Another Century's Trash is Present Day's Treasure

[Hazel Scheler]

Kuat - Docked at the KDY
[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

"What do you think Lye, think it's still out there?"

The engines of the Egris hummed gently, idling in the docks after a refuel and refitting for this strange new expedition. Ivy poured over the details of her expenditures and given list of needs. The Queen of Kuat had been quite generous considering how staunchly she had been against this whole project from the start. Seemed the woman had a bit of a sweet tooth when it came to historical items and other such things.

"We've got two weeks to find what we need," Ivy continued on, slumped in the pilot's chair of her ship, behind her the massive form of her tuk'ata hound sprawled across the floor gnawing on the remnants of a nerf leg bone.

"If these old records are right and the coordinates still hold true, we should only need a week. Well, if this guy can keep up anyway," the Merc sighed, scrolling through the provided information on her new partner for the trip, Alex the Scientist. She turned her head to one side, pondering the likelihood that this would be a re-run of her time spent protecting Dr. Siburne. At least that woman was capable of handling herself in dangerous situations, but this man? He was untested and Ivy had her doubts.

"This will be ...fun," she said, tapping back to her stock list and finding relief that she wouldn't have to worry about ammunition or power cells - the Queen had them covered tenfold. Her allowance for fuel was quite large too.

Lyyyyyeeeee-ng, the tuk'ata rumbled.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

Alex sat behind Ivy, his skin covered in goosebumps and his bones rattling slightly as he shook in his seat.

The scientist was almost completely and entirely consumed by nerves, his very eyeballs seemed to shake as he sat in his chair. He didn't like this. Alex was not an adventurer. He was not an explorer, and he was most definitely not a soldier. This was something that put him completely and entirely out of his element, something that made him downright uncomfortable.

More so, the giant beast in the seat opposite him made him even more uncomfortable. Eying the thing Alex slowly spoke to Ivy. “Are...are we sure this will be safe?”

Alex twiddled his thumbs, looking down at his hands and distinctly away from the massive Tuk'ata. He did not want to threaten it, best to be submissive towards a creature like that...one that could pick you up and snap you in half with one swift movement of its jaw.

 

[Hazel Scheler]

Luckly Ivy needn't wait very long for the Scientist to show up. After getting him seated and taking up her position in the pilot's chair, she strapped herself in and turned the Egris out from the docks and towards open space. She wasn't entirely aware of the man's nervousness, at least while she wasn't studying his body, but she noted it when looking across as he spoke. It wouldn't take someone as skilled in Kinetic Communication as her to know he was scared witless.

"No," she replied bluntly, "Iridonia is in Republic space, but that doesn't ensure the planet, or where we're going, is entirely secure. You won't need to worry much though, you'll stay in here and use this as a command center while I go hunting. I'll need you to guide me because my HUD is on the fritz right now. That's part of the reason why I need new armor. Depending on how things look when we arrive, Lye may stay with you for protection."

Lye, on the other hand, looked as though he'd much rather be munching on the man's leg. The tuk'ata stared at him without blinking.

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

Alex eyed the creature again and again, gaze shifting between it, his hands, and the back of Ivy's head. By the frown on his face it was easy to tell that he did not want this, that he was uncomfortable and that he wanted to be back in laboratory. His frown only spread further when Ivy mentioned the Tuk'ata staying with him for his “protection”.

Likely said protection would be provided by a neat layer of stomach lining.

“I see.” Alex said relaxing the tiniest bit. Coordination he could do at least, and if he didn't have to leave the ship...then his chances of survival would at least go up dramatically. “Coordination...yes I can do that.”

Alex lost his frown momentarily, his mind drifting towards the armor that he would eventually be making for Ivy. That was for the best, distractions would keep him from thinking of the Tuk'ata's large teeth.

 

[Hazel Scheler]

Ivy nodded, "Good," but was momentarily concerned that her armor was going to be up to the challenge. The last place she wore it she'd taken a bit of a beating. Luckily the Queen had opted to pay for some minor upgrades for this expedition, but she had yet to make sure it was all in working order.

Seat of her pants, that's the only way to do things.

"Do you have any piloting training?" she asked with another glance back to him, "In the case that I might need you to fly in for a pick up?" She wasn't banking on anything going so wrong that it'd be necessary, but it paid to be paranoid prepared. It also paid to know who you worked with. Ivy wasn't used to working with such ... delicate individuals.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

Alex snapped back into reality as Ivy spoke to him again.

