What Lurks Below.... | First Order Dominion of Nero

[The Major]

"Why even explore this place? Just have the cruiser blast this place into a crater."

Looking around here and there in a clunky space suit wasn't providing any evidence to the contrary. Steel corridors and dank lighting didn't exactly paint this place as anything more than a pirate den. The clusters of sloppy looking boxes and grimy tables scattered with junk further added suspicion.

Soon expecting a gaggle of pirates or bounty hunter wannabes to turn a corner, the Major pulled out a blaster pistol and casually held it at hip level while advancing and covering their left flank.

Lights began to flicker in the hallways, and in the distance a whine of an alarm could be heard thumping away. It was hard to determine if it was caused by their impression. But something, call it the Force, hinted that such most likely wasn't the case.

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[member="Emilia Ravel"] | [member="Therran Graush"]​

 

[WolfMortum]

Agent Gara Harken found himself meeting the gaze of one rather frustrated looking [member="FN-6767"], or perhaps he simply perceived him that way by the misfortune of their armored unit having technical difficulties. He himself stood as the sole tech engineer for 'Iron Mantle'; the go to guy for all ones infiltration and security bypassing needs. Today he was just another bystander trying to make himself useful upon a ship that for all it sounded like, stood as their temporary residence until High Command could pull the stick out of their ass and send them back into action on solid ground.

"Ma'am?"

He called to the Squad Leader in want of her attention, his gaze soon returning to the idle tank and lifting his head in a half nod of acknowledgement. Commander Fedahkin's response was as curt as ever, her mind on their preparations for being stationed on the long haul end of things just in case the higher up's decided they needed some unnecessary R'n'R, offered a firm nod in approval before moving on with the rest of the Squad.

Harken smirked to himself, finally glad to be able to make busy himself. Turning and moving on towards the armored division, the TCB-42 Infiltration Droid upon his back soon detatched itself and hovered over top of the vehicle whilst Gara motioned to the Trooper up top. "You lads need a hand up in 'ere?" he raised his voice some over-top of the sound of the rest of the hangar. The Crabs were coming and going about their business, by crabs he meant the rest of the engineering crew solely in charge of the vessels regular maintenance unlike those like the trooper and himself, real soldiers with real combat experience and less half-assed complaints. They had their duties, he supposed, jobs that he himself had enjoyed in the past though their attitude and his general ill experience with crewman wasn't a good deal to go on in good faith.

Nothing like the mutual integrity and lack of BS that the First Order's ground forces were good for.

Not that he'd let his CO hear such bias.

 

[Ax'no]

Location: Submersible
Objective: Explore the Coral Graveyard
Allies: [member="Kyrel Ren"]
Posts: 7

Focusing on Crucitorn seemed like an appropriate pastime to keep Ax’no’s mind occupied, as the deeper they descended, the more claustrophobic she felt. She glanced to Kyrel at the helm of the controls, and he displayed the same deadly calm as he always did. As she pulled out a small vibroblade, she noticed her claws - animal-like, feral, uncultivated. Her horns, sharp and bestial. The downy surface of her skin lined with the thinnest fur imaginable - still it was fur, as though she were some human’s pet. She felt all at once that she would never be accepted by the Ren, and perhaps even her companion would grow tired of her…

Enough, Ax’no. The self doubt is only making things worse.

While she should have carved right into her own flesh with the weapon, she knew the lesson would be better learned if Kyrel experienced the power firsthand, so she asked him to hold out his arm, which he did, and without even a care for his clothing, she gave him a small nick with the blade, enough to sear through the fabric. He’d been through so much worse, that the pain was negligible, but suddenly he would feel a searing agony pulse through the wound as though it had been infected with poison. Using the pain-enhancing technique of Crucitorn she pushed and pushed, causing more distress for the Master of Ren until suddenly she let up and the pain began to dwindle. Like a spice had been slipped into his system or a batca patch slapped on, Kyrel would feel the aching turn into a subtle burn until he could sense nothing left, his nerves back to normal.

“Would you like to try it on me?” she asked, handing over the blade. It was not easy to give a weapon to your lover and have them cut into you. But if anything, it was a tangible example of Ax’no’s devotion to Kyrel that she’d allow him to willingly harm her soft, fur-lined flesh.

