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"Arysine Control, Arysine Control! This is the damaged freighter, Nebulon Bantha. Please respond!"
The comlink remained silent. Mu'hai stared at Shaar. "It's not my fault!" he insisted, his composure breaking down for the first time. "I just said there were Jedi on-board."
There were sounds of booted feet from the companionway. Treevo appeared in the hatchway, Aayla peering round his shoulder.
"What happened?"
Mu'hai regained his composure. "It appears they did not want to hear we were carrying Jedi."
"Idiot." The Rodian fluted some more in his own language. Aayla's eyes widened and she glanced at the Cerean. Either Mu'hai did not understand or he was now able to maintain his calm exterior.
"It's no use allowing yourself to submit to anger once more", said Muh'ai. "Their unforeseeable reaction to a reasonable request is not a justifiable excuse to betray an inner peace." Treevo closed off his mouth and narrowed his eyes. His gaze flicked up at the Cerean's highly domed forehead. Did Cerean's have more than simple precognition?
Velah sighed, attracting their attention. "I do not believe we will be abandoned by the spirits. We should wait."
Simja glanced from Velah to Mu'hai to Treevo. He appeared to reach a decision. "I agree. We should follow where the Force leads." Unconsciously his hand touched the hilt of his lightsaber. "We are Jedi."
Treevo snorted. "Damned Jedi and..." He stomped back to the engine compartment, beckoning Aayla to follow him. She smiled, the tips of her lekku twitching with amusement. "Keep on trying. My master beckons", she joked. Her graceful glide back towards the rear was watched with barely-concealed smile from Simja.
"Be mindful of your feelings." Simja started at Mu'hai's admonition, and guiltily turned back to the communications console. "Come on. Let's try again."
"Nebulon Bantha to Arysine.." Mu'hai stopped and released the com switch. "Aah.." The com sprang back into life.
"Bantha this Arysine Control. You have permission to land at landing pad two, repeat pad 2, at Kelysine Freight Staging Centre. Acknowledge." The voice was flat, toneless.
Mu'hai bent over the com. "Acknowledged, Arysine Control. Pad 2 on Kelysine Freight Centre. Nebulon Bantha to land at pad two."
Simja smiled at Velah. "There we go." She shrugged in response and kept her attention on Mu'hai, her ears twitching as if she heard sounds neither the Human or Cerean could hear.
"Nebulon Bantha, confirmed. You are warned that atmosphere pressure on the moon is low; temperature is low. Remain in your ship on landing until we send out a transit bus. Repeat: hostile environment on moon. Remain where you are until a transit bus can be prepared for you."
| Arysine (& planetary moon Kelysine) |
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Arysine is a
pear-shaped Supergiant-singularity double planet. Its atmosphere is a
fairly rich store of Tibanna Gas and similar compounds, but mining is costly and dangerous.
The fairly recent black hole which warps Arysine into it's distinctive shape causes considerable
gravitational anomalies and adjustments in the meteoroid activity. The largest moon in orbit around
Arysine is Kelysine - classified as having small planet status. All other moons of Arysine are
significantly smaller, though the supergiant also supports a number of impressively patterned
dust-rings, now deteriorating as they are absorbed by the black hole. The moon Kelysine is the largest in orbit around Arysine. Whilst large for a moon, worthy of small-planet status, gravity is still insufficient to support a full atmosphere. The outside temperature is sub-zero, life is primitive lichen, and protective clothing and respirators must be worn. Meteor activity around the supergiant is erratic and deteriorating as the giant and the singularity gradually destroy each other, the moons and the rings. Ships are advised to steer clear unless absolutely necessary. |
Velah frowned. "Should we not warn them that our - is it thrusters? - may give us problems?"
Simja nodded. "Good idea." He leant over Mu'hai's shoulder and thumbed the com switch. "Arysine Control. Be warned the state of our repulsors is unknown. Main thrusters have failed. We may have difficulties landing."
"Thank you, Nebulon Bantha. We will bear that in mind. Arysine Control out." The speakers clicked over to the quiet hiss of the carrier. Simja smiled at Mu'hai and Velah. "Done. We'll be fine."
Velah frowned. "So it seems. But the voice sounded..." She was quiet, pensive. She shook her head slowly. "No. I do not know."
"If you have a feeling from the Force, I mean your Spirits, then perhaps you should follow where it leads." Mu'hai had steepled his hands, in unconscious imitation of Master Windu.
Velah shook her head again. "I do not know. It is just his voice, the tones. They did not sound quite right." Her orb less eyes stared at the pair. "But I do not know many species in the universe. I cannot yet tell what they are like. I have heard so few."
Mu'hai nodded. "A sensible and balanced opinion. I agree; I sensed nothing." Simja shrugged in agreement. "Shall we see that the pilot and is comfortable?"
* * * *
With the repulsor controls
back online Treevo and Aayla adjusted the stricken
freighter's course for Arysine and it's moon, Kelysine. Without thrusters, progress was
painfully slow. Repulsors were intended for pushing against an obstacle, and with
the nearest obstacle - Kelysine - thousands of miles distant, acceleration was negligible.
It was the best part of five hours before the badly-damaged Bantha was within
effective repulsor distance of the moon.
