Galactic Alliance : Diggin' Deep

[Judah Dashiell]

Sullust | Surface, Undisclosed Location | [member="Rook"] , [member="Siobhan Kerrigan"] , [member="Darell Irani"] , [member="Rustag Bovruta"] ,[member="Braith Achlys"] , [member="Jaster of Clan Awaud"]

Most folks didn't willingly stand on the Sullust surface. Being incredibly close to lava, a horrible atmosphere, the heat. Especially when one was separated by the lava by the relatively thin/flimsy material of an Enviro-Suit. Being wise, Judah stayed away from the pools and rivers of lava that flowed not too far away. He turned, watching it slowly flow down from the mountain range.


Part of him was thinking how great it might be to mine out some sections of mountain....somewhere near the base for an airfield. All underground of course. The question was, how stable was the chain geologically? Lava and earthquakes didn't mix in an exactly positive way. It was something to bring up to the group though. Most of the folks were like minded, ready to work and start construction on the future home of the Galactic Alliance.


Speaking of construction, Cecaelia Industrial and Salacia Consolidated crews were working cautiously. Judah was already in the early stages of planning this entire base, as such crews were setting up a duracrete plant right on the planet. Duracrete was going to go between the durasteel for added strength and protection. Lava, bombs, lava fleas....one never knew what they would encounter.


The others and there crews would arrive soon. Two different mining companies. Kerrigan would be on board for armament and defensive weapons and the like. Judah was also expecting a few other stragglers, the site would be busy soon enough.

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Judah Dashiell"]


Sullust was truly a lovely planet. At least if you liked your planets volcanic, full of streams of lava and with a toxic atmosphere. Not to mention the occasional raging storm. "Why couldn't the Galactic Alliance pick a less hellish planet for its capital?" Siobhan grumbled, while staying away from the pools and rivers of lava as she made her way across the mountains.


Needless to say her minion had to troll her. "Maybe because it's theoretically easy to defend precisely because it's that crappy? At least unless you're the one falling into a pit of lava. Of course, I suppose a friendly neighbourhood Force God could make volcaneos erupt via overpowered space magic. That would suck," Mei-Ling declared brightly.


"Exactly. But fortunately Judah brought his anti-lava bricks. Still, not going on vacation here," Siobhan agreed. "I hate volcano planets."


"Nervous about the lava? Come on, we're far away. This is totally not because of Gehenna, isn't it? Didn't you almost fall into a lava pit, boss? After dropping the Bando Gora city." No, she was not trolling at all. Siobhan glowered at her, feeling a bit annoyed.


"Almost. I would've have jumped out just fine without those metal bitches 'rescuing' me. Should've fried Maelion and Moira after that." A lot less organics would have abducted and processed into HRDs then. "Anyhow, has Salacia received the shipment of Graphite Reinforced Durasteel we sent them?"


"Yes, boss. Should've reached them now, and we've received some surveys about areas that would be promising to set up defence cannons."

 

[Placeholder 0133]

For some gods forsaken reason, Rook was picked as the military liason for this operation. He was more than comfortable sitting aboard the Tyrene, eating all of Starboy's food, and enjoying the comforts of the Galactic Alliance called a special operations team. For a man well versed in the nuances of military life, the name alone was cringe worthy. Still, the Tyrene was becoming a bit of a home for the soldier, and he rather liked the crew. Even Sparky and her stupid technomogolicals. Something like that.

Unfortunately, his position on the Tyrene set him apart from the usual rank and file. Technically he was a private in the GA military, but Lieutenants and Captains were calling him commander. It seemed the GA had decided the Commander title was reserved for any man or woman they wanted in charge: no matter what their actual station was. So Rook was pulled away to assist in the construction of the alliance's military installations. He'd volunteered to pan for them, but he found himself groaning at the prospect of actually participating. That is, until he saw what he actually had to do.

He liked the professionalism Kerrigan and Dashiell displayed, too, so at the least he wasn't going to be dealing with idiots. That tended to happen quite a bit when you contracted civilians to do anything. Perhaps he was just too disconnected with the regular folk to understand them.

Probably.

