Smoke On The Water [Galactic Alliance Dominion of Bestine]

[Connor Harrison]

Objective: B – Fleet
Location: Take out pirates.
Allies Up Above: The Galactic Alliance - [member="Nubica Felidae"] | [member="Coren Starchaser"] | [member="Odelia Starchaser"] | [member="Sven Tolen"] | [member="Dex Bastion"] | [member="Tionne Thanewulf"] | [member="Cambria Zadira"]
Enemies: Space Pirates
Post: #5 / 20

The explosion seemed to come from nowhere, rippling up and over and through the pirate vessel, temporarily blinding Dax, pulling up to avoid flying into the streaming debris and fire.

”Yeah – that got ‘em!”

Levelling out and making a full circle sweep above the craft as it went down, looking over the side of the cockpit, the rugged pilot noted a formation of three pirate craft coming in. He pushed on to come in and around the trio, finger ready on the trigger of his yolk to take them out.

The first reign of fire caught the left, spiralling out into the water below. The middle pulled up and the right banked hard, splitting up and leaving Dax in the front as the both circled around to end up behind him.

”Hm, your fault Dax.”

Best course of action was to play a dangerous game of tag between the high cranes and towers of the dock they were in, something that would hopefully buy him time to shake them off, cause them to crash or disorientate them to gain the upper hand.

 

[Danger Arceneau]

Arceneau Trade | Pharma Tech | Browncoat Industries
Tusken Island
Tusken Rift
3/20

Kolto was a liquid known for its healing abilities. It was found in the water of the oceanic planet Manaan, with a significant concentration near the Hrakert Rift along with other underwater chasms. It was considered a valuable commodity during the Jedi Civil War, but its significance was lost over time, being replaced in favor of bacta. During the Galactic Civil War, the effectiveness of kolto was considered to be less than bacta, but some historians have suggested that it may have been more powerful.

There had already been successful attempts at transplanting Kolto in other water worlds. With consideration and collaboration with Selkath researchers, there was hope that such an establishment would be successful on Bestine. Special consideration was to be done within the region of the farm itself. At over 100 kilometers in radius, the underwater land bought by Arceneau trade was to be surrounded by a special underwater barrier, much like those used for the Gungan underwater cities.

This time around, the research on Bestine’s natural fauna and flora would also have to coincide with what they were doing. After all… they were to bring a juvenile progenitor for the successful growth of the kolto beds. How that would affect the natural food chain and the nearby aquatic life was crucial.

 

[Chevu Visz]

Objective: D, do my own thing
Allies: nada
Enemies: nada
1/20

Passersby might have wondered exactly what that young Mirialan woman was doing, crouching in the streets of the capital city of Bestine, her palms flattened to the ground. Chevu Visz was tracking her quarry, using the Force. Using the telemetry that she'd learned from Coren Starchaser, she was trying to pick up impressions and traces of a being who commonly walked these streets, and where he might have been headed.

She picked up vestiges of the Force along with a name, "Master Thegas." The last spot of information was a darkened tunnel, lit only by a cone of light from a hole up above. A sewer, obviously. Sith me. I forgot to pack my sludge-proof boots today. Panning her gaze through the streets, her eyes landed on a manhole cover. Squinting, she used the Force to pry it open and move it aside so that she could descend.

Chevu made her way through the darkened tunnel with only her lightsaber to guide her, stopping every now and then to touch the wall. It seemed like she was going the right way. In this sense, the Force was seldom wrong.

 

[Coren Starchaser]

9/20
Space
[member="Cambria Zadira"]
[member="Valiens Nantaris"]
[member="Dax Ragnar"]
[member="Odelia Starchaser"]

Pushing the engines, Coren heard his automated guns finding purchase in the hull of not one, but two different fighters. Good sign. He spin the ship and activated the ion cannon, firing several blasts at fighters, scrambling them and knocking them out of the fight. Engines to full, he was nodding as Nantaris spoke back over the comlink.

It was always good to have friends. They could get rid of these pirates and get Bestine secure for the upcoming campaign.

