Weekend Treasure Hunt 19: Blood of Corellia (open only to Corellians)

[Mara D'Lessio Merrill]

OOC/ Decided to do something special this time around. This Weekend Treasure Hunt, I'm not telling you the prizes in advance, and the prizes are unlike anything that's ever been used as a prize before. As with all Weekend Treasure Hunts, I have no intention of DM'ing this thread. This is simply an opportunity.

Also, for clarity, this thread is open to all Corellians, including characters of Corellian ancestry or adoption.

Spoiler

Previous Weekend Treasure Hunts:
1: Derelict - Winner Take All (August 2014)
2: Diamond in the Rough (August 2014)
3: What We Leave Behind (September 2014)
4: Cannibal Stormtrooper Death Star (September 2014)
5: Just The Facts, Ma'am (September 2014)
6: Starweirds and Ladders at the Spires of Hell (September 2014)
7: Darkest of Paths (October 2014)
8: The ExGal Hunt - Extragalactic Death World (November 2014)
9: The ExGal Hunt - Engines of Death (November 2014)
10: Lore of the Dark Side (December 2014)
11: Archives of the Ancient (January 2015)
12: The Last Will and Testament of Rave Merrill (January 2015)
13: Starlight, Starfight (January 2015)
14: This Is Spaarti (February 2015)
15: The Cursed Holocrons (February 2015)
16: Against the Fall of Night (March 2015)
17: Blazing the Blood Trail (March 2015)
18: Dark Mirror (May 2015)

IC/

Spoiler

Spoiler

(source)​

The call for aid went out through the Corellian system, from Corellian authorities in their temporary centers of operation on Talus and Tralus and Selonia. Their homeworld, broken in two by cataclysm several months before, had become a hub of evacuation, scavenging, and pilgrimage. Survivors were found, sometimes, in sealed places deep beneath the surface -- the kinds of places that had inertial dampeners installed for scientific or defense purposes.

One such group had just been located when it managed to signal for evacuation after months of isolation. Triangulated communications placed the group's bunker in the deepest foundations of what had once been the CorSec Academy. A massive, ragged chasm, hundreds of kilometres deep, would be the only way to get close -- by hovering a ship or airspeeder, then climbing onto the cliff face and breaking into ancient tunnels. Air still thick with the contaminant dust of a broken civilization, gravity erratic, lethal scavengers nearby...

Suicide.

And it was nightfall, and the comm signal was dying like the world.

 

[Kaia Starchaser]

Kaia Starchaser was born ship-side, but her family? They were a major Corellian family, calling the Golden Beaches home for a very long time. At least since Palpatine killed the Jedi. She was being really good and keeping tabs on her family and that meant keeping tabs on the ancestral homeworld. Sure, Kaia might be based off Tali’Zorah, but her homeworld was still her homeworld. Debating her life among the Jedi and debating approaching her father and working for the Levantine Frontier Corps.

But not yet. She wanted to prove she could do things on her own. Flying to the home system, something she did often, she picked up on the signal that came through. That meant the Drifting Star was responding to the call. That was an ExplorCorps credo wasn’t it? Making sure everyone was safe? And passing over where the signal was located. Yeah. Great.

“Well, that’s wonderful.”

 

[Darth Vulcanus]

[member="Kaia Starchaser"] [member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"]

Corellia, you'd be hard pressed to find a more dingy excuse for a homeplanet. Sure, Ethan was a believer that home was where the heart was but that didn't mean his heart had to like it there. Still, he had grown up there and to hear it had become little more than an ass-crack in the midst of space had saddened him deeply. Long before he was the fancy CEO of Spaarti Creations, Ethan was just a small-town Corellian boy who wanted to grow up to be a speeder bike racer. Force did that seem like a million years ago now. At least his parents had died years ago, at least they wouldn't have to see the planet like this.

Soaring through the debris littered system, Ethan ran his eyes across the horizon of asteroids tumbling aimlessly through space. Endlessly floating. Never truly having purpose. It just sat around waiting for something to it it and that was truly the purest form of being a victim.

Ethan hated people who played the victim.

Snearing, Ethan began to tap away on his console. He wanted to come back to see his home now that it was gone and now he had so that was that. Locking in the hyperdrive back to his Headquarters, Ethan ran his thumb just over the confirm button; taking one last glance at his homeworld.

"I always hated you, but seeing you like this is..."

