Alzocs In The Closet [Omega Protectorate Dominion of Alzoc III]

[HK-36]

Alzoc III​

Link to OOC​

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Located in the Outer Rim Alzoc III is a planet clad in snow, ice, and sparse but hardened foliage. The species there are few and the only natives are the furry insectoid Talz, it is a planet of little importance, perhaps location would be its only value, that and the ores one could mine on the planet, many of them usable in formation of common materials like bronzium or durasteel, the most outstanding of them, however are the Alzoc Pearls, valuable as decorations.

However, it was not its riches or position Protectorate ships appeared in its orbit for, it was the history of the planet, for deep below the ice and snow of the cold planet there lay many secrets, Imperial ruins of bases long time set up there and then, and then something much older still.


Once upon a time in the Old Republic a secretive enclave was formed below the planets surface, a shelter for the Jedi used only in times of great trouble, remote from the Galaxy and long forgotten by most. Most because HK remembered his time there during one of the many ancient wars with the Jedi when the Order moved to Alzoc to go into hiding, the droid being pulled along with them to train a group of younglings in safety while more experienced Jedi fought the war with the Sith.

And that was what brought him into the orbit of the planet, and with him he brought a group of Protectorate volunteers to go onto adventure with him, recover the ancient ruins and explore them, in hopes that they could be restored and a Protectorate base of operations established there.


Either way, the scene would begin in a dropship, HK speaking to the troops and volunteers gathered, giving them some background on the planet and history of the supposed enclave they were going to visit, basically everything that was written prior to this paragraph, and so, while the transport shook ominously pushing through a blizzard the droid asked,

"Alright, any more questions before we land?"

 

[Kaida Taldir]

[member="HK-36"], [member="Elayne Saedaris"]


Alzoc III was a world located on the fringes beyond Protectorate space, in the ever-shrinking uncontested zone between them, Moross and the CIS...oh, wait, it's ACA these days! Much like Hoth it was a planet covered by snow and ice, an almost inhospitable place that was sparsely populated save by the furry creatures called the Talz. In ages long past the Old Empire - the original one, for the record, not one of the countless successor stares and would-be claimants that kept rising up trying to reclaim old glory - had seized the planet to claim its natural resources and enslave its sole sentient species.



In that day the Imperials had constructed huge mines to exploit the valuable ore deposits of the planet, enslaving the Talz to serve as slave labourers, since slavery in an age of mass produced worker droids and high-tech had been one of the Empire's Peculiar Institutions. But now the Imperial base was buried deep beneath layers upon layers of ice that weighed in the tons. The Jedi enclave that had been erected during the time of the Old Republic - much like the Old Empire, the Republic kept spawning an endless successions of polities that tried to proclaim themselves its successor, some with more success than others - had suffered the same fate.


It was bitter cold upon the planet, but that did not bother Kaida one bit. She sort of had a working relationship with the cold and could be said to be attuned with it. It was her element, the one she had learned to wield to devastating effect. So she was a good deal happier and more cheerful about paying this long-forgotten, godsforsaken world a visit than she had been about the quest to reclaim Gehenna a second time in the name of the Kaeshana Confederation. Hence why she looked untroubled as her heavily armoured transport craft, a Silaqui-Class Dropship, rocked and shook somewhat ominously as it pushed right through a blizzard that reduced visibility and brought a numbing cold.


Well, not numbing for her. Rather she felt strengthened as the transport ship shot through the storm, alongside the Protectorate dropship. With her came a small team of Eldorai warriors, here to assist the Protectorate in its bid to claim the planet. The enclave was rumoured to old ancient trinkets that may be of use, something the Angelii could appreciate. Likewise it had ores in considerable abundance that one could mine on the planet. Resources that Firemane Industries and the Eldorai Matriarchy would appreciate to have the chance to exploit. Oh, and Kaida had been mastered and gotten an Elder tag now! Unfortunately for her, the Angelii were a military organisation and so there was no Council or anything like that. This writer may promote her one rank up though, if they feel like it.