“You’re good, sis, just need you keeping up with me is all.” He laughed as he dove the fighter and banked, whipping the ship back towards the landing craft. “Gotta give those landers some cover.” Two flights were incoming.

Tiburon squadron was getting their act together as Dax and Cambria entered the fray. Coren was moving his targeting system onto the fighters, waiting for good tone. And when he had that lovely sound, he launched an ion pulse rocket right to the flight.

 

[Peyton Steele]

BYOO
10/20


She could see the shadows in the mirror, and was waiting for the right person, the one that would be obvious that she needed to find. She wasn’t sure which one it was, as a group had just stepped in, but there was a tremor in the way the cantina was behaving. People tightened up their act, voices became a little hushed. That was a clear statement that it was showtime for the blonde.

Even the bartender was a bit calmer now, and he was going to be her in. When the team came up to the bar, she was watching her bartender’s eyes. He was watching everyone, but he looked to Peyton really fast and then back out, and there was only one person worth noticing out that way. She was taking note in the mirror and sipping on her beer.

Alright, so, snatch and grab? That meant she was going to need to lure him away… Or take down everyone in the bar. Which was it going to be, Peyton?

 

[Danger Arceneau]

Arceneau Trade | Pharma Tech | Browncoat Industries
Tusken Island
Tusken Rift
4/20

It was with plenty of irony that operations for the research and development was dubbed Tusken. Irony or not, this was to be the base of operations for Arceneau Trade Company. Down beyond the coast, under the glistening blue waves, was a massive under water rift. The deep underwater valley sunk in a steep incline in some sections, while in others it tapered off. It's depths would require the extensive charting, not only of the wildlife but of how far it went.

The first expedition would leave shortly, leaving Danger and Aeri to discuss with a local engineer about scientific and research buildings to construct. Truth be told, however, as the Queen of Trade would go over the designs, she had a thought that perhaps Judah Dashiell would have been a better point of contact.

The temptation to call upon him was strong, but for the moment, she pleasantly smiled at Veikso Dar's proposal.

 

[Meeristali Peradun]

Objective A: Accost ringleaders; snag H'kig Book of Laws
Location: In da streetz
Allies: [member="Jacen Voidstalker"] | [member="Tionne Thanewulf"] | [member="Judah Lesan"] | The Galactic Alliance
Enemies: H'kig Radicals
Post: 5/20

Meers glanced sidelong at the other Hound plunking down beside him a moment or two after he had, himself. The ginger was again the topic of conversation, but the Felacatian just wasn't having any more of that hair-brained woman putting their operation at risk. His mouth formed a thin, firm line, the pockmarks on his face puckering with the shift of the musculature underneath. After a handful of seconds, a sharp breath came out his nose, and he shook his head.

"To be fair, Jace, she did say something along the lines of 'don't attempt to save my ass', and followed that up with an order to 'run'," a corner of his mouth twitched, "and being honest..."

He shot a glance back down the street, behind himself.

"...I'm half-convinced that woman's going to get us killed with her own foolishness," he said, grimacing, "not that everyone else on this planet isn't trying to do the same with bolts. Besides, she seems confident that she can take care of herself."

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

Objective A: Accost ringleaders; snag H'kig Book of Laws
Location: In da streetz
Allies: [member="Meeristali Peradun"] | [member="Tionne Thanewulf"] | [member="Judah Lesan"] | The Galactic Alliance
Enemies: H'kig Radicals

Jacen took a moment to consider this. If they tarried much longer in the streets the ringleaders would use the rolling street battle as the distraction they needed to escape. Judah had dealt with the gunmen up on their left, Tionne those on the right, Jacen had dealt with the repeater nest. It was time to make their way to the five story building at the far end of the street.

"Let's press on," Jacen said with a small nod. Saber in hand, the look of consternation was replaced by one of serenity as he immersed his consciousness in the Force. No more time for thinking things through, now he needed to react.

The tell-tale snap-hiss preluded Voidstalker shifting into motion. He turned and cleared the turned over air speeder in one smooth motion, not even aware of his hands moving the blade to turn a stray bolt aside. Eyes focused on the target and his limbs moved with unnatural speed as he ran.

