What Lurks Below.... | First Order Dominion of Nero

[Chubs]

Private Barris Hadley internally dreaded this moment. The stormtrooper, who usually went by the name Chubs, and was far more laid back, sat on edge. Before him and the assembled spooks, soldiers and sailors stood a tall man. One who wore a black officers uniform, with a brown cigar, that billowed thick smoke from his mouth. The officer marched up and down. Unlike many of the other officers aboard the FIV Yularen, the officer went by the moniker McReady, rather than any formal title, like Captain. From what the young stormtroper gauged, he was some kind of underwater specialist. Former One Sith from what the young trooper had heard. Perhaps that explained his peculiarity.

Still, the Yularen and her complimentary crew of stormtroopers were on edge. Anyone was when it came to a missing crew like this. An archaeological survey, codenamed Posieden had been dispatched to the dead planet of Nero to explore the ruins of the long since perished civilisation. However, when the FIV Explorer, their transport to civilised space arrived, Posieden missed their rendezvous. Within twelve hours, a haphazardly attired crew of stormtroopers, sailors and FOSB agents had been assembled, codenamed Odysseus to preform a classic search and rescue.

And it would be the grizzled officer who paced back and forth, who would be leading them. The older gentleman preferring to perform the briefing the group. "It won't be easy." McReady informed the group, "Mission's gonna be hard, and tougher than a tanned bantha hide." He spoke in a Outer Rim drawl. One which was grizzled. Perhaps from his smoking habit, or the experiences he had. He was most certainly war weary, scars criss crossed his face, and his ginger beard had unseemly and unnatural patches of baldness.

"But 'at sub in there," He gestured to the ventral hangar of the Imperial-X destroyer, where a small, freighter sized submarine hung from the boarding claws, "Will perform the mission. She's a 42-X Class Calamari." The veteran continued, "We will dive to a depth of approximately forty thousand meters deep, to which you," He gestured to the stormtrooper compliment, "Will dive out, and see if you can find any remnants of Posiedon team in the ruins." The officer paused, "You will be divided into search teams, with each team fitted with a transponder."

"When you find any survivors, activate it, and we'll be ready for retrieval." McReady informed the stormtroopers, "You'll have to be quick, and fast, because if Central Commands calculations are right, they've got air for another eighteen hours." McReady continued, "And already twelve of those have been wasted, so really there's no time to lose." He paused, "Any questions?" The officer asked, peering around, "If not, get your gear aboard, we leave in five."

McReady's speech didn't fill Chubs with confidence. All he could think about was what lurked below...

[member="FN-1735"] | [member="Pharazon Draken"] | [member="Brent Smith"] | [member="Morro"] | [member="Zul Grimm"] | [member="Doran Ren"] | [member="Emilia Ravel"]

 

[Wilhelmine Dahma]

Post: 1

As a former CEDF officer and systems engineer, Commander Morro of the First Order Navy had been tapped to help assist with the search and rescue of the Poseidon.

As her fellow officers assembled to review the plans, the Chiss’s current task was piloting a remotely operated underwater robot to gather information ahead of the submarine boarding. Watching the viewport as her fingers moved across the controls, she marveled at the beauty of Nero’s rich marine life. Fields of mushroom coral stretched out for miles, and colorful fish darted in and out of the multicolored carbonite invertebres. It was actually therapeutic to watch the calmness of the seabed and after awhile she had to pry herself away from the breathtaking sights. Programming the coordinates of the ruins into the ROV, she watched and advanced, waiting and watching again and again, until Morro realized there were no ruins at all. She banged on a couple of keys with her blue fingers, but the robot did not respond. And suddenly…

Blackness.

The device was no longer under her control and had been destroyed or disabled somehow. She frowned thinking first of the expenditure of losing an expensive piece of equipment like that, and hopefully her pay would not be docked for the mishap, but then she began to ponder exactly what had happened to it.

Walking into the briefing area, Morro, addressed McReady. “I believe we should send out some underwater probe droids first. We have no idea if this could be a trap. My investigation with the ROV did not yield anything either. It was… I don’t know. It disappeared, and I cannot retrieve it.”

[member="FN-1735"] | [member="Pharazon Draken"] | [member="Brent Smith"] | [member="Chubs"] | [member="Zul Grimm"] | [member="Doran Ren"] | [member="Emilia Ravel"]​

 

[Brent Smith]

Post 1

There came a point when you stopped being scared of danger around every corner, where you just became used to the daily possibility that your next move would kill you. Brent stood there in the shadows, wearing his dark armored trench coat, he was at that place. They were underwater--if something went wrong and they lost pressure, the sheer force of the water alone was almost garunteed to kill them. If that didn't, there was whatever lurked bellow. If that didn't then there was the drowning. If that didn't and they somehow miraculously made it to the surface live--there was dying of exhaustion before they were ever picked up by the rescue squad.

