One Hundred Young Gods (GA Dominion of Mustafar)

[Cedric Grayson]

Location: Mining facility
Allies: [member="Coren Starchaser"], [member="Nubica Felidae"] (?)
Objective: Kill Star Wars Balrog, mayyybe help Nubica if she actually needs it?
Post Count: Not 20

Well that certainly inspired confidence. Darius generally rolled with the punches, but he liked to have the barest beginnings of a plan before jumping into the claws of a giant lava monster. Ah, to each their own.

The shuttle made a low rumbling noise as it came to rest on the landing pad. They had a moment or so to disembark before the vessel returned to the skies. If the rumors of this monster were true, then they would need an assured exit. If that meant the pilot was going to have to burn a bit more fuel than he might have liked, then so be it.

"A little hotter than I expected," Darius grumbled as he drew his cowl over his face, "I mean, I probably should have thought it'd be this bad. The planet is a giant volcano." That did not make the stifling heat anymore bearable.

He felt the creature. It was something huge, and even the slightest shift felt like a punch in the stomach. It lay dormant at the bottom of the lava river, but it was most certainly there. Was it aware of them yet? Maybe. Something else drew Darius' attentions for a moment -- panic, carnage, something foreign. A Sith?

Unknown to Darius, he'd picked up some remnant of the contest between Nubica and her opponent. The likelihood that this Sith had something to do with the Sithspawn was high.

"You picking that up? Not the monster, but the...other thing. The fighting? Maybe we should check that out first?"

 

[Coren Starchaser]

8/20
BYOO
[member="Darius"] [member="Nubica Felidae"] perhaps

Giant Sith Monster, Dreadguard and other craziness going on. That was what Mustafar was. For Coren, it was a challenge, a world to be scouted, he knew his buddy Rook was kicking around somewhere, and had seen the Dreadguard ship in orbit. Meant they were here and setting up. Not a bad gig, really.

“Its not so bad, Alliance’s capital is Sullust, we’ve gotten used to the lava flows over time.” And installing temperature control units in their suits. For Coren, it wasn’t much different than the home planet, but Coren also was a spacer, everything was warm for him, which he was fine with. Saved the need to get chilly anywhere aside from his ship.

“Picking what up?” Coren might be a Master, but he was a very odd Master in the Force. He looked to Darius. “Someone in trouble?” Did Timmy fall down the well?

 

[Danger Arceneau]

2/20
Arceneau Trade and Browncoat Industries
Mining Facilities.



There were several minerals, ores, and crystals that were vital to Arceneau Trade company's mining assets here. There was Xonolite, obsidian, Tanray Heart crystals, Dolovite, Trilom, Ko-shol gas, and above all that the Mirkanite. All this and more were mined by the local Mustafarians with the help of the DLC-13 mining droids.

Crafted by the Mustafarians themselves, were programmed to use their scanners to locate minerals brought to the surface of lava floes by tractor beams. The panning droids were fitted with large, underslung collection buckets to transport minerals from the rivers back to Arceaneau Trade harvesting centers.

As an additional defense against the scorching heat of the planet, panning droids were fitted with low-powered deflector shield generators, though losses to the flames of the lava rivers were still high. The panning droid possessed only a rudimentary droid brain: its orders were transmitted to it from the primary mining facility. Although expensive, these droids proved their worth by the enormous profits gained from mining rare heavy elements.

Profits that the Mustafarians were able to have a share of on top of their normal wages.

 

[Nubica Felidae]

[Posts=10/20]​

Objective: Not dying would be good
Allies: None
Enemies: The annoying Sith that’s still going…

"You are weak," the Sith explained, casually twirling his own saber in a complex and intricate pattern. "You are predictable."

Stop it! She wanted to scream. End this! Finish me! But despite the emotion building up inside her, she refused to give her opponent the satisfaction of saying another word. Instead she let the all-but-useless saber fall once more to the ground.

"The Jedi cosset you. They give you time and attention. And for what?”

Nubica barely even heard the words anymore. Her heart was pounding so loud she could hear the blood coursing through her veins.

The Sith took a leisurely step forward. "Worthless. An insignificant nothing. The Jedi truly wasted their time on you!"

"No!" she screamed, thrusting her good hand out palm-forward even as the Sith leapt in to finish her off. Energy erupted from her open palm to catch her opponent in midair, hurling him back to the edge of the room where he landed heavily.

Nubica slowly clenched her fist and rose to her feet. On the ground before her, the Sith was writhing in agony, clutching at his throat and gasping for breath.

Unlike the Sith, Nubica had nothing to say to her helpless opponent. She initially squeezed her fist harder, feeling the Force rushing through her like a divine wind as she literally crushed the life out of her foe. The Siths heels pounded out a staccato rhythm on the stone floor as his body convulsed. He began to gurgle, and Nubica released her grip.

