Setting Up an Outpost [Mining Operation on Bespin With Siobhan]

[HK-36]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

Bespin
Cloud City

Baron HK, the Droid Observer of Abregado-Rae, paced back and forth on a landing platform of the Cloud City, he was waiting for his companion-at-arms, Siobhan Kerrigan, who wished to join him for a mining operation on Bespin, setting up operation to get a steady stream of valuable Cortosis to Abregado-Rae, material which the Guild of Hammers would be able to use in design of a new weapon they had drafted up.

Anyway, the droid was waiting, the few dropships that he brought with him were already loaded, they had the proper equipment, mining droids and miners already wearing proper survival suits, repulsorlift platforms were seen folded aboard the dropship, a foundation for their future mining outpost here on Bespin. A humble beginnings of an Outpost at least for now.

Either way, HK stopped his pacing as he looked at the reddening horizon, admiring the view while he still waited for Kerrigan. It was a lovely sunset, something he would surely paint later,
That is if Sio will get her butt there anytime soon

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="HK-36"]

Siobhan was fashionably late. Apparently she took after the late Queen Silaqui more than she would admit. Shame about Sila, Siobhan had liked her.

Regardless after some time had passed Siobhan finally arrived from whatever she had been doing in the city. She came from above, surging down from the sky, her coat billowing in the wind, her dark brown mane whipped by the breeze. At first she was but a blip in a sky, then gradually solidifed as she swooped down from the sky with great speed before she slowed her descent to gracefully land upon the platform, like some angel that had descended from the heavens, with the air of someone who thought she owned the place, something she was quite good at projecting. Or perhaps she just liked to show off, as force flight was rather energy intensive and perhaps not that practical.

As for the sun set, it was quite lovely. Perhaps she and Tegaea should go on vacation in Cloud City some day. She loved Kaeshana and Dahomey, but some variety was always welcome to spice things up.

However, today at least she was not here for pleasure but to do some actual work presumably. The Firemane dropship contained all sorts of equipment and minions needed to help in the operation. Admittedly this writer is not quite sure about how to mine cortosis in a gas giant, but the rules say it works. Perhaps it partially made up Bespin's metal core. Moreover, cortosis used for Jensaarai armour had been smuggled out of Bespin. "There I am. Ready to go. Nice view."

 

[HK-36]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

HK was able to pick up on Kerrigan's presence from far off with his sensors, noticing her before the rest of the mining crew did.
The droid slowly hung his head before bringing his palm up to cover it, of course she was going to fly in there with Force Flight.

As Kerrigan landed in all her glory, the worker crew started to applaud her at the show of her abilities.
"Back to work!"
HK called out to them as few of them jumped at the "snap" or more of loud speaking, some muttered curses under their breaths.

And the droid looked to his Ex-Exarch Companion,
"And you get on the ship, do you really have to show off every chance you get?"
The droid quipped as he got aboard the nearby dropships, it seems that both Firemane and Guild of Hammers brought their workers and equipment to this one, they were going to either end up with two outposts or one bigger one they would share. Either of the options was going to work, really.

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="HK-36"]

Siobhan seemed remarkably pleased and smug about the applause she was getting. It was probably fair to say that she could be unkindly yet accurately described as an attention whore and an unrepentant showoff. A psychologist might speculate about the reasons.


The look she gave HK was like that of a girl who had been scolded by a parent or a teacher. It was of the 'but it's such fun!' variety. Hopefully he'd still buy her an ice cream later! "Not every time just...most of them. I like a dramatic entrance." Alas her teenage years had been defined by deprivations and tribulations and so she was still catching up.

Anyhoo, she likewise got aboard the dropship after the Iron Protector Baron and soon they were off into the sky of Cloud City. Presumably it was very, uh, cloudy! The Firemane personnel likewise took off so that they could embark upon the cortosis mining venture.

 

[HK-36]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

"Life is not about having fun."
HK looked to Kerrigan, answering to her look, as the ramp of the dropship begun to close with them aboard, he was holding to one of the support beams for.. support,
"It is about reproduction and carrying on your heritage. I have a whole planet of my copies, and the ancestors of my adopted son are still around the Galaxy. When will you catch up as well?"
He quipped, taking poke at Kerrigan's lack of maternal instincts,

"Dramatic entrances are nice though."
He muttered quietly, the machine was fond of making an appearance as well, usually concealing himself and then bursting out of nowhere with a flutter of his cloak.
HK looked out of the viewport at the passing clouds, they started to get lower, nearing slowly the metal core of the planet.

