The Saqqar Is That? [Black Sun Dominion of Saqqar]

[Ariella Garon]

<Zeta team on route to surface to meet with the ice mining guild, happy times ladies and gents>

Turning back to her small team, mainly of hire mercy. Not her being some pretty face. Wondering what they would come to find once they reach their target. In a way this did make her curious they would find. Also not liking some of the mercenaries that they had found.

"Well, well a woman that likes to get straight to it.", with a smile that would show that half his teeth gone.
"Look here I'm here for the Black Sun, lets not dance around this table.", looking out the same way to each of them. Taking out something from her pocket. With sitting down to keep her own weapons of choice ready at a second notice. "Where do we start at , we got the man power you got something that might be worth to us.", As she started to scan the area around to see what they would be looking at or at less a lay out of the place maybe.

[member="Domino"] [member="Blitz"] [member="Freynk Porkins"][member="Ordan Vosk"] @Xyra Rahn

 

[Freynk Porkins]

[member="Domino"]

Freynk snorted at Domino's quip and briefly forgot he was in a flying tin can surrounded by vacuum enroute to a bigger tin can surrounded by vacuum. He checked his suit seals and grabbed his duffel bag sized toolkit. He had worked in a factory for a long time after leaving the Imps and for once he would know what was going on...kind of. The shuttle docked with the station and Freynk moved to the airlock to exit onto the station.
"I've got near zero G readings out there." he said over the Artemis suit comms, "nobody jump to hard ok."

 

[Krenis Skirata]

Xyra gave a short nod at the comment from [member="Blitz"] about not looking for their own interests. She didn't really have that problem. Rather, her problem was not having any interests to further, which she briefly grumbled about. It was a problem with working as hired muscle. You really don't get paid very well. Especially when it involves tangling with Jedi and then having to pay medical insurance. One would think that a galaxy tat has had Jedi around for as long as it has would have had better insurance for dealing with them.

 

[Blitz]

Even inside the mountain, the air was chilled from the permafrost that layered the landscape outside. The breath from his lips was not only a mixture of the chemical smoke from his deathstick, but also from the heat of his breath meeting the bitter chill of the hangar in which they walked. Gloved digits tugged on the tuxedo vest, making sure the image appeared straight as he moved along through the corridor. His furry little brother Krieg had already wrapped his tail around Amaul's neck as he tried to curl up against the thick hairs of his rotund afro. Krieg didn't like the cold anymore than Blitz did, but they'd both weather this for the meeting. Trailing him just to each flank, two Zabraks - his brother Ofta and new sister Xyra. Sneaker foot falls clipped a heel-toe staccato along the lighted pathway that led up to blast shielded doors with an ident scanner to the right, and a camera above.

Halting just feet from the large barricade, Blitz tilted his head up, his glasses reflecting the lens of the camera as both hands hooked into the pants pockets of his trousers. He said nothing as he stared at the camera above, not bothering to reach for the ident scanner. He had no tags here, no identification for the miners to check against their records. He also didn't need them since they knew where this motley crew was coming from. For the moment he kept his posture before his head lowered, and he turned his gaze back to Xyra with a small smile on his face.

"Open Sesame." As if on command, the large blast doors began to grumble and move, stirring icy dust in their wake as they parted to reveal the inner workings of the mining facility. This was the operational entrance for the mining corporation, while the service entrance was down on the ground floor, as the tunnels that carved further downwards housed the frozen water they were exporting. Turning back, Blitz moved forward as Krieg perked up and felt the rush of warmer air greet the party as Amaul strode forward. Once Ofta, Xyra and himself were nestled inside the operational control station for the miners, the doors behind them slid shut, sealing in the warmer temperatures that were more conducive to holo-desk jockeys who ran the mining equipment that was stationary. The managers of this facility were short and pale faced with rounded heads void of hair, and dark beady eyes. No more than four feet tall, and dressed in light blue clothing.

"Welcome to the Saqqar Mines. I am Illid, chief operator. We understand that your organization is interested in our mining facility and product?" The shorter fellow mentioned as he stepped up to his desk before them, and drew up some flimsi documents that he would normally let people that were buying their product sign for delivery.

A string of smoke slid like a snake up into the air as Blitz didn't even budge with the greeting. The black shiny gloss of his digital glasses remained void of any entertaining pixels. There was nothing to indicate he was even listening, but he certainly was. He was listening to everything in that entire office. Catching glimpses of all the screens, the other operators that were busy making adjustments to the large drills that bored into the planet to draw up the rings of ice that they crafted into sell-able blocks several hundred tons in weight. He saw it all at once, and in every piece of it, he saw potential. This was his favorite part of the game.

