Silver Sanctum Mission [Sinking without End]

[Kei Amadis]

Silver Sanctum Mission [Sinking without End]
Mission: Save a City or Two.
About to be heading down between to the Lona Cranith River, between Lola Curich and Lianna City.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJkMXW2F5pk​

Kei, about one thousand wildcard support personnel, 20,000 refugees, and the galaxy might say, one especially notable redhead [member="Tionne Thanewulf"], were on their way to Lianna City from the refugee world of sanctuary. Camouflaged forest green temple robes his sleeves rolled up, Kei was all business at a time like this, when things hit the fan he wanted to be a working man doing his best in a time of crisis. The interdictor class ship the beacon was fully loaded with its shuttles readying to go, an old an aging relic, the ex AoL, ex SJO now SSC ship was crewed with experience hands working with dated gear, as they always had.

Today was meant to be simple, carry the refugees down to the planet from Sanctuary, build them a home and give them a new start, he and Wren had done a lot of work on sanctuary to make it liveable before moving people to other worlds, and although his old companion had left on her own journeys to the academy, sadly now the news headlines here said it all:

GNN:
Lola Curich and Lianna City underwater, sink holes reported, earthquake aftershocks expected. Countless missing or stranded.

Today was going to be one of those days, get with it Amadis. “Suit up, I want reports from all decks in 5, get everyone ready to move and into their shuttles.” The intercom came over the sounds from already rustling boots, equipment and loaders across the aging stardestroyer. At times like these he fell into his training, they’d done this before, well the wildcards had never saved a city or two from sinking into the ground, but they’d done the impossible before, and today was a day for it to happen again.

[member="Tionne Thanewulf"]​

 

[Zonia Kalranoos]

"Master Amadis." came a polite greet from behind the wide-shouldered Silver Jedi, the voice belonging to a woman clad in dark brown leather jacket and pants, ginger hair neatly assembled into a braid. With slim fingers sliding into a pair of half-gloves, steel grey eyes scanned across the viewport and monitors, intently taking note of seismological readings displayed infront of Amadis. He looked surprised, but not as nearly as surprised as he should've been if he actually understood any of the data at hand. Tionne let out a small snort, a sure sign of disapproval, but refrained from actively undermining Amadis' authority. Clearly, she was to be the brain of this operation, that's why she was assigned here, right?

"Rather peculiar." she said, stepping forward to stand next to her superior, gloved hands now clasped firmly at the small of her back - "Lianna is not exactly Mustafar. Highly unlikely that seismic activity of that magnitude is natural."
A few clicks across the screen brought the map of the river and two adjecent cities. Thanewulf swiped across the screen to zoom out to continent and then planet level view. Grey eyes narrowed as her remarkable brain processed all the information.
"Turn on the heat scanners." she commanded, then glanced sideways towards Kei.
"Do you know why earthquakes happen, Master Amadis?"
He looked ready to dive into whatever disaster awaited them on the surface. The question, however, was legitimate.

[member="Kei Amadis"]

 

[Kei Amadis]

Amadis turned around, giving “Knight Thanewulf,” a solid grin, more formal than he was used to back at the temple where he was known to relax the titles, but that was no bad thing, it brought him memories of time in the military which he remembered fondly, and the soldiers that new him best still often enough used his rank.

“Moving plates, breaking rock,” was the epicanthix’s understanding of it, but he wasn’t an expert by any means, he had a feeling she knew more than he did, and only the smallest ripple of pride gave way before he turned to her happily, “do you?” Passing the most immediate reports over to Tionne for her to read the datapad, his grinned deepened, and he crossed his arms.

“Do it.” Kei nodded to the sensor officer nearby who punched up Tionne's commands for their viewscreen, he liked a person that took charge, male or female, he was drawn to that quality in people as personal friends and close companions in his work. When she stepped up, he watched and he waited to take in what she had to say before deciding what to do.

“Heat sensors coming up now,” the technician zoomed in, in a rolling display over the planet’s surface, they began penetrating underground at the center of the disturbance, or where it should be… "that's odd."

