What's Aeten You? (Archangel)

[Maelion Liates]

Aeten II was a strange and dangerous place. Fought over for centuries for the wealth of Stygium crystals it possessed, the planet had nearly been destroyed by the Galactic Empire centuries before when they tried to get at previously hidden crystal deposits.

Now unguarded, others had come to claim its riches.

Aboard the Lightbringer Maelion Liates, [member="Moira Skaldi"] and one of their new clones looked down on the planet.
“Stygium deposits are greatly depleted, and even the rift caused by the Galactic Empire has been exhausted. However, this area shows signs of deposits below the surface. We will need to penetrate the surface and expose this area however,” Maelion was saying, pointing to a map.
It was slightly vexing to have to talk aloud rather than just wirelessly transmit, but since Enyo was here inefficient vocalisations were required.

“We will go to the surface once the deposits are uncovered and recover the crystals. Your assistance here will be greatly appreciated,” she added to Enyo.

 

[Enyo Typhos]

[member="Maelion Liates"]


So this was it. Her first mission with Archangel. Internally Enyo was a bundle of nerves, anticipation and excitement. It made for a rather messy combination. Emotions were so complicated sometimes. It made her wish she was a bit more like the HRDs. They were always so poised and in control of their actions. However, she tried not to let her nerves show and suppressed the urge to fidget. After all, they had taken such good care of her ever since she'd woken up. Even if she was still a bit sour about them not telling her the truth right away.


If only little Enyo knew how much Archangel had not told her. Regardless, she pushed those thoughts aside and attentively listened while Auntie Maelion described the mission. Her eyes studied the holographic map of Aeten.


"I understand. Callisto told me the crystals would interfere with your scanners. I won't disappoint you," she said. "How are we going to penetrate the surface? And we...expecting any resistance? I heard about these DeathWatch thugs mucking around." Hostiles would mean fighting. That would mean killing people. She had fired a gun before, but only on the firing range. Never on a living being...but she didn't want to disappoint her benefactors.

 

[Maelion Liates]

[member="Enyo Typhos"]
Maelion tilted her head to the side. Though Enyo knew some things, there was much she did not. It was time for Maelion to become a Human Replica Droid again. It had been a while since she’d been forced to deal with organic emotions and placate their whims. However, for the cause, this was worth it.

She smiled slightly. “Well, we’ve got a big mining laser and we’re going to blast a big hole through the rock and then go into the crystal caves below!”
Her inflection and word choice made her seem much more human.

“The crystals really cause us problems, so we need you to go in and pull them out. Don’t worry, they’re quite small and there shouldn’t be any danger. We’ve detected no ships in the vicinity.”

It brought her back to her Omega days, though this clone of Kerrigan was less…sexually obsessed.

 

[Enyo Typhos]

[member="Maelion Liates"]


There were indeed many things Enyo was not aware of. As far as she knew, her Auntie Maelion was a somewhat aloof but very nice...err, droid. As for sex, well, so far little Enyo was far too innocent for that sort of thing.


After all, she was less than a year old. Auntie Callisto had not given her the birds and bees talk. In any case, the change in inflection and reassuring words put Enyo more at ease. One difference between her and Kerrigan was the clone had a better attention span. "Oh, that sounds cool," she said, sounding more enthusiastic. Despite her looks, in some ways she was still innocent as a child. Besides, a big fething mining laser was cool! "Thanks for explaining."

 

[Maelion Liates]

[member="Enyo Typhos"]
Maelion smiled more. Organics reacted positively to that. More than a neutral expression or a frown.
“Let’s go get you suited up. The atmosphere down there is very thin so you’ll need a suit. We’ll take plenty of extra air too.”

Droids did not need either the suit or air, but she would use both. For one, the organic coverings could rapidly become burned and irradiated from solar exposure, and for two it would allow her to communicate easier.

And so a small transport was prepared. The plan was that Maelion, Enyo and the crew of other HRDs would hover a small distance above the ground, use the laser, then land and descend into the caves. The droids were fine on the surface where the Stygium was long picked clean, but once inside the caves it would be like going blind and deaf.

 

[Enyo Typhos]

[member="Maelion Liates"]


Auntie Mae was the sweetest!


