First Reply Ancient Awakening (treasure hunting)

[Kimiko Taiyou]

Akarui, a planet steeped in history and lore, tales told through the ages from the people that have called her home for several millennia. One of it's oldest and most mysterious tales tells of a falling star that brought the natives from their primitive ways and into a golden age that has long been lost to history. But, little do the present inhabitants know that this legend is based in reality. During the times of the Old Republic, a skirmish was fought between the Sith and a Republic fleet in the outer fringes of the system. The Sith were ultimately victorious in battle and downed the flagship of the Republic forces, and the Jedi leading them. This ship, a Valor-class cruiser, smashed into the northern desert on the planet, stranding the survivors with no way of calling for help.

The Jedi onboard, a master from the old order, made a lucky contact with the native Kitsune species, feeling their innate connection with the Force, and, though stranded, taught the locals the ways of the Jedi. Through these teachings, the people were elevated, and began their journey to the people they are today.

But through the passage of time, the survivors, Jedi included, eventually perished and were only remembered through tales and songs, their remains washed away into the desert to be forgotten...

UNTIL NOW.

The boring shift on comms duty was taking it's toll on the fresh-faced lieutenant, his head bobbing as he valiantly fought sleep. His shift was nearly over, but being on post for the last full rotation was taking its toll on his mind and body. He knew his replacement would soon arrive, and change over would go as it had countless times before, and only then would he be able to get some much needed sleep.

His head slumped and his closed for a mere second before one of the channels he was set to monitor crackled to life,"Any Republic forces, this is the cruiser Abundant we have taken serious damage above an unknown world and are going down. We have survivors onboard. I say again, we are going down with survivors onboard. Please respond!"

This shocked the lieutenant awake, and it took the message looping through twice before he realized he had to report it. He reached for the internal communicator...

The comms room was bustling with activity by the time Kimiko had arrived. It was early in the night when she was awoken and quickly rushed to the station. Many of the responding officers were still in various dress and excitedly chatting about something,"Chika, what's the situation?" she called to her confidant, who was intently listening to something. The woman stood and turned, her demeanor stoic as if she was in battle,"Your Grace, we began receiving an unknown distress signal, that is originating from the desert in the north. Claims to be of Republic origin. We are assembling a rescue party to assist, but are not getting any response, not from a lack of trying." Ki noted the tone of puzzlement in the woman's voice, but yawned and turned to exit,"Well, let them know I'll be ready in fifteen to join them. Oh, and wake that visiting treasure hunter while we're here. We may find something for them to discover while we're out."

The Commander nodded and turned back as the Empress swiftly exited, raising the comms for the visitors quarters to wake their guest for this trip.​

 

[Vors Trench]

He had been on this ship for some time. It was unlike many of the vessels he had hitch-hiked on. A distinct lack of rats for a start. The bedsheets were immaculately folded, hospital-style, and an aroma of freshly-baked cookies seemed to waft through the guest quarters. Vors loved it here, but tried his best not to get too attached. Within a week, he would move on. The beeping of his arm-mounted commlink awoke him from his slumber, blinking as bleary images of the bedroom filled his eyes. Vors sluggishly pressed the flashing button on the commlink, and spoke into it. "Yep." He said, fighting off the urge to turn off the communication device and return to his sleep. "The Empress has requested your presence on the bridge. You are to make ready to travel within 20 minutes." The Empress? In all the weeks that he had spent on the ship, meeting it's crew, he had never heard talk of an "Empress." But it was most likely best not to keep her waiting, whoever she may be. "Alright." Vors yawned as he leaned upwards and stepped out of bed.

He trundled over to a desk on the left side of his bed, and leaned down as he pulled a dark green, battered lockbox from underneath it. "PRIVATE TRENCH" an inscription on the top of the box read. Vors pressed on the locks, and the latch swung open. The contents of the box, much like the container itself, were old and time-weathered. Vors procured an old soldier's helmet, placing it on his head. He then pulled out a dirty set of fatigues, which he struggled to get into, but after much trepidation, he put it on his person, as well as a pair of combat boots which the leather was peeling away from. Finally, Vors pulled out a blaster-rifle, blowing off large patches of dust that had gathered on the stock.
A relic. An old DC-15A, from his time in the Alliance military.
Vors put the sling over his chest, tightening it. He pushed the lockbox back underneath the desk, wheeling around and walking out of the large blast-door, towards the bridge.