His face scrunched slightly and his eyes darted around the cockpit. He looked at the different controls of the ship, then to the joystick, then back to Ivy. The scientist wondered for a moment, and then shifted in an odd way, as if he was incredibly uncomfortable for a moment. “I can fly a speeder?”

Suddenly Alex felt incredibly inadequate.

Here he was, one of the most brilliant minds of this age, and he couldn't fly a simple spaceship. It was slightly embarrassing when you listed his skills in these situations next to hers. Though of course she had no idea how to do half the things he did, so he supposed that made up for it.

 

[Hazel Scheler]

"That's a start," Ivy tried to say this in a reassuring way. Really... it was a start, but the simplest of starts. Lips going thin as she considered her options, she pulled the Egris into the shoot for hyperspace lane and soon, with a slight jolt, the stars were streaking past them.

"Here, I'll give you a crash course," the woman unbuckled herself from the pilot's chair, switched the ship into auto and motioned for the man to take the seat she was vacating. If nothing else, learning this was far easier than him giving her a crash course in nuclear fusion. Yeah, that wasn't happening.


By the time they arrived in Iridonian space, Alex would at least have a beginners understanding of how to pilot the ship. Ivy didn't expect him to retain everything, considering his oddness, but she didn't neglect the fact that he should - by her measure - have a decent memory for things. She also took the time to explain the command set up for video feed and communications.

"Right then," she said while taking the pilot's chair again for their descent on Iridonia. Passcodes provided by the Kuati Queen, they flew through planetary defense with no troubles. Ivy plotted in the coordinates given to her by OP researchers. She peered through the forward viewport as they drew in over a cityscape, "We're headed for the Capital City. I've got Republican tags on this ship, so we shouldn't run into any issues. The Iridonians are on good terms with the Republic, for now."

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

“Right...” Alex said quietly as he checked over the controls of the ship. Part of him wondered if he would be able to do this.

He had a fantastic memory of course, he remembered everything that she had told him down to a T. But...just because you knew the technicalities of how something operated didn't mean that you could operate it. A great example of this was a lightsaber. In theory many swordsmen would know how to use a weightless, ultra high performance sword that was capable of cutting through anything, but in practice...well there were quite a few amputee's in the galaxy.

Suddenly Alex shook his head, realizing that his min had drifted rather off track.

“I suppose...” He stopped slightly as he eyed the massive creature behind him again. “Lets get to it then.”

He suspected this would not be fun at all.

 

[Hazel Scheler]

Lying Hound yawned, his ghastly breath temporarily fogging up the viewport. Ivy reached back and absently patted the tuk'ata on the snout. The skies were dark and the city lights pale in the night. She brought the ship around to an upper deck and brought it to settle on a landing pad. It took a few moments to center the Egris properly as, 'this bird's got a big ass' Ivy skillfully described. Engines powering down, the Merc unstrapped herself from the pilot's seat and stepped over the hounds massive body to gather her things.

Ivy threw Lye a massive frozen raw nerf leg bone before checking through her armor's comm uplink. The HUD of her headgear flared up on the lens, "Testing,"

Testing, her voice sounded over the ship command uplink.

"Right, if this link fails I have a secondary comm link you can dial through to. It's signal isn't quite as strong but usually it'll hold out long enough to get a job done. If Lye gives you any problems, just throw him another bone," she stopped herself on her way down the exit ramp, "and if he leaves the ship don't worry, he'll come back," course she didn't think Alex would worry for the leaving so much as the returning.

"Lye,"

The hound batted an eye at her absently, gaping maw of fangs secured around the bone, saliva dripping from either side.

"guard Alex and the ship. I'll be back soon enough."

Ivy engaged the comm in her suit once more and stepped out.

Lye didn't even spare Alex a glance. The tuk'ata sauntered down the ramp after Ivy, but instead of following her moved to climb up the side of the ship to his regular bone-chomping spot.

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Ivy Lasranae"]
Alex only frowned.

No this was not pleasant. No this would not be fun. He wanted to be back in his lab with his tools and gadgets. This was ludicrous. Kuat Drive Yards employed hundreds of mercenaries, security agents, and private guards. Any one of them could have come with this woman to solve this little quest, but instead they had sent a scientist! A man of reason and logic! Not war!