"Ok, I'll go fetch my gear." Well, this mission did not seem that bad. Her earlier nerves had been banished by enthusiasm and so Enyo quickly suited up. Well, that process was a bit awkward for since the suit was quite bulky, but she managed well enough.


And so a few minutes later the transport was out in the air. Aeten was a desolate, inhospitable world. Before Enyo's eyes was a massive wasteland when the small ship hovered above ground. The ship experienced slight turbulences and shook her a bit. To her credit, Enyo was not startled but rather held on to the beam above her head. The ship stabilised and soon moved into position and began to prepare the big laser.

 

[Maelion Liates]

[member="Enyo Typhos"]
As Enyo was jostled Maelion put a hand on her back to hold her steady. She only needed one hand to hold herself straight.

For the benefit of Enyo the droids all spoke aloud.
“Laser targeted,” said one.
“Flight pattern established,” added another.
“Fire!” Maelion ordered, with extra inflection for Enyo’s benefit.

The arcing beam spat from the front of the ship and impacted the ground with a bright flash. The beam remained, drilling and then cutting a hole like a giant lightsabre.
Finally, with a rumble, a section of rock about five metres wide gave way and crashed into the depths below. Further rumbling caused some more areas to detach, but when it settled down there would be a perfectly viable gateway into the unknown remaining.

 

[Enyo Typhos]

[member="Maelion Liates"]


Stabilised by the strong, iron hand of Maelion, Enyo could release her grip on the beam. She watched, looking rather fascinated when suddenly an arcing, crimsom beam erupted from the front of their vessel and shore through the ground, causing a bright flash.


Like a lightsabre would against a durasteel door, it burnt a hole right through the ground. Rumbling, then rocks gave way and released a gateway into the underground. To the still rather innocent woman, it all looked real cool and she could suppress a rather cheesy grin on her face.


"Our sensors cannot penetrate down below. Scans are being interfered with," one droid spoke. This was a good indication that there were stygium crystals down there. Now they just needed to go down and grab them.

 

[Maelion Liates]

[member="Enyo Typhos"]
As the ship came to land Maelion gently pushed Enyo forward so that she would step out onto the barren ground. Walking over towards the hole, Maelion and the droids set up a sturdy winch and pully. Maelion then secured a harness tightly to Enyo so she could rappel down into the hole and be pulled up easily.

A second such device held an enclosed basket where the crystals could be stored.
“We are here for you, Enyo,” Maelion said warmly. “Keep in contact over the comm. Collect as large and uncracked crystals as you can. The more pure the better.”

 

[Enyo Typhos]

[member="Maelion Liates"]


Enyo had been so fascinated by the sight that she was a bit surprised when Maelion suddenly pushed her forward. However, to her credit she realised what was up and thus cooperated rather than getting startled.


She tensed a bit when she looked down and realised how far the fall could be. However, then the harness had already been secured around. For a moment she looked uncertain and probably a bit afraid when she felt a stab of nerves. However, Maelion's words pulled her away from that and reassured her. She realised that she should feel proud, not afraid!


"Ok," she said, sounding more confident. "I won't let you down. Don't have a party without me." The last line was incredibly lame, but she was probably just trying to calm her own nerves. And so she began rappling down through the air into the hole as she went on a long descent.

 

[Maelion Liates]

[member="Enyo Typhos"]
Maelion smiled, even if she did not understand the last comment at all. Organics….

As Enyo descended into the depths two HRDs slowly lowered her down whilst Maelion stood guard and kept an eye out for any threats.

“What is your situation, Enyo?”

 

[Enyo Typhos]

[member="Maelion Liates"]


The clone descended further and further into the depths of Aeten. There was a wind blowing her way and she tensed a bit when she felt it brush against her suit, but pressed on. A bit further and she had finally reached her destination.


Enyo let out the breath she hadn't known she'd been holding and looked around. "I'm ok. Down on the ground." It was fairly dark, but she could see a faint glow emanating from further inside the tunnel. She disconnected herself and pulled out a glow rod, activating it so that she had some illumination, then headed towards the glow. "Found crystals."