Ra had met him on Umbara, she had begun to show him how to tap into his Force connection. It wasn't much at all, so little that even the First Order had deemed it unworthy of training when he enlisted. It was hit and miss before, and now with the training he was going through, it was still more like a flickering candle than a light switch he could turn off and on. Right now, he couldn't feel anything, but his training and experience could tell him that this would be a mission to haunt both him and his nightmares.

After the briefing, Brent nodded his head solemnly. "Understood. No questions."

He rose to his feet, gripping the duffle bag of tricks and tools he had brought. His job was simple and complicated; expect the unexpected. On paper, he was just here as an adviser, a special agent courtesy of the FOSB intended to make things flow smoothly with this rescue. But off paper--he was here to gather intel and report any findings with this anonymous crash that could interest the FOSB's finest or the First Order's weapon creation. If there was anything out of this that could be weaponized, he was supposed to find it. If there was anything deadly that could be warped into a tool for them, he was supposed to appraise it, so he could report back and gt an entire team to do so, or to do it alone here and now.

"Sounds like a good idea," he said over his shoulder when the Chiss suggested they use probes first, "Keep me appraised with anything you find, the Bureau thanks you for your contributions."

And with that he left the briefing room to suit up.

[member="Morro"] I [member="Chubs"] I [member="FN-1735"] | [member="Pharazon Draken"] | [member="Zul Grimm"] | [member="Doran Ren"] | [member="Emilia Ravel"]​

 

[Pharazon Draken]

Post: 1

[SIZE=11pt]As stormtrooper Captain Pharazon Draken sat listening to McReady’s briefing his emerald eyes inquisitively surveyed the other members of this ad-hoc rescue mission. Stormtroopers, naval officers, and security bureau agents crowded around the imposing and authoritative McReady as the smoke of his cigar wafted up and down the impromptu briefing area of the FIV Yularen as the grizzled officer paced. As his eyes completed their pass over the team, Pharazon grew more and more wary, the speed and urgency with which they had been brought together and organised combined with the dire warnings of their commanding officer fed into Pharazon’s suspicion as to what they would likely find down there. He could not believe that Central Command would send such a team composed of soldiers, officers, and spies so quickly after an [/SIZE][SIZE=14.6667px]archaeological[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] team, even one in such apparent danger, unless there was someone or something down beneath the horrifically large and dangerous waves of Nero of value to them. The [/SIZE][SIZE=14.6667px]unknown[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] reason for their disappearance reinforced his near paranoia. Nevertheless, Pharazon used his suspicions to heighten his awareness and analytical skills and instincts, he may be a part of the team as one of their trained killers, but he was no dumb brute despite his imposing size and musculature compared to some of the other team members.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Shifting his darkly uniformed frame and nodding respectfully as McReady finished his briefing, Pharazon then inclined his head and body towards the Chiss naval officer as she entered the room and recommended further probes be sent. Nodding slightly in agreement with her, Pharazon returned his gaze to the grizzled McReady to gauge his reaction. After several moments of silent thought he then spoke out.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]“[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]I would concur with the Commander’s assessment, a lack of tactical intelligence in an operation such as this is likely to get the unit and any surviving archaeologists[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] killed so getting the probes launched before the commencement of the mission would be useful[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]” he began, alternating his focus from McReady to this Commander Morro before he turned to address the Chiss Commander directly.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]“However, Commander, given the time and oxygen constraints I fear any data the probes may gather after their launch but before ours will be limited, I suspect more detailed information will have to be collected and communicated to our craft during the course of the operation, though I would of course defer to your expertise on the matter. But I fully share your suspicions that this may be a trap, even if it is not I at least suspect we may be walking into significant danger, so any additional intelligence we could gather before or after the commencement of the operation would be better than what we possess now.” He continued, voice resonating around the briefing area in a firm but agreeing fashion. Or at least better than the information Central Command and the Security Bureau have deigned to give us...[/SIZE] he thought darkly to himself.