 

[Nubica Felidae]

Post=[15/20]​

Objective: Rid Bestine of pirates
Allies: None
Enemies: Pirates…

"Two, report status."

"All clear," her wing-man said.

"Let's see how clear we can get. Coming up to join you." She pointed her nose up and climbed.

In seconds, her compatriot joined her from points east. If anything, he looked worse than before, with laser scoring all along the starboard side of his fuselage. His cockpit was now looking badly damaged; his ship couldn't hit very high speeds without risking a blow-out.

Her lightboard suddenly showed two fuzzy blips moving toward them. Within moments they resolved themselves into clouds of smaller blips, two entire flights. In the distance, she could see the running lights of the incoming ships; they were closer to one another than they were to her, but they would be on the Alliance pilots within seconds.

The tactical part of her mind, calculated odds and strategy. The answer wasn't good. Even if they could have ordinarily managed twelve-to-one odds, their equipment was too badly damaged to let them compete at full strength. Nor did they have time to run. Even if they punched out, experience had shown that the enemy pilots could spot them and were willing to shoot them out of the air.

She suppressed a pang of regret. “Guess we're just going to have to rack up some numbers." Despite her best effort, her voice was heavy.

"Understood, boss." Her wingman stayed tight to her. Then, on her lightboard, one of the two clouds of ships looped toward the other, and the comm board was suddenly active with traffic — one of the groups was clearly Alliance fighters!

 

[EmKay]

OBJECTIVE: BYO - MEDITATE ON THE DAY
LOCATION: THE ANS LIBERATOR STAR DESTROYER
[13/20, fin]

---

He was done today. Or had it been days? Tachon assumed that since the battle was still ongoing below, that he had not been underwater for more than a few hours. It felt like an eternity. He was tired. Now he sat in the hangar, cross-legged and leaned against his Firespray. His spirit was too unsettled to meditate and relax, he needed time to unwind. He let out a long sigh, opened his eyes, and looked down to his hands. His eyes traced over tattoos decorating his palms. As he followed the details, electricity danced along his palm and then dissipated harmlessly. Zur-Ksi's brow furrowed, and he wondered at what it meant. Did he absorb some kind of power down there? He'd have to test that... as soon as he knew how to control the Force in that way.

Tachon closed his eyes again, leaned back, and let himself relax enough to pass out.

 

[Judah Dashiell]

[member="Graaf Zalec"]
Post : ....err...4?5?/20


"How close? If I had to estimate, maybe a fourth of a nautical kilometer or so. If you follow the bubble trail up we should be close by, can't really miss the giant boat."


Boat. Giant barge full of equipment and underwater base pieces. Same difference. Another section of the base went under, most likely a section for the good Doctor's medical bay. He had to admit there was some great thinking ahead, pre-planning out the medical bay. With Bestine's position close to the Sith it could be a critical waypoint for injured personnel.


"Not sure if we have anything decent to eat up here....Spear some fi-.."


Words were cut short with the mention of pirates in the area. Pirates? They had been expecting trouble but only from the locals. Sharp blue eyes scanned their current location. Out in the open, sitting around like big floating targets.Cursing under his breath, it only took a moment to realize they didn't have enough troops to stave off a large scale attack.


"Immediately start sinking the sections,now. Just start pouring them overboard, we can recover them later..."


Better than getting blown up. Water sprayed all around the barge as huge sections were dumped. Air support for the pirates seemed to arrive, spraying the area with fire, designed to distract. Distract indeed, judging by the other boat pulling into view quickly, aimed straight for the group. Fire opened on the GA side in an attempt to stop any attack short.

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

They gathered around the windows of the ground floor. The din of battle was overwhelming now. Their shouts were barely audible as they called targets, or shouted for more power packs. The Jedi were advancing down the street towards them, but they would fight to the last for the gods of the Netherlands. The time of reckoning was close.

The heavy metal door suddenly rattled in its hinges. Two more times there was an alright crash, as if a giant was hammering on it. They turned to each other in confusion. Another great thud resounded and the walls started to crack around the door.

