The "Abandoned" Republic Depot Pt. 1
Posted on Tue Aug 24th, 2021 @ 7:33am by Ver'alor Jiani Pava & Spacer Talon Kolani & Captain RC 3910 "Coda" & Spacer Atrus Abraxis & Mando'ade Zaf A'Toruk
Mission:
Episode 2 - The Empire Rises!
Location: Rusty Rancor
Timeline: After "All the Wrong Places Pt.2"
ON:
As the Rusty Rancor made its way through Hyperspace, Talon had left the cockpit to go and check the auxiliary controls near the communal area. As Alema joined him, they found Jiani located there. Alema moved over to the sensor control panel and checked over the instruments to make sure that they were accurate and functioning correctly, full well knowing that the Rancor would need an overhaul soon after all the extra action she'd seen in recent days.
"How's it looking?" Talon asked as he checked out the auxiliary control panel and flipped a few switches, checking that they were on course.
"Nothing that a good overhaul wouldn't take care of, but we're in good shape for now," Alema said before swinging around in her seat to face him. "Of course, when that happens will depend on when we get some peace and quiet with our new allies."
Talon had been getting his ear chewed off from Alema about siding with the Jedi, but as he'd argued with her, with the Republic now being an Empire, that meant it would be harder to get legitimate work and also mean that any awaiting repairs or maintenance would have to wait for now. "We'll get it done, don't worry, the Rancor has been in worse states before and she's flown just as pretty..." he replied.
Alema gave Talon a stare of disbelief and once again, Talon was aware that his Twi'lek co-pilot wasn't impressed with their situation, but also that she would come around to it all slowly. The Galaxy was changing fast around them with all of the recent upheaval and turmoil and that meant they had to change with them.
For a moment, Talon thought about a time when, before he flew full time with Alema he used to fly with the mysterious Ashahna Dalmai and wondered for a moment how she would have seen this recent change and put it to good use. He smiled as he recalled some of the flights they did together before snapping out of his daydream.
Turning away from him, Talon looked at Jiana. "So how are we doing my dear?" he offered.
"Hmm depends on how you define we." Jiani chucked, her feet still up resting comfortably on one of the status consoles. Now that they were underway and she felt that the others weren't an immediate threat the Mandalorian had actually taken down some of her armor. Things aboard the Technounion ship got a little hairy and she'd taken a shot or two. Nothing her Beskar couldn't handle, but even the toughest armor needed some TLC now and then. "I'm doing great, I've got a ship, munitions, and a very nice attempt at a Lothal Spicebrew that is just the right kind of hearty." Jiani took a long draw from the large durasteel flagon she found in the galley. "Zaf on the other hand... he was stalking off toward the cargo hold last I saw. He's not a happy camper." She "whispered" with a giggle.
Talon smiled as Jiani explained about Zaf and knew that he'd be tinkering around somewhere in the cargo hold to keep himself occupied. After the conversation had with the Jedi, Talon was aware that Zaf wasn't happy about being along for the ride, but it made Talon feel a little easier knowing there were at least two people along for the ride that he could trust, along with Alema.
"Well, despite not being happy, I'm sure Zaf will be occupied in some way or another. Thankfully there's not a lot in the cargo hold right now, meaning that should we find anything of use at this abandoned depot, we've got plenty of space to fill up and take back to the others," he said.
"By the way, a very nice attempt at a Lothal Spicebrew? That sounds like a fun hobby. Dare I ask or will I lose the capability of speech after one sip?" he wondered with curiosity.
"Part of the fun is not knowing until the first sip... assuming you're brave enough." Jiani tipped her head to the large cauldron atop the nearby dejarik board. "Most aruetii (outsiders) aren't." The Captain may have opened his ship to them and they may now share a common ally. But she didn't know the man or his companion. Jiani was flippant but not arrogant she knew when she had to be cautious.
"Well, on this occasion I..." Talon started to say before an alert started sounding on the auxiliary control panel behind him. Swinging his chair around, he checked the readouts and smiled. "Well that's gone better than I expected, we've just reached the Hyperspace marker," he explained. "Better prepare the cauldron to come out of hyperspace," he said to Jiani before joining Alema in walking back to the cockpit.
