Pursuit of Stygium

[Vega the Chaos Mage]

Location: Maramere, Outer Rim Territories.


For a while it had been in Vega's mind to execute the task of retrieving Stygium crystals from Maramere in the Outer Rim territories. There was only one slight problem; she required a second party member in order to accompany her, considering the amount she intended to carry would outweigh her cargo hold. As a result, Vega broadcast a signal on the most relevant of frequencies which consisted of coded messages instead of an audible request. In the message, she went on to say she was willing to split the Stygium, should anyone be willing to pursue the contents with her. She also went on to encode within the message that things were not intended to get out of hand with the locals, but- well- that all depended on how considerate they were in letting outsiders extract resources from their world. In other words, she was looking for someone who could handle themselves should the situation come to it. Better to be safe than sorry - right?

Once Vega finished the message, she broadcast it throughout the outer rim in order to find a partner to accompany her. She waited ever so patiently for a reply, keeping her craft within orbit of Meramere with her frequency open for transmissions. Hopefully she wouldn't be waiting too long, though. The location she had in mind to look was considerably easier to scour in daylight, despite it not being her preference. Besides that, the more they waited the more chance there was in someone else finding the material. After all, it had brilliant capabilities if used right, so of course she was not the only one aware of its uses.

 

[Morningstaarr]

[member="Vega the Chaos Mage"] ( could I? )

 

[Vega the Chaos Mage]

[member="Morningstaarr"] - of course!

 

[Morningstaarr]

[member="Vega the Chaos Mage"] ( thanks! )

Staar had been in the outer rim when he heard the message. Stygium, he could use a couple Stygium crystals. He made his way to the coordinates to Maramere keeping an eye out for the ship.

 

[Vega the Chaos Mage]

Vega waited for the hum occurring from her terminal before she glanced down at the screen. The hum repeated itself, which in Vega's experience and knowledge meant a ship was coming fairly close. Too close to be merely celestial traffic on its course. As a result, Vega powered up the arms of her ship just in case. From there she proceeded to transmit over the frequency, "This is Vega of the HMP Predator. Please identify yourself; you are coming in far too close."

[member="Morningstaarr"]

 

[Morningstaarr]

[member="Vega the Chaos Mage"] Staar flipped on his comms "I got your transmission about some crystals?" Staar made his ship go full halt it was getting a bit too close to the other ship. "And uh, I want to help you help me get some of them." Staar cringed at himself but it was necessary since he was trying to make himself scarce. This could be a trap for all he knew.

 

[Vega the Chaos Mage]

Vega frowned to the response she received from the fellow craft. Once it halted in its trajectory she withdrew the arms of her ship to hint she was here in peace. The target was down beneath her, not sitting in the nearby craft. He was safe. "Oh," Vega quickly replied, booting the engines of her craft. "But sure - we can both benefit from this, well, let's hope it doesn't become a heist." She went on to add. "If you follow me and keep on this frequency, I'll direct us to the targeted location. It's a small facility within the mountains so no outsiders should bother us during the retrieval. So far, from what I've gathered, the works aren't too suspicious. If you'll follow-" Saying that, Vega ignited the thrusters of her craft in order to descend down to Meramere. Her speed was fair, making it easy for the fellow craft and crew member to follow behind. It didn't take long before they breached the atmosphere, gliding the crafts over the ocean until the mountains came within sight. From there Vega begun to power down her thrusters in order to decrease the speed, making it easier to touch down behind the mountain when she came into range. They'd have to do something of walk, but Vega'd seize a land craft to get them back to the ships.

The female powered down her craft entirely before leaping down out of the cockpit to touch down among the surface. She proceeded to wait for the other to step out first before beginning their little hunt.

[member="Morningstaarr"]

 

[Morningstaarr]

Staar followed the ship and landed. The hatch of his ship opened and he put his helmet on. He walked up to the woman and said "Nice ship."