 

[Nameless Knight]

KNight sat there in the dropship to head down while she kept the bolter strapped to her back and adjusted the patch over her eye... a reward from Coruscant and the starfall coming down as she listened. Ready to fight and e influence of the protectorate and secure the galaxy in the wake of everything that seemed to be happening. "No questions boss droid, just point me and my team in the direction and we'll secure it." She didn't need to say much more then that, they had the equipment and she had arrived on the Nirvana that was cloaked waiting in case it had to come and pick her or the team up. They could outrun near anything in the galaxy.

 

[HK-36]

[member="Kaida Taldir"],

"Kaida, stop being so broody."

The droid gave a curt order to her,

Next he would respond to [member="Knight"],

"This operation is different, I do not expect us to enter full combat with any opposition, securing positions will not exactly be necessary. Simply explore and feel the streams of adventure take you."

With another shake the snowy hills and dunes would be visible out of their viewport, their dropship still descending, it would become quickly apparent that they will be landing soon.

 

[Veino Garn]

Veino sat alone in a corner of the dropship, observing, and seeming strangely pale beneath his tan, and the two silver scars along his cheekbones almost shone in contrast, especially given that he wore a dull gray suit of Sasori armor, mostly for the temperature regulation. It had been a while since he had been on such a cold planet. It had been where he had met Jolien. Force knew how she was doing now though.

But the past was not the place to dwell. Nor was the future. It was the present that was important. Which was an interesting present, to say the least. He'd been on his share of dropships before with a variety of government militaries and at least one Non-governmental paramilitary force. Never with the Omega Protectorate before though, and as far as he could remember, he'd never meet any of the individuals around him.

They were clearly professional soldiers, unlike him, as even with his training with the Fel Imperium he had never managed that same attitude and focus that characterized professional soldiers. Or a Jedi. Or Imperial Knight. Or anything, in all honesty. Something deep in his brain would always nudge him to get moving again, and then off he'd go, hitchhiking into the sunset to another distant world.

 

[Zemen Selah]

Zemen sat with the others on the proctorate ship as he wore a thick jacket to keep himself warm and had only brought two Woebringer pistols just in case things got a bit harry. He wasn't even on the planet and could already feel his teeth starting to chatter. This was a far call from the Corscant Undercity. Hands rubbing together as he was quite anxious to embark on this small adventure with the Protectorate. Hearing how Hk talked about them not being expected to engage in full combat he looked around. Everyone else seemed ready for battle. Was he the only one who had taken those words to heart? Checking both the pistols to make sure they were fully loaded just in case he leaned back in the seat and pulled out a deathstick and lit it. Taking a large inhale Zemen breathed out a mouthful of smoke ready for whatever was to come.

 

[Kaida Taldir]

[member="HK-36"]


This writer was presuming that Kaida and the Elves were on a different dropship than HK and Company. After all, the Silaqui-Class was a Firemane-designed Kaeshana model. Anyhow, Kaida was most assuredly not brooding! Just...looking ridiculously stoic and impassive as usual. It was part of her personality, much like Kerrigan hitting on any attractive, breathing female she met and holding long-winded, pompous speeches.



So, yeah, she was looking broody. In any case the dropship shook a bit more as it swooped down and descended from the sky. Snowy dunes and hills could be made out from the viewport, as far as the naked eye could see. In other words it was truly a lovely planet! Well, at least Kaida thought so. A lot nicer than that abominable, hellish hothouse called Gehenna. Taking note of the fact they were about to land, Kaida checked her equipment one last time. Lightsabre, Taegis shield, bolter and explosives. They might not be expecting hostile contact, but, as the saying goes, hope for the best, plan for the worst.

 

[Aeron Kreelan]

Well, at least it wasn't another Hoth.

Or Belsavis.

The crunch of snow would come from under Aeron's boot. A grimace came next as her breath would steam in the cold.

Okay maybe it was.

Her shoulders would set into a line as two fingers would draw the ranks of Pyre soldiers. They were working closely with Kaeshana troops today. Enter Ice-mancer [member="Kaida Taldir"].

The corner of her mouth perked.

"Well at least this will be fun."

 

[HK-36]

[member="Veino Garn"],



"First mission in an Ice World with us, son?"

