In search of the next story

[Sorel Crieff]

Sorel nodded to Orihime. “So, we have two tasks. Fuel and a way out. I recommend we stick together. Fuel first and then we find some control room that must operate a roof to the hangar.”

It stood to reason that for ships to be in here, there had to be a way out. And it also stood to reason that a supply of energy would be stored nearby – both for inorganic and organic ships.

So Sorel called up the schematics on her datapad and began to look, starting with the rooms adjacent to the hangar bay. Very quickly she stabbed her finger into the holoprojection and exclaimed triumphantly. “There. There it is, not exactly hidden. It’s simply called Fuel Store and it’s a stone’s throw away – no pun intended. We’ll just need some sort of sled to transport large rocks. Or we can use the Force.”

[member="Orihime Ike"]

 

[Orihime Ike]

[member="Sorel Crieff"]

Orihime was looking at Sorel and gave a nod of her head to that. She was ready, she was prepared and she was looking for fuel... that they found and that was easier then expected but she was glad for that. Nothing major, no grand oh my gods moments or fight... or massive puzzle to solve just something simple. Which was a welcome change of pace but now how best for them to try and get it from point a to point b. "I can do that." The voice was outside the ship and seemed to make the outer layer shimmer before large tendrils were moving. Massive... like arms to grab something and they took one of the prototype ships as it was being absorbed into the tendril that inched towards the fuel. Orihime was looking at Sorel and found it strange but facinating. "The ship has arms to grab things."

 

[Sorel Crieff]

Sorel was speechless for quite a few moments. The behaviour of the ship was so different as to be shocking. It wasn’t that it was organic, which she’d come to terms with, it was the fact it was able to move…with arms.

Ships, in Sorel’s experience, moved through space. Sometimes wings moved – like with her favoured X-wing – for different purposes. And they often had attachments. But arms? To reach out and brab things? Sorel shivered involuntarily before regaining her composure. The changes to her perceived status quo were coming thick and fast but with each one she was able to recover more quickly. Finding the ship was a technological breakthrough for the Jedi for sure – but it was also a learning experience for Sorel.

“It’s constantly surprising me,” Sorel admitted, “But in a good way I think. Now we need to find the controls to allow it to exit the hangar.”

[member="Orihime Ike"]

 

[Orihime Ike]

[member="Sorel Crieff"]

Orihime looked at her with a nod of her head to that. it was strange but she knew that there were some mining ships able to grab things and rescue ships but she was guessing this was more to do other things as she was walking around. The hanger doors were large and they would have a chance to go searching around before the hanger was a big thing. She wanted to work on more of it and see some of the other ships but if they could get the hangers opened they would be able to have light... have something to illuminate more of it as well as prove that there is a sun. Orihime stayed with Sorel as they were searching to give it some time before she spoke. "We'll look for a control room, those were usually near the hangers. Or sometimes they are in a different section because people like to be complicated."

 

[Sorel Crieff]

Sorel looked around. Often control rooms were attached to the main hangar and had a window that overlooked the space. It was a curiously human condition that, even with the technology on offer, people liked to have line of sight of what they were dealing with.

And then she spotted it. Not a window, but a rectangular sheet of ice high up on one of the walls. As she used Force Sight, she was aware the ice was not covering a wall – but something much thinner. She pointed to it. “I think I’ve spotted it. We just need to find a way to access it.”

Looking around again, there was an exit door below the likely window. “That looks as good a place to start as any other.”

[member="Orihime Ike"]

 

[Orihime Ike]

[member="Sorel Crieff"]

Orihime gave a nod of her head as she looked in the direction indicated and they were heading over. Her eyes flicking back and forth as all the holobooks and things she had seen or heard about said something was likely to somehow jump out at them now... because the gods of irony in the universe were that cruel at times and despite everything there would be people that they had missed. She was moving towards the control room and could see some fo the ships that looked interest to say the least when she got over to the door and checked it just in case it was unlocked. Something she had learned from Reiko and Sorel was not everything needed a complicated answer befor she was feeling it start to open and then creak and groan where it was stuck and iced over when she started to put some weight into it to push it opened.