Suddenly a message came through, his screen lighting up with a distress call from the planet itself. "Help us w-" Static broke the message for a split second before the voice returned. "Caverns collapsed and we are trapped deep ins-

The message broke again. It was so badly distorted that Ethan couldn't even tell if the voice was male or female; or even human for that matter.

"Please hel-we need-men with-I-"

The message completely died out, turning to nothing more than ghostly white noise. Ethan's eyes locked on the triangulation his computer had charted down. The signal had come from deep in the planet, though Ethan didn't know where exactly that was from memory. His finger shook, hovering over the confirmation button for the hyperdrive. He licked his lips. Cleared his throat. Searched his mind.

Looking back up to the dying planet he once hated to call home, he just sat. The cold silence suffocating him. Grinding his back teeth, Ethan slammed a fist down on the control console. "Damnit! Fine, but just this once you hear?" Ethan posed to his homeworld floating shattered outside his viewport.

Locking in the coordinates, Ethan sat back as the ship towed him towards his destination.

 

[Lorna Halcyon]

She didn't come home often... not since what had happened but searching for Selena and Aika had led her through the galaxy and this had seemed like as good a place as any while Lorna moved. Her top tail bouncing with the light armors from the silver jedi. She let the sleeveless tunic and armorweave pants under a kama be all that she showed off. Her training saber on her belt before she was listening in the E'ron class to the signal and heading there in one of the fighters Silk had sold to the silver jedi. "We always come home again." She hoped she would find Selena or some news about her master while she gripped some bands for the rest of her hair and started making more tails near her padawan braid.

 

[Jsc]

Corellia
The Hanalei Bay

Grant spun around his chair and hung up the phone. Boring conversation anyway. He picked up the ship's com,

"Karen. Ram just called. Passed a distress signal our way. Says there is a few credits in it for us, if we manage to investigate?"

A moment passed before the shower intercom opened,

~ / Did he mention exclusives?"

"Nope. Signals public. Looks like near the Academy and such. I suspect the locals will handle it. No big deal."

Another moment passed and Grant shrugged. Then she replied again. He could hear the hair dryer in the background,

~ / I'll do it. Call him back and tell him to stay on the wideban. I'll chat him up when I'm in my bird.

"Alrighty then. So... Safe to say you won't be home for dinner?" He chuckled.

~ / You can cook up the fish. It's fine. I'll just be home late. R4 can help you with the sauce.

Grant rolled his eyes. Oh ye of little faith.

"I can cook without a droid, ya know. I'm not helpless."

~ / Then make macaroni. I'm not eating caramel-charred mahi mahi.

Ouch.

"Fine. R4 can help."

~ / Love ya babe. See you tonight.

She hung up from the refresher and Grant went back to his captain's watch. He shrugged. He wasn't that bad of a cook.

___

Robert's sealed her helm and brought up the X-Wing Recon's HUD. The pilot's seat was still warm from her last adventure. Comfy.

"R2. Flight check."

~ / beep boop

"Alright. All systems go. Call Ram on the wideban. He should be sticking around awhile longer."

~ / bewoop. dep dep

"Thanks R2."

~ / Roberts? That you?

"Loud and clear Ram. Got a sit rep for me?"

~ / Figures you'd keep me waiting. Listen. Distress signal just popped planetside. Coming from near the old Academy. Deep deep underground. Quite a walk. Figured my boys could use the help.

"As long as you're paying. Tell the boys I'll be there in thirteen. Give or take a few for traffic. Sectors gone to hell lately."

~ / I hear ya. And look... Could get crowded down there. Relay me anything you find as soon as you see it. Scoops no good if somebodies already reading it.

"Alright Nightstalker. We'll be in touch. R2. Detaching from the Bay. Maglocks are away. Let's do this thing."

~ / woop woop woop

"Heh. You said it. Corellia baby. Here we come."

___

 

[Kaia Starchaser]

Really, because her family, written by the One and True Corey, thought that Corellia was a great world. Nice beaches, crime, order, pirates, smugglers, cocky SOBs. And Kaia was sad she hadn’t visited more. Seeing the world like this? She wasn’t happy. She knew that she didn’t live there like her parents did, and that it must kill her father every time he saw it like this. She wasn’t sure if she was going to see him here, or his ship. The Tachyon Rising was almost like home to her. She knew it almost as well as she knew the Dawn Treader proper. And the Drifting Star? She was new. But Kaia was falling in love with the vessel. Nice and old and hardline Corellian and just gorgeous. But that was a digression.