As he took the pilot's seat, Talon flicked an internal comm switch. "Zaf, hold on to something down there, we're coming out of hyperspace...and remember, what's on this ship is mine..." Looking at Alema and nodding in unison, Talon pushed the hyperspace throttles forward and the YT-1300 light freighter dropped out of lightspeed near its destination.
Down in the cargo bay, the Zabrak didn't bother to furnish Talon with a reply. He simply secured himself in position with a safety line and waited to see how rough the exit would be. Not so bad... made him wonder what all the fuss had been about.
"See, a little tinker here and there, and she's flying fine, " Alema said as she checked their course whilst Talon steered the ship into orbit and then through and below the atmosphere as they made their way towards the abandoned Republic Depot that the Jedi had spoken about.
As the Rancor made her way towards the location, Alema looked up from the sensor's readouts. "I'm reading a lot of lifeforms in this place, I can't pick up anything specific, but there's definitely life here," she said.
"Well, let's just hope there isn't any at this depot, that would make life a lot easier. We're not far now," he said.
Jiani joined the pair in the cockpit, once she'd secured the brew that was. Mission wasn't going anywhere and she'd put quite a bit of work into her craft. "Hopefully none of those lifeforms at the depot we're heading to? I know there's quite the settlement here."
Talon looked back as Jiani joined them in the cockpit. "I'm hoping so too," he replied. "The Jedi were pretty certain this should be an abandoned depot according to the last records they had...which means there could be looters, pirates, or other such unfriendlies down there if any of those life signs show up in the depot itself..." he added.
Closing on the depot, Alema looked up from her readouts. "Damn, there are life signs at the depot," she said in exasperation. "There's someone down there, maybe two or three at best but there's definitely bodies down there moving around."
"That should make things interesting then, I'm taking her in to land. Jiani, you and Zaf had better prepare for a frosty reception. The last thing we need is for the ship to get shot up before we pick up what supplies we can whilst we're here," said Talon. "Let's just hope they are friendly."
"I like my receptions icy," Zaf noted, briefly and in direct confirmation of Jiani's prior comments about his mood. "Less whining. More action."
Pulling on the various levers and flicking switches as necessary, Talon guided the ship to the landing pad and made sure it was a gentle landing made before checking the various systems were all ok.
Zero gunfire or missiles zipping up and at them later and they were on the ground, easy as stepping out of a land speeder. Zaf muttered a few Zabrak curse words under his breath as if this made him particularly disgruntled, and checked over his gear. Yup, he was ready. He made his way to the main airlock, prepared to engage with whatever exciting new threat might be waiting for them here.
Talon looked across at Alema. "If there are life signs here, they may not be friendly or at the worst, we could be dealing with Empire scum, so keep the engines warm and be ready to get out of here in a hurry, ok?"
"On it... Just be careful out there, if things go south, stick with the Mando's, they'll keep you covered," she offered as she watched Talon grab his gear and make his way out of the cockpit and towards the landing ramp.
Once arriving there and seeing both Zaf and Jiani waiting there. "Right, let's get this show on the road and see what's out there," Talon said as he activated the controls to lower the landing ramp.
"Right beside you," muttered Zaf, strolling confidently alongside the ship's captain as the ramp extended outwards to ground level. Damn, but he wanted a fight right now.
Jiani took the other side, her trusty Relby in hand. So far they hadn't encountered any resistance... which in itself was a concern. No Republic-Imperial troops? No criminal gangs either. Seemed like there should have been someone or at least a transponder signal.
Standing in what was left of the control center of the outpost, Coda watched the ship touch down on the landing pad. He didn’t recognise it as a military vehicle and with this being an old republic outpost, it was unlikely to be a civilian or private craft, which left either a bounty hunter or some other criminal element.
Keeping the base on minimal power, Coda slipped on his helmet and made his way down towards the landing pad. Hopefully, he could convince these people to leave without trouble or at least come to some form of arrangement with them. The last thing he needed was to jump into a firefight with someone from one of the criminal syndicates.
Walking out to about halfway to the landing pad, Coda stood there waiting for whoever was in the ship to emerge.