The Iron Lord asked Veino, looking to him as the machine stood up,

"Well no need to be nervous, last time we discovered the Ropos, perhaps this time something along the lines will happen as well."

HK quipped as their dropship finally deployed its landing gear and then shook as it landed on the snowy surface,


[member="Zemen Selah"],

Patting Zemen's shoulder the machine spoke,

"Do not stray from the group, Zemen, although we will not have any advanced resistance, the locals here still remember the days of the Empire, sight of a human, or anything else that looks like a human, is not a welcomed one, and they tend to be large and very strong fellows."

HK nodded,

"Like a Wookiee crossed with a polar ursine crossed with an insect, very hard to spot in those blizzards, almost silent to most beings as they speak on different frequency."

The machine of course referred to the proboscis the natives of Alzoc had for their mouths.


He would motion for [member="Knight"] and others to get up as the ramp lowered,

"Well come on, all of you, you will not get cold if you keep moving."


And walking out of the dropship he would see other teams already disembarking, opening up his comm link he would send a transmission to [member="Kaida Taldir"],

"Kaida, stop being so unusually stoic, I just know you are doing that, I want you to look to whoever is next to you and give them the widest smile you possibly can. So I order as the Iron Lord. Also my dropship has landed, I will need you to be at the helm of our expedition due to your abilities, you will be our minesweeper so to speak if tunnels before us will be unstable."


Go figure he would settle on using a space elf as a meat shield,


Coming by [member="Aeron Kreelan"] the droid ordered,

"Prexy, I need you to set up with your soldiers a secured landing zone here and field fortification by the entry, we cannot take full company of soldiers in there due to state of the tunnels and ruins, we bring too many and it will all collapse on our heads."


He would switch to their Protectorate Comm channel so he could speak to all the troops gathered,

"Those of you who have been designated for the expedition team gather on me, I will be besides what our entrance is going to be, the rest of you I need to stay by the dropships and protect both the landing zone and the entrance, we cannot bring too many soldiers with us as we do not know the complete state of these tunnels, taking whole force in would be too risky."


As the machine made his way to the entrance, a dark and unassuming ice cavern with icicles like fangs of some ice-serpent hanging over the entrance, he would switch the channel to the expedition team, which happened to be where all our PCs were, yay! Anyway, he would explain to them the route,

"Due to the snow and ice gathered over the old entrance to the enclave being much too thick, we will need to enter through this maze of ice caves we were able to map from orbit, thankfully I downloaded these plans so I can lead the way. Our route will take us through what seems to be ancient Imperial Ruins, the entrance to Enclave is nearby but it did not seemed like it was unsealed since the time these doors closed during Old Republic due to the walls of thick ice that cover it, of course it is still thinner than the ones over it, meaning our Cryomancer should be able to crack it."

With that plan told to them they just needed to gather up and they would be able to set off into the Moria-like passageways that awaited them.

 

[Kaida Taldir]

[member="HK-36"], [member="Aeron Kreelan"], [member="Veino Garn"], [member="Zemen Selah"]



HK's attempts to get Kaida to lighten up were unfortunately doomed. This one is inclined to think that Kaida just needs to get laid, but then that's this one's answer for almost everything. Maybe they are channelling Siobhan too much.



"I get to serve as meatshield. How terribly gallant of you, Iron Over-Commander. I wonder why you have an expensive phrik body," Kaida said very, very dryly. Oh, and yes, practically every title other than Exarch or Lord Protector will be used for HK by all of this one's characters. This is revenge for the time when the droid consistently refused to call Siobhan Exarch.


She switched off the channel and looked over towards her battle sisters. "Move it. The monkeighs are showing their courage by asking us to take point. Stick together and watch your six. Cryomancers stay close with me." Needless to say if anyone else called the humans monkeighs she would get cross. Officer rank had had to have some privilege! Beyond that words were not spoken, safe for a single look that passed from her to every one of the Eldorai warriors. Kaida had an intense dislike for speechifying and 'motivational' speeches that in her opinion never motivated anyone anyway.