Which was a word.

Spellcheck.

Kaia had already been in atmosphere, a bit quicker and earlier than other player in the game. The Star was a wonderful ship, but it wasn’t a mole, nor a mining ship. She was a freighter, a modified freighter to serve as a personal yacht. And she was a bit unwieldy for certain locations. Like a giant hole. She shook her head. That was not happening. Luckily, the loadout and internal shape of the freighter was modified to support an airspeeder. Bringing in the Star for a landing, she loaded up. Rifle, side arm, navy painted scout trooper armor and got into the airspeeder. Going down, it seemed?

 

[Orick T'ane]

Orick had never been attached to the world that gave him birth. His parents spent most of their time in space and likewise he had as well. Corellia was just a place he called home. His real home was the Ranger, and all of the things that it gave him. Freedom, work, a place to live. He had stopped to see the devastation first hand and he had gotten the signal ping by accident.

He heard it faintly, " Cavens... help...trapped." He wasn't sure that he should even get involved in this. It was most likely a pirate trap. Shaking his head and taking a deep breath he pushed the controls forward, guiding the ship towards the source of the signal. He knew that this was likely going to be a bad idea, but his morals wouldn't let him just leave when he could possibly help someone. He set his scanners to maximum and began to follow the signal to it's origin.

He frowned as he got close enough to pin point the signal. the chasm was huge and he wasn't looking forward to figuring out how to get into it. He knew there were other ships in the area, he only wondered it anyone else was willing to help. He pushed his ship towards the chasm and frowned. This was the kind of thing that got people killed, usually without anyone knowing it had even happened.

 

[Jsc]

Planetside

Karen hopped from her X-Wing and slapped the ground with a loud omph. Getting down to the signal was looking worse by the minute.

"R2. Stay with the ship. You see trouble, you tail it."

~ / woo

"Don't complain. I'll be back in an hour. Just sit tight."

Roberts sauntered over to the edge of the northern canyon. It didn't look pretty. Three other vehicles pulled up nearby. Ram's men. Just a bunch of college nit-wits looking to make a buck. It put Karen in such wonderful company.

"Yo lady. This the spot?"

She waved the kid over,

"Yeah junior. This is the spot. Now start unloading."

"What? Unloading? We're just here to take pictures. This ain't some Mandalorian war party."

"And just how were you planning on taking pictures when the entrance is dozens of meters down there, hotshot? See. No ladder."

The vehicles unloaded eight men and women. All too eager for an adventure gone nowhere. The lead photographer peered over the edge and shrugged.

"Dang. What's down there?"

"Since the planet blew in two? ...Who knows?"

"Oh man. This is nuts."

One of the other guys popped his trunk and smiled.

"Nah dude. Mark brought guns. Scatter shot for everybody. Heck yeah bro."

"Dudeee!"

"Dudeee!"

"No way brah!"

"Yeah way brah!"

"Sick digs war chief!"

"You know it war chief."

...

The bromancing continued for some time. Guns, cars, cigarettes, cheap beer, and the freshmen girls along for the ride. ...Yep. Karen just shook her helm. Sighing deeply and looking back over the canyon's rim. ...Yes sir. Hope somebody else was having better luck than she was.

It was going to be a long day.

___

 

[Lorna Halcyon]

The ship was coming in and Lorna moved quickly letting the droid pilot the ship down and allowing herself to be ready as she opened the hanger doors and jumped firing out a grapple to catch a roof then get down with a quick swing as her feet hit the ground and rolled. She stood up quickly and was moving while she listened on the comlink for channels with people talking and looked around quickly. Her eyes darting back and forth but she kept moving forward letting her footfalls echo in the empty space as she ground her teeth feeling like her nerves were on edge. Gooseflesh over her arms where they were exposed like she was walking over a grave and into something dangerous.

 

[Allyson Locke]

Planetside - [member="Karen Roberts"] [mentioning you if that's k :3 if not just ignore me xD ]

I’ve done my best not to think of Corellia. Not since it happened. I can still remember getting the letter from the government of my mother and brother’s passing. I was grateful to hear that my mother didn’t see it coming, she didn’t know what was going on and the lab she was working in just vanished under rubble. The sound proofed laboratory was near the epicenter, a secret lab devoted to help develop weapons for the Protectorate. My eyes closed and I can only imagine what it would have looked like - to see the blue of Corellia bursting from the center. From what the letter told me, was that she felt no paint, but I knew in my heart that knowing your life was over in a blink of an eye - you had to feel something.