[SIZE=11pt]Turning once again back to McReady, Pharazon smoothed his black stormtrooper duty uniform as he considered his next words for a moment before speaking to his commanding officer.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]“[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Sir, I have two questions, firstly, how many archaeological[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] personnel are reported to have been in the ruins when contact was lost? And secondly...[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]” he paused momentarily, again considering his next words carefully to avoid appearing overly brutal given the rescue nature of the mission, despite it being a perfectly pertinent question given Pharazon’s role in the team.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]“[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Are any members of the archaeological[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] team to be considered mission critical above the rest of the [/SIZE][SIZE=14.6667px]missing[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]?[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]” he asked, voice still firm yet perceptibly more serious and pragmatic.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Falling silent, Pharazon returned to observing those around him, notably the rather nervous looking stormtrooper Private Hadley, or Chubs as he had heard him referred to as in passing. Pharazon visually sized the man up before giving him a knowing nod with his usual stern facial expression. He had a healthy suspicion of FOSB operatives at the best of times, and with more than one currently in his vicinity he was overly suspicious, but at least there were a few fellow stormtroopers around him, even if they were the sole members of the operation Pharazon could fully trust. At least we are not going underground... he mused sardonically, hardening his resolve, he may not like FOSB agents but he disliked failure more and knew how valuable they were likely to be in the coming trials of the rescue mission. The entire ship's compliment, Stormtrooper, Navy, and FOSB alike was on edge he suspected, and Pharazon would not allow himself to be the weak link in the chain.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]And so he returned his attention to the grizzled McReady, ready to gather his armour, weapons, and other gear as soon as his questions were answered.[/SIZE]

[member="Chubs"] | [member="FN-1735"] | [member="Brent Smith"] | [member="Morro"] | [member="Zul Grimm"] | [member="Doran Ren"] | [member="Emilia Ravel"]

 

[Doran Ren]

Doran sat with his legs crossed, his eyes peering out from his skull shaped mask. His dark hood almost shrouding the entire mask in shadow. He twirled his saber hilt loosely in his hands. The weapon of pure elegance, weaving through his gloved fingers. He quickly snapped the hilt back to his belt and leaned forward. He placed his elbows on his thighs and lifted his head, carefully eying the group. A jumbled mess of stormtroopers and spooks it seemed. He sighed and watched a Chiss commander walk through the doors into the room. One particular spook, a Brent Smith he believed his name was, was shrouded in darkness in a corner of the room. Along beside him stood a small detachment of stormtroopers, visibly nervous. Doran smirked under his mask at the troopers plight. Yes they were underwater and had several ways the mission could go wrong, but Doran felt little need for worry.

He assumed he would leading the group of diving troopers, seeing as his mask could be sealed air tight. He listened intently to the mission leader, the man was called Mcready. He informed the group of the difficultly of the coming mission. His eyes peered out of his mask and stared down the grizzled CO. Towards the end of his speech he asked the group of any questions, if none, report to the sub. Not a moment after the man finished his words. Doran rose up and nodded to his comrades, then quickly moving towards the sub. His cape lightly flapping behind him and his black polished boots clicking against the floor.

[member="Brent Smith"] | [member="Chubs"] | [member="Morro"] | [member="Pharazon Draken"] | [member="Emilia Ravel"] | [member="Zul Grimm"] | [member="FN-1735"]

 

[Zak Dymo]

What part of paratrooper did people not understand?

Or, a better question might be, why hadn't he asked more questions about the part in the contract that said and other duties as may be assigned.

In any event, the 3X stormtrooper was hunched up against the back wall, his helmet obscuring the ridiculously pouting face he was making right now because none of this sounded like his idea of a good time. It sounded more like a completely thrown together gaggle-feth of a plan.

And judging by the comments from the officers in the room, that's because it was a completely thrown together gaggle-feth of a plan. But they were racing against the chronometer so... semper fething fi.

He absolutely hated aquatic training, too. Jumping out of a perfectly good dropship or shuttle, no problem. Going underwater... eh, the thought made his skin crawl. But, orders were orders. So they were off to go find Nemo. And Three was along for the ride.

Or, the swim, as the case may be.

...man, he just really didn't like the sound of this at all.

[member="Doran Ren"] | [member="Pharazon Draken"] | [member="Brent Smith"] | [member="Morro"] | [member="Chubs"]​

 

[Chubs]

McReady laughed at Pharazon, "You're pretty bright for a buckethead, ain't ya?" The officer jovially chuckled, "The boy is right. But there's the fact that probe droids drop too slow, and given the approximated size of the city, and their limited field of range, even if we found someone, we'd be down there too late. We're going to be faster than the probes, which is why we're going in blind." McReady's voice had changed. From jovial to serious. Something had snapped. It was not the type of anger which was malicious, but more so one which tried to convey the urgency of the current predicament. "Believe me," McReady informed the Chiss. "Which is why we've scrambled our caped friend here," He gestured to the Knight of Ren. "He's force sensitive, and if the FOSB assessment I've got is right, he'll be the one to lead us to anyone trapped down there. Hopefully faster than any droid can."