He was clad in his armor rather than an envirosuit. His old DG gear was far more advanced than the standard envirosuits, possessed all of the envirosuit's capabilities, and let him connect to his team with relative ease. That, and it was a whole lot less bulky.

"Enjoying the view?" He asked as he came up alongside [member="Judah Dashiell"]. "I used to have an AI back in the day. The Sith took him." Rook paused, "Going to get him back once the alliance is stable. He's gonna love seeing what we're doing here," his visor hid his expression, but one could hear the smile in his words, "We've got crews moving in on airspeeders from the capital. It'll take a few minutes given the weather, but they'll get here."

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

 

[Iconis Black]

This sure is a change...a well-paying change. But a change. At least I don't have to worry about annoying customers anymore. I just get to work on a giant volcanic world instead!

A part of Rustag was excited. He was lucky enough to be hired by Cecaelia Industrial after a month or two of mooching off of his sister on Yavin IV. "I'll find a new job, I promise! A-and I won't screw up! I'll hold it!" was what he kept telling her.

Thankfully, he was right. He wasn't exactly sure why. His resumé consisted of a past working for a bunch of greedy merchants and shops on city-worlds like Coruscant. Perhaps they liked how he served as part repairman and guard for a wealthy transport captain for a while.

Rustag didn't mind if he would be on the bottom of the social ladder for this Industrial company. He was already promised a wage higher than any previous job he had before, and of course! Getting to begin helping construct this "Galactic Alliance's" capital sounded like a hefty job!

Here the young Iridonian sat, clad in a lightweight, almost comfortable enviro-suit until the waves of heat began to hit him. He was surrounded by about a dozen others like himself on an airspeeder, soaring through Sullust's hot atmosphere. He was nervous. Despite having to pass a brief class on working under such dangerous circumstances, full of employee safety measures that mostly had to do with flowing, exposed lava, Rustag was still relieved.

Either he would just die here, or he would walk away with a lot more credits than he had made in his lifetime. Besides, getting to brag to others that he was one of the first people in the galaxy to construct an entire capital on Sullust, of all worlds, was going to look great on his resumé.

 

[Judah Dashiell]

[member="Rustag Bovruta"] | [member="Rook"] | [member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]


"The view is unusual....Normally I'm surrounded by water, most days anyways."


Judah glanced over at the man who had just strolled up along side him. A Commander he was told by Galactic Alliance officials. Seemed to know what he was doing, which he was thankful for. If he had to deal with a couple of greenhorns it was going to be a long process.


"An A.I.? Can't wait to have him aboard. Its going to be quite the base, this structure. Starchaser has demands for the hangar, but I think we can meet them. Wants a tunnel to propel the fighters from. Lifts to machine shops, wants to keep the main area clear."


"Probably our biggest concern there....making sure we get the hangar right. Everything else is simple, chambers and tunnels. Fortifications.Living quarters. Entertainment. Don't need anyone panickin', thinking the walls are closing in on them. Distraction."


Judah raised a hand to the approaching Kerrigan and aide in greeting. The first crews continued on building the on-site duracrete plant.


"I'm expecting a second wave of crews here in a moment. Mining company will be blasting and they can start work on prepping the walls. I don't want to waste any time."

 

[Ellie Mors]

Most people didn't really choose to go into the mining business unless they were desperate for the credits that came with it - and usually it was as a miner to physically spend the day hitting a sharp piece of metal or drill against a rock wall under some god-forsaken mountain. Braith, however, had joined the fray of miners, companies, and so on that drilled deep for ores and rock not simply to sell those unrefined - or refined, as she did own a refinery for the enterprise on Mustafar - but rather because of her skills with Alchemy. At first such a connection is obscure at best, most perhaps not making the connection between alchemy and metallurgy or refining of ores - what better way to make top-quality materials than to utilize alchemy in the process of that refining, or better yet to alchemize the metal as it was being worked to make something far better than durasteel. Of course her company was, currently, small at best. The funds were in short supply, usually coming in with just enough to cover pay roll and her own little projects, but today she - or rather, her company - had gotten lucky in the way of the Galactic Alliance. Although she normally only mined places for the ores and such and usually didn't do projects like digging and the like, the price she was offered to introduce her own company to the Alliance and to help dig up a subterranean chute for some below-ground hangar was enough to bring her attention away from bed. The planet was like Mustafar with its lava lakes and rivers, but hellishly worse. The air smelled acrid, like sulfur, and the heat wasn't so much unbearable for her as much as it made breathing feel more difficult - though the insane amount of carbon dioxide and other forms of carbon in the air made her feel wide awake and in tip-top shape. Unlike the rest of these slackers, she breathed in Carbon and the like rather than oxygen.

