Shadows of the Empire: The Dominion Dom of Helska IV and Paxin Sul

[Dunames Lopez]

Objective 1
Post: 3/25

The Paxin Sul local authorities have had trouble finding suitable construction contractors to rebuild the spaceport, especially given the all-too-familiar NIMBY factor associated with the construction of spaceport infrastructure. Mirial would be just as straightforward were it not of the sheer amount of destruction that was inflicted on the planet, which meant that the priorities for reconstruction lied elsewhere in that case. Once the Tofolk of Hijarna lands on the planet, Dunames wastes no time opening the hatch to reveal the excavation equipment. Once the excavation equipment was deployed, Dunames preferred to let the excavation crews do their work. So she stepped back, and acted as a temporary foreman in this whole project of rebuilding as many of the spaceports destroyed by the Primeval (even though the Primeval went around the galaxy perpetrating massacres, Dunames only really remembered the destruction of spaceports that accompanied them, but that's perhaps because of Star Tours' business).

"What about the hotel?"

"The spaceport comes first, and the hotel second"

 

[Tyberius Fel]

Vorian's tongue was only restrained by the flash of lights from the awakened Imperial facility. The Sith whirled around and without another word, flicked over his cowl and immediately began to take off into the foothills.

[member="Abraxas"]
@Ra'a'mah
[member="Dune Rhur"]

 

[Riamah]

While they all maintained cool heads, it was actually [member="Abraxas"] that called them back their task at hand. Ra looked over at the sith and narrowed her gold eyes slightly at him. Genuinely hoping he doesn't hold it against her when she tried to threaten him before when they first met. When the darkness of the Dread Seed had touched her.

The lights of the old Imperial compound came to life in front of them, drawing their attention there and away from the current hostilities they had moments before.

As they set out, the four of them, a pair of Jedi and Sith, Dune quietly mentioned to her that something was wrong.

Not having let go of her knife hilt, she keeps her fingers on it and remains silent. Ever observant of situations, this is an ongoing one and one where it wasn't time for her step up and say anything.

[member="Dune Rhur"] [member="Vorian Adasca"]

 

[Dunames Lopez]

Objective 1
Post: 4/25

As before, there was the matter of getting the control tower started. Luckily by now Star Tours had a trusted supplied they have for providing a prefabricated control tower: Meran Mechanics, thanks to that company being another one of the charter companies taking part in the colonization of Hijarna, out of four. Also, Dunames always kept a spare sensor array as well as a spare tactical display even though not every route was pirate-riddled. That is, while some could say that they are cautious, Dunames knew that she could never quite tell when a good opportunity to build its own spaceport in this region would arise, despite knowing that there were spaceports in this region that were destroyed by the Primeval but that nobody went around to rebuild them. Not even the then-Mandalorian Empire/Crusaders/Clans. These prefab control towers were very practical to build up to about 25 meters high, with panels, durasteel frames, a turbolift shaft, and all the equipment a 25-meter-high control tower would require.

"The crane! Get the crane out there, now!"

"What for?" the worker asked.

"Construction of the control tower has begun!"

 

[Darth Eversor]

Abraxas pondered what the Jedi said for a moment before following [member="Vorian Adasca"], gusts of wind bringing streams of ice and snow across his visor as he looked upon the Imperial facility in all of its grandeur.

​A fossil of once righteous power, a gargantuan symbol of authority.

A sense of pride began to rise in Abraxas' chest as he walked forward, for he remembered when he too took up arms in such a power's ranks. When he commanded and would lead squad of soldiers to bring down the fist of Imperial mandate.

If only they knew you like I did, my jewel.

The crunching of snow marked every step as they came ever closer.

[member="Dune Rhur"] | @Ra'a'mah

 

[Dune Rhur]

The facility came to life before them and their reactions were as varied as the being. [member="Abraxas"] oddly gave off a feeling of nostalgia and Dune couldn't say way. Vorian's yellowy eyes seemed to shine with ambition. Ra took a white-knuckled grip on her knives.

Dune didn't go so far as that but he let his hand fall free of his robes. Now both hands were free to react to whatever might await them. It was better to be alive and cold than warm and dead. They were quickly closing on the barrier surrounding the facility now.

It couldn't be called a proper defensive wall compared to other Imperial facilities. Not from what Dune could see here but it was a wall. It was oddly without auto-turrets and other standard emplacements. His frown deepened.

He looked over to Abraxas and [member="Vorian Adasca"] to see if they'd noticed the same.

"There should be automated defenses," he remarked to Ra "Turrets, cannon emplacements. Even manned gun stations."