McReady paused, as Pharazon asked about any valuable personnel. "We have approximately thirty three missing. Twenty of them are civilians. Researchers, archeologists, your boffins." McReady then paused, "The other thirteen are the crew of their sub, and their FOSB detachment." McReady informed Draken, "VIPs are as followed. Professor Spence, Rubin. Doctor Velen, Mirose. Major Jesh, Arkadi. And finally, Captain Dartmouth, Beck." The mission leader informed Pharazon, "But any and all people we get out alive are important." He then gestured, without looking at it, to the submarine docked in the Star Destroyers cavernous hangar. "Now, if that's all, let's not dilly dally, and go play hero."

[member="3X744"] | [member="Morro"] | [member="Doran Ren"] | [member="Pharazon Draken"] |[member="Brent Smith"]

 

[Wilhelmine Dahma]

Post 2

McReady explained why the probe droids would not be an option to deploy. Basically, they were running out of time to rescue anyone still alive. And while the Admiral was back from the dead, Morro experienced a free-floating panic attack, if only for a moment, taking her back to the fateful day that the Vigilance exploded, and she feared that Carlyle Rausgeber had perished. She forced herself to breath deep, knowing that they had a rather claustrophobic task ahead of them that required scuba gear and limited oxygen supplies. Hopefully her extensive military training would come in handy, but she was still nervous just the same.

After boarding the submarine, Morro choose to gear up immediately. Since the Chiss officer was the only female on the mission, and the only alien though that was more to be expected with the human-centric First Order, she entered a separate locker room and wiggled into a black wetsuit. She did not enjoy the way the rubbery fabric clung to her skin and she immediately began to sweat.

Returning to her colleagues, Morro asked, “What type of weapons will we need to bring with us?” Once at the ruins site they would be limited by what they could carry, and recalling how the ROV’s screen had gone suddenly dark, the Chiss felt as though rushing in unarmed would be a bad idea.

[member="Chubs"] [member="Brent Smith"] [member="Pharazon Draken"] [member="Doran Ren"] [member="3X744"]

 

[Brent Smith]

Post 2

The red-painted durasteel locker swung open with a high pitched squeak, Brent removed his sunglasses and looked the armor over. It was the first time he would officially be wearing the FO-X1 armor outside of training, on a real mission. Brent unbuttoned his trench coat and carefully hung it on the hanger clipped on the inside of the door. He lovingly adjusted it, smoothing the wrinkles out. It was more than just a garment, the ShadowZal was armor as well and he had gotten quite accustomed to wearing it during most of his missions.

He quickly stripped down and slipped into the body glove for the FO-X, clipping the plates on. It wasn't too different from the Storm Trooper armor he had worn during his early days of service for the First Order. Brent never would have dreamed then that he would be serving as spook, or that he would be diving to soul-crushing depths on planets that had lived past their glory days. Life was strange like that, he guessed.

The agent clipped his helmet on and felt the compression seal take hold around his neck. The red HUD lit up in front of his eyes, casting everything in a strange light as the yellow read outs splayed along his peripheral vision. With a few blinks, Brent dialed down the helmet's scanners, preparing them for the underwater world he was about to find himself in. Satisfied, he looked into locker, perusing his selection of weapons. He pulled a Berserker Rifle from the rack and slung it over his shoulder. It would work best out of his choices both out of the water and in it--in case they somehow flooded or something. He was really hoping that wouldn't happen. Brent grabbed his black duffel bag of tools out of the locker before slamming it closed and marching back to join the others just in time to hear the VIP list.

He nodded. While Brent hated to think like that, sometimes they had to. People were going to die on this mission. He didn't know how he knew, the agent just knew. With a mission like this, even a 40% success rate would be beyond ideal.

“What type of weapons will we need to bring with us?”

"Its almost guaranteed we will be flooded at least once during this operation," Brent answered. "The water will dissipate the heat for blasters and disruptors almost instability, reducing any effectiveness they have. Blasters modified for the water are still rather limited in their range. Most lightsabers will be virtually worthless down there. Ion weapons will get us all fried. Vibroblades will do well if they are sealed off. Projectile weapons like slug throwers and shatter guns will be highly effective in the water."

[member="Morro"] I [member="Chubs"] I [member="3X744"] I [member="Doran Ren"] I [member="Pharazon Draken"]​

 

[Zak Dymo]

This guy got it.