She wasn't too far from where [member="Judah Dashiell"] was, strolling along into the scene of construction and such with a slightly pleased smile. In truth the money she was here for didn't really matter to her so much as the growth of the fledgling company mattered. Her arrival into a modern era meant she had missed much, like the late and great Rave Merrill - although a trade secret she'd shared with [member="Corvus Raaf"] gave her some insight on how the galaxy had been doing while she was "half asleep" for the last ten millennium - and had heard stories about alchemists that had became relatively famous for their craft not only in the way that the craftsmen of old had been renown among soldiers, but like modern celebrities - like a clothing designer or a shipwright, perhaps. While Braith wasn't one to have such ambitions of rising from primitive tribal worship to riches, she did want to make life for her best friend easy and happy. Of course she'd been reminded by people she'd confided this to - people who weren't that lovely Jedi for sake of keeping the hopeful inflow of credits a surprise - that money and material goods meant nothing to the Jedi, particularly one Grand Master [member="Corvus Raaf"]. That had made things a little disappointing, at first, but she resolved to not worry about it and press on anyways. "I, and Mastercraft Alloys, are present." Braith said aloud, primarily intending to announce her arrival - and that of the small crew that had came with her, who were currently setting up their equipment.

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Judah Dashiell"], [member="Rook"], [member="Braith Achlys"]


Siobhan linked up with Judah, finding that he was already in conversation with the soldier she had first met during the meeting in that other thread. "My people have scouted out some mountains suitable to place the heavy guns on, and I've dispatched mining crews to start drilling. You should've received the durasteel we sent you."


Though it was primarily a weapons manufacturer/private army for Siobhan whenever she felt like subjugating third world planets, Firemane was also a mining company. So they had joined the group of miners who had descended upon the planet to drill deep for ores and rock in order to make a profit. After all, Sullust was very rich in minerals, which made the hellish hothouse slightly more tolerable to her. However, then Siobhan's eyes fell upon the lovely woman who was apparently joining them.


Judah had not told her she would be there! Little did Siobhan know that the lady in question was dating the Jedi Grand Master [member="Corvus Raaf"]...and that she'd sort of collapsed the lung of the Sith she had been using as a meat puppet in order to communicate with the aforementioned Jedi (apologies if this writer's recollection is not wholly accurate). Hmm. This may be a bit awkward, or not. Siobhan was cool with Jedi abandoning celibacy, even though her attempts to enlighten [member="Phylis Alince"] had so far utterly failed. "A pleasure to meet you, lady. My name's Siobhan Kerrigan. Welcome," she spoke to the woman, whom she could sense was very strong in the Force, giving Braith her brightest smile.


While all this dialogue took place, the Firemane crews were busy at work. For one, they were assisting in the mining efforts and digging extensive tunnels. In that regard droid labour undoubtedly came in handy. Locations had been scouted out for the installation of Tempest planetary turbolaser cannons in the mountains, and so they would be set up. The same went for laser and missile turrets to protect the base entrance along with ensure that air space remained clear.

 

[Placeholder 0133]

"Here come the locals." He reached up to toggle a setting on his helmet. The visor lost its silver tint; becoming completely opaque. Two airbuses flew low over the rocky terrain. The pilots were specially selected for this kind of work. It wouldn't do for a mining crew to end up in the pit of a volcano. There'd be too much paperwork.

"A tavern for the enlisted boys would be nice. They're all off getting the waitresses pregnant at the local joints." Rook grumbled, silently cursing the lack of an induction port in his helmet. He really could have gone for a cigar right now. "I'll have the locals work under your crews. They follow directions well enough. None of them are idiots, at least." A half-truth.