"You're gonna need a lot more where that came from. The delivery order we're placing...is a bit larger." Blitz said in a smooth and quiet drawl. His steps took him a few feet closer as he slid the flimsi document back to the chief operator with one gloved digit. "Think...all encompassing. Ya dig?"

[member="Xyra Rahn"]

 

[Seris Vant]

[member="Ordan Vosk"]

Cypher ordered off the Barab from the mission. His limp leg was a liability to everyone there. And they last thing they needed was someone to slow them down in a hostile freezing environment. Once that matter was settled he continued on with Ordan to the hanger. It wasn't very large on this ship but it could hold enough for the transports. Cypher propped a leg up on the ships deck as the team filed aboard. One of his attaches passed him his cold weather gear which he threw on in along the front bulkhead. "So Vosk, you ever been to an ice world before"?

 

[Akanias]

The assassin's ship dropped out of hyperspace just as he was expecting it to. He was a member of the Black Sun, and he opened his channel frequencies to those that were attuned to the Black Sun's, and once he was ready, he walked to the communications array and sat down in the swivel chair.

"This is Blackhand, wondering where you need me."

[member="Rayl Wilded"], [member="Blitz"], @Xyra Rahn, [member="Freynk Porkins"], [member="Ariella"]

 

[Ordan Vosk]

...when Ordan saw attaches pass Cypher his cold weather gear he'd have immediately thought he was a tad under dressed for their excursion and the question that found its way to his ears next only caused the man to further doubt his own attire which wasn't exactly outfitted for the weather this planet might have had to offer. Looking over Ordan would have shrugged his shoulders before replying..."Well to be honest I always spent just a little bit more time on temperate worlds."...or those that were considered arid, hot even, but none of that would help if they were about to embark down onto an ice planet...

...maybe he should have followed his mission briefing a bit more closely. As he looked around the hangar Ordan would have eventually spoken up again..."Alright I'll bite. Any chance I can get a little bit extra too?"...he meant the cold weather outfit of course seeing as how the man had no intention of traveling down to the planets surface just so that he could freeze himself about a half dozen different shades of purple. By now Ordan had noticed it was just himself and Cypher as well, the Barab had been ordered off the mission, but he wasn't extremely concerned seeing as how he'd brought a big gun that would handle any big problems they might have encountered on the surface...

...of course this excursion wasn't about combat it was an exploration mission where the hope was that they could determine the purpose of these strange towers that Cypher had mentioned earlier in the briefing. Well if nothing else Ordan would be able to work on his investigation skills as well as relative situational awareness. After all one never knows exactly what could be encountered on the surface...

..."What do you think these towers we're going to look at were for?"...he was curious and Cypher had proven to be an intelligent man in the past which meant that Ordan valued his insight on matters such as these. He'd move up onto the deck of the transport after asking his question, bringing his LMG with him still propped over his shoulder, before turning around to await his comrade for this mission with a stoic expression. He was quick with a smirk or grin much of the time but all this had gotten Ordan thinking and now he was actually starting to become interested in what they were doing...​

​

[member="Rayl Wilded"]

 

[Krenis Skirata]

Xyra followed in after [member="Blitz"], glad to be warm finally, or at least warmer here in the hangar, and she returned his smile, and then returned her face to the neutral position it had been in before, imitating the expressions she had seen on diplomat's and political faces on the Holonet before. She glanced around the control center once they were in, looking for threats. There didn't appear to be any worth noticing. That didn't mean she wasn't paying attention, She was. Very close attention. She just didn't see any threat from these managers. So, she stood next to, and slightly behind Blitz, hands behind her back, waiting for their response.

 

[Freynk Porkins]

[member="Blitz"] [member="Astraios Blackhand"] [member="Ordan Vosk"] @Xyra Rahn

The plasma cutters burned their way through the jammed door that led from the hanger into the station's main corridor access. With a slight push at the end of the cut Freynk sent the door inward as it floated slowly before finally hitting the deck.

"We're in." He said as he killed the cutter and put it in his duffle bag sized tool kit. "Some should head to engineering and maybe someone should look for the station's mainframe? I don't know just no one do anything stupid like tear their suit."

Freynk walked through the door and turned toward the engineering area.

 

[Domino]

"Excellent." She said as [member="Freynk Porkins"] cleared the door. "I'll take the mainframe and see if the computer can't tell us where it needs fixing." Stepping through herself, she gave an extra strong push off as she crossed the threshold which sent her in a gliding arc just above the station's floor until the micro gravity pulled her to a sliding stop. "Lets see..." Ah, lifts were over to the right. Drifting over to them she waved a hand and pulled them open with the force. Empty shaft, okay.