She was in control and she knew her limits.

 

[Roth Tillian]

The Wild Knights dropped out of hyperspace, fighters deploying into formation after their heavy casualties at Eriadu when the BDZ order went out. That counter-attack had been... less than successful, as far most things were concerned, but they were back. Not the same, but back. Hopefully they would be able to reform a new unit, one even better. One that when they met the 181st again, the Imperial squadron would be smashed to pieces. But that would come. As far as the galaxy was concerned, the First Order was unimportant. At present, Roth had to agree with them. The One Sith had soundly defeated the Republic at Balmorra and Contruum, encircling the beleaguered government between Mandalorian space and the One Sith.

Once the Republic was gone, the most likely targets were the Mandalorians themselves. While in the past, they had been feared warriors, he wasn't sure they still had the capabilities of driving off the One Sith. Worst case scenario was that they joined them. So the Alliance would have to the Sith fast and hard, drawing their attention away from the core and force the battered but victorious Sith armies into a full retreat. But first, they needed to establish themselves as a state with power and resources to tackle the challenge.

That was what Mustafar was for. A resource base to be turned into a war machine for the Alliance.

 

[Cedric Grayson]

"Well, actually..."

Not so much.

One moment it was there, then it was gone. Confusing really. Shrugging, Darius turned toward Starchaser and drew his cowl over his face. They had more pressing matters to attend to anyway. The Sithspawn was still there, and very, very present. It had started to move in the short time they had been on the platform. Darius could not see it yet, but he certainly felt it. The shifting of the lava was the first sign.

The monster knew they had arrived, and it was awaiting them.

"I dunno. Let's just deal with the lava monster. That'll make for a great story." Gripping his lightsaber, Darius led his way down the scaffolding that would lead them to the rocky surface below. From there it was a very short trek to the lake, and then...well, guess.

[member="Coren Starchaser"]

 

[Danger Arceneau]

3/20
Arceneau Trade and Browncoat Industries
Mining Facilities.


So far, the facility at Mustafar was a small one, but one that could easily expand if desired. Work with the Galactic Alliance meant that a greater profit share would be given to the motley crew for taxes and materials. If anything, it could very well serve for discounted rates for crystals that could power the next generation of Alliance ships.

Much as she had once done for the One Sith with their Immortals.

Plan for expansion would start in the prospecting of new sites. Discussion with the locals would determine not only the best area, but truly where it would flourish. With the steady pay that Arceneau Trade gave, it was well worth it to ensure that the next mine would have longevity for the local economy.

 

[Coren Starchaser]

9/20

“Something in the Force?” Coren looked to [member="Darius"] with a bit of a quizzical look. Starchaser wasn’t very useful as far as Forcers went, but there were a few things he was good at. And one of them was keeping ships flying. He looked to the younger Forcer and nodded.

“If you’re sure there isn’t something else out there?” He didn’t want to end up leaving someone hanging. That would be bad for the galaxy, if they lost another Jedi while trying to save the galaxy. They were supposed to save the galaxy, but the Sith were the main threat, and Coren needed everyone the galaxy could throw at the Sith being ready.

Grabbing his lightsaber, as his pistol was on his belt, Coren followed Darius, they’d make it to the lava monster soon, then… well, improvise.

 

[Cedric Grayson]

"Nothing we need to help with sir," Darius pointed out. Whatever had been going on was resolved now. If the duo went to see what had happened, they would only be wasting time. The monster was awakening, and time was a resource they could not afford to waste.

The lava river was cresting right in the middle by the time the two arrived at its banks. Darius scrunched his nose up in distaste. The planet's atmosphere was hot enough; standing next to the lava rivers was overwhelming. He called upon the force to provide a sort of invisible barrier; a mirror to the technique used to survive in extreme cold.

"That's a little bigger than I imagined..." He mumbled as the lava fell away from a massive scaly form.

Bright red skin, blazing red eyes, monstrous wings, a maw full of jagged teeth, and claws the size of your average man. Darius ignited his lightsaber.

"Let's try drawing it out of the lava," fear laced his words, but he stood his ground. Darius was quite terrified of the seemingly demonic beast. However, that wasn't going to stop him from following Coren's lead.

[member="Coren Starchaser"]

 

[Coren Starchaser]

10/20
BYOO
Kill Sith Balrog

The Commander understood how that all worked. It wasn’t worth it if there was nothing they could do, but he did need to know if his team was okay. “Is everyone alright?” As long as it got resolved in the best way for the Alliance, he didn’t care. The goals of the Alliance, stopping the Sith, came first, then interpersonal relationships and all that. Coren had been on ships so long, flying from mission location to mission location that it was just tricky to deal with real life sometimes.

