In Verdant Forests Yellow

[Jessa Holly]

Sparks jumped from the sonic emitter as a short, red haired woman slowly cut open a panel that had been slashed by a critter's claws. A visor kept her face covered from the sparks and let her work without injury, the panel falling to the side several in several short moments. Carefully picking the panel back up, the young woman turned her visor up as she looked at the panel and nodded in satisfactory, surveying the specifics of the damage.

This was a fairly normal scene for Alrakis, a recently colonized planet that had its share of nasty critters. The late morning sun was just about to reach mid day, and the wind blew through the yellow leaved tree's and grass in a gentle manner. The city of Al'Mira was the largest settlement on the planet, located near a large mountain ridge and set on the coast. The emitter she repaired was made to keep out the creatures known as Tuskur's, large beasts that were in the same real of dangerous as Tattooooine's Krayt Dragons. Even though they primarily inhabit the underground, on rare occasions single ones will come out of the Shadowzone's cave systems and roam the mountains.

"Not a Tuskur that did this, though." Jessa said to herself as she pulled out scrapped electronics and did a visual diagnostic. What had caused this was a smaller beast, the Shadow Cats. Critters that had a similar method of concealment like Maalraas, though not quite as incisive. They roam in packs and are widely known on the planet for their intelligence. Most of the time they too avoid the sonic emitters, which made the destroyed sonic emitter all that much more concerning. Those thoughts sent a shiver up her spine, Jessa leaning back to take a careful look at the motion detectors she had placed around her in a perimeter. Seeing nothing she sighed and started replacing parts for the emitter, but she kept her DC-17m in hands reach. Even with guards nearby, she couldn't help but feel slightly paranoid. She was on the far outside edge of the city in light forest after all and there was plenty of underbrush around her.

[member="Aubrey King"]

 

[Aubrey King]

A large freighter reverted over the Alrakis, laden with supplies, but also many refugees. The SJO had long retreated from Wild Space, but didn't stop the planet from remaining a popular hub for fleeing refugees as the Sith continued their expansion. It was a wild world at the edge of the galaxy. The hope was that the little colony world would be ignored, as it wasn't even logged in most star charts. So far the plan had worked.

For now.

"This is your captain speaking," Aubrey called over the intercomms. "Our journey is at an end. Welcome to Alrakis. We'll be landing momentarily."

She pitched the freighter down and made a gradual descent from orbit on a trajectory for Al'Mira. The freighter was slow to respond to her inputs, fighting against its large inertia with less than stellar engines. The pilot certainly missed her starfighter, always snappy to even the smallest nudge. Even the busted up Kraken felt like a performance ship compared the brick she was flying.

After a few minutes, she made visual contact with the city, a sprawling metropolis by the sea. Born and bred in the Core, such a sight was standard fare for her, but given the position Alrakis, it was still an impressive piece of construction as far as Wild Space went.

As she came down to the Spaceport, the freighter was much too large to land on any of the pads, so she settled down on an adjacent field.

"Landing complete," she announced. "For all refugees aboard, please follow the instructions of Mr. Godfrey, our RRM contact for this sector. I know some of you may be eager to get off here after a long flight, but it's important you all check in at processing to get your shelter situation squared away."

She powered down the engines, then sat back with a small sigh.

"I actually didn't expect much coming out here," she admitted to her copilot. "But Al'mira actually looks like a decent spot. We might be find something interesting to do here."

"You wanna go into town now for some lunch?" He asked. "I'm really not feeling these rations."

The freighter was pretty barebones as far as amenities went, basically a giant container with rockets. There was nothing in the way of the cafeteria or kitchen you'd find on other ships. Another thing she missed about the military.

"Tempting, but we need to stick to schedule. If the city doesn't fix their force field, then there won't be anywhere to eat."

As tired as she was, she forced herself up and stepped away from the cockpit. The sooner she could unload this freighter, the sooner she could hit her bunk for some Zs.

[member="Jessa Holly"]

 

[Jessa Holly]

The parts were soon replaced, Jessa testing the sonic sensor. After powering it up and running a diagnostics check, it was showing all green and she activated it and stood up. After putting all her tools away in her backpack she stood up with her DC in hand, putting the sling around her shoulder and heading back out of the forest. As she walked, Jess hear the sound of ship engines laboring in from atmosphere and coming in for a landing. It sounded like a bulk freighter and from what she could catch of it through the tree coverage, that is exactly what it was. Just as she was about to speak, her earpiece activated with that telltale sound of an incoming transmission. "Jessa, the freighter with parts has landed, over in the eastern fields."

"I saw it come in, heading over there now. Can't imagine it's all parts though, large ship, what else is it carrying?" She asked, foraging on through the brush. "Refugee's, from the war, primarily people relocated thanks to the sith." The man said with a sigh. "Al'mira was planned with this kind of influx of people in mind, the entire colony was, but even so getting everything developed fast enough in time is a nightmare. Suicide by Logistics."

Jessa could only chuckle at the mans complaints as she broke out from the brush some two hundred meters away from the now landed freighter, whistling in surprise as she watched all those people get unloaded. Walking through the field she headed straight for the ship's cargo ramp, calling out when it would open. "Hello, i am Jessa Holly. Are you the freighter captain who is supposed to be dropping off supplies?"

The young woman had a clear, loud voice making sure she was heard over the sounds of the ship and the refugee's. Traces of oil and other similar stains hinted at her job as a mechanic along with a welder's visor that was strapped to the side of her backpack. A DC-17m was holstered against her side in a passive posture.

[member="Aubrey King"]