 

[Kimiko Taiyou]

The twin Imperial corvettes, Cyaron and Lily White, rocketed over the final chanel and entered the airspace over the northernmost continent. Within the vast desert here, the mysterious signal was emanating. They dropped low to follow the contour of the earth in to target, the gathered Marines readying themselves for whatever they might find in their holds.

Many questions were raised and just as many more were answered with subsequent ones. The Empress, on the bridge of her favorite vessel, the Cyaron, looked over the captain's display with a quizzical brow raised,"So we still have no contact from whoever is repeating the message as well as no other contacts anywhere in the area?" her tone betrayed her frustration as the helmsman gave the five-minute warning. The Empress spun on her heel to join her troops below before her interception by Vors at the Hatch.

She spoke in surprise,"Ah, Mr. Trench, apologies for the early wake up call, but thank you for joining us so readily. If you'll follow me to the troop bay, I'll brief you on the way."

As they began descending from the bridge, she spoke,"We started receiving a strange distress message from a supposedly Republic vessel. It's coming the desert just north of here." the final ladder well was reached on their journey,"As of now, we have no response from the crew and no other contacts in the vicinity, or anywhere for that matter."

The sentry at the hatch saluted before opening the way. Ki turned and looked over her guest, casting an impressed grin,"I know it's probably not the reason you chose to visit, but it looks as though you could handle yourself in a pinch. Let's get ready to drop."

Vors Trench​

 

[Vors Trench]

I know it's probably not the reason you chose to visit, but it looks as though you could handle yourself in a pinch. Let's get ready to drop.

"Alright." Vors rolled his neck, attempting to work out a soreness that had been building in his neck for the past few weeks, as the doors to the hangar slid open, the visage of a large dropship coming into his line of sight. For a moment, his mind returned to his time in the 65th Airborne. Something about this ship seemed familiar.... Maybe it was the fact that the ship looked at least 100 years old, rusty, and barely capable of operating correctly. Vors smirked. Just like the rest of my equipment. He thought.
"Lemme tell ya, getting into a dropship again does not bring back any positive memories." Vors muttered as he walked over to the ramp, combat boots squeaking off the durasteel flooring of the large hangar. "Alright, lets get goin'..." Vors clambered his way up the steep ramp of the dropship, leaning downwards to offset the weight of the blaster he carried, and slowly sat down with a grunt on one of the many seats on the inside of the ship.

 

[Kimiko Taiyou]

The last dune was crested and the ships bridges reported weapon locks and quickly went evasive. Cyaron stayed low and went right, Lily White high and left. Both vessels' attached dropships came loose and quickly scattered on their way to their objectives.

The LW's dropships would split and circle the area providing external security while the main effort from Cyaron would land and embark the Marines as close as possible to the detected vessel, which wasn't small.

The warnings went silent as they continued their breakneck approach and a familiar voice came over Ki's comms,"Your Grace, the identified vessel has targeted us and the dropships, but apparently lacks the power needed to actually fire a shot. We will continue as planned until the signal is given to approach." the line cut and Ki nodded, slightly confused. She looked over her troops, some grinning from the excitement of possibly seeing some action. She got the attention of the ground commander and relayed the information, who then quickly sent the message to the dropships. They slowed their approach, to be more cautious.

When her attention returned to Trench, Ki wore a look of befuddlement before she spoke,"Apparently, we are not in immediate danger of being shot down. So that's good." kark her humor sucked at times.

Their approach slowed to a stop and the small ship spun before touching down. The ramps were lowered and the bays flooded with bright light and dry, dusty air. The embarked Marines cheered and rushed towards their objective. Ki and her small detachment of guards followed, her eyes widening and mouth falling open slightly at the sight of the massive vessel jutting out of the sand before them...

Vors Trench​