 

[Kyrel Ren]

Location: Submersible ​

Allies: @Ax'no First Order​

Post: 2 ​

BYOO​

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Kyrel could sense Ax'no's thoughts, she perhaps couldn't tell due to her limited training in the Force, but he could tell of her doubts, of course, this was normal due to her animal-like appearance she feared that she may get accepted not by the Ren, and worse not by him. He was surprised by this, but he knew better then to think that she would completely believe this as to why was she with him, to begin with if he was repulsed by her. In truth in some way he was a Monster, and so he found it fitting to be with an animal like woman. ​

​

When she asked him to hold out his hand, he did so in order to learn this skill. He obliged his hand out as she took the blade, and cut the thin fabric of his robes. She managed to cause a nick which felt as if it was nothing, and for a moment he was unimpressed, but the woman did something that he did not expect. He felt a burning pain within the nerves to which he shut his eyes and grit his teeth. Of course, it caused him pain, he was still human but he had been through so much worse than something like this shouldn't have phased him, and yet it did. ​

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He did not say anything holding the pain back only to learn the technique as he thought 'I See it's clear to me now.' He started to learn how it worked by using the Force to touch the nerves of a being and enhance the pain sensors within the victim, it became clear to him, and almost cursed himself for not learning on how to try and do it before, but no matter he understood how the technique worked.​

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Shortly after that Ax'no pulled the blade away, and the burning sensation was now just a nick that felt nothing. Ax'no did the most unexpected thing that caused the Master of Ren to raise an eyebrow. She had asked him to cut her, of course, he would, but she was no enemy. What would he gain from it? Absolutely nothing, of course, it wouldn't benefit him. He took the blade slowly and looked at it, before taking her hands in his own kissing them gently before looking into her eyes saying sincerely. "Why would I do that my dear? It would not benefit me now that I understand the technique, and you are no enemy. It would only cause you pain and I do not want that for you." ​

​

He then focused back on piloting sensing the crystals, he knew they were getting there soon, and it would only be a matter of time before the two of them reached their destination, and for now, Kyrel can feel himself grow excited to show her, her first steps on the path towards the dark side. ​

 

[Kier Grey]

FN-6767 "Scars"
Imperial X-Class Star Destroyer, Hanger.

FN-6767 watches the flames sputter out quickly as Ratchet disables the fuel pump though she is left paralyzed from the sight for a moment and sends her gut into a wild spinning forces Scars to clear her throat while her pallor turns a clammy texture. Hearing some voice address her the Infant Stormtrooper conscript immediately pivots in both of her boots; including the one filled with coolant creating an audible squelching as the high arches of her heels twist their owner's body around sharply. "Yes sir, just need to get the engine block out of the Hull." Scars' cybernetic eyes dart around watching the Engineering crew prepare such a lifting mechanism prompting the Lance Corporal to turn around back in the direction of Justicar walking towards it her organic hand reaches for a lifting eyelet as a support climbing atop the steeply sloped glacis plate while using mechanical limb to begin bravely disconnecting the scaling hot connections to the 6.2L V8 engine block within its compartment. With a droid buzzing around the top of the Tank she spares it a glance of study before smirking and identifying it from recognition logs. "An Infiltration Droid, so who are you with then? Special Forces or FOSB, I'm curious Sir." FN-6767 makes the inquiry without so much as looking back over her shoulder towards the man; eye contact made her distinctly uncomfortable for reasons derived from her own facial disfigurement which she tries so desperately to hide with the layered bob haircut. The Trooper was a utilitarian though, those familiar with hair care could easily identify that the woman kept her mane clean though it was fraught with split ends despite being cut to just shy of jaw length.

[member="Brennan Cabrol"]

 

[Ax'no]

Location: Submersible
Objective: Explore the Coral Graveyard
Allies: [member="Kyrel Ren"]
Posts: 8

Her old Master would have sliced into the most sensitive parts of her flesh, no matter how much she ended up protesting. Ax’no bore whip marks upon her back from the punishment beatings she’d received from both the Prince of Panatha and the Caprine Elders before her. While she was able to soberly endure agony that would make a lesser being go insane, the Priestess did not enjoy pain. She was no masochist. Like her own frolicking race, she preferred to languish in hedonism when she wasn’t conspiring to increase her power base. And her strategy of late had mostly consisted of annexing someone else’s.

So when Kyrel admitted he would not harm her, Ax’no felt a mixture of relief and a swelling sense of adoration for her companion. “We will find someone more appropriate to practice upon then.”

Caprine as a species suffered from hearing loss from being surrounded by the furious winds of the Iktoch cliffs, and the Priestess was no exception, but she could still feel her ears pop as the submersible sunk deeper, finally landing to rest up on the ocean floor. Out of the view port she lay her yellow eyes upon the coral graveyard, ashen grey and skeletal.

“Are we going out there in wet suits or does the vehicle have some kind of mining apparatus?” she asked, clearly afraid of the former proposal, her hands shaking terribly now at the thought of swimming out into the coral graveyard.

 

[Zef Halo]

UNKNOWN PLANETARY BODY
ESCAROT NEBULA

As they moved deeper into the facility of sorts, Therran called the Force to explore it for any signs of life. He received nothing, only an odd feeling in the Force from the Major. Was she sensitive? Graush only gave her a quick glance before focusing on what was ahead of them.

The time for questions was later.

Now they had to find out what this place was.

As if the Force obeyed his will, the trio's walk through the creepy abandoned facility was brought to a halt as they apparently entered the control room of the place.

Graush remained wordless but the FOSB agents beside him knew what to do.

Find an answer.