As Three listened to the dark haired man talk about options for weapons, shatter gun popped to mind at the same time that the dude had uttered the word aloud. He wondered if the armory stocked anything that was actually useful.

Of course, even if the projectile had enough kinetic force to have any kind of effective range in water under one or more atmospheric pressures, visibility and aiming with any sort of accuracy still seemed like it was going to be more luck than skill.

As far as operating environments went, this just seemed like a horribly bad idea from the start.

They really needed a corps of Quarren, Mon Calamari, or Nautolans for this sort of thing.

[member="Brent Smith"] | [member="Morro"] | [member="Chubs"] | [member="Doran Ren"] | [member="Pharazon Draken"]​

 

[Pharazon Draken]

[SIZE=11pt]Post: 2[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Pharazon’s mouth curved into a conspiratorial smirk as he listened to McReady jovially disparage the intelligence of both Pharazon himself and the entire Stormtrooper Corps. He gave no mind to it, as far as inter-service rivalries went the officers joke was wholly welcome, better to be joking at each others expense than actually deeply mistrusting each other during a mission such as this. He had not known the issues with the probe drop speed but Pharazon cared little in this instance, he was a stormtrooper, not a surveyor or an intelligence officer experienced with these details. It was the fact that they were dropping blind that made him concerned, nothing good ever came of a lack of military intelligence regardless of why information was lacking.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Shifting his great body slightly, he listened intently to the number of personnel they were to be searching for and the names of the key members among them. He nodded slightly at McReady’s insistence that they were to be treating all members of the archaeological team as a priority, but mentally prepared himself for the pragmatic decisions that may await the team below the waves. While he nodded to McReady respectfully for answering his questions, Pharazon ever so slightly stiffened in posture at mention of the darkly clad force user in their midst. Since discovering his own force sensitivity he had made it a habit to constantly draw in on himself to minimise any potential presence he had in the force to negligible levels, but he had seen enough classified footage of the darkly robed agents of the First Order to know that he would have to be careful on this mission, or risk exposure.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]“Understood sir, we'll bring them back.” he responded to McReady, to give at least some indication that he had indeed listened given his generally quiet, intense, and contemplative demeanour in briefings. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Nodding respectfully again to the other members of the team, Pharazon swiftly strode off toward one of the nearby armouries where he had stored his equipment. His boots thumped and clanked across the hangar before he entered through one of the access bulkheads to the armoury and ducked his head to enter inside.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Swiftly he made his way toward his collection of gear and armour that was hastily being prepared by a member of the quartermaster’s personnel within a fitting room. Pharazon then set about quickly arming and armouring himself with the assistance of the quartermaster-s personnel for his armour. Shedding his uniform with no hint of embarrassment or modesty, he quickly wedged himself into his black, wetsuit variant armour body glove. Satisfied with the fit after stretching his great limbs out and ensuring the suit fit him properly, he curtly ordered for his armouring to begin.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]He would be wearing his standard stormtrooper FO-02 armour, albeit a version adapted for aquatic operations which included swimming fins attached to the boots, back mounted oxygen tanks, and a rebreather built into the helmet. After a short time he was fully fitted into the armour, posing quite an out of place figure in full aquatic battle armour while within the heart of a starship, but he put any potential embarrassment from his mind as he configured his hud systems before turning to the weapons he had managed to acquire from the armoury earlier. Given the haste at which the mission had been assembled and his status as a stormtrooper his selection had been rather limited, but several hours before the briefing based on the limited information he had at the time had selected what he could. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]His primary weapon was one of a design so old he was almost surprised the First Order still possessed reproductions of, a recently produced copy of the original SG-4 blaster rifle, the primary weapon of the aquatic assault stormtroopers of the First Galactic Empire. It was a dual purpose weapon, being capable of firing both blaster bolts and miniaturised harpoons to account for the loss of range blasters suffered when used underwater with an alternate weapon while still allowing the use of blaster bolts should the need still arise. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]His secondary weapon was an aquatic modified F-11D blaster rifle, an almost equally old design as the SG-4 though a far more common one in the modern First Order. Despite the loss of effectiveness, Pharazon just could not feel comfortable without a full power blaster rifle within arms reach, and so he firmly attached it to his hip holster just in case. He also had managed to acquire a rather mundane slugthrower pistol that he had attached to his belt next to a near non-regulation massive combat knife. When all else fails give them the old straight silver... [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Pharazon thought to himself as he sheved the blade after checking its edge needlessly, as if he had not checked it dozens of times earlier.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Satisfied, Pharazon marched back towards the briefing, though rather more carefully now on account of his flippered feet. He arrived just as the security bureau agent was finishing giving his weapons recommendations. Despite only hearing the last few words, Pharazon was satisfied the agent had given sound advice to the rest of the team, and silently nodded his now helmeted head slightly in respect before marching off to board the submarine, believing himself ready for whatever might now await them and not wanting to delay any longer.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt][member="Chubs"] | [member="Brent Smith"] | [member="Morro"] | [member="3X744"] | [member="Doran Ren"][/SIZE]