 

[Vega the Chaos Mage]

"Why thank you, but we can put aside the compliments for now." Vega calmly replied, trying not to sound so blunt. She wanted to get things done before it got too dark; however, she did dip her head in appreciation. Nice to see someone acknowledge the work of her ship. "Here - take this." She added, tossing him a respirator once strapped to her respective side. Hers was already hanging loosely around her neck. They'll probably need it. "Just in case it comes down to it, is all. We might have to smoke some of the place out to provide obscurity. But please, let's head on." With that said, Vega turned away from her ship and lead on, starting at the bottom of the mountain. She had everything she needed; a rifle, canisters, and of course, her 'saber. With all that there was no reason to turn back.

The march up the mountain took them the best three quarters of an hour. Vega stopped once they got to to the top, cuffing her eyes with a bare hand to peer down at the facility below. Hm, it wasn't as well guarded as she perceived last time. A lot more traffic back then, as well. "It shouldn't take us long to get down there and into the hollow of the mountain. They have cargo land vehicles to carry bulks of the Stygium around, so we shouldn't have any trouble bringing it back to our crafts. I'm ready to push forward when you are."

[member="Morningstaarr"]

 

[Morningstaarr]

[member="Vega the Chaos Mage"] "Alright sounds good to me, let's just keep our guard up." Staar signaled that he was ready to move on and patted the lightsaber on his belt. He was ready for anything and his lightsaber was ready too.

 

[Vega the Chaos Mage]

With that all cleared up, Vega turned around to instigate their journey. She approached the mountainside and peered down over the drop before determining how they'd descend. Hm, it was a fair way down, but if he followed behind right they'd both get down in one piece. Without waiting any further Vega leapt from the edge to drop down on the mountain slope below. From there she descended down the slope for about a minute, skidding across its surface until she decided it was time to halt. The slope directly lined itself with the roof of the facility below, so once Vega was low enough she sprung off the side to touch down upon it. Of course she landed safely, but she made quite a thump with her landing so she had to kneel in order to not draw any attention to herself. Hopefully the fellow wasn't far behind, but she waited patiently anyway. Once he was alongside her she tapped the roof beneath their feet and said, "We're here - right above it. Proceed to putting on the respirator and I'll create an obscurity for us to run through in order to get in. Judging by the way down, there's four guards below us, but they're armed. Apparently refusing entry at the moment as well, judging by the individual who I noticed trying to gain access on the way down. We'll have to be a bit less civil from here on."

[member="Morningstaarr"]

 

[Morningstaarr]

[member="Vega the Chaos Mage"] Staar also put the respirator on. "Less Civil is one of my many specialties, ready when you are." He unhooked his lightsaber from his belt and traced the button with his thumb. His breathing apparent through the respirator.

 

[Vega the Chaos Mage]

"We'll find that out," Vega bluntly replied, sliding her hand down to her side in order to take a canister into her grasp. She proceeded to walk over to the ledge of the rooftop and squat down over the side. Two of the guards lingered below her, so their eyesight needed to be incapacitated. Vega pulled the pin off the canister and dropped it over the side. The canister bounced before rolling between the two guards, startling but incapacitating them before they had a chance to retaliate. Smoke seeped from the canister, casting a cloud of obscure smoke which spread back into the facility, blinding the other two guards. This was the only chance they'd get.

"Let's go!" Vega demanded, jumping off the side to touch down outside the facility. By then the guards were on their stomachs trying not to cough their guts out. While they done that Vega slipped the access card from one of them and tapped it into the bulky door upon approach. The lock clinked, alerting the door was opening, slowly but surely.Vega didn't wait for it to open entirely, though. Just enough for her and the male to get in before she sealed it from the other side. Once that was done Vega pulled down the respirator and turned to face the room. . . and damn. There was Stygium alright; in fact, a whole warehouse full of it built into the mountain. . . all for the taking. Crates upon crates of Stygium filled the room. Too much to take the lot, but enough to fill their ships. Vega smiled to the sight of it.

". . . Well I'll be." Vega said out loud, walking between the crates to open random lids. Definitely Stygium and nothing else. Brilliant. "How much do you think we can take? If we stay too long those guards will snap out of their unconsciousness and alter more guards. That is if more don't realise the smoke."

[member="Morningstaarr"]

 

[Morningstaarr]

[member="Vega the Chaos Mage"] Staar whistled and licked his lips from under his helmet. "I say we can take about two to three crates and maybe line our pockets with a some of the smaller crystals, if we're feeling greedy but if you want more. I could go 'take care' of the guards." He started to look though the crates, examining each crystal.