My brother had been killed previous to the planet tear, the Lord Protector decided to bomb the shipyards. My brother was still helping the evacuation and was caught by the blast. He had just graduated university and was only a week into his internship with the shipyards. I am numb, yet I could feel the light touch of my palm against my mouth while I choke back the vomit gathering in the back of my throat. I would have been working with the shipyards after university as well - I wonder if avoiding this tragedy was why I decided to fly and escape Corellia. There was no news of my father, though I know the Academy he was teaching at had been hit. I assumed he was dead along with the rest of my family leaving me to be the only survivor. Though, I had intercepted a transmission for help from the CorSec Academy. From rumors that were being passed through holonet was that there were survivors.

My father could be there, he could have helped send the transmission knowing that because like every Corellian - we always return home.

Standing near some of the other workers who were also called home, I looked down and felt the soft soil that once made up my home. I curl my toes in my leather boots as if I could feel the spirit of the planet bleeding out into me. It was good to be home, but I wish it was under different circumstances. Glancing around I notice a few droids in the corner, they were simple, but they would be able to help with lifting anything I needed. I jogged quickly towards them and noticed a few parts sparking. “poodoo, they’re malfunctioning…” My knees made contact with the dead soil as I leaned closer to get a better look at the gear box of the small droids. “Seems to only need a few new spark plugs and everything should fire back up…” My belt had the necessary knick knacks that I needed and my hands quickly went to work. Tinkering was something I did when I needed to get my mind out of whatever rut it was in. I remember I ripped apart the entire engine of the Old Man’s ship forcing us to dock for a whole week - which meant he wasn’t too happy. That was because of my brother and when I found out about my mother, well lets just say I spent a little too much time on Zeltros.

The droids flared to life and I smiled probably for the first time in a long time. They didn’t respond beyond turning on though, which caused my brief happiness to fade. I hated using this, I hated having to navigate the inner workings of machines with the Force. Despite it coming naturally, it felt alien and unnatural. Still, if this mean that I was going to be able to save my Father - I would do it.

I would do anything to save him.

He’s all I have left...

 

[Jsc]

Speak Friend and Enter

Karen peeked her head around the windy bend. This canyon was cold and gusty. The ground shook many times as the sky drew further and further away. Corellia was stirring. Her core was still hot and churning out white heat. Like a pair of gasping lungs. Gravity kept her sway but the plates of this world were shifting. The air was hard, charred, and stale. Breath in. Breath out. And try not to drown.

They were not alone down here either. So only her helmet inched around the ravine's corner. A view to a kill.

"Yo blue? What do you see?" The photographer whispered. Seven others perking up behind him. Attempting to be as small as possible.

"An entrance into the canyon walls. Blown recently. There are iron struts reinforcing the doorway and darklights anchored into the rock like torches. Ah. Looks like... A power generator and a GPS cache too. Interesting."

"So? Friendlies?" One of the girl's mused.

"Mm. Not likely. This planet's been lawless around the scattered territories. Well. Corellia has always had it's share of free spirits. But now it looks like looting and martial law has taken it's toll. No. No friendlies down here. We'll most likely find salvagers and prospectors below."

"But. Ain't that a good thing?"

"Maybe. But prospectors tend to shoot people who come to close to their 'finds'. Territorial creatures by nature. And, I expect this broken canyon is home to more than just looters and cutthroats too."

Karen stood up and turned to face the eight foolish souls who dared to follow her,

"If you want to go home, now's your chance. Once we're inside? ...I don't know if we'll be able to come back the same way we went in?"

The kids looked at each and gulped. This wasn't exactly what they had signed up for. Scooby Doo, this ain't.

"Time to choose Mystery Machine. Stay? Or go. Everyone else. Follow me."

...

___

The Mines of Corellia

Karen checked her map. The GPS was holding. That was good. The last thing she wanted was to get lost down here. These tunnels seemed to follow the rules of least resistance. They were dug along a spider's web of random directions. Carved inside and around a number of metallic anomalies. Nobody bothered to reinforce them down this far either. Each quake tempted the ceiling far, far too much for Karen's liking. Every shift made the rocks loose and strange gases vent into the chambers.

"Listen lady. You've... Done this before right?"

His voice was shaken. The only brave soul to remain at her side. The photographer/ rookie adventurer. Johnathon Fidds.