"Water world then? Manaan? Mon Cal?" He lofted a brow, just as Kerrigan approached. "Good to see you didn't fall into one of the lava flows, Miss Kerrigan. There is a very small window to fish folks out of it, and they usually don't get to keep their legs." Or their arms.

Then there was another woman Rook didn't recognize -- he knew very few to begin with -- and the speeder buses coming in to land. Miners quickly off-loaded, carrying their gear in groups of twos. The soldier watched from atop the ridge, just waiting to jump down the throat of a man not lifting his fair share.

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"], [member="Judah Dashiell"], [member="Braith Achlys"]

 

[Iconis Black]

The speeder that Rustag and his fellow miners rode in on touched down on a rock near some people who appeared to be some of the higher-ups. Being the low-class worker he was, he didn't have the gall to approach them. He was here to do his job and make credits, not socialize. That wouldn't stop him from chatting with the rest of the workers.

He adjusted a dial on his enviro-suit, making sure the air filter was still working. Would be a shame to get a lung-full of carbon-dioxide. The doors opened and the miners filed out one-by-one. Rustag carried a large crate with the worker next to him. It was heavy, and Rustag wasn't exactly a strong fellow, so he had to struggle to keep it off of his feet.

Finally, they stepped off of the bus, setting down the crate with the worker he was with. His partner chuckled, "Ye okay, boi?". He couldn't see inside of the visor of his enviro-suit, but he had a very thick accent. The iridonian couldn't tell where it was from. Just as his training class taught him, Rustag slowly controlled his breathing as to not freak out his air filter in his rebreather built into the suit. "Yeah...yeah, i'm fine. Nothin' I can't handle, sir."

He was anxious to get started, but as he looked around and soaked in the intense heat raining from the sky, Rustag couldn't help but marvel at how awesome the Sullst landscape looked. It was hellish, hot, dry. Certainly not a place he would want to work or live at. But the dangers of working here only called for a bigger wage since more, maybe even the workers' lives, were at stake.

[member="Rook"] /[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"] /[member="Braith Achlys"] /[member="Judah Dashiell"]

 

[Judah Dashiell]

[member="Rustag Bovruta"] | [member="Rook"] | [member="Siobhan Kerrigan"] | [member="Braith Achlys"]


"Ceto, its way off the Rimma Trade Route in no-man's land. Ocean dotted with islands."


The Commander-of-Sorts he was working with commented to Kerrigan about the lava and legs. Judah wasn't completely sure but he suspected the Countess was already missing a leg, only to have it replaced via implant or what not. Whatever the cause of the limp, it didn't stop her from hitting on their newest arrival. He was fairly certain any slightly breathing female didn't escape her gaze.


"Welcome, I see you've meet Countess Kerrigan."


Miners were unloading. One looked to be hyperventilating already. Judah had suspected that. Folks get on the surface and realize how dangerous the job was. Most just saw the high payout, thinking they could push the thought of lava and death out of their minds.


He gave a heart clap on the back of the one that seemed to be regulating his breathing before continuing on.


"First order of business since we have our miners and their representative, lets blow that pool for our lava flow and crack into the mountain. Starchaser is looking to get a tunnel first that leads to the hangar, so a tunnel we shall give him."

 

[Judah Dashiell]

Sullust, Undisclosed Location



Explosions shook the barren Sullust ground. A distance away from the main construction 'camp' so to speak, rocks and dirt flew into the air. Loaders were already moving back in before the dust had settled, bringing out heaping scoops of rock. Steam rose from them, letting the crews know they were already working with hot ground.


The collection pools for the lava run off were being put into place first. It wouldn't prevent lava from flowing around or near the base. Merely a measure to prevent copious amounts flowing against the walls of the underground base. Too much pressure would cause a collapse, not a good idea when housing an entire new quasi-government underground.


Much of the underground construction was first being focused on a non-volatile mountain range. Starchaser had wanted a type of hanger system that launched fighters out into the atmosphere with great speed. Proving to do so was becoming a challenge. Salacia and Firemane already had a rough idea of the system to be put in place. Almost a mag-lev type system, one that would cart fighters up from their hangers and send them out one by one.