The pilot's injuries still bothered the passengers. Despite the Jedi's healing powers, and the application of a revolting-smelling poultice by Velah, he was still unconscious. With a crew member already dead, as a result of an exhausting few hours, there was little to do in the power-strained freighter but sleep: something they all took advantage of.
When Arysine Control came back on-line it startled even Mu'hai. He grabbed the com and acknowledged. The instructions were brief: to land at pad 2 and await an transfer vehicle. He hastily called up a landing map and overlaid it onto the image enhancers. Pad 2 was clear enough, but the image showed some mounds of ... spoil? ... He modified the overlay with some tags before calling over Treevo and Aayla. The Rodian was sucking noisily on some rations. "What's up, egghead?" he asked.
| Arysine Commercial Activity |
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There is an MNMC Cloud Mine in the corrosive atmosphere of Arysine, supported by a Shield-Ship
station in relatively stable orbit. The Shield-Ship Station,
used as a link to transfer cargo shuttles down to the floating mine protected by one of the pair of
shield-ships, has to regularly move, temporarily isolating the cloud-mine. The
station has had much of its docking and storage facilities turned over to fuel and engines,
primarily heavyweight repulsorlifts and guidance thrusters. Sometimes even the station cannot be
used due to the conjunction of atmosphere, the black hole and the rings.
In turn, Kelysine has had to be used as a more stable base and temporary storage area. The gas and particles mined from the Ringed Gas Supergiant are stored in carbonite or in sealed units, transported up to the shield-ship station, then Kelysine. The storage facility on the moon consists of an open area, a small bank of warehouses and two landing pads - one for shuttles and one for freighters. The storage facilities are also used for items in transit down to the cloud mine. The complexity and need for smaller craft makes the profit marginal, but still usable. |
Mu'hai pointed to the map and the overlays. "This. What is it?"
"Beats me." Treevo shrugged and nodded to Aayla. "What about you?"
Aayla echoed his shrug, her lekku twitching and emphasising the movement. "Never been here. What does the navcomp entry say?"
Mu'hai's fingers flew over the board and the display began scrolling. As he read the commercial details, he tapped the map and overlay. "This doesn't match what we see."
Treevo reached over, called up the information dates. "Updated only three months ago. Must be ok. Just a mistake."
Aayla spat and pointed at the updater: "MIDS - MNMC Information and Data Services. That's just propoganda for the Mercantile Combine."
Treevo frowned. "The Medj'k'ai Nebula Mercantile Combine? I thought they were Federation."
Aayla shook her head. "No. They're separate - and keep saying so. They've condemned the Separatist movement and have pledged to co-operate with local law authorities in repressing any Separatist activity in the area."
"It's nice to see at least one merchant corporation on our side."
All bar Mu'hai jumped. Simja and Velah stood behind, having moved quietly up from the rescue pods. Simja was talking, calling up the brief information on the MNMC. "They seem legitimate."
Aayla whistled through her teeth. She appeared calm but her lekku thrashed before she put a hand on them to control the involuntary movement. "You may think so. I think they only go where the profit is."
Velah smiled. Her voice was calm. "Do we not all see profit in different ways?" Treevo scowled, then glanced back over the displays at an exclamation from Mu'hai.
"What's that?" He leapt forward into the pilot's chair and pulled up the display. All stared at the image of an large, globular ship lifting from the moon ahead of them. It ignited its thrusters dangerously close to the surface and accelerated away from the Bantha, rapidly hiding itself behind the curve of the moon.
"That," said Simja, "looked like a Federation cruiser to me."
Mu'hai shook his head. "Not necessarily a cruiser. The Federation has many Hoersch-Kessel globes. And not all are battleships. And what's more, I cannot see the docking ring."
Simja scowled. "Whatever. I know it was a battleship core."
Mu'hai sighed and began to admonish his fellow padawan, but a glance at the certainty on Simja's face made him frown. "You are sure?"
Simja nodded. "I am." He played with the grip of his lightsaber.
"Take seats, guys. We're landing." Treevo's call from the pilot chair stirred them into action. They grabbed a seat and belted in. "Bantha to Arysine Control. We are coming into land, but are unsure of the status of our repulsorlifts. We may have a heavy landing."
The reply was short. "Acknowledged, Bantha."
Treevo and Aayla glanced at each other. Treevo flicked on the com once more. "I repeat, we are unsure of our repulsors. We may have a heavy landing."
"Acknowledged, Bantha. Do mind the pad."
Treevo snarled at the com and trumpeted quietly, proboscis twitching. He was plainly angry at the lack of sympathy, but turned back to the tricky task of landing the damaged freighter. Beside him Aayla obeyed his commands rapidly and competently. "Hang on." Through the transparisteel viewport the surface of the moon loomed closer, the rows of warehouses around the pad resembling a small town.
The repulsors shuddered. Treevo and Aayla cursed together. Fingers flew across a board suddenly turned red with warning lights. Both were sweating with intensity, brows furrowed. The engines whined, faded, kicked in again. Dust spiralled up from outside and a gentle thud announced their landing.
The Rodian and Twi'lek shouted in delight. "Made it. Perfect!" They collapsed back into their couches in relief, laughing.
"Are we down?" asked Velah.
| Continued… |
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© 2004 Tim Bancroft
- Medj'K'ai Nebula Home - Medj'Kai Background - Losshaven, Arysine and Kelysine -
Page created 28th May 2004 by Tim Bancroft (Halfbat)