 

[Tyberius Fel]

A entire parade of oddities seemed to surround this facility. Everything from the lack of defensive emplacements to the mysterious flickering of it's lights hinted at some malevolent force awaiting to ambush them. The best option was to simply wait and allow the Dominion sappers to arrive and clear out the abandoned facility. But even Vorian had no patience when there was virgin knowledge, ripe and waiting.

The Sith allowed his compact, gilded with electrum, to fall into his palm.

"Trek cautiously and we'll be fine." Vorian dismissed briskly and continued on.

[member="Dune Rhur"]
[member="Abraxas"]

 

[Riamah]

While her knives were up her sleeve, Ra continued to keep a hold on them. She didn't think she would need to use them on either [member="Vorian Adasca"] or [member="Abraxas"], she wanted them ready to be used against other things.

Though she was still quite new to using the Force, she had learned how to reach out and feel life around her. The now lighted complex was dead. She couldn't sense anything alive in there, but her skills may not have been strong enough yet.

"I don't feel anything in there."

It was the first she spoke to the group, her voice was hushed but crisp and clear to them all.

[member="Dune Rhur"]

 

[Dunames Lopez]

Objective 1
Post: 5/25

Meran Mechanics was invaluable here: the Paxin Sul resort and spaceport would take much longer to build were it not of the prefabricated stuff. Also, around the control tower, the hypermatter reservoir was built, which were, frankly, two of the main things where prefabricating was practical; terminals often were the faces of spaceports more than the remaining buildings and this was the building in a spaceport where local input was, more often than not, best to seek. In this area, many, many architectural firms wanted their slice of the pie, in this grand project to rebuild the spaceports destroyed by the Primeval, among others. And so, when the intentions became clear, the local architectural firms submitted their designs for the terminal. The results were quite spectacular, and often masterpieces for their designers, but they charged quite a lot for the spaceport terminal plans, even more so than for the hotel, which was, for some reason, similar to what's being done on Luminoss.

"Egads! I didn't realize that it was so expensive!"

"But I'm sure the locals got their money's worth" the accounts payable technician commented, upon looking at the bills.

 

[Soeht]

Helska's Legacy

A loud mechanical screech from the facility tore through the air. @Ra'a'mah, [member="Vorian Adasca"], [member="Abraxas"], [member="Dune Rhur"], and others near them would have been able to feel a short groundquake. The lights in the facility flickered.

Then, everything went quit. Steady lighting returned.

The front door would be open.

 

[Dune Rhur]

"I suspect there's a reason for that," Dune replied to Ra's observation. The ground began to quake and the lights flickered ominously. A piercing screech made him wince. The front gates opened as if compelled by some intelligence. Then it was back to normal.

Normal for a supposedly long-abandoned Imperial research station. Which meant that any number of horrors might await them inside. The Bith's apprehensions about all this were growing by the moment. It was obviously a trap.

"It looks like our 'host' wants us to join them," he commented "I think it should go without saying but...keep your guard up, Ra. This is most definitely a trap."

With that he placed a hand on his lightsaber and strode through the doors at a slow walk. Sometimes the best way to deal with a trap was to spring it.

 

[Dunames Lopez]

Objective 1
Post: 6/25

"Why is it that you keep putting off the reconstruction of Mirial's spaceport?" the accounts payable technician asked.

"Yeah, Dunames, Mirial is the centerpiece of the destroyed spaceports of the Primeval" the project's accountant commented.

"The Mirial authorities have been, let's say it, a little difficult to work with, especially for zoning reasons. Hopefully the whole Mirial saga will end soon"

While, of course, the construction permit issuance process has been initiated, based on the plans being purchased from local sources, Dunames was being led to wonder whether the Mirial authorities will actually allow them to rebuild the spaceport. Of course, Mirialans were going to be picky over where a spaceport can be built and where they weren't: NIMBY was strong with them even though much of Mirial was one big wasteland. Paxim Sul, on the other hand, was not nearly as symbolically important in the trail of destroyed spaceports the Primeval left across the galaxy; they might have done so with a particular reason in mind, everywhere they went. But Dunames began to question why they couldn't secure the loan for the construction of the Mirial spaceport while it was so easy to get the loans taken out for Paxin Sul and Trian despite the Mirial spaceport being just as low-key as the one on Kaeshana or Trian...

 

[Riamah]

After the groundquake and the light flickering, things returned to normal...though it was far from that. This base shouldn't have lit up or done anything, so nothing was as it seemed to Ra. Not wanting to get left behind in the cold, Ra followed Dune through the now open gates of the compound in front of them.