Then it erupted from its mountings, flying across the room to slam into the other wall. Ever so slowly it tipped forwards, throwing up a billowing cloud of dust as it came to rest.

"Guns down please," came a quiet call from the doorway. That Jedi stood there, not even holding his saber.

"Kill the unbeliever!" one of the fanatics shouted in their native tongue. Yet instead there was a clatter as all the weapons suddenly slammed to the floor, pulled by unseen forces.

"Right, that's much more civil," Jacen said as he stepped through the murk.

 

[Chevu Visz]

Objective: D, do my own thing
Allies: nada
Enemies: nada
2/20

There were many places that Chevu would rather be than in a sewer on Bestine, but her curiosity got the better of her. Her former Master often talked of a Galandan Jedi Master who knew how to use the Force as an explosive object, almost like a bomb. Before Master Oomomo died, he told her to seek out this Master and learn the power from him. If he deemed her worthy enough, he would teach her. According to the Oomomo, the man made his home on the streets of capital of the star of Bestine, and was quite an enigmatic recluse these days. Master Thegas used Morichro to keep his body alive for uncommonly long periods of time, a year or longer, without food or water. Periodically he would come out of the trance to eat or drink, but otherwise, the Galadan was seldom seen.

A pair of indignant jerbwats scurried by her feet, squeaking in annoyance, as Chevu waded through the toxic muck that was their home. The Mirialan Knight was close to Master Thegas; she could feel him in the Force. The Galandan was supposedly a good friend of Master Oomomo's before he disappeared off the grid. At the very least, even if Chevu couldn't learn the power from him, she could inform him of Oomomo's passing so it wouldn't be a wasted trip.

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

[SIZE=14.6667px]The second floor was less receptive to the concept of surrender. Blaster fire lit up the stairwell as they made a desperate bid to hold the building. A quiet chirp in Jacen’s ear confirmed that the religious leaders were heading towards the rooftop to escape to the next building. If they made it to an airspeeder in all this confusion, they’d likely escape. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]Rather than waste time trying to break through the narrow stairwell, Jacen returned to the first room. The tip of his saber made short work of the material that separated the two levels. With a touch of Force assistance he leapt up to the next level. Standing on the lip of the whole his saber deflected a few stray bolts as they tried to realign into new defensive positions. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]His features were set in a grim look of determination. He wouldn’t be deterred now, not when so much hinged on events here. He could feel it. Even as he continued his inexorable advance, saber weaving a complex dance of protection before him. What happened in the next few minutes shaped the course of the region for into the future. [/SIZE]

 

[Danger Arceneau]

Arceneau Trade | Pharma Tech | Browncoat Industries
Tusken Island
Tusken Rift
5/20

Danger was no fool to do this alone. If anything Silk Holdings had a market on Kolto, and if there were any experts in the fields on how to make this grow and be a success it was Silk itself along with Selka Ventus. So when opportunity came to expand on Bestine with a new Kolto production facility, Danger knew she had to get the best of the best.

At a share of Forty-Nine percent of the profits for [member="Selka Ventus"], the offer was made to gather her experience in ensuring Arceneau's venture into a small Kolto facility along the rift off Tusken Island.

Danger had yet to hear back from Selka, but she was a busy woman. As it was, much still had to go into planning to ensure everything went along smoothly for the construction of the underwater facilities.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Danger Arceneau"]

Selka went back a ways with Danger. The redhead had been the one to wake her up on Rudrig at the end of her long coma and impersonation. That had been the day she'd woken up to learn that she was the CEO of Silk Holdings -- a position she'd then done her best to fill, until circumstances moved her along. And the day before that -- months, objectively -- she'd been drowning in Ahto City, victim of the Republic's insanity.

A quick and friendly reply was sent, indicating that Selka and her Manaani associates -- Selkath, secret members of the Order of Shasa -- would be pleased to provide whatever technical support was required. Included in that response was the tentative assurance that htey would be able to secure the services of an ancient Firaxa shark from one of the many Selkath colony worlds. The Progenitor had been captured and murdered by the One Sith (a very long story); Manaan's own kolto supply relied on younger, but still ancient, Firaxa imported from the colonies. Kolto, after all, couldn't be produced without ancient, wise Firaxa. Plenty of good clean ocean space would be required for convincing the Firaxa to help. Bestine IV, however, had that in spades.