 

[Sorel Crieff]

Sorel followed Orihime as they approached the door. It was iced over but fortunately it opened away from them, so a little effort was all that was required to push it ajar and then once Orihime had opened it, Sorel added her weight to open it fully. Beyond was a small spiral staircase that no doubt led to the control room above. No fancy lifts or security doors – and Sorel appreciated the down to earth solution the Jedi had put in place.

She led the way up the stairs, wary of her footing and once in the control room, the lights came on automatically, albeit dimly at first. And the computer displays similarly kicked into life and after a minute or so began to run their own diagnostics as they powered up fully. The hangar itself was difficult to see through the ice wall, but slowly it appeared the ice was melting – clearly an automatic function of the room’s set-up.

“I’ll let you find the right button,” she said to Orihime as she stared at the various controls laid out in front of them.

[member="Orihime Ike"]

 

[Orihime Ike]

[member="Sorel Crieff"]

She was looking at Sorle as they pushed through it and into the room getting up. She wanted to see what it could be before they were moving around. Looking over the controls and there were some power on the displays and areas. She was glad they were using geothermal power while they were doing it. It gave the jedi knight a look before she was going over the controls to see all of it. "Alright then." She looked over areas of it and on the screens wiping them off so that she would be able to see what they had here when the different ships were hooked up to the fuel lines in case they were needing to be refueled. She saw some parts of it to start getting the doors opened as the de-icers were all getting set up so they would be able to see through it as she could see sunlight through the ice with it dripping.

 

[Sorel Crieff]

Sorel avoided wiping any displays in case she activated any controls and did any damage – so she relied on Orihime to be aware enough to know what was safe to touch and what needed to be avoided. Sorel knew what she knew but some of the dials and displays here had no obvious purpose and there was no telling if one was a defence grid or even a self-destruct timer.

But she followed what her friend was doing and was pleased that the right parts of the hangar were being cleared of ice and the process of opening the doors had begun.

“Do you think there is a build up of ice or snow outside of the hangar doors?” she asked as Orihime made swift progress.

[member="Orihime Ike"]

 

[Orihime Ike]

[member="Sorel Crieff"]

"Most likely, if there wasn't anything to clean it or keep it clear then it is likely it started to build up and obscure the entrance from anything. It might have had beacons at one point as well but can't be certain the power is good but still mostly minimal. We'd need a team to come in and restore the full functions." A small look was on her face though as she crossed her arms seeing parts of it here that they were workin on and giving a few more ideas to herself so that she might be able to use it. "And look." She motioned with her head but also where around the ship there were areas with some locks and parts but no ships. "I think the ship has been eating the other ships in the hanger to stay alive every so often."

 

[Sorel Crieff]

From this vantage point, Sorel was aware of the scale of the hangar and the fact that, as Orihime pointed out, they had a cannibal ship on their hands. Sorel wondered what other technical breakthroughs might have been lost forever due to the appetite of the living ship. Not that she blamed it, and it was only inanimate matter that it had consumed.

“It makes sense. It’s a good thing we got here when we did, or else it might have starved here and have never been discovered in a working state. I hope we can get it out into space. If I were cooped up in a hangar for centuries, I’d want to stretch my legs as soon as I got the chance.”

[member="Orihime Ike"]

 

[Orihime Ike]

[member="Sorel Crieff"]

Orihime was looking at Sorel while she went over some fo the things they had set up here. "Yeah if we can get her out of here it would be a nice thing to see but I am not certain. All of that work that has been going into the things here is something we'll get to test out and improve upon." she had a small grin on her face though moving her hands to see what they might be able to do. She wanted to work on more of it for themselves until the jedi here could start up the deicers that were making the sheet of ice start to drip in the hanger. Orihime looked around at it when she started to head back down the stairs before one fo the tendrils was piercing the ice and the process seemed to be getting accelerated while the moisture was being drained into the ships tendril for them all to see. "Well that can help." And might be a way to ensure the ship had plenty of energy for traveling around which would come in handy she knew if they needed to clear debris fields.

 

[Sorel Crieff]

Sorel nodded as Orihime spoke. “I know we could get a team here quickly enough, but a big part of me wants to see if we can set the ship free and out into space without delay. I sense it is like a caged animal in here and I’d like to see it in its natural environment as soon as possible. Plus it can feed out there and that can only be a good thing.”