As the beast revealed itself to the two Force wielders, Coren gripped his lightsaber tighter. He wasn’t really one for any form of saber combat, but he could use it to block things, and a sword that could cut through most material? Yeha, that was really useful in a war zone. “Yeah, that’s a biggun’.” The Corellian nodded.

“How good are you at hitting things?” He quirked up an eyebrow as he looked to the other. Coren could definitely get its attention, that was something he was always good at.

[member="Darius"]

 

[Danger Arceneau]

4/20
Arceneau Trade and Browncoat Industries
Mining Facilities.



"What have the expeditions resulted in?" Danger would ask the Mustafarian Overseer of the Arceneau Mustafar mines. Solke Ae, was a squat individual, with heavily tanned skin reminiscent of old leather. His decades laboring in Mustafar's intense heat had forged him into what he was, not only in physical labor but in keen insight towards the volcanic planet's geological terrain.

They flew towards the mining facility on a shuttle, moving to land shortly. This was another prospective location; more of a fixer upper, but it would do. The mines and lava rivers were still rich in resources, and would be a good investment.

Solke went on to explain about the nearby lava falls, the deposits of obsidian, donovite and such. He also stated that he had a belief that mining deeper into the lava just might provide insight to rarer crystal formations in underground caverns.

 

[Corey's OOC]

11/20

Finally, he had arrived at the location he was looking for. The drop pod chamber.

From here, the Dreadguard and any other soldiers who would be aboard the ship would be able to work to prepare for rapid deployment. While the ship still contained dropships, there were times when firing a hunk of metal filled with weapons or even a few soldiers was needed. And that was what this room was for. Using a new system, based off of mass accelerator cannons, pods would be launched using a rail-gun style mechanism.

These pods would be fired at the surface of a planet, or in some cases, at another ship. Once they landed, a beacon would go up for retrieval, and the precious cargo would be released. It was one way to get the soldiers where they needed to go very quickly. And was also cheaper than using a dropship. Hawk knew that retrieval would cost, but it would be cheaper than replacing each pod, and the safety measures needed for launching drop ships were sometimes too high, that a pod was a very excellent method.

Most pods would only fit a few guns, what you’d find in a gunship’s armory, or one soldier and related gear. But with the Dreadguard, there wasn’t much else that was needed.

No vehicles would be launched, but the soldiers could make do.

 

[Nubica Felidae]

[Posts=11/20]​

Objective: Not dying has been a bonus
Allies: None
Enemies: The annoying Sith that’s still going…

“You’re too weak to kill me,” the Sith said in a cold, even voice. Though he was only seconds away from his death throes he seemed calm and calculating.

A final surge of power roared up in the core of Nubica's being but almost immediately she released her hold on the Force.

“No,” she said, turning her back on the Sith and walking towards the exit. “It is my strength that allows you to live. And it is your inability to see that as a strength that will ultimately be the Sith’s downfall. Trust me on that.”

 

[Danger Arceneau]

5/20
Mara TibX and Mohc Extractives
Arceneau Trade Company

For any typical sapient, the heat would be nearly unbearable. For Danger, who had spent a lifetime under the arid heat of the twin Tatooine suns, it was just a might more redder and a bit of a baking heat.

Solke ambled on alongside her, continuing on with his updates on the factory and the nearby village. There was enough of a population to warrant a good stream of labor stock, many who have worked the mines for generations. This was their life, and they had an ample amount of knowledge and history for any good investor to make their consultation and their work worth their while.

“You mentioned new potential ores?” Danger asked, following Solke as he would show her around.

The trade language would flow in explanation. There was a chance at promethium metals. But the crystals were the more exciting features.

 

[Qyren Leret]

Post: 11/?

Qyren caught sight of Urya beyond Marcus's shoulder and shook her head slightly even as she raised her hand in a wave. So they had all lived, then, and their job was done, for the air support at least. The anti-tank weaponry they would have to round up next, but the dropships could at least begin a peaceful descent. In looking around, Qyren noticed that those who had survived had already fled, and she had the sense that the remaining fighting would be minimal as most decided to concede peacefully.

"I'll make the call." Qyren activated her comm as she walked toward Urya. "This is Jedi Qyren Leret. Anti-aircraft weapons are neutralized; remaining resistance will be taken care of so that the ground will be cleared in the event that additional artillery needs to be brought in. Dropships may begin their descent as necessary."

"Ready?" she inquired of her companions, smiling at Urya. They would take out the last battery and then they could return to the negotiations that High Lord Ontonas was currently participating in.

[member="Marcus Foster"] [member="Urya Uvatera"]

 

[Cedric Grayson]

Hitting things? Darius could certainly do that.