"Dive into the core of a broken planet? Sure. Who hasn't."

"You're serious right? Oh gosh! What was that."

Shadows flickered down strange tunnels. Who could say were the light was coming from. Some of the rocks glowed with unnatural heat. Some of the ore seemed to have eyes and some of the deep roots would slither away at your feet. Every once and a while you would find a trail of red flares left lying across the ground. A trail of bread crumbs left behind by another group of hell's lost wanderers. Funny. Karen never seemed to found their bodies.

"Don't be so jumpy Fidds. It's probably just a bug or a bugger."

"Big ones?"

"Big enough to eat you. ...Come on. And don't point that Scatter Gun at me Fidds. Aim it at the ceiling and keep your finger off the trigger."

She scoffed and pointed her helm lights further down the tunnels.

"The last thing I need right now is you shooting me in the back out of boredom. Ugh."

"Yess... Yes ma'am." He muttered with a cold sweat. "...But I ain't bored. No ma'am. Mm mmm. Haven't the sense for it. This place. Darn it all. Corellia or not. It's giving me the willies. Ooo. ...Wait up!"

___

Their footsteps fell away to the echoing ambient noise. The surface was behind them now. This was level one. Dark shadows and stirring fogs. Disappearing lights and sudden scurrying shapes. The sound of dripping waters and the soft rattle of coming quakes. Hot metal ore that slithered, slithered like a snake. And drums. Drums in the deep.

Oh no fair traveler. This careful descent, was not for the faint of heart.

___

( [member="Allyson Locke"] you're welcome to bump into us. good hunting. )

 

[Darth Vaildra]

Every story worth telling has a villian and it seemed the white haired elemental swords man would be that villian tonight. While his fellow Sith were fighting a war, the new Sith Lord Darth Valdra still had some proving to do. He was sent to his homeworld to find a crew that sent out a distress signal. Only problem was he was sent to finish the job that was made to look like an accident and kill them and whoever else got in the way. It was ironic that his first mission as a Sith would be to kill on the very planet his parents were killed on; How ironic, but he had to be apart of the Sith or else his training would be meaningless.

His ship, Fury-Class Ship entered orbit and he saw his beautiful home planet, but now was not the time to get soft. He needed to be emotionless if he was going to do something against his moral compass, but for the greater good. He moved his ship heading for a landing zone and setting her down gently. He grabbed his large sword and sheathed it on his back securing it; he always did dislike lightsabers.

His boots made an echoing sound as he moved through his ship to the panel to drop the landing strip. He was met by an attendant who he paid to load his ship, somethings were worth paying for. His attire was slightly different than a Sith attire. His clothing was black with belts to keep it secure to his body and to add fashion. He wore a red trench coat though, but not a dark red like most Sith, but one that stood out. He looked at his datapad and made his way to the mines where he would kill the survivors before they could speak about the Sith involvement.


OOC: I hope you guys don't mind that I took liberty to add a bit, mainly the Sith invovment and cover up. I wanted to join, but being Sith I needed a logical reason.

Spoiler

[member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"] [member="Karen Roberts"] [member="Allyson Locke"] [member="Lorna Halcyon"] [member="Orick T'ane"] [member="Kaia Starchaser"] [member="Ethan Alde"]

 

[Mara D'Lessio Merrill]

[member="Kaia Starchaser"] [member="Darth Valdra"] [member="Ethan Alde"] [member="Allyson Locke"] [member="Karen Roberts"]

OOC/ I'm sad to see this one peter out, so I'm not going to dish out the big prize unless someone decides to rock out and accomplish the objective, but y'all can find some Corellian bloodsteel.

 

[Jsc]

Spoiler: OOC

Closing up shop, I suppose.

There and back again

Roberts was unable to find the source of the mysterious transmission. Searching these crumbling tunnels was becoming too dangerous for a true expedition. She managed to survey some new materials however. Bloodsteel, a variation of Havad. She would note the mineral locations of this raw metallic. Perhaps for later use.

"Come on Shaggy. Let's head back to the Mystery Machine. Nothing down here but old ghosts."

"You said it ma'am. My hands are starting to shake."

"That's not your hands. That's the walls and floor. So let's get out of here before they decide to do more than just shake and tango."

"Oh gosh. Yes please."

___

One hour later Roberts emerged from the Mining Tunnels and radioed it in. No entrance that way. Ram was just going to have send another team of specialists. This was one mystery that Roberts was just going to have to leave unsolved.

[member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"]