The dropship had touched down upon the ground and the Eldorai quickly fanned out, weapons ready. The crunch of snow could be heard under Kaida's boots as she joined them. Her breath would steam in the cold, for it freezing outside, far below zero degrees celsius. Well, far below was probably a big understatement. Snowy and icy dunes as far as the naked eye could see, then a dark and ostensibly unassuming ice cavern that had icicles that resembled the fangs of an ice-serpent monstrosity hanging over the entrance. The blizzard was still raging and with it came a reduced visibility. In other words, the planet was absolutely beautiful. At least in Kaida's estimation. This one thinks that the Cryomancer had a bizarre idea of what constituted beauty.

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

As has apparently become a pattern by now, Siobhan was not directly participating in the Omega Protectorate's latest attempt to expand its influence cloud by dominoing a planet, though she had played a role in the decision to send a small elite group of Eldorai to help out. Hopefully a Deus Ex Machine handwavium menace would not suddenly erupt, somehow overwhelm all the devastating tech and force powers the great powers had and reduce them to a mere three planets!



Anyhow, Siobhan was dealing with matters from afar because at present she was on Gehenna, having inspected the subterranean base Firemane had constructed for research and to mine diamonds after performing terraforming efforts. For the first time in ages it had rained on the hell planet and plant life was beginning to take shape, though it was of a very bizarre and alien variety. During her inspection she also found the time to read some survey reports about ores existing in abundance in mines on Alzoc III. Something for her to take an interest in...

 

[Veino Garn]

"First mission in an ice world with us, son?" Veino looked up as [member="HK-36"], no, the new Protector of the Protectorate addressed him. Veino shrugged, slightly.

"Last time I was in a dropship was the attempted liberation of Alderaan," He gave a bitter smile, "I think that warrants a bit of unease around dropships, if you don't mind me saying that."

He'd never actually interacted with a head of state before, except the Fel Imperator before he became Imperator, which doesn't really count, and as he was never very involved in Protectorate politics before leaving Susefvi, he had no idea what the protocol was supposed to be.

The ship settled down onto the landing zone, and Veino focused his attention on the briefing. Unstable tunnels. Excellent. There was nothing quite like the possibility of having literal tons of snow and ice come crashing down on one's head. Apparently they had a cryomancer though, which was fortunate. Between her and the number of Force sensitives he could feel, that risk should be rather minimized. Double checking his lightsaber and pouch of spheres, he followed the rest out, lingering near the back, and then angled towards the looming entrance, eyeing the icicles with suspicion. Those could kill.

 

[Zemen Selah]

Feeling a physical weight on his shoulder Zemen cast a look up to see Hk-36 with his metallic hand on his shoulder. Zemen wasn't to curious about the planet as of right now so there were no worries of him running off or splitting up unless it was absolutely necessary. Who wanted to run off then be stuck on this ball of ice. It was one of the most miserable places Zemen had ever seen. Finally as the ramp descended it was their time to depart the dropship. It was time to get this thing going. Departing the ship with everyone else Zemen stayed as close to the center as he could. He liked his meat shields in blaster blocking distance.

Approaching the ice cavern Zemen was automatically staring at the icicles. If someone really wanted to get rid of someone all they'd have to do is shoot the iceicles and have them collapse on the group. Beginning to scan around for such a thing Zemen calmed himself taking his last inhale from the Deathstick before throwing the stub to the ground and stomping on it. Checking his pack he saw he only had three left. But he really wanted another. Fighting the urge he pocketed the sticks and began walking taking his mind off the cold.

@HK-36 @Kaida Taldir [member="Veino Garn"] [member="Knight"]

 

[HK-36]

[member="Kaida Taldir"],


HK would of course love to help Kaida with her dry spell problem but her writer keeps insisting that one needs genitals for that, apparently dexterous finger- this is getting very weird very quickly and off track, ahem,

"It may withstand lightsabers and pretty much anything else, but it cannot manipulate ice or detect structural integrity failures in ice tunnels, you can do that easily. Just suck it up."