And like Orihime she was fascinated to see how the ship was able to help the de-icing of the hangar exit – was there no end to its abilities? But in a sense she was not surprised it absorbed the water. She remembered an old lesson she’d had as a Youngling about the characteristics of life. And a need for water was on that list.

[member="Orihime Ike"]

 

[Orihime Ike]

[member="Sorel Crieff"]

Looking at Sorel as she nodded in agreement to see what they could do. If the ice was gone the ship could head out into space and they would be able to see what it would be able to do. The Silver Jedi could benefit from this different type of ship and they might be able to improve upon it. She was heading back to the ship as more areas were getting brighter and brighter here in the hanger. "Agreed and those tendrils might be able to have a reach or uses we don't know about. There are few other ships that have arms able to grasp other ships. Some rescue ships and mining vessels to latch on but really use them to grasp things I have not seen... Maybe the silentium but they are different completely." She was curious and that would mean they get to work with it and discover all that they could about it.

 

[Sorel Crieff]

Sorel was no scholar. Knowledge for knowledge’s sake was not something she aspired to. And learning about facts that were best left buried in some dusty tome was not her idea of fun – quite the opposite. But learning about something that had never been documented? That was entirely different. Especially if it had a practical application. This ship was one such find that – to be honest – was the sort of thing found once in a millennia, not a lifetime.

And she was part of it. One day Jedi might talk of this find and her name would be found on page 1,723 of a dusty old tome in a library somewhere. The humour of the situation was not lost on her.

Rearranging her face away from the smile it had formed, she found she was now eager to get the ship out of the hangar and out into space.

[member="Orihime Ike"]

 

[Orihime Ike]

[member="Sorel Crieff"]

Orihime was looking at more of it as they worked, to better present itself when she was going into the ship again. They were getting through and she wanted to tell the ship that they would be able to go back into space again. She could feel the force energies around the planet itself before the door was opening and she went into it. There was something that she could feel from the ship and entering here near the larger sections of it she was raising an eyebrow feeling the force energies gathering. They hadn't seen this section of the ship so it came in handy for the work until she moved around inside of it. "Ship, the doors are opened." She was looking over at more of it and in here there were other parts. Presented to her with a small look when she saw a larger hanger and a large middle section where she could see a ship in the large sack. "Is that another ship?"

 

[Sorel Crieff]

Sorel’s sense of excitement grew as they came closer to allowing the ship to exit. They left the command centre and returned to the hangar and Sorel listened as Orihime explained to the ship that the doors were opened.

Which is when she also saw the larger hangar and something under cover. A ship perhaps? It seemed Orihime had the same thought. “Only one way to find out I suspect,” she said and headed towards the concealed item.

[member="Orihime Ike"]

 

[Orihime Ike]

[member="Sorel Crieff"]

Walking around the hanger there were some tubes and she could see other ships like it here in the hanger of the organic ship. They were white and kind of strange looking but were all hooke up to the walls and what looked like feeding tubes as for a ship this size the hanger was smaller then she had expected. "Yeah this looks like the hanger for the ship but it is less roomy then the others I have been in... kind of worried these tube might be really important." As she was speaking the ship itself moved and she could see where water was being processed in. What it was absorbing when through areas above them that reminded her of body parts in some cases with the arcs of electricity and there was liquid pumping throughout the body.

 

[Sorel Crieff]

Sorel stood partly in awe and the remainder was a lack of understanding. Whatever was happening here was above her level of competence. Sure, she could hazard a guess or two but it would be little more than that. She suspected these were organic ships and she comprehended the concept of electrical synapses and water – or similar. But what they actually were or why they were here?

“You’re the expert,” she said to Orihime. “Tell me what’s going on…please.”

[member="Orihime Ike"]

 

[Orihime Ike]

[member="Sorel Crieff"]

She was looking at her and had a small idea of what they would be able to do. Wanting to see some parts of it here as she was searching around the hanger before she spoke. "I am not much of one, we should be able to get some of the things though." She was looking at it and searching around more as she came away. "Ship what are these? More ships like you?" She was curious and seeing some other type of ship there as the voice came. "Yes these are small defensive fighters that I am able to make. It takes a few weeks but I can have twenty four fighters and several transports. With enough materials I can even have smaller children."