"Put a survival suit on, Sio, we will be mining near the core, the suit will protect you from gases and the pressure."
The droid motioned with his head back to the empty suits somewhere behind him in the dropship's bay.

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="HK-36"]

Ironically enough in another thread Siobhan had just learnt that her friend Anya, now the Star Queen of the Eldorai, was pregnant. For her part Siobhan made a face. "I'm happy that neither Tegs nor I are gonna be popping out a kid. Having a Jester is high maintenance enough!" She really did not want kids. Given the fact that she could barely take care of herself, it was probably for the best not to make her responsible for a young life. As for creating Siobhan copies, the Galaxy would probably not survive the onslaught.

No matter the dropships had taken off and soon they were descending in altitude, the metal core of the planet gradually becoming closer. Siobhan gave her droid companion a nod and headed to bay of the dropship, quickly putting on one of the survival suits.

 

[HK-36]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

HK looked to Siobhan,
"What the Chaos is a Jester? Is it like a thing with eyes and stuff?"
Articulate as always,

"We have approached the target altitude!"
The pilot shouted out from the cockpit his words echoing on the comm-link channels to let other crew and pilots know.
"Alright, open the ramp and let us begin the procedure."
The droid answered, switching to comm-link communication, taking a metal tether and wrapping it around his waist,
"Everyone buckle up."

Siobhan would find that her suit had a spot on her back for the tether to attach, apparently it was a mean to prevent the Miners from falling down to their doom, soon enough she would see why.

The cockpits closed, sealing themselves from the bay as the ramps lowered down, rush of gasses and air would fly past them, yanking on few, as if to rip them out, everyone held their own as the change in air pressures settled, evening out. Then they were greeted by the sight, everywhere they would look were reddish, pink, and orange shades of gasses, they were among the clouds, the surface of the Core still not visible to them, although they were low enough to worry about the lack of oxygen content and the air pressure.

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="HK-36"]

In other news, in the same thread where Siobhan learnt about Anya's pregnancy she and Tegs were ennobled by the Queen. Henceforth she could call herself Countess Kerrigan of Santaissa! It had made her happy. This writer is not sure when this takes place timeline-wise in relation to this thread.

Regardless Siobhan buckled up and attached the tether on the designed spot on her back since falling down to her doom would probably be a rather unpleasant experience. A rush of gasses and air greeted her as the ramps were lowered, seemingly pulling a few and even her though she grounded herself in the Force and remained put. Likewise reddish, pink and orange shades of gas assaulted her eyes in what was a cruel onslaught of colours. Presumably the Firemane engineers and workers followed suit and likewise buckled up with their suits.

After all, it looked bad for a company if your people got killed on regular mining operations!

 

[HK-36]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]
And while Siobhan was ennobled, HK was promoted to the seat of an Exarch, now they were both noble, held the seat of Exarch, and at some point they were the Colonels of Omega Pyre. All Siobhan needed to do was loose more limbs, become a Eunuch, and she was basically a female version of HK.

Anyway,
Once the pressure evened out and the miners got their bearings straight from the initial gust of wind HK nodded simply,
"Begin unloading the platforms."
The miners nodded simply,
"Aye, aye, sir."

And with that, metal platforms were brought out from the ship's hold, kept at the edge as their repulsorlift systems activated, they were slowly pushed off then, as to not float away due to inertia, as they floated gently in the gaseous skies. The technicians got on top of them, moving to the smaller platform's controls, somewhat resembling a scooter, before some of the workers followed, and the platforms floated off, guided by the technicians.

They moved to a pair of heavy dropships nearby, larger platforms were attached between the two ships, carried by them, the transport platforms unloaded workers onto them as they begun to initiate the structure's repulsorlifts and anchor it in place.

As one of the transport platforms stopped by, HK got aboard with another group of workers, motioning for Siobhan to join him.

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="HK-36"]

Siobhan becoming an eunuch would probably require a radical change in personality! Losing more limbs might still be on the cards though. Regardless, Siobhan was happy about having become a decent aristo...which ironically enough was exactly the sort of person she used to hate, but then her life had been less luxurious and more deprived then.