First, tunnels had to be dug into the mountain. One angled to shoot out the fighters than more that went down. It was quickly decided the mountain range was going to be part of the underground base fairly easily. Natural advantages and the fact it was one of the more stable areas of Sullust made it even that much more attractive. Much of the non-volatile part of the mountains were becoming the hangars. The starfighter hangar was going to be separate from a second large hangar. Everything would be interconnected. However, it seemed that fighter squadrons would be the first to scramble. Without the larger and slower ships in the way, everything should run much more smoothly.


At least, this was the plan.

 

[Judah Dashiell]

Rock chunks and various soil debris rained down from the mountain range. Droids and workers waited a certain point below, carting away the unused materials. Some of it was going to be used in their on site duracrete plant. Other unused rocks and soil were going straight into making berms -- both a defensive asset and a measure against lava. Judah wasn't sure how well the berms would do but it certainly couldn't hurt. In a ground battle they would turn into effective cover around the base for the Alliance, should the need arise.


Progress had been great over the last few days. Crude tunnels in the mountains had already taken shape. Scaffolding was holding the tunnels in place, engineers walking their lengths checking and rechecking. They were made slightly larger so by the time the the Ahi fire bricks, duracrete and durasteel were in place it wouldn't feel overly enclosed.


A type of conveyor belt had been put into place to haul the goods up to the middle of the largest mountain where work currently was taking place. Workers of all shapes and sizes were either dragging up rock and soil or working in tunnels with scaffolding. A class on the ahi brick system was taking place, a lead scientist for Salacia Consolidated leading the lecture to a group in well-worn envirosuits. Even though it was early in the construction, nearly everyone looked as if they had been on the site for months if one was judging by the level of filth found clinging to equipment and crew.


"Alright, lets listen up carefully. These bricks aren't even really bricks. This makes them fragile to handle. Manufacturing is having a hell of a time keeping up so lets try to keep the waste down. Once one is broken or cracked, we can't repair it. Replace it and move on."


The scientist held up a brick, showing it off to the crews.


"These things aren't for structure. As you work, you'll notice the scaffolding in place. These will lay like real brick, follow the natural curves and flow of the tunnel thats blasted out. Secondary crews will be coming behind you with blown in duracrete before the durasteel panels are put into place."



"Those of you working with the brick see your supervisor before starting. Some areas are going to be two to three deep on the Ahi bricks. These sites have been identified as potentially volatile. Use extreme caution. If something looks wrong or you're seeing some seepage, report it immediately. No one wants to die down in these tunnels. One false moved and we're all dead."


Some of the workers looked around at one another. They had been told this before. The environment of Sullust was beginning to show that it was serious. Dealing with the hellish planet offered one death trap after another.


"What a cheery speech. Best be off to work now."


A foreman broke the silence, the tension breaking up in the group. Various sentients moved from their resting positions and broke off in little groups, chatting about the presentation or picking up from their previous conversations.


"Hell, if we die on this thing I want a plaque. Least the Galactic Alliance could do."

 

[Judah Dashiell]

Crews had been working shifts around the clcok in order to speed the progress of the undergound base. Tunnels and chambers were still being extensively dug for the rest of the underground base operations. Barracks, entertainment, training centers, control rooms, armories,data collection....Everything had to be put in. More debris was being pushed out through access tunnels to the surface. Anyone watching would suspect they were digging to the core of the planet.


Almost, but not quite.


Judah was touring the near completed sections today. The largest mountain on the range, the starfighter hangar, was rounding completion. A group of various Salacia employees stood around the tunnel that would hold the mag lev system. Flashlights peered down into the long tunnel. One had to use ropes and their wits in order to fully descend. Steps for the servicing of the mag lev system (once it was in place...or...ya know, decided on) were in place but the decent was still incredibly steep. Especially for those used to drawing up plans on more flat land.


"Don't fall down, I don't think our insurance can take it. I'd like to see those mag lev plans by next week. Finalize your designs and it will be discussed on the Sullust Project holo-conference then."