 

[Vega the Chaos Mage]

Vega laughed, strapping the gun around her shoulder before turning to the male. "Only three or four crates? With their land crafts we can easily get ourselves at least-" She paused for a moment, maneuvering her wrist towards one of the crates. She titled her arm and placed the screen of her wrist piece onto the material and flicked a switch. For a few seconds in hummed a repetitive beep before one final, more out of tune one accompanied it. From there she glanced down at the screen which displayed '278 lbs'. "Hm. We can perhaps take at least nine crates and a couple of pounds of Stygium. You wanna go over there and start loading up a cargo vehicle?"

[member="Morningstaarr"]

 

[Morningstaarr]

[member="Vega the Chaos Mage"] "Alright." He walked over to the cargo vehicle and hopped in. He pressed a few switches and it roared to life hovering off ground he drove towards one crate and began to load it in. He did the same thing for nine different crates. He was ready to move out and signaled Vega. "I have 9 crates here and I'm ready to move out."

 

[Vega the Chaos Mage]

Vega didn't seem to rush as much as he did. The doors were sealed, so she took her time checking the crates and contents before loading them upon her own discovered cargo vehicle. Nine crates exactly, and four pounds stuffed down and through the compartments on the vehicle. Once she was done she flared up the vehicle's engine and maneuvered it towards the door where she met the male. She hadn't got his name yet, but she'd worry about that later. "That'll do for us. No more - and no less. Standby while-" Vega halted in her speech, rolling her eyes towards the door they sealed which hummed to life. Damn it; the guards must have awoken, or at least the smoke alerted others. Vega reversed her craft, taking a hand off the steering gear in order to lift her weapon towards the door. Five guards rushed in, rifles split to direct towards herself and the male accompanying her. They were currently more armed than the two trying to seize crates, so Vega kept quiet for the moment.

"Lower your weapons and step away from the vehicles with your hands risen!" One of the guards demanded, but his words were met with silence. Vega glanced towards the male in the fellow vehicle. She didn't know whether or not he wanted this kind of trouble on his hands, so she waited to see how he'd retaliate.

[member="Morningstaarr"]

 

[Morningstaarr]

[member="Vega the Chaos Mage"] Staar shut down his vehicle and hopped out. When the order was given to surrender he crack a smile under his helmet. "Good offer, good offer but here's my counter offer..." A lightsaber found it's way into his hand and erupted into a crimson blade. "Die." He used the force to pick up one of the crates full of crystals and lobbed it at the guards, after doing so he retreated back to cover to avoid getting shot.

 

[Vega the Chaos Mage]

Vega partially widened her eyes to the sight of his lightsaber and use of the force. That was strange; she did in fact sense a presence of force that didn't reside in her alone, but it felt like the kind that lingered on one who encountered another force-acknowledged individual. Not once did she suspect he was in fact a performer of the art. But Vega didn't complain; she didn't agree with the use of throwing the craft at them, but it appeared to be beneficial in the end. The Stygium poured out and scattered over the floor, spreading almost everywhere. There was no time to retrieve it. They'd just have to accept what they got before they had to leave it all.

"Good work," Vega said, powering back up the engine of the cargo vehicle. The guards were still trying to get up, repeatedly slipping over the crystals. "Now, let's get out of here before we end up losing everything." She went on to add. From there she proceeded out of the door, running down a guard who managed to get to his feet. For a brief second she skidded into a halt outside the facility and glanced behind her to make sure the male was keeping up. The alarms had been signaled, meaning more powerfully armed guards were proceeding towards the facility they just escaped. They'd have to split up to minimize the risk of getting caught. "Do you know your way back to the ship?"

[member="Morningstaarr"]

 

[Morningstaarr]

[member="Vega the Chaos Mage"] Staar was somewhat upset that they had to leave before he could kill a couple of guards. He was also upset with his lack of self control he wasted a whole crate of crystals and he wasn't getting them back. When Vega asked if he knew his way back to his ship he said "Yeah I have a homing beacon and I can get there." He got into a cargo lift and started to power it up and make his way to his ship.