 

[Maelion Liates]

[member="Enyo Typhos"]
Maelion was able to track Enyo’s location using the clone’s suit beacon. With this in mind she could drop the basket down near Enyo accurately.

Down in the pit the crystals were of many sizes and purities. Finding the right ones and loading them up was not a difficult process, just time consuming.

“Take it slow and steady, no need to rush. You’ve got half hour on the air tank before we need to swap.”

 

[Enyo Typhos]

[member="Maelion Liates"]


"Ok, Mae." Yep, totally her new nickname for the droid. At least she hadn't called her auntie! Anyhow, the little clone caught the bag and then began the process of looking for crystals and loading them.


All in all, it was not a difficult process, but fairly time-consuming. Many of the stygium crystals were cracked or otherwise damaged. It seemed that the big laser had harmed some, but after a while the basket was beginning to be filled with several large, undamaged crystals. So far so good.

 

[Maelion Liates]

[member="Enyo Typhos"]
This writer had considered expanding this adventure to involve daring rescues, but decided Enyo can have a better first outing than that!
Maelion waited patiently, not prodding Enyo for reports. Finally, she activated the comm again.
“Basket is full, we’ll haul it up. Stand clear, please.”

 

[Enyo Typhos]

[member="Maelion Liates"]


And so Enyo was not ambushed by evil Mandalorians! Rather Enyo reattached the basket that by now was loaded full of stygium crystals, then waited patiently while it was being hauled up. She tensed briefly when she thought she'd heard noise, but then it turned that it was only the wind. Nothing untoward seemed to be occuring. So far things hadn't gone badly! Soon the basket loaded with crystals had been pulled up towards the shuttle.


((Have Enyo fall when rappling up and Auntie Mae swoops down with jetpack thingie ?)

 

[Moira Skaldi]

While [member="Maelion Liates"] and Enyo were recovering crystals, Moira was 'holding the fort', so to speak. Well, she monitoring things from the bridge of the cloaked Lightbringer. So far, nothing untoward had happened. Archangel fighter drones were on call if needed.


Traffic to Aeten had slowed down considerably after the planet been pulled from the grasp of the Mandalorians. Word was that DeathWatch terrorists were mucking around, but while the probes had detected a base, it was far away from Archangel's mining site. Combat would eventually test Enyo and reveal how much of an asset she would be for Archangel.


It gave Moira also a chance to catch up on the news. The hurly-burly of galactic politics continued to impress. The Republic, or rather the Chazwa Rump State, was in utter ruins. This was most pleasing to the droid and further evidence of organic inferiority. Shame Aurelia Saelari had been sucked into the netherworld.

 

[Maelion Liates]

[member="Enyo Typhos"]
The crystals were soon secured. It would be more than enough for the Ascension to use, especially as they did not intend for it to be used often.

“Enyo, time to bring you up. Walk your way up the wall as we draw you up,” Maelion said.

However, it was then that things started to go a bit wrong. Irregularities, a thing machines hated, started to intrude….

(Sure!)

 

[Enyo Typhos]

[member="Maelion Liates"]


Irregularities, bugs and glitches. They were the bane of a machines' existence. A single malfunctioning cog could bring a well-oiled machine to a halt. And this was the case here.


At first all went well. Enyo reconnected herself just as Callisto had taught her, and began to walk her way up the wall, while doing her best not to look down. She ascended further and further and the shuttle came closer. However, the rope-connecting knot abruptly came untied. Before Enyo could do anything, the rope had suddenly come apart!


A frightened scream escaped the brunette's mouth when she suddenly found herself in freefall. The strong, unpredictable wind blew her away. It was a very long fall...

 

[Maelion Liates]

[member="Enyo Typhos"]
Maelion had been waiting near the edge, and when the rope came undone she reacted quickly. Reaching out, she grabbed the frayed cord in one hand, trying to hold onto the winch with the other. However the weight of both overbalanced it and she began to fall.

Falling, she caught a rock outcrop with one hand, the other still holding Enyo.
“Assistance required,” she transmitted at maximum priority. The two other HRDs present caught her hand and pulled her, and by extension Enyo, slowly up. By working together, the three of them were able to haul Enyo up to safety.

Maelion went to her and lifted her up. “Are you alright?” she asked, her voice still sweet and concerned.