 

[Chubs]

"Ten points to the wanker over there with the glasses!" McReady chuckled, pointing at the man, "He's got the right idea for it." The officer said, "Shatterguns and special issue sonic weaponry and sonic detonators will safeguard your passage to the depths." McReady said, "But now, we really have to get a wriggle on here." The mission leader gestured out of the door, and "Let's get a move on here."

McReady exited, flanked by a few other members of the party, before marching right towards the submarine, moving up its gangplank, while a few droids lifted the rather heavy scuba gear. McReady stood just inside the submarine, and watched as the stormtroopers and FOSB agents began to file in. "FOSB, and Stormtroopers to the back there," McReady ordered, "Get some of the diving gear on, but don't turn on your rebreathers, you'll need 'em yet when the time comes for diving, and they have a limited availability and power supply."

The officer then eyed the Chiss commander, "Get yourself acquainted with the bridge commander, I'll be having you help organise things." McReady paused, "If that's all, get in. Shut up. And get ready."

[member="Morro"] | [member="Brent Smith"] | [member="Pharazon Draken"] [member="3X744"]

 

[Wilhelmine Dahma]

Posts: 3

Morro took Agent Smith’s advice and holstered a slug thrower and a regular pistol for a side arm if she lost the two handed gun. Nothing beat a regular knife either which she strapped to her thigh. The Chiss smirked, hoping her rudimentary weapons training back when she was a private in the CEDF. She thought herself a good marksman back then but realized it had been so long, her current dexterity would likely be described as “a slow fumbling.”

A bit of a ragtag group they were, thought Morro. I’m the only alien as usual. Chubs and Three were both children. Two male agents rounded them out along with the normal human corps of stormtroopers who might be tagging along. The naval officer noticed no other women. When would the military change its attitude about aliens and the female sex? Would the First Order be content to enlist children over capable adults that just happened to have gills or horns?

Morro nodded and said, “Yes, Sir,” at McReady letting none of the less charitable thoughts leak onto her emotion-less features. She began to examine the bridge as ordered, red eyes glowing in the encroaching darkness as they began to submerge.

[member="Chubs"] [member="Brent Smith"] [member="Pharazon Draken"] [member="3X744"]

 

[Bamuf]

Emerging at long last came, perhaps, the most peculiar member of their party.

Bemuf the Talz wasn't really aware why he'd been picked for this mission. The creature had joined the First Order auxiliary in the wake of his clan's hard fought victory on Hoth and... this was where they sent him. To the Talz, water was just what happened when snow got warm. He had very little experience with 'swimming'.

Sheepishly, the large alien walked towards his allies for this mission, awkwardly shuffling in his specially adapted wet-suit.

Was this a joke? He thought to himself as he readied a sonic cannon over his shoulder. He supposed he was there for heavy lifting but weren't their droids build for this sort of thing?

<<I am very sorry for my delay, I am unused to dressing in these 'wet-suits'>> the creature said in his native tongue, hoping someone in their number had knowledge of linguistics. He looked at each of the other operatives in turn before finally offering a halfhearted wave with his heavy paw at McReady.

<<Ready for duty sirs. I suppose.>> Bamuf fumbled around as the zipper on the front of his suit came loose again.

​

[member="Morro"] | [member="Chubs"] | [member="Brent Smith"] | [member="Pharazon Draken"] | [member="3X744"]​

 

[Progflaw99]

A practitioner of science, a philosopher, a student, a free soul. All things Lilith would likely have called herself or at least considered - but that wasn't what was on her mind at the moment. She was too busy eyeballing the submersible they were about to take beneath the surface. As of late, she'd been volunteering a large portion of her time at the local FIMS run clinic in her neighborhood. In fact, she'd even been hired as a licensed Medic - though as a civilian it granted her a bit more autonomy than being a full fledged member of FIMS would have had. In fact, it was her civilian status which had landed her this gig.

