Corek or Colonel Corek. You can choose what you want to call me Corvus." Noah informed her with a smile as well and motioned for her to follow.

"So if I remember the message I read correctly, you want to tour the Pit and see its technology to help and improve the refurbishing of the Academy? If I might ask, why look at a military facility to help get ideas to refurbish your Academy? All thought the Jedi were about peace, I get that your need top of the line training but still."

 

[Corvus Raaf]

“Noah it is then.” She followed him smiling. “And yes, absolutely, I’d love to take the tour. If there’s a VIP version, that would be even better.” She chuckled. “And as for the military aspect. You’ve certainly got a lot of guns around here but my focus is on making the Jedi - and the Republic forces for that matter as combat trained as we can. Different climates, different terrains, different equipment. The whole kit and caboodle. And someone said it doesn’t get any better than this.”

“And white flags to keep the peace went out of fashion a few millennia ago.” Her voice went slightly solemn at this point. “But sadly we face challenging times. We can’t battle forces like the One Sith without state of the art training. So…does it come in any other colours?”

[member="Noah Corek"]

 

[Noah Corek]

[member="Corvus Raaf"]

Noah chuckled a bit and shook his head. "There isn't really a VIP tour, you'll actually be one of the few non-Protectorate personnel to ever take a tour of it, take that as you will." Noah told her and then caught her comment on the large defenses of the area. Only twenty-five percent of the actual defenses were above ground, the other seventy-five would be raised up in case of a major attack, though that was a military secret and he wasn't going to divulge that. "Well next to the Prex Towers, this is the most important facility in the Protectorate, due to its size and importance, we must guard it heavily." Noah informed her as they walked towards the main entrance.

Noah sighed and stopped and turned to face Corvus. "Listen Corvus, my ass is one the line for showing this to you. The top brass were hesitant due to the Orders recent trouble with infiltrators, I was able to convince them to allow this tour, but if the One Sith are able to get a hold of this and replicate it, my military career is over."

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus was pleased. This could have gone one of two ways after the interesting start but her host was putting her at ease and from what she could tell, he was a genuine guy.

She was amazed to hear she was one of the first non-Protectorate people to visit the facility – and her eyebrow shared her surprise with Noah. Realising the cat was out of the bag, she decided to confirm her shock. “I had no idea. I genuinely expected you to have people traipsing through here every day. Maybe I thought you’d be proud to show it off or something?” Now she thought of it, if the Jedi had something like this, how many would they allow to wander around it? In truth, she wasn’t sure.

She took his comments on security in her stride. It had bothered her that Sith ships seemed to come and go as they pleased on Ossus and it was something she was determined to tighten up. Having missiles pointed at you tended to have something of an effect on people.

She was also surprised that he’s risked his job to show her around and news of infiltrators was never pleasant to hear – even if it was the truth. “I genuinely appreciate your efforts.” She smiled and looked him in the eye. “I’m here to see the art of the possible. Whatever we replicate will be a pale imitation but from what you’ve lead me to believe it will be a huge step forward from what we have. And if I have anything to do with it, your time in the military won’t be at risk.”

[member="Noah Corek"]

[member="Noah Corek"]

 

[Noah Corek]

[member="Corvus Raaf"]

Noah nodded his head at what Corvus had said. "Good, just making sure that this will be kept a utmost secret. Because Corvus, I'm not threatening you but over the years I've done things that would make even the most hardened soldiers cringe. Keep that in mind." Noah informed her as they walked towards the large doors of the the Pit and stopped in front of the ten O1 Bhesj Main Battle Tanks and about two-hundred ODF infantry soldiers, of which one-hundred and fifty were riflemen while fifty of them were weapons support soldiers. They lived in small pre-fab buildings and manned large alusteel battlements that gave them a great amount of defensive advantage.

A squad of soldiers, obviously different from the ODF infantry soldiers around them due to the fact they were dressed in the standard issue armor of the Omega Pyre. Noah tried to not notice the glares sent to them by the ODF soldiers as they walked towards Noah and Corvus. It was no secret that disdain for the Pyre went from all the way down to recruits and all the way up to the ODF Army Commanding General. Of course the Pyre just shrugged off this disdain and kept on going, it wasn't their fault they were the most elite unit in the entire Protectorate.

The Squad leader, a Staff Sergeant spoke up first. "Sir, we're ready to escort you and Master Raaf."

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus was left in no uncertain terms how seriously Noah took the sharing of this secret. She had his word as a Jedi and hopefully that was enough. Of course, it all depended on which Jedi he’d met previously!

It seemed the installation was very well defended as she met not only a couple of hundred soldiers but ten MBTs. And then there were the ‘special’ soldiers.

You didn’t need to be a Jedi to sense not only their difference but also how they were viewed by the other men. A glare was a glare in any language. As a Jedi she was used to being given a hard time by enlisted men who thought she was little more than a space-wizard or a glow-stick merchant. Maybe deep-down there was respect to go with the contempt. But then she figured she was probably just being generous.

She bowed to the Staff Sergeant as a matter of habit before deferring to her host. This was his tour and his army, she was a guest and would speak when spoken to.

At least most of the time...

[member="Noah Corek"]