Judah turned to take a turbolift down to the main starfighter hangar, away from where the new mag lev would terminate against the Sullust atmosphere. He was descending fairly deep, a requirement both he and Starchaser had been in agreement on. Bombardment was a real and freightening possibility. Best for all involved not to end up being buried alive when the Sith or various other baddies came knocking at their door.


The turbolift stopped at the bottom. Hangar level. The doors slid away to reveal the cavernous space. The ahi brick, duracrete and durasteel had been all put into place on this level. Finishing crews were hard at work installing lights, airscrubbers, electrical, mechanical and the like. Anything needed to get it ready for the pilots to come in and get used to their new space.


Crews were still testing a large lift in the center of the hangar. A starfighter would taxi onto it and be lifted into the smaller holding space with the mag lev system. It would prevent clutter and collisions, allowing one fighter at a time to exit.


"Looking great. Progress on the mech shop roughly the same?"


"Yes Sir. We're nearing completion of this entire sector. Starfighter hangar, mech shop, pilot barracks are all taking shape. Starchaser messaged us a few days ago, he liked your last minute addition with the pilot barracks. Having them so close to the hangar."


"Just something I wished was available when I was a fighter pilot. Having to scramble from a great distance away doesn't do any good for anyone. Starchaser likes his small enclaves too. Fighter pilots all separated from the main barracks...well, should give a real sense of community."

 

[Judah Dashiell]

Sullust || Undisclosed Location || Galactic Alliance HQ


Work was still ongoing at the new Alliance base. Most of the blasting and mining out of chambers had already occurred. Firemane was still supplying them with their durasteel for the tunnel framing. Salacia had to scuttle night operations on Ceto and add in a night crew to supply the ahi bricks. First time using them was a learning curve, more were breaking due to transportation and handling.


It was better than burning alive due to a lava accident though. Judah found himself walking through the half-finished corridors. Half finished in the sense the duracrete plating had been installed. Salacia workers were busy putting in the important bits : lighting, air scrubbers, temperature controls, electrical bits. All the things that would turn the base from a series of subterranean tunnels and chambers into a real home base environment.


Speaking of home, Judah had put in something special for newly appointed Commander [member="Rook"] . A two story open blaster range.

Spoiler

View from the top floor

It was nearly complete and he had asked the man to come tour it, see if it needed tweaking. It was also a surprise, something that had been kept of the schematics. Starchaser had been obsessed with the nearly done hangar. Judah wanted to show he hadn't forgotten about the grunts on the ground.

 

[Placeholder 0133]

Dashiell had called upon him for an inspection, and Rook had answered. The alliance slapped a new rank on him, and with it came a nice shiny pay grade. The military here did not work the way it did back home. If you had prowess, you went up quickly. There were no universities or particularly distinguishing factors between the enlisted men and the officers. It was all blurred together. That was something Rook could get behind. He would have never attained any rank of particular merit back in the day.

So he'd come to see just what Judah had to show him just as the ceremony had come to an end. He'd recorded it for his family. Hopefully his mother would be proud he knew she'd throw a fit if she couldn't see what had happened. He was clad in a pilot's jacket and his casuals -- he wasn't going to be looking over anything in uniform.

The door slid open, and Rook stepped inside.

"What do ya have for me Judah?"

[member="Judah Dashiell"]

 

[Judah Dashiell]

Overseeing the security system for the armory (a short jump away from his surprise), Judah turned at the sound of [member="Rook"] 's voice. If he remembered correctly the ceremony had taken place today, the one turning the solider into a full fledged Commander of the Galactic Alliance. Impressive.


"Congratulations Commander. I knew it wouldn't be long. I know you want to get back to celebrating, if you follow me..."


Judah stepped away from the armory system set up and led Rook down a short hall. Mess and debris were still scattered about, along with workers on ladders. Occasionally a head would pop down from an access panel, only to throw a bunch of wires or tubing down for others to finish up later.


Opening the door, Rook would be greeted with one massive shooting range. They had entered on the second floor near the upper row of stalls. It was complete in this room, lights gleaming off the shiny new shooting range.