[member="Tionne Thanewulf"]​

 

[Zonia Kalranoos]

Usually, Tionne hated to be in charge. It implied levels of responsibility for the actions and well-being of other people she did not feel comfortable with. The only reason why she was so assertive was the correct assumption that Amadis was not the most erudite Jedi in the universe. He seemed more like the practical type, the kind of guys who whipe the floor with the Sith, or die trying. His crude explanation of plate tectonics was a testament to that. She smirked to herself as the results of thermal scan arrived at the screen before them.

"No, I am here to provide erotic massage, complements of the Hutt Cartel." the redhead replied dryly, her gaze now entertained with data at hand - "They said you needed it."
The truth was - Tionne was probably the most intelligent being in radius of several hundred thousand lightyears. And here he was, asking her a third grade science quiz question. Of course she knew. But not only geophysics, but thermodynamics, astrophysics, quantum mechanics. Thanewulf understood reality on a very profound and exact level, far beyond anyone whom Amadis probably met. This gave her a sense of instant superiority she had very hard time controlling, especially around those who supposedly held some authority. And that male grin of his. It was so perfect, on his perfectly symmetric masculine face. If only she could wipe it off, preferably with a punch.

Suddenly, the smirk disappeared from Tionne's pale face, her head now turning to the officer.
"Are you seeing what I am seeing? There is no visible subduction in the litosphere." she stated, while the officer confirmed it with a nod.
"There is no fault or rift in that area to begin with; the entire area is atop the middle of a continental plate."
Tionne leaned out of the screen and eyed the Jedi master beside her, visage void of any signs of prior jest. A completely different person.
"It's not an earthquake. It's an explosion."

[member="Kei Amadis"]

 

[Kei Amadis]

Sharp tongue, took a lot to rattle him. Kei was used to being ribbed on by the techs or more especially the pilots, arms still crossed he scratched his chin, in slower more deliberate strokes while she spoke, but you can bet that confident front never left him. What was with it red heads and the way they stole the room? Sadly he was well and truly taken by one already, but none of that mattered when she said the word explosion.

“A bomb, under the city?” One of the others nearby said disbelievingly, seeming to doubt her findings at first, “surely its just a by-product of instability from the local….” Off he trailed into technical jargon, even as she spoke, trying to talk over the top of Tio. He wasn’t stupid the Quarren debating with her, he was the one who had initially laid this out as an earthquake, but he was ultimately wrong, his pride just wouldn't let him see it as so.

Kei could see the doubt, he didn’t need to understand the words, the Jedi Master seemed to be waiting for answers to come to him. Silently continuing to watch, until he’d heard enough.

“Connect me to the city.” No other concern but for those lives at stake.

“That’ll just take a second.” Their comms office began to pull up a representative on the ground.

“Time is essential.” He breathed out a heavy tension, letting himself prepare, he was already ready to move.

The ground they looked at was a mess, the view showed water up to the responding man's elbows. Behind people being floated away on makeshift beds, one or two hoverbeds but mostly this was just thrown together light synthetic compounds, wood, or anything that would take their weight and float, the flowing currents moving against them were just making it harder.

“Commander, tell your men to watch for signs of hesitation of being helped, for someone hiding their eyes, those heading into trouble not away for it.” Amadis insisted

“What? Were pretty busy….. can’t spare anyone for a manhunt in this.” The bewildered man on the ground, cuts and bruises to his forehead on clear display, had no way of mounting a search party let alone security checkpoints in the middle of this.

“I know, do your best, were on the way, help’s coming.” Kei felt this wasn’t over, that and they still had a city or two to save, if this was an attack they hadn't yet completed their objective, and at that moment he was all action. Grabbing his pack from nearby, everyone was hurrying out, “thank you.” The Epicanthix looked back to Tionne at a pause, seriously meaning it for the work she'd just done, “we could use your help again.” With that he joined the many men and women jogging off toward the shuttles that were filling up or leaving.