 

[Peyton Steele]

11/20

Peyton had a choice to make, and it was actually relatively easy. She couldn’t take down the whole bar, but what she could do was set up a situation for sabotage outside. She needed a partner in the worst of ways here, but for now? She would have to make do. If she could set up a fight? That’d make things a bit easier.

It was time to bait someone. Getting to her feet and sauntering across the bar, there was one rough and tumble guy. Making eyes at someone else one of those white knights, you know the type, always worried about the girl and never their own story, she winked at him when she made a faux-surprised look.
“Don’t touch me like that!” She shouted, splashing her drink in the man’s face, as he got to his feet, and the rest of the men in the bar saw him. As if on cue, a man came to her side to see if she was okay, and Peyton made an exasperated ‘he grabbed me’ call, as the man’s friends stood up. Just what she needed. Good. The shoving soon erupted harder.

Making her way to the back of the bar, she activated her shock stick. “You’re coming with me, bud.”

 

[Danger Arceneau]

Arceneau Trade | Pharma Tech | Browncoat Industries
Tusken Island
Tusken Rift
6/20

A small beep came from her datapad. With a small motion to excuse herself, Danger brought it up to review the incoming message. A smile would draw over her lips as she read the information therein. Selka would not only offer her consolation, but would also ensure the assistance of the Order of the Shasa to aide with procuring and convincing an elder Firxa to help with the kolto production.

Pleased, Danger once again drew her attention towards the architect. "Please do continue....would you happen to ensure the design coincides with green technology?" the last thing she needed was for any poisoning of the ocean she was trying hard to ensure remained clean for the Frixa.

 

[Nubica Felidae]

Post=[16/20]​

Objective: Rid Bestine of pirates
Allies: None
Enemies: Pirates…

The sky between the two flights of ships, not so distant now, was suddenly lit up by lasers and ball-shaped explosions. A moment later there was no way to distinguish between the enemies and allies on the lightboard; they had merged into a single firefight.

"Two, we're going home," Nubica said. “This is One, base, we’re heading back. And to those still fighting? Confusion to your enemies."

It was hours later, the darkest and quietest hours of the night, when she exited the debriefing and found a few pilots waiting outside the room.

They nodded and wordlessly she followed them to the pilot’s common room. Someone was already lounging on a sofa, another had his feet up on a small table, a brightly colored datapad, of the sort usually optimized for children's games, on his lap. His slicked-back hair suggested he'd recently had a bath, and his fresh clothes made her long to be rid of the sweat-drenched garments she was wearing. Her wing man was similarly scrubbed, though his tunic was off to show a half-dozen places where his torso and arms were bandaged.

She blinked at them. "I'm sorry," she said. "I seem to have interrupted a party."

“No interruption. For a Jedi well…you’re OK. From now on, this room is also your room. You were…OK out there.”

She grinned. It was nice to feel welcomed.

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

They ran as fast as they could. The weathered steps were treacherous, but the Jedi was on the ground floor now and still coming up. They had hoped that in all the confusion of street battles breaking out all across the town that they could have escaped. Yet the determination of this Jedi seemed to know no bounds.

The increase in the din of battle was a welcome sound. They were near the roof now, just one more floor to…There was a slowly increasing hum, then the Jedi appeared before them, framed in the window. Somehow he had made an impossible leap up the side of the building to cut them off.

Their last guard fired and for just a moment the religious leaders felt hope. The Jedi rocked on his heels as he parried two bolts and it seemed he would fall to his death. It was not to be. One hand shot out to grasp the edge of the window, drawing him in.

That hand came out again and the blasters held by their honour guard went flying out the window behind him.

“Stand down,” the Jedi growled. He held his ground, the tip of his saber pointed out towards them. His armour was battered, dented and scorched, his face a match covered in grime and blood. The H’kig raised their hands.