[member="Emilia Ravel"] | [member="The Major"]​

 

[Madelyn Lowe]

Emilia paused for a moment at the hatch. The voices of [member="Therran Graush"] and [member="The Major"] echoed up from the dark hole, so despite her instincts she gently lowered herself down, landing in a crouch on the dusty metal floor. Her eyes took a moment to adjust to the red, flickering emergency lights. Slapping her gloves together to remove dust, she hurriedly caught up with thee two agents, removing a flashlight that had been clipped to her thigh. The beam lanced through the dimness, properly lighting their path, chasing the shadows from the corners and more importantly, making her feel just that bit safer.

Some sort of klaxon echoed eerily through the abandoned facility, raising the hairs on her neck. Emilia followed closely behind the pair of agents, ready to pull the F-11D from its position on her back at a moment's notice. Opening a grating metal door, they crossed the threshold from the first corridor into what appeared to be some sort of control room. The room was abandoned like the rest of the facility appeared to be, but was lined with an array of computers and terminals.

Immediately, Emilia moved into action. She crossed the room quickly and began to survey each piece of equipment one by one. After she'd completed a full circuit, she returned to the centre where the two agents were waiting.

"All the equipment is in good nick, and it appears to be functioning with the emergency power. Major, why don't you start from the terminal in that corner, and I'll start here. It'll be a standard affair, pull as much as you can, as quickly as you can."

Without a further word, Emilia got to work. The first terminal she broke through in seconds, but it contained nothing useful. The second took longer, but she was able to download a schematic of the base, as well as a systems log. She craned her neck to look back at The Major and her companion.

"How are you two doing, found anything yet?"

[member="Therran Graush"] | [member="The Major"]​

 

[Micah tol Powl]

Captain [member="Pharazon Draken"] got mad props for handling the self-described Master, [member="Connor Harrison"]. Also known as dude in the cape.

Checking the status of his weapon, the stormtrooper made certain that the shattergun was primed and the safety was engaged. He didn't have any bad feelings about any of this, but he also didn't have any really good feelings about this either.

But he was just an air assault stormtrooper and not really all that knowledgeable about these things. He jumped out of perfectly good shuttles for a living. Or conducting orbital skydiving HALO entries onto planets. That was also fun. Crazy. Borderline insane. But fun. Definitely fun.

This water stuff? Eh, no. Not so much.

Certain that he was ready to roll out, the young trooper stood in wait of the order to go.

[member="Chubs"] | [member="Lilith Sedarri"] | [member="Bamuf"] | [member="Morro"]​

 

[Kyrel Ren]

Location: Submersible outside of the Coral Graveyard
Objective: Find a Lightsaber Crystal for @Ax'No
Allies: First Order
Post 3

Kyrel breathed calmly as his lover calmed down, he had no desire to harm her and would not want to harm his apprentice in anyway shape or form. He wanted her to grow strong, to fully embrace the dark side and walk with him on that path, but for now, she had not embraced such things. She was still a frightened woman despite her power, it was nothing compared to his own. The Master of Ren had walked this path alone, no teacher or no master and learned to hone the power of the dark side, and the Force himself.

He had not been much for a teacher, but he was determined to show Ax'no the way. He held her hands gently giving her a smile that was full of warmth on the outside, but on the inside, it was icy and concealed why and who Kyrel was, and that was the monster that dwelled within him. He spoke to her sofly. "Yes as I have no use in harming my apprentice. You must cast off who you once were, let the past die in order to become free. This is the first steps towards your enlightenment, my love."

He said as the submersible arrived, and he grinned sensing the power of the dark side within the graveyard. "We will be travel in wetsuits. You must find where the Force calls to you... In order to do this, you must go alone. When you find the Kyber Crystal, you must pour all your rage, all your hate, all of the pain into the crystal. And what arises from the ashes is something strong.... Something powerful." He said as he managed to put his own wetsuit as he looked to his woman opening the door, and letting her lead the way, as this was her path.

 

[The Major]

UNKNOWN PLANETARY BODY​

ESCAROT NEBULA​

There was uncharacteristically audible noise that from the Major was produced -like the clank of a number of items jangling together. Usually everything the operative did was as silent as the night besides the rhythmic thump of her boots scraping the bulkhead. She was aggravated. Nevertheless, a further investigation was agreeable considering that they were already here.

The trio delved deeper in and made it to a series of what seemed to be a main operation center. Complete with terminals, stores, and neatly packed consumables configured in a manner of a listening post. It was here that the operator could really get to work. Her face scrunched up in an arrogant scowl as her fingers lifted clouds of dust from a keyboard. Working the magic, the Fallanassi mined what data was available, moving past the minutiae involved with roster logs or a literal encyclopedia of holo-net history and cookies. After a few moments like this something in the data caused the Major’s brows to raise. She spoke loudly so that her allies could hear her across the room.

“This. . . is a listening post. And this post is tasked with monitoring military activity in the sector. Clever fethsticks.”​

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[member="Therran Graush"] [member="Emilia Ravel"] ​