Anyhow, technicians were getting to work now that the platforms were being unloaded. The Firemane workers and engineers obviously were not slacking, for they were getting paid to do some actual work and, moreover, the Lady Kerrigan was very demanding of her minions...employees, whatever. So they likewise moved to unload their platforms and initiate the repulsorlifts of the structure in order to anchor it. Firemane had brought its own ships and working crew, since it had an interest in setting up operations. If the yield in cortosis was considerable enough, a joint Firemane/Abregado Guild of Hammers outpost would be feasible. After all, both companies worked well together and it would also cut down on mutual costs for maintaining and staffing the outpost.

And so Siobhan joined HK on the platform with his people, some minions in tow. Others followed by quickly boarding a transport as it came by.

 

[HK-36]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

The transport they were on landed on the bigger platform, couple more of those could be seen arriving via dropship tow. HK stepped off from the transport onto the platform, a grid of holes could have been seen on the larger platform, not going completely though the platform but just enough for something larger to be screwed in.
"Here will be the main processing center, Cortosis ore will be brought in from the metal core and processed into something workable, the platform will branch out into six symmetrical corridors, four will be smaller landing platforms for mining vessels, two will go to administrative buildings."

The droid would motion to another two larger platforms being towed in,
"One for Firemane, one for Guild of Hammers, containing management resources, auxiliary smaller processing plants , branching out in two more larger landing platforms for shipping and receiving, and with empty connections in case we would want to expand the Mining Outpost."
HK looked towards the nearby dropship,
"So, first, they will be installing the wall lay-out, then laying electrical, hydraulics, and other systems for waste management, both industrial and sanitary, and then the floor, the roof, connecting it all up securely, moving in machinery and furniture, and we will be ready to begin initial production."

The droid looked over to Kerrigan,
"Sounds simple enough, Siobhan?"

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="HK-36"]

Siobhan listened to HK outline the procedures, as she watched the workers prepare for construction, then gave him a curt nod of agreement. "Seems simple enough. Baring a mechanical dragon, horde of space vampires or Sith army suddenly teleporting here, but what are the odds of that happening?" Well, somehow Sith kept manifesting everywhere these days. Well, people seemed to attack Fondor a lot!

"What's the estimated timetable for the operation?"

 

[HK-36]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

"Well with you here we can never be certain, it may just as well happen."
HK quipped to Siobhan, the additional platforms were brought in and anchored, metal walk-ways were established and connected the main large platforms together as the workers started to bring in the smaller landing platforms,

"Well if we get stubborn and tell them to just focus on the main mining platform then we can have Cortosis being mined in few hours, otherwise if we will wait for all of tit- I mean 'it', damn you Kerrigan, take those things away from my faceplate,"
The droid muttered as the writer made a mistake writing and decided to keep that in for the hell of it,
"Then it will take most of the day cycle here, but the whole thing will be done."

HK looked to Kerrigan at that,
"So what do you think?"

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="HK-36"]

"Oh, come on. You're really exaggerating," Siobhan muttered, rolling her eyes at his line. It's not like she was a comic book superheroine! That said, sometimes she had the impression that after hitting masterhood she had magically gone up a cup size...like in that hologame, Mass Age, where the matriarchs from that race of blue females were...all very big.

She gave his proposal some thought. Just focusing on the main platform now would mean they would get instant release...ahem, instant cortosis! Admittedly Siobhan was the impatient sort and really liked immediate gratification...but waiting for all of it would mean they would get the whole operation done in one go and would not have to spend time here later.

Though it would also mean missing tonight's episode of Cosmos Battles: The Vong Wars. Not to mention her literacy session with Chesna. After giving this matter considerable thought and weighing these important arguments, she spoke up. "We can wait, I guess, and get it done in one go. No need to make it all a quickie!"

 

[HK-36]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

"I am just hoping that you will not warp the structure of these platform with either the weight of those things or their gravitational field."
HK quipped, prodding softly Sio's ever-expanding bust with the metal digit before motioning her to follow him to the edge of the platform, one of those handy transports was docking in with another group of workers in survival suits,
"Come on, let us let them set up the lay-out and such."
Droid commented to Sio as he led her onto the transport,

Once on top of it he would speak to the pilot,
"Take us closer to the mining surface."