Lilith wasn't exactly claustrophobic, but the idea of travelling inside of a small craft surrounded by hundreds of lbs of pressure was a bit disconcerting. Brushing her hair from her shoulder she boarded the vessel along with the others, carefully eyeing the inside of the craft. *It's not dark or dingy... I suppose.* she thought to herself, the small satchel of medical and scanning equipment she'd brought with her bumping against the bulkhead. She slipped it behind her as she readjusted the strap on her shoulder, also taking the time to ensure the small blaster pistol she wore was tucked in its holster tightly. Not that she'd need it - hell, she'd barely ever fired one.

If everything went according to plan, they'd go down, discover that the communications relay had simply malfunctioned or been damaged, and then they'd call it a day. Maybe their pilot was just sick? What could possibly go wrong?

[member="Bamuf"] | [member="Morro"] | [member="Chubs"]​

 

[Zak Dymo]

Was this what it was like to finally get off a training base and the into normal fleet operations?

As Three walked to the back and started to gear up, he was struck by the many elements that were seemingly out of place. A Chiss commander. And then a... whatever the white, fluffy thing was. This was probably the most aliens per capita he'd shared a room with in awhile. Or, at least, what he could remember. Growing up on Dosuum and going to the Imperial Academy, there hadn't been a lot of non-humans that Three had ever interacted with. He could probably count them on one hand.

Adding to the strange menagerie, what was up with the blonde chick? The captain and the commander, he could immediately understand where they fit in the grand scheme of things. They were in charge. The guy with the glasses was a little different, but he seemed to know what he was doing. So Three had no problem listening to him. But the blonde chick? Just what was her deal?

The aquatic stormtrooper armor was a lot like the scout trooper configuration, only with two hoses coming off the front of the mask. Removing his usual helmet and stowing it above the locker that been temporarily assigned to him, the teen stripped down to the body glove and began suiting up with the components of the specialized set of armor for this sort of environment.

Fluffy was chirping. Or, was it more of a warble? As the teen was adjusting the setting on the new helmet configuration that was sitting on his head, the strange alien language appeared in Aurabesh letters across the HUD that overlay the stormtrooper's view from within the helmet.

I am unused to dressing in these 'wet-suits'

Turning his head toward the taller being, the teenage corporal remarked, "That makes two of us."

Seriously, who signed up to be an aquatrooper?

[member="Lilith Sedarri"] | [member="Bamuf"] | [member="Morro"] | [member="Pharazon Draken"] | [member="Chubs"]​

 

[Chubs]

There was a two minute pause, as the remaining stragglers were hauled aboard the submarine, before the warning came in. "Strap yourselves in lads and lasses!" McReady warned over the vessels internalised comms unit, "It's going to be a bumpy ride!" Flashing in the rear section sat a countdown timer, thirty seconds. Chubs, who was halfway through changing into his armour went about as white as the bizarre alien's fur, and rushed to sit down, before securing himself in his seat.

Then, as the timers red numerals hit zero, it hit. The submarine was dropped at a distance over a hundred meters by the star destroyer. All loose items on the floor, for about five seconds sat, suspended in the air, until the submarine hit the water, and began to submerge. Chubs, who hadn't strapped himself in properly, had his head hit the ceiling while he scrambled to tighten his belt. The stormtrooper rubbed his head, as the submarine hit the waves, and began to slowly sink down beneath the waves. "Ouch." He grunted, before picking himself up, feeling a little unbalanced.

McReady piqued up on Comms, "Alright ladies and gents, this is your captain speaking. We have approximately half an hour till we hit the ocean floor." He informed the group, "Conditions are good, so we may hit the ocean floor before that." McReady's voice was rather boisterous, "So, you people had better get ready before we hit that time. Captain out."

[member="3X744"] | [member="Lilith Sedarri"] | [member="Bamuf"] | [member="Morro"] | [member="Pharazon Draken"] | [member="Brent Smith"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

Nero.

Nero.


Didn’t ring a bell with Connor, but the read-out at the Bastion was enough to inform him the First Order was there and needing help. Had he been called or issued a command to go? No, but then when did that ever stop Connor Harrison from wading in to get a job done.

He was lucky to be outside when a transport was taking off with a couple of Ren warriors and white gleaming Stormtroopers to drop them at Nero. Connor didn’t hang around to get on, name dropping those he could to convince the troops he was welcome, and not just winging it. The flight was shorter than expected, and the blue hue of the world was evident on the descent in.

Connor turned his head to the viewport to look upon the world, seeing a few dropships moving around and some larger equipment for hoisting craft in and out of the water.