The droid replied to her comment about his neigh indestructible body,


While [member="Siobhan Kerrigan"] planned things out it seems HK was stuck with the dirty work as he watched the team gathered, Firemane sending a presence of their Space Elves even though the droid specifically asked for a smaller team for the expedition. I guess Siobhan just wanted to make a substantial and dramatic presence through her troopers due to woman's usually vain nature.


"At least these tunnels will not be filled with Vong and Sith."

The droid quipped to [member="Veino Garn"] as he noticed the man checking his equipment and preparing, along with [member="Zemen Selah"] who joined them and presumably [member="Knight"] and [member="Aeron Kreelan"] who followed the orders to set up landing zone and they were with them as the team got together.


"Alright, no dilly-dalling, excelsior."

The machine commanded as he turned to the mouth of the cave with the glistening ice fangs, large Phrik claws extending from his feet through metal boots to spread his weight and elevate him on the snow, much like snow-shoes would.

And so he would lead the team ahead, Kaida hopefully taking front as he asked her, he did not much cared about the other Cryomancer's position as long as they were ready. The crunching snow under their footsteps would echo through the cave, the fangs above them slightly creek ominously, moonlight dancing in their reflection before shadows and darkness of the caves would begin to consume them.


The droid took out his training lightsaber, activating it to erupt the white blade of the Light Side, like Gandalf leading the Fellowship he would raise the blade in front of him to light the darkness around them, the aura of its luminosity calming and slightly warming both to body and the spirit.

 

[Kaida Taldir]

[member="HK-36"], [member="Veino Garn"], [member="Zemen Selah"], [member="Aeron Kreelan"]



"I was told phrik was a very rare, 'restricted materiel'. Yet everyone seems to be pumping out phrik armour, blades, pikes etc. I should go claim a suit myself while the stock is still full," Kaida said sarcastically. HK was not succeeding at lighting her up, but she was being somewhat less laconic, in a snarky way at least. This counted as her being in a moderately good mood.



As for the Eldorai, it was not big, probably less than a dozen minions. Though the droid was correct that Siobhan liked showing off. One of the many reasons for why Kaida could not stand her. Along with the fact that she loved to hear herself talk and never shut up.


Anyhow, off our noble heroes went on their quest to explore ice caverns, kill monsters and take their loot. It was a bit like a D&D quest! As for Sith and Vong, Kaida could do without them for a change. Gehenna had been filled with monsters enough. Well, she'd prefer them to Klaxxi because those beasts were nasty buggers. Anyhow, the Eldorai warriors fell in line and proceeded in loose formation. Presumably a number of them were not happy about serving under a droid, but none of them wanted to piss of their Captain, who had an obsession with randomly icing things.


Oh, and the droid was waving his lightsabre around and dramatically erupting the white blade of the light side since he thought he was Gandalf. Presumably the ultrafeminist, sexist Eldorai would have some interesting views about the popular holofilm series, Lord of the Rings. Since unlike Siobhan Kaida was 'neutral' and not dark side, the white aura of goodness would not repel her. Anyhow, she took point as they made their way through the snow, her steps light though snow still crunched beneath it. Presumably at some point she would get to ice someone. Or act as an icebreaker.

 

[Ghorumgash Khazund-Veranum]

Trodding along with the group was the heavily armored Space Dwarven warrior, on his metal plates hanged a heavy repeater, in his hands he held a Dwarven Waraxe, and on his belt he sported a collection of grenades, bacta capsules, and other such trinkets. The droid that organized the expedition did said that they should travel lightly, but who nowadays listened to a machine? The Dwarf was going to come in full armor and gear and the droid was just going to have to like it!

After all, what would be a Fellowship without a Dwarf?


As they passed over the entrance he looked up at the icicles hanging overhead, watching them warily, not really too keen on the ice blades falling on his head, neither trusting a lousy Eldorai to save his life.


Suddenly a rush of air would pick up a flurry of snow, creating a white wisp of freezing air right in front of the Space Dwarf. In response Ghor swatted it away with much annoyance, promptly cleaning his beard with few measured brushes of his gauntlet to avoid snow melting in there and getting his facial hair wet.