Looking up, her halogens shined up into the yawing abyss of the shaft, down, and there was the elevator three levels away. "Much better." she muttered in the confines of her helmet. Drifting down to it's roof, she pulled out one of her sabers and was about to cut her way in when she saw the emergency hatch. Feeling silly, she gave the handle a tug, popping the hatch. Once inside she got the deck listing for where they all needed to go.

"Alright, Engineering is deck three, control is on deck seven, and the mainframe is on six. We, meaning everyone still on the hanger level, are on deck four." Looking back up the shaft, she couldn't help but add, "And remember, nobody turn the gravity back on until I give the go-ahead."

 

[Seris Vant]

[member="Ordan Vosk"] [member="Ariella"]


"If I really had any idea I wouldn't set foot on Snowquar. Fact is I don't though. But I've hope its some kind of planetary defense system. Seems logical given they're spread out the way they are. If it is, well, useful tech for us. If not, we find out and hope its advantageous and if it wasn't the cold, that its not what killed that dead civilization". Cypher climbed aboard. All who was coming was aboard was on. The pilot wasted no time in blasting off as soon as the door was sealed. They took off into the void of space, colder than the world itself. It was down there they needed to worry about.

On World

Snow blew about in a torrent as the shuttle touched down. The door flew open to the bitter cold and wasteland. The tower wasn't far off. It took up his whole view in in fact. Rayl braced his gear tighter round his face. "Alright men" crackled through the comms. "I want way in, get me a scan for anything, if not, make a hole".

 

[Ordan Vosk]

[member="Rayl Wilded"] [member="Ariella"]

​

...by the time the Shuttle had touched down on Saqqar he had dressed himself in some makeshift thermal gear to replace his lack of attire after Rayl, Cypher as Ordan knew him, had made a point to inform the man that the world was cold. Usually Ordan didn't mind a bit of cold weather but this was different, the world itself was cold, and he didn't want to be carried back to the shuttle as an icicle. Dressed in thermal gear that sealed him against the environment with a mask and goggles covering his face, a comms piece attached to his ear, he'd have stood at the door of the shuttle when it opened to the wasteland and welcomed the bitter cold inside causing him to raise one of his hands and shield himself from a blast of frigid wind...

...when Rayl came over the comms he'd have have listened before answering..."Roger that."...before heading out from the shuttle and taking a few men with him. As he moved out onto the wasteland his boots would be heard crunching into snow, leaving indentations where he moved, while Ordan himself was looking ahead at the massive tower that stretched across his view causing the man to tilt his head backwards momentarily so that he could look all the way towards the top. "Damn big."...he'd have muttered to himself before he continued moving ahead. He'd brought his LMG with him, held it cradled across his chest with the butt resting in the crevice of his right arm, incase they encountered any resistance but thus far Ordan couldn't make heads or tails of much of this....

...Ordan didn't have much in the way of a scanner, one of the men with him was carrying one though, and as they came closer to the tower he'd start to look for any sign of an entrance. There wasn't a lot to work with though. No doors that Ordan. At least not without closer inspection. Unless Ariella had found something Ordan would have eventually said something along the lines of..."Looks like we'll need to make a hole."...before the looked for a section in the towers outer wall that they could breach...

...scanning the exterior of the tower would produce weak points and Ordan would have brushed aside the men with him before laying his hands on the wall. He'd have channeled the force through his body then, drawing energy into himself, before releasing it in a small burst of kinetic energy as a force push from a short distance that would impact the towards wall and crack it. Nothing to fancy. Turning to look over his shoulder then Ordan's voice would crack over the comms..."Anyone got a detonite charge?"...he thought they might be able to fit one into one of the cracks he'd made..."I think we can make a hole over here."...​

 

[Ariella Garon]

All she could do was keep her fur line insulated coat pulled up. This was for the sithspawn to freaking cold to be out here on this forsaking planet. Thinking to herself more then anything this better be worth it. Shaking her own head to herself more then anything. Next time they want to expain the black sun. Lets do it where there is sun that would sun not this blasted cold. Walking over to the tower as she give another look around. Before she could say anything for this jack behind person of the Ordan that started to rock the base trying to make a whole. "I.." it was already to late she should waited.

Being around the tower herself it was a smooth as a baby bottom. Even so she couldn't help it but know there had to be a way in to this tower. Then again how far down did it go, only the scan would tell if they could ever get a good scan of the structure. Looking through her google she just wanted to be in out of the blazing snow.