The transport touched down on a landing pad, and a blast of cool air hit them as the rear ramp opened and the door prized apart. The air was fresh and it hit him with a strong burst of Force energy; the kind that made him feel he was surrounded by the natural power itself.

He stepped onto a metal gangplank and walked along, passing troopers and soldiers, and also specialist divers and pilots in some full-swing of an operation. Connor looked this way and that, not really knowing what was going on, but to him it looked like people were slacking.

”Anyone care to tell me the status of this operation?”

A trooper looked at him, from the way his visor moved. Connor beckoned him over.

”I’m from the Bastion. Who’s in charge here? What’s going on? Get in touch with whomever and tell them Master Connor Harrison wants to talk. Thank you.”

He waved the trooper away and turned to stand on the edge of the walkway, watching a large spew of bubbles rise from the waters and people prepared another craft to dive, so it seemed.

[member="Chubs"] | [member="3X744"] | [member="Lilith Sedarri"] | [member="Bamuf"] | [member="Morro"] | [member="Pharazon Draken"] | [member="Brent Smith"]

 

[Zef Halo]

ESCARGOT NEBULA
HELIOS

While military elements were deployed for an operation on Nero itself, FOSB operatives were assigned with the exploration of an unknown planetary body within a thick nebula at the edge of the system. Why it wasn't distributed to a scientific exploration unit remained beyond Therran. Perhaps he did not have the required access to it. Yet.

All in due time.

The freighter had been home to the cocky female twi'lek pilot whose name Therran neither remembered nor wished to know, a mute, or he just did not utter a word yet, near-human maintenance specialist along with a few other intelligence operatives.

Mission was clear: Find out what the body is.

:: ETA: 5 minutes or so, folks. Get ready. :: The pilot's voice crackled through the freighter's speakers interrupting Therran's meditation.

He slowly, with the step of a dignitary, made his way to the cockpit where the body grew bigger on the viewport.

It was time to get ready.

[member="The Major"] | [member="Emilia Ravel"] | @FOSB | @MaybeRen?​

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---​

​

ATLANTEA FIELDS
PROSPECTING SHIP

As soon as FOSB intel arrived regarding the watery planet of Nero, Therran was quick to dispatch his loyal Pau'an Karas to investigate the talks of strong material within the asteroid field surrounding Nero.

Karas was certainly not amused, he had been on this dirty ship, full of dirty miners for almost a week now. While the same dirty miners explored the asteroid field and studying the material. It was after their findings on which Karas would appraise the material.

Whether it was worth setting up a mining operation or no.

That was the easy part though. The hard was acquiring a mining license from the First Order.

But that was up to other people and not up to Karas.

 

[WolfMortum]

Special Forces Contingent - "Iron Mantle".
Rendezvous with Imperial-X destroyer.
Objective: Report to CO, Orders to be acquired on site.

​

The Lambda-Class Transport jumped out of hyperspace some distance within range of the First Order Destroyer's sensor array, their arrival being picked up on station, the communications officer stationed on the bridge no doubt reporting to their commanding officer in charge of the search and rescue operation.

Relaying the confirmation codes of the shuttles identification within the First Order Navy, the pilot requested clearance to dock within one of it's primary hangars. Under authorization cleared by the First Order Security Bureau, they had orders to arrive on site and partition the ranking Officer in charge should they need additional support securing the objective in question.

The Crew Compliment of the small transport craft, not of the Order of Ren but a Special Forces unit code-named Iron Mantle.

"What are we doing out here Commander?" Kulon Otheym questioned their squad leader, the six of them seated within the troop deck ready for their arrival, their armaments all conditioned and ready for whatever might greet them on board the Destroyer.

"High Command's reaching with this one Otheym, we're here as support and nothing more" Commander, Alia Fedahkin responded nonchalantly. Truth be told she knew as little as her second voiced yet it wasn't her job to ask questions, it was just another day in the life of service to the First Order. "Word is there's a missing crew somewhere on Nero...-Probably going to be getting our feet wet on this one people".

"Wonderful..." came the less than enthusiastic sarcasm best sported by Naraj Fremen, 1st lieutenant and reconnaissance member of Iron Mantle; submergence into an ocean world meant close quarters and that didn't exactly equate to a good time in her standing.

"Something to contribute, LT?" Alia remarked in reminder of Naraj's place.

"Just happy to be here, Ma'am" Naraj responded as their shuttle awaited clearance to land.

[member="Therran Graush"] | [member="Connor Harrison"] | [member="Chubs"] | [member="3X744"] | [member="Lilith Sedarri"] | [member="Bamuf"] | [member="Pharazon Draken"]​

@Anyone I missed​