[member="Tionne Thanewulf"]​

 

[Zonia Kalranoos]

"You do know how much I enjoy the prospect of certain death." came the wry reply as Thanewulf immediatelly followed Amadis and his personell who were about to descend to the surface. His troops were well trained and loyal, but there was no guarantee how they would act once they see what awaits down below. Tionne saw her share of natural disasters and war, where the sight of dismembered, dead bodies was not uncommon. Judging by the span of damage, casualties would be counted in tens of thousands, if not in hundreds of thousands. For the red-maned Jedi, this was not a rescue, but a salvaging mission; it was virtually impossible to save most inhabitants. Tionne knew she would have to chose whom to pull from the water; a child, an adult or the elderly. The very thought of acting as judge of life and death made the Hapan cringe. Amadis, on the other side, didn't seem to have this philosophical dilemma. The mind of a soldier, one would say, was far more instinctual.

"We'll need to establish extraction points, on the perimeter of the affected area. Have your men and women organize into smaller groups for the purpose of helping those in water reach high ground. Once we pile them up atop towers and the like, shuttles will pick them up." she suggested as both of them entered one of the transports and strapped in for takeoff. The engines were fired up and the crafts began levitating from the hangar floor. That particular moment always made Thanewulf somewhat queasy.

"Don't rely on them having any form of boats or other floatation devices. We'll have to improvise to make rafts. All will become clear when we get there." she reassured him, knowing how much Amadis valued preparation.
"As for the cause of this... Allow me to investigate. You cannot expend any men. Troops will be stretched thin as it is."

[member="Kei Amadis"]

 

[Kei Amadis]

Although he was used it, you never really got used to this, their takeoff wasn’t smooth or overly kind. The old imperial assault shuttlecraft the wildcards used were always pushed beyond what they could really do or their safety limits, when people needed them the risks were tolerated by experienced and sadly now aging pilots who knew what they could do, even if their reflexes were no longer the sharpest at times. If Tionne had been a member of the republic for any length of time, markings of republic design or equipment were visible here and there, even if most of it had been replaced or redone, very old now and piled up with the regular ad hoc equipment.

“Thank you, take her advice.” Kei nodded firmly to Tionne, considering a rescue plan himself, as were others, but he recognized talent or ability when he saw it. Inside the shuttles they began to prepare the rafts ahead of time, which would likely safe lives, he was increasingly glad she was here. Horizon ahead of them, the shuttle was buffeted as they made toward their traditional if somewhat unceremonious landing, which was certainly little better than their take off. Nobody aboard made much of a deal of it, holding on and ready, they were already out and helping as soon as the doors came down, boots hitting water mere seconds later.

The shuttles landed at different areas of the cities, Kei and Tionne touched down aboard a tall open structure, probably some executives docking bay at one time, now without power it was much like a glorified shelf to hold the ships. Setting the camp as close to the water as they could, while remaining on solid ground, a risk but a calculated one to assist people more quickly, "Establish communications to all areas of the cites as priority, coordinate it through here.”

A holomap was laid out across a makeshift table, people crowding around, “Work in platoon strength,” which meant 5 small squads of 6, “check ins every fifteen minutes, field medical centers here, here and here.” He looked up at the gathered men, some in their thirties one or two in their forties now, sure there were new recruits too but he didn’t need to tell the officers anymore, they knew their job as well as he did by this point.

“Get those rafts out there," He encouraged people deploying what Tionne had suggested, giving her an all-business look, his voice was carrying and steady, the thirty year old Jedi Master was in his element, but she was the one that was going to make or break today. “Counting on you to find out what happened, an escort is coming with you,” Kei said to Tionne, he was insistent, 6 of his best, and the Epicanthix wasn't going to take no for answer, he was twice as stubborn as she was.

[member="Tionne Thanewulf"]​

Shuttles used:

Spoiler

7x Gamma Class Assault Shuttle - Boarding and Transport Craft
10x Droch class boarding craft - Smaller 6 man boarding craft.