His frown turned into a scowl as he stalked back into the ship. He traversed through it quickly, sitting himself down in the co-pilots chair and setting the system to receive Ivy's comm frequency more clearly.

For now only static came through.

He supposed this would be far easier for him, than for her. She was the one actually doing the work, the one putting her life on the line in order to make this happen. His scowl slowly lifted, and he settled into the chair.

 

[Hazel Scheler]

The static sizzled, the voices of Hazel and the security Chief sounded faintly. Where she was going had been closed off from the public a very, very long time ago, but a pass from the Queen of Kuat and CEO of the Republic's largest shipyards seemed to be more than enough to gain clearance.

Heading to the maintenance lift now. Ivy said into her comm. I'm sending you the blueprints of the lower levels now. Take a look at them and see if you can find where the main power cell is for the labs.

Alex would hear footsteps and the sounds of the lift. A short while later, as Ivy and the assigned Security Chief stepped out into the basement level of the building, the pair exchanged a few words.

Does the power grid still reach the sublevels?

"Most everything down there's been unplugged. The doors should all be operative, and the emergency lights. I don't think the water pumps have been run in a few years. Might be a few inches of water down there."

No activity?

"We run a security watch through there once a month, but that place is locked up on all ends. We mostly just check it for structural soundness. Last check was two days ago. There's a steel staircase on the far east corridor that's about rusted through, you'll want to steer clear of that."

There was a sound of a digital security lock followed by the screech of some very reluctant doors.

Alright Alex, Ivy stepped through the doorway and into the dimly lit main hall. As the door closed behind her she reached up and flipped on her helmet light. Where am I going?

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

Alex pulled up the schematics to the facility almost as soon as Hazel left the area of the ship. He was quick when he wanted to be and he worked smoothly and efficiently to make sure he had everything they needed. Of course the plans weren't all inclusive, there were somethings missing but then again that was to be expected when dealing with something so old.

He jumped when he heard Ivy's voice over the comm-link.

Juttering slightly Alex turned in the chair to face the schematics, approximating where exactly Ivy wasn't didn't take her very long and quickly he was able to make out exactly where she needed to go. Slowly he reached down and clicked a button.

"Go left, then right, then straight for about one hundred and fifty meters." He paused for a moment "Tell me when you reach a fork."

There, those instructions were explicit enough.

[member="Ivy Lasranae"]

 

[Hazel Scheler]

Sounds easy enough.

The Merc pressed on slowly, her steps quiet despite their quickness. She went left, then right after a dozen yards.

The halls down here are ...small. Narrow.

Seemed strange to her, given the nature of the level. Labs didn't tend to be restrictive in their structures, though she supposed it all depended upon what exactly was going on in the labs in question.

There's a metal strip lining the walls about waist high. It's odd. Do you know of any use for that? Security maybe?

Her footsteps slowed as she neared the fork, taking a moment to examine the strip with a closer look, I'm at the fork. Which way?

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

“Perhaps it was meant to keep something in.” Alex said the words almost as though he weren't really listening to himself speak. It was a small musing as he looked at the readout before him, trying to best find the direction to send Ivy in. Of course it wasn't as simple as looking at a pair of blue-prints. It was very likely that at least parts of the lab were either sealed off, or had collapsed into nothing more than piles of rubble.

Age did that to a building.

“Go left.” Alex said once she reached the fork. “There should be another one up ahead, take a left on that one too.”

He bit his lower lip. After that little twist she would find herself in the central laboratory. The key piece that the entire installation had been built around.

[member="Ivy Lasranae"]

 

[Hazel Scheler]

Left she went.

Following the hall, she found herself on a slight decline and after only a few yards her steps began to squelch. Water. Ivy made a noise as she looked down, helmet light tracking the path before her.

I've hit water, she reported to Alex. Not too bad yet...

But she hadn't planned on becoming waterlogged in her armor. With a steady breath she pressed forwards, onwards. When she reached the next fork she came to a pause. Metal staircase. Ivy wondered if this was the one the Guard had told her about. Everything looked to be in ok condition from where she stood ... best to cautious.

There's a set of stairs at the next fork that lead down. Any idea how far down it goes?

And how soaked I'm about to be...