"I might not know anything about building but if we make a whole in the base of something wouldn't that weaken the structure." , as she was about to open her mouth. To have it closed as to see that one of the other men with them had what he wanted to make a whole with. "Fine but don't blame me if it comes down on our fraking head.", as she took her googles off to look at ordan straight in the eyes.

Rolling her own eyes as she let go of what she now looked up to see if there was any way to get a grappling up to the top of this tower. "Well, lets get it over with boys. Always wanting to blow things up all the time...." [member="Ordan Vosk"] [member="Rayl Wilded"]

 

[Danger Arceneau]

There was always talk of ancient ruins and the like. The possibilities of relics…

While interesting, that wasn’t what Danger Arceneau was after. No, she was after flesh. Beasts. The more exotic the better.

And if there was anything in tombs and old ruins like this, was an ample amount of beasts that she could get her boys to wrangle up to expand on her exotic beast trade.

It didn’t matter what kind her scouts would find, but the crazier the better. It meant more profit. And if she could establish a breeding house here with whatever she’d find, all the better.

 

[Freynk Porkins]

[member="Domino"]

Freynk was paying attention as he went toward the maintenance access. It would be tight in the suit but the emergency maintenance access would allow him to go from floor to floor safely enough. He popped the hatch and stepped on to the ladder slowly. Not looking down was a good idea in the dark tube as he climbed down to the third deck and opened the hatch.

"I'm on deck three I'll keep you all posted as to the progress." Freynk said before he headed to find the main reactor and systems power junctions. With luck he could get the thing online this week...or sooner if you know he didn't screw it up.

 

[Seris Vant]

[member="Ariella"] [member="Ordan Vosk"]

Rayl looked about the wasteland this planet really was. Ruins, rocks and ice. Most wouldn't see this world of any use. He knew where the opportunities lie. And they were plain as the landscape was white. Saqqar would be a profitable mining world for the Suns. Even if the mineral content wasn't that great. The water was. Kind of the main reason they wanted this world anyways, people need water. Else they die. Most of them anyways. "Someone get Mr. Vosk some charges. I'm already starting to become a popsicle".

 

[Ordan Vosk]

[member="Rayl Wilded"] [member="Ariella"]

​

...when Ordan heard Arielle's response after he'd asked for some detonite he'd have turned his head to look back at her before replying..."Don't worry about it honey."...there was a bit of a sly chuckle following the comment..."This thing has stood the test of time. One hole isn't going to bring it down."...she was right to suspect it might weaken the structure, of course, but only in the same way that it might if they were actually blowing a wall on the outside of a bank meaning everything should still hold afterwards. Looking back over his shoulder afterwards Ordan would have waited to see what Rayl would have to say about the situation...

...when Rayl called for someone to get Ordan some charges he would have turned around and waited. The Wasteland stretching out around them was in his view, the cold wind whipping through the area caused his eyes to narrow, and Ordan would lift one of his hands so that he could shield himself from the wind as it dashed across his features and caused him to mutter something incomprehensible. Unlike Rayl and Domino he couldn't see the vast potential of a frozen planet like Saqqar; all Ordan saw around him was ice and rock not immediately cluing in to the fact that the ice could make for profitable trade with other worlds. It made him think of the term Ice Pirates when he did catch on...

...one of the men who'd accompanied the three of them, a nameless Black Sun henchman, would return with a few sticks of detonite and hand them over to Ordan who took them before turning back to the tower and approaching it. Using his hand he's wipe clear some of the snow that had already begun to gather since he'd made the cracks in the structure of the tower before leaning closer to take a better look. Now Ordan wasn't a demolitions expert, a fact he'd failed to mention, but he had seen it done before which meant he had second hand knowledge at the very least plus this wasn't the first bomb he'd set off either. He'd wedge one stick of detonite into a crack large enough to accommodate it and place a charge on the stick that was set for thirty seconds..."Everyone back!"...

...after he called out the warning Ordan had turned and rushed away from the side of the tower, moving back at least thirty meters, towards the shuttle they'd come on where he could take a bit of cover. The timer on the charge would count down until it reached zero and then detonate the explosives creating a loud...BOOM!...which would have shook the side of the tower, thrown debris and created a cloud of dust that filled the area directly in front of them. When the debris cleared a hole large enough for a man to fit through would have been evident and Ordan would look between Rayl and Arielle..."Well we've got our breach."...​

 

[Ariella Garon]

Listening to what [member="Ordan Vosk"] about it standing for so long one little hole in it wouldn't hurt. This cause her to roll her eyes again. Even those her body was still her this was the fastest way to get out of this better icy cold. All she could do was rubbed her own arms up then downward motion. Letting herself start to move back only to find herself take cover. Putting the hands over her ears to dampen the nose. Also still wonder if this Mr. Vosk really knew what he was doing.