The pilot would not simply as their transport disk lowered down, they would be passing through the layers of clouds, red, pink, and violet, until finally the core of the planet was visible to them. They would still be miles above it, keeping their distance from it,

HK glanced to Sio slightly,
"Cortosis is somewhere down there, a vein in the planet's heart, we will be sending in mining droids equipped with repuslorlift engines, due to Cortosis properties and presence of explosive gasses near the veins, we do not want to risk sending organic personnel down there."
The droid would look up then,
"The droids would take it to landing bay of the refinery where transport containers would be waiting."

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="HK-36"]

"Hey, keep your fingers of the goods! Get yourself a female HRD body. Or ask Maelion out," Siobhan grumbled, pondering for a moment whether to seize the droid with her ridiculously overpowered telekinetic grip and toss him around through the air a bit. Oh, and for the record, contrary to what he might think the slightest movement on her part would not result in her breasts ramming someone!

Perhaps the droid was being a pain because Maelion had not gone to first base with him! For a moment she wondered whether he had met Cira again. She recalled that after Gehenna he had gone on leave from his post as Commanding Officer of Omega Pyre to search for her in the unknown regions. In vain, as it turned out, though he had been right about her being leave.

She decided against broaching the topic though. It was one of those that...filled her with considerable bitterness and resentment.

"Agreed. I'll instruct my people to get their mining droids ready for deployment. You got plans for what you want to use the cortosis for once mining has begun?"

 

[HK-36]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

"Oh, please, you talk about them like they are Phrik ingots."
HK quipped , looking back to Sio at the question,
"Well we need a place to put the Cortosis in first, so we need to wait for the Outpost to finish, as to my plans, I have been thinking about replicating my claws and talons, lined with Cortosis for lightsaber deactivation, and installing them in electro-gauntlets to give my troops a boon when facing enemies in hand-to-hand combat. I also wanted to manufacture a line of lightsaber-resistant swords to give to the Iron Company as primary melee weapons."
The droid nodded slightly,
"How about you, Sio?"

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="HK-36"]

Siobhan cocked her head to the side slightly as she thought. "I'll be conferring with Tegs about it. She calls the shots after all and decides where the money goes, but then she's a redhead! I've given thought to cortosis blades for elite units though. Likewise lightsabre-resistant battle shields is something the Eldorai Angelii could use. The old Taegis shields they have can withstand a glancing or head on blow, but more shortens them out. It's something I can see Queen Anya liking."

 

[HK-36]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

The droid nodded,
"Shields sound like a good idea, there has been more than enough cortosis swords designed around, a good shield is more rare to come by."

HK looked back to the pilot of their transport, motioning up with his mechanical hand,
"Get us up."
He confirmed the command via voice as the started to raise up into the air, breaking through the colorful gasses once more as the Outpost came in their view, the metal structure of its platforms being put together, the working coming nicely along uninterrupted.

"What we could always do,"
HK begun, looking to Siobhan again,
"Is that Guild of Hammers manufactures the swords, Firemane makes the shields, and we share the products, so we have the cake and we can eat it as well."
The machine offered

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="HK-36"]

"Sometimes I have the impression that cortosis blades are being mass proliferated. Just like everyone has a terentatek leather duster or a holocron with a really rare Force technique," Siobhan joked, perhaps temporarily breaking the 4th wall. One wondered how the Imperial stormtroopers of the old Empire would have fared if back in their day the marketplace had existed. Countless anti-force user devices were just a click away!

Then again they would probably still not have possessed the formidable power of plot armour and even with bolters and shatterguns their marksmanship would have still been appalling if shooting at plot-integral characters.


In a flash their transport disc was raised and shot up into the air, breaking through the colourful gasses that clogged it, though by now Siobhan had gotten used to the relentless assault of colours. The outpost came into view, still very much under construction but the Firemane and ARGH workers were clearly earning their keep. So far no force vampyres, space orks or Clockwork killer droids had quantum tunnelled in to interrupt their work.


"Will it be lemon or apple cake?" she asked sardonically, then gave him a nod. They were creating a mutual outpost, so it made logical sense to cooperate on products, especially if they were both making cortosis blades anyway. Not to mention the fact that it would cut down on costs. ARGH had already assisted when it came to building the phrik armour and ridiculously big warhammer Eyrecae used, so Siobhan presumed [member="Tegaea Alcori"] would not object. "But seriously sounds good to me. We're already setting up the outpost together after all. Pooling our resources should give us a greater ability to manufacture more of the weapons."