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Ivy Lasranae"]

Alex scanned the plans ahead of him for a moment, trying to figure out where Ivy needed to go to actually reach where she wanted to go. Right now she was in the very center of the facility at the main staircase. He pursed his lips for a moment, then found what he was looking for.

“Two floors.” He said outloud, that was quite a time to hold ones breath, and they had no idea if the water stopped after a certain amount of distance onto the lower floors, though such a thing was likely due to how water pooled in facilities like this. “After that, it should be a straight shot.”

At least it was so according to the plans they held.

Part of him wondered if this was all going to be worth it. After all there was no guarantee that he would be able to make this technology work, after all this was all only theoretical and no one had ever tried something like it before. Shaking his head Alex decided to expel those thoughts, ignoring the voice in his head that spewed only doubt.

 

[Hazel Scheler]

Right.

Ivy approached the staircase with a a notable hint of trepidation. It groaned painfully under the weight of her boot but held.

Taking the staircase down...

Though she moved quietly there was no subduing the protest of the steel and the further down she went the more ominous it became. Down she went, pausing only as the steps gave a particularly loud ping. When she reached the bottom she stepped down into murky water that nearly reached her waist.

There's a lot of water down here... hopefully the pumps are still operational. Straight shot to the main power core, right? Ivy didn't wait for him to answer but pressed forward, sloshing along, feeling the weight of the water soak into the layers beneath her armor. It wasn't exactly designed for swimming. Helmet light tracking left and right, she eventually reached a doorway that lead into a chamber. There at the back sat the massive power cell with all manner of unplugged connections to the main lab.

I've found the power cell, Ivy activated the live feed from her helmet which came through sporadically. Can you see it? She tapped at her helmet transmitter before leaning forward to get a better look. Ivy popped open the control panel cover and grunted at the mess of wires, It's like a bowl of Nubian Pasta in here. ...but it looks to be in decent shape otherwise. What do I do with all this?

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Ivy Lasranae"]

The image was fuzzy, but he could see it.

His lips thinned for a moment, and he jumped slightly as he heard a growl behind him, but soon he was turning back towards the screen to try and make out what was there. For a moment he pondered, then he scratched his chin. Yes that was exactly what he was looking for, what he needed. A smile crept up onto his face and he talked back into the communicator.

“Look for a data port.” Alex said. He didn't need the cell itself, just the schematics for it. “Find that and I can do the rest with a remote hook up.”

That would be enough...in theory.

Hopefully nothing else went wrong. He was already nervous enough with that dog thing running around with no collar, and things seemed like they were going okay so far. Right?

 

[Hazel Scheler]

Data port?

Ivy grunted.

Half this thing's underwater. If there's a data port it's probably ruined or behind the case. First thing's first, I need to get these pumps back up and running to get the water out. I'm no electrician, but those blueprints I sent you should have the info we need to get this going...

Twenty minutes of patchwork directions from Alex attempting to talk a very electronically inept Merc through the process was certainly no one's idea of a good time but between the two of them they got it done. As the last set of cables set into place the distant sound of motors kicking on echoed through the walls.

I think it worked. Let's hope they aren't too gum'ed up after all these years...

Slowly the water around her began to lower. Ivy panned her light around the room, noting the water line as the levels dropped.

That should do it.

As carefully as she could manage she removed the cover of the cell panel and set it aside, noting the condition of the seal around the inside. Something that should have dry rotted ages ago likely had been saved by the moisture on the air.

Alright, data port, let me just get the uplink going and-

From up the stairs she heard would sounded like a bang. Ivy looked over her shoulder. Hello? No response.

Power grid kicking on maybe...there you go Alex, you're all connected.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

Oh yes.

Access he now had.

It wasn't really anything major, or rather, the things he was looking for were major but the fact that he could not look for them wasn't major. This technology was somewhat out dated, it used olde principals and strange entities that he had never seen before, but it would be easily adaptable. Once they got back to the lab, once he could start working, he knew that this would be easy enough to build.

“Almost...” Alex trailed off as he tapped a few more of the keys. “Nearly finished now.”

He repeated that three or four more times, and before long ten minutes had passed.

Finally the last bit of data was finished downloading. Alex had what he needed schematics and all. A smile crept up onto his face, and he looked at what was now on his screen. It all looked so...simple, it irked him that he hadn't thought of it himself. “We're done here.”