Letting her eyes go smaller to see through the blowing snow that was swirling around the area. "Boy, do you feel all big bad you blow a hold in this, and amazed it still standing.", couldn't help but a little but of lip. Then again she wasn't like this when she first started working for black sun.Making a flash back when they first knew her as the old hag that knew something about communication. Surprise them to find out just what she looked like under all those old rags and make-up and wig.

Looking towards them both. don't think I"m going to be the first one in:, after which time she looked at the good size hole. More then that she looked to see if there little crack went in a spider wed kind of pattern. After the fact all done and said she wasn't the to blow the whole in the wall. It didn't have very much time but would fall another one inside in. [member="Ordan Vosk"] [member="Rayl Wilded"]

 

[Seris Vant]

[member="Ariella"] [member="Ordan Vosk"]

Well, they certainly had their way in now thanks to Vosk. Ariella seemed a little reluctant to be the first to go. If she was scared of some old tower that stood for; millennia, maybe longer. And sure they just blew a hoe in it which didn't do it any favors. But there was nothing to be fearful of. This thing wasn't going to go down from this else it already would have from the winds. "I'll be first then. Leaders lead don't they"? Not the typical case of the Underlord to jump into potential danger. But he was no regular boss, hiding behind goons an a desk. He was a dammed pirate, fought all his life. Staring danger down was all apart of his being. Cypher hopped up onto the hole they'd made. Dark inside, that's all he could tell. The outside light didn't illuminate far enough in to see anything. No wall, no floor. Must of been buried under the snow and ice, wherever the real entrance was.

Cypher knelt down and broke off a small chunk of the structure. Stone, nothing special about it. It worried him this tower may just be nothing. He lobbed the rock down, it would judge the depth. It took roughly four seconds to crash down. "Well we've something. Lets ready a cable and get down there". Rayl hopped off the edge back to the snow. One of the exploration members started hammering in a ringed spike to the stone and hooked up a cable which Rayl attached to his belt. "See you down there". Again he jumped up and leaned off the edge, a few men slowly lowered him in till he found solid footing.

[member="Freynk Porkins"] [member="Danger Arceneau"] [member="Domino"] @Xyra Rahn [member="Blitz"]

 

[Ordan Vosk]

...Ordan couldn't help the smirk that formed when Ariella informed the rest of them that she wouldn't be the first one into the tower and he'd have replied..."No one was expecting you to be."...he didn't mind the woman be she had started to come off as a bit soft in the opinion of the Enforcer who was ready to climb through the breach ahead of the others if needed only to have Cypher go ahead of him. Looking over he'd have noticed that the Crime Lord didn't get far though and was standing on the edge of the breach throwing down a chunk of the structure that he'd pried free and Ordan would have come to a similar conclusion as Cypher did...

...snow must have buried the rest of the tower though Ordan didn't say that out loud only coming to the conclusion in the back of his mind before Cypher called for some cable to be prepared so that they could descend into the darkness. Watching Ordan didn't have much to say besides..."Right."...as the others who'd joined the expedition set up some cables for them to descend on..."Down into the hole."...he'd watch as Cypher attached the cable to his belt before disappearing into the hole and then Ordan would approach the breach in the tower before placing both hands on the edges and looking down into the depths...

...he couldn't see a damned thing but he tried to feel something. Using his talent with the force Ordan would try to extend his senses, amplifying them as well as his mind, in an attempt to determine what was below them but shaking his head he'd have only said..."Well could be anything down there. If we're going to have a party best not to be late but lets shed some light on the matter."...then he'd reach for his belt...

...taking a handful of sticks off his belt he'd hold them in both hands before bending them until an audible snap was heard and the contents began to glow. Glow sticks were primitive but useful tools. Tossing the sticks into the hole he'd have called out..."Heads!"...so that Cypher knew that something was coming down the tower after him. Glow sticks wouldn't hurt but it was polite. Ducking his head back past the hole Ordan would have turned around...

...he'd look at Ariella and say..."Don't worry princess. You're in good hands."...another good ribbing on his part before he attached another cable to his belt and one of the men handed over his LMG which he'd have slung over his shoulder and secured across his back for the descent. Ordan was gone a moment later having jumped back into the darkness. He'd rappel down into the hole behind Cypher...​

​

[member="Rayl Wilded"] [member="Ariella"]