"Yes, Master Dune."

It probably sounded just as lame to him as it did to her, but Ra felt like she needed to acknowledge his words somehow.

Only time would tell what happened on this day in this long forgotten base.

[member="Dune Rhur"]

 

[Bartic Myth'rand]

Post 1
Location: Pax Insul
Objective: Establish a mining colony

Moving into some CEC operations into Dominion space would be a good start, the system containing an un-populated paradise world of Pax Insul and not one, but two mineral rich asteroid belts, it would make a fine first step in setting up manufacturing here would be a stable supply of materials. A few mining stations, a couple reprocessing stations, and an Aurodium-class Trade Station to house everyone and the metals before shipping the off to be built into ships for a million different purposes. Ships were already moving in and out of the system bringing materials from Etti IV, and the skeleton of the station was already taking form, the efficiency of a properly trained construction crew was not to be undervalued.

 

[Dune Rhur]

Into the facility strode Master and Padawan. Into the dim entryway lit only by emergency power. Dune had to admit that he was impressed by the longevity of this place. It's backup generators were easily centuries old.

Shadows stretched long over the entryway. There was barely enough light to make out the long corridor ahead of them. Everything was so featureless. He smelled a sterile smell unchanged likely since it's last inhabitants left.

"It feels so...," Dune said into the darkness "So devoid of life in this place."

 

[Riamah]

Ra took up her customary position a little behind and to the left of [member="Dune Rhur"]. She watches behind them and the sides. The same as her master, she doesn't sense the life of anything around them.

"No, this is wrong. Something is here."

She looked around again, not seeing anything with her eyes.

The lights of the compound though stable were dim, the wind whipped around them and blew some dusty snow into the door of the apparently dead facility.

 

[Dune Rhur]

Dune looked at Ra with a puzzled expression. He sensed nothing. To be sure he reached out again. Still no life in this place.

"What do you mean?," he asked her quietly as they made their way down the hall. Any trace of existence had faded in the hundreds of years. Probably all human and definitely all sentient. Not even any non-sentient life seemed to echo in the Force.

They came on a sort of fork in the road. Two paths, one to the left and one right. There was no indication of exactly what each hallway led to. One was 'A' and the other 'B'.

"Do you have any inclination as to which way to go, Ra?"

 

[Dunames Lopez]

Objective 1
Post: 7/25

"We are being defrauded! There is no local architecture firm, nor is there a way to locally source the materials for building the spaceport down below, not without doing it ourselves" the project accountant told Dunames.

"Quick! Contact the Dominion economic crimes police division" Dunames ordered, annoyed at the fraud.

"Channel open" Merrily commented.

"Dominion economic crimes police, how may I help you?"

"We have been defrauded by an architectural firm, which claimed to hail from Pax Insul but the planet is officially uninhabited and has no government system allowing to incorporate corporations"

Dunames then proceeds to send the exhibits, and the police may possibly freeze the funds of the faux architectural firm if there are sufficient grounds for the accusations of fraud to act upon them. Perhaps the economic crimes police would not do anything, but due to the lax regulations, they would build a diminutive spaceport at very little cost and in very little time. One control tower, a diminutive terminal, a nominal hypermatter reservoir and here one went around building a bush spaceport on a planet like Pax Insul.

 

[Riamah]

Ra followed [member="Dune Rhur"] into the building and down its empty hallways. There was constant nagging in her mind that there was something very wrong. It wasn't the Force speaking to her. Not able to place what was causing it, she gave a mental shrug.

They came to a fork and stopped. One path went left and the other right. Many months ago, she had a dream with something similar to this. Should she mention it to her master.

"It's my intuition that tells me something is wrong and that path is the one we need to take."

Raising her left hand, she pointed down the left fork.
​
"It's not the Force guiding me, I don't know what is."

Maybe it was and it had been with her all the time. This was what she knew though, her intuition called her down the left path.

[member="Dunames Lopez"]

 

[Dune Rhur]

"Your...intuition," he replied with lips compressed "I suppose we will follow it."

Ra'a'mah knew too much of the Force for someone who was not supposed to know. These 'other sources' had bothered him for some time. Yet he hadn't pursued it. There'd been too much for him to think of in the past weeks.

But it was time to speak to her after all of this. Too many secrets between them. Dune brought his attention back to the present lest something happen. This was the place for said thing to happen.

He peered into the shadows of corridor 'A' and saw no more than he had before. With a small shrug he began down the hallway.