The majority of the creature's body was molten rock. Lava poured off its shoulders and dropped from its fingertips. Its upper area was rather safe, but the midriff seemed to be made of a softer material. It was more exposed.

"Well enough. Just don't get crushed."

The Padawan cracked a wicked grin. Then the monster was upon them; its massive claws swiping forward to gore the duo. Darius charged forward, lightsaber raised to cleave through the beast as soon as it crawled up on land.

[member="Coren Starchaser"]

 

[Nubica Felidae]

[Posts=12/20]​

Objective: Not dying has been one heck of a bonus
Allies: None
Enemies: There are always enemies…

She’d performed the task she’d been assigned to. Now she sat in pensive silence as her ship sat in orbit. She’d already punched in the codes to return to Sullust. "Scanners functioning normally," she said. After a sidelong glance at her astro-droid, she began to hum, a free-form, lively tune from her homeworld.

The droid issued a series of bleeps and whistles.

"Yes," said Nubica smiling, but without looking up from her instruments. "I must." And she tapped the scanner screen with a finger. "Come out, come out, wherever you are," she said in a sing-song voice.

The droid bleeped again.

“Yes, I know what the scanners say, but I also know what the Force tells me.”

Presently, the scanner picked up a faint signal. She exhaled and leaned forward in her seat.

She chuckled and put a finger on the scanner screen. "There. I told you so."

She let the navicomp digest the scanner's input and cross-referenced the coordinates. “In that asteroid field."

Without waiting for instruction, the droid pulled up the on board computer's information on the area.

"There's nothing there," she said, eyeing the readout. “So what is he doing?"

The signal grew in strength as her ship now headed towards the blip.

And the closer she got, the stronger the ambient Dark-side energy got. “Too powerful to be a person. A Dark-side weapon? A Sith artefact maybe?"

She shook her head. The energy was not intense, simply widespread. “I'll soon know."

She stared out of the cockpit, at the ocean of whirling rocks. She paused for a long, calming breath, then took the controls and piloted the ship into the asteroid belt.

“And I was looking forwards to an early bath and bed…”

 

[Danger Arceneau]

6/20
Arceneau Trade and Browncoat Industries
Mining Facilities.


Some of the crystals Solke mentioned were Chrysopar and Nova Crystals. There was also a high possibility of Flame and Fire crystals that could be polished into their respective Flame and Fire gem counterparts. All were good signs for an investment, but would take higher level of precautions to mine them. Some of these were volatile, and with Mustafar’s already extreme environment, safety was paramount.

Danger and Solke would continue their inspection, with the Mustafarian answering the Trade Queen’s questions and informing her of more data. So far so good. This would be quite the investment to begin with, and it was likely to be a long term return rather than a quick one.

That wasn’t too bad for Danger, she knew that slow and steady won the race when it came to profits. Pleased, she gave a nod to Solke.

“Get the paperwork going. We will expand to this area.”

 

[Corey's OOC]

12/20

The pods were a really good idea. Hawk was not fond of being in the battle, but the Dreadguard was a soldier, he was a combat engineer. When he landed, there was going to be an army of droids, and a lot of traps set up to knock the enemy down. Taking a slow walk, he looked around the area, checking out the weaponry that was here. He ran his hands over the blaster rifles, new and from the Alliance, before turning his attention to the pods once more. Most could load a few weapons, as well as ammunition and other supplies for a real good time. A pod could hold supplies for about a week, which wasn’t bad, considering the food would taste like garbage as a sacrifice.

Looking at the runways though, that was the interesting thing. They were electromagnetic catapults. According to the specs, each trail could launch a pod every 15 seconds if loaded properly, most of the time, it was 30 seconds between pods, and they were able to hit with a fairly decent precision, landing pods side by each on the soil, or in an enemy starship.

The pods were pretty simple, for now, but once they were worked on more? Death from above.

 

[Coren Starchaser]

13/20

Coren grinned. It was time for a bit of a war, now wasn’t it? Maybe not a war, per se, but a battle. Against the stuff the Sith create and then just leave lying around. Who was going to regulate the use of the Sith, and the Jedi, with their new alchemy… thing? Coren Starchaser, that was who. Keeping the Force honest, that was something he needed to do. And that was why he and [member="Darius"] were here.

“Never do.” Coren tossed a wink at the apprentice and activated the orange blade. The color of flame was bleeding into the ambiance of the world as the Sith monster came at him. Coren rolled, an actual roll this time, away from the beast’s swipe. This was going to get painful, wasn’t it?

Stepping back, Coren reached out to a boulder that was nearby and moved it above the beast’s head, dropping it down, working to use the kinetic energy to do some damage.

“Hey, ugly!”

He threw a rock by hand, getting ready to pull his blaster out and start shooting.