 

[Kaida Taldir]

[member="HK-36"]


Naturally there was a dwarf because, you know, every Fellowship needed one of those. Likewise it was obligatory for the Dwarf to carry a big axe and have a long beard because otherwise he would not be a Dwarf. It was a time and tested trope. Our Dwarves Are All The Same. Fair warning: Venture to TV tropes at your own risk, for tropes are addictive. You can get lost there for hours...even days, at the very least! Our resident space elf could agree with the dwarf when it came to going on this mission fully armed. Sure, the droid had said they should go lightly equipped, but it's not like Kaida ever listened to him. The droid would just have to suck it up!


Icicles hung overhead as they passed through the entrance, much like a Sword of Damocles that threatened to to come down on them any time. Perhaps at some point ice golems would show up. A rush of air picked up a flurry of snow, creating a white wisp of freezing air in front of her, though Kaida gave no sign of being troubled by it. So far she liked this planet a good deal. It was cold, icy and, well, cold. Snow gathered upon her armour and with a casual use of her powers she simply dissipated it.


Ahead of them lay a couple dead bodies and she briefly bent down to examine them. It seemed they had probably been salvagers, drawn to the planet by the promise of loot in the Jedi enclave and the abandoned Imperial base. Evidently things had not gone well for them, given how badly they had been mauled. As a matter of fact, most of their flesh had been stripped from their bones and where any could be seen, it was marked by vicious claw marks. They also looked terribly frozen, as if someone had stuck them in the freezer. "Probably killed by Talz."

 

[HK-36]

[member="Kaida Taldir"],


"Other predator more likely."

The droid chipped in seeing the mauled corpse,

"Talz are peaceful in nature although they do have claws to do this, although there were rumors in history of a small sect who preferred violent actions rather than usual peaceful behavior of Talz society. It may be simply a single mad Talz, if a Talz did it in first place, or some very very sacred ground we are about to enter."

He mused scanning over the frozen carcass.



Rolls a dice,

As they spoke the icicles over the entrance finally gave way and with a loud snap a couple of them would plunge towards the ground, the ice fangs heading right for [member="Zemen Selah"] who just happened to be passing under them, even with those couple broken there were still more overhead, meaning it would be a better idea to either just break all of them right away once Zemen would be safe, or move out of their way entirely.


[member="Veino Garn"], [member="Aeron Kreelan"], [member="Knight"],

 

[Kaida Taldir]

[member="HK-36"]


Since nothing has happened for a bit, this writer feels at liberty to post.



Strictly speaking icicles were not that dangerous if you wore proper, fully sealed armour. Unless the icicles were very massive or, alternatively, accelerated to a ridiculous speed and velocity. The sort of thing ballistakinesis was made for. Anyhow, lots of icicles were dropping down on everyone as a loud snap was heard. This one is not sure how big these icicles were, but gave Kaida something to do beyond looking stoic all the damn time. She called upon her Sciia and a wind was conjured up. Sweeping through the air it engulfed the ice blades and tossed them away. As she drew upon her power more they were melted in mid-flight, returning to the liquid state now that they had been unfrozen.


Further away in the distance animalistic growls and roars were heard. Perhaps they were about to stumble on Talz who were displeased about the outsiders trespassing on their sacred ground. Or upon space orks or the Lost Tribe of Jedi.

 

[Ava Solborne]

Fire is always good.

It was the very first mission of this scale for Ava amongst the Protectorate. She had been on the dropship with the long-serving members of the faction and the droid -- who was told to be the leader of the faction -- and she had felt a bit honoured to be there. She had just joined the faction, but now she was already going to get more land for it. That was awesome.

A bit fire on this planet would be nice.

It was a cold planet, that's what the woman understood as soon as they had gotten out of the ship and headed to the cave. It was really cold, but as much as she had studied different planets in the past few days, she knew the most cold planet in existence might could have been Hoth, which was supposedly a lot more terrible than this one.

Cold or not, warmth is always needed.

The woman didn't know whether others felt the terrible pain caused by the cold, but she didn't even dare to ask. Instead, she shivered in the coat she was wearing, even though it was covered with fur both in the inside and the outside. Just... nothing could give her the warmth she needed. Not even the special uniform beneath the coat.

Why do we never go to tropical planets?