​

​

"What do you think? More stalls downstairs...the air in this place exchanges every ninety seconds if you can believe that. Crews are finishing the venting now. Could be useful for tactical exercises as well. I'm not certain though...thats where you come in Commander."

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Judah Dashiell"]


And so Siobhan quantum tunnelled back into the thread after her slightly forgetful writer had sort of lost track of it! This writer is not certain how time had actually passed, but suffice to say Firemane had been busy with construction in the interim, aiding Salacia in its quest. After all, there was fake money to be gained!


By now the base was taking shape. Mining crews had dug deep tunnels, Firemane had supplied its special durasteel for the tunnel framing and for critical sections of the base. Likewise, after having scouted suitable nonvolcanic mountains, Tempest cannons had been installed. The planetary turbolaser cannons would be able to fire upon and potentially destroy capital ships in orbit. Keraunos missile turrets would help the sky free of enemy fighters due to being equipped with homing missiles.


Likewise, mine fields had been laid to seal off certain mountain passes and tunnels, thereby impeding enemy advances and channelling it into fortified areas. Equally, several halls inside the base itself would be equipped with ray shields. As Obi-Wan and Anakin had discovered on the overdramatically named Invisible Hand, these could impede even glowstick wielders. Construction in a number of areas was still ongoing, though progress had been considerable. If need be the soldiers of the Galactic Alliance would also be able to deploy class nine durasteel mobile barricades that would provide a strong cover and be suitable for heavy weapons' emplacements such as e-webs and such.


As for the shooting range, Siobhan liked it when she came along for a visit. "Nice, shooting range. Setting up the heavy guns is going well. We can go for an inspection if you like," she spoke when she approached Judah, having herself received a tour of the base interior.

 

[Judah Dashiell]

With construction nearing completion, Judah had called in [member="Siobhan Kerrigan"] and the higher-ups of Firemane to help deal with the defensive placements. Firemane construction crews had been on the scene the entire time, teaching Salacia workers the ins and outs of using their fancy durasteel. Most of the major construction was nearing a completion save for a few of the corridors that were last-minute additions.


Early this morning, Judah had gotten a tour of the mine fields laid in certain corridors and passageways within the mountains. It was clever and something he hadn't thought of. Then of course, Salacia wasn't a defensive company and Judah wasn't a military mastermind. Firemane was the perfect element of fanatical firepower that was needed to keep the base secure and fortified.


Currently he was standing in the fairly empty hangar, overlooking a holographic blueprint with a pack of the construction managers when Lady Kerrigan approached. Even with the bionic leg, the woman was still deathly silent when she wanted to be.


"Lady Kerrigan" Judah turned, clasping her hand in a greeting. "Its a pleasure to have you on board guiding the defensive placement. I'm glad you enjoy the shooting range, it was a pleasure to build and oversee. "


"How goes the defenses?"

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Judah Dashiell"]


"Pretty well. Got three concealed Tempest cannons set up in the mountains against capital ships." Each cannon could fire once a minute. In an actual battle, each one could be fired twenty seconds apart, which would ensure a state of semi-constant firepower. Presumably this would make it more difficult for legions of doom to teleport in.


"We finished setting up the mines, as you saw. Mostly conventional explosives, but we just finished laying those fancy electromagnetic mines we got from Styx. You know, that Rebel raid on the Sith lab in the old days. When the Empire fell like a house of cards and the Jedi were actually winning," she said sarcastically. As surprising as it might seem, there had been a time when the Republic was ascendant and it was popular to postulate they would swallow the map in a imperialist crusade. Does anyone remember these days? This one remembers them only dimly.


"Couple batteries of laser turrets are being set up as we speak to keep the base entrance and the path to it clear. Anti-starfighter turrets should be installed by tonight in the mountain. All in all, we're well within our timetable." The press of a button would make the holographic map shift a bit, highlighting the areas where defensive emplacements had been set up. Sullust was not the easiest planet for such large-scale construction work. For the planet was not only rather volcanic, but also endowed with a toxic atmosphere. On the flip side, this also ought to make an invasion more difficult.