Recovered Artifacts: Act 4: Resurrection

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Recovered Artifacts: Act 4: Resurrection

Post by Red Dragon »

It had been nearly two months since Lunix and San'dara returned with Slade and the two they were sent to find. Over two months since they left the known galaxy searching the dead zone for a world that very likely didn't exist. Surprisingly moral wasn't much of an issue with the refugees. Marcus assured her that many of his people were use to long trips out in deep space. So long as there wasn't any issues with supplies then there wouldn't be any issues at all.

As for Miranda's Providence personal and their families, that was a bit of a different story. They were all on board for "The Plan", but all they knew about it was that they were looking for a new world far from prying eyes were they can live in peace and prepare to go to war. An odd combination of thought Miranda had to admit. The families weren't accustomed to being on war ships at all, let along for such a long time. Miranda made efforts to make sure there were plenty of normal things to do for them, like forming sports teams for clean fun competition. This also served to help mix up the families with the refugees so that they can get to know one another better. After all they were all in this together for the long run.

Miranda was sure many others have attempted this before, finding a place where they would feel safe and far from their enemies. More often then not those enemies would find them anyway. But those people didn't have Evolve and her Sovereign Forge. With it she was able to provide constant supply of fuel, supplies and even food, though it was little more then a bland gray nutrient paste, to the fleet. It allowed them to go deeper then anyone else could possibly imagine into this so called dead zone. But the going was slow with the Forge. It was the slowest of all the "vessels", both in sublight and hyperspeed.

Which is why Miranda relied so much on the scouting parties she constantly sent out. The smaller fighters, prob-droids, and transports were able to navigate through the gravity anomalies better and faster then a cruiser. It was dangerous work mapping out new hyperspace routes but the advanced sensors and highly durable craft provided by Evolve and the expert guidance from Gate Keeper made sure that not a single craft was lost yet. There were a few close calls but everything was going smoothly except for the part where they found their new haven.

Miranda was in her bridge office looking over the new reports when one of her officers, a synthetic life form or Synth for short, rushed in. It snapped to attention saluting, "Ma'am! A large vessel has been found dead in space by recon three hundred forty three. It seems to be a Executor-class of sorts." A mix of terror and confusion fell over her face, "A what?!" The Synth clearly saw her distress and continued it's report hoping to calm her down, "It's dead in space Ma'am, no live forms on board and main power is down." Miranda visibly calmed down, "A derelict? Out here...? Its one thing to find those old Clone War ships out near the edge of this forsaken place but something like this so deep in?" Another Synth walked up to Miranda's door knocking before letting herself in. She was Evolve's avatar, at least the one she used around in the fleet where it was accepted.

"Miranda, I feel we need to send over a boarding party. We both know that no one would simply send a ship of that class to certain doom out here with out just cause." Miranda was already considering it, but Evolve's sudden interest also concerned her. Evolve had shown a great deal of interest in the larger ships ever since they found the Rothana Battlecruiser and Miranda bought the Silent Reef. Miranda feared Evolve would want to take the Super Star Destroyer. "I Agree... But their goal is only to find out why it is out here and nothing more. We have a greater need to find ourselves a new home not add to our burdens by trying to bring something like that with..." Evolve nodded, "Of course, from the scans the recon team took its too damaged to be moved anyway, and its too much even for me to repair alone. With your permission though I would like to leave a team of Synths and drones on the vessel to study it and maybe prepare it found later retrieval, so long as its safe."

Miranda couldn't find any reason to deny Evolve's request. "I'll allow it, Moon Shadow will go and conduct the boarding so get your team prepped and on board in a standard hour. Tell the recon group to keep out of the vessel's firing range and keep an eye on it." Both Synths saluted and walked out, leaving Miranda wondering when sentient droids became common...
"This is the captain. We have a little problem with our entry sequence, so we may experience some slight turbulence and then... explode."
--Serenity
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Re: Recovered Artifacts: Act 4: Resurrection

Post by Red Dragon »

Moon shadow dropped out of hyper space well outside the range of the SSD, at least what was the known range of such ships. Miranda already saw significant differences in structure from the typical SSDs she has seen. The front of the vessel seemed to have a star like shape though it seemed incomplete along with other sections of the vessel, there was also clear damage to the structure as well though none of it seemed it was due to attacks.

"Shuttles and their escorts are ready ma'am." Evolve stepped up beside Miranda, who gave the synth a side glance then turned to the comm officer. "Remain on standby, I want to get a good look at this thing." Miranda turned to the sensor officer, "Give me a broad spectrum scan."

"Scanning now... Scans show shes cold, and has been for a long time. Atmosphere is just as old but still breathable though there are some sections that are with out it."

"Due to damage?" Miranda asked. The Scanning officer nodded, "Mostly yes, but there are areas that are intact that seem to have been vented."

"Well that's odd... Any life on board?" The officer looked over her scans again. "None sapient..." Miranda raised a brow. "Clarify please." The officer seemed to struggle with the information her console was giving her. "There seems to be masses of bio matter dotting the ship, they don't match anything in our records."

Miranda looked at Evolve. The Synth shrugged, "Don't look to me..." Miranda sighed, "I know you might not know exactly what this is but does it have any similarities with anything you do know?"

"I would need to connect with your sensors and the Lord's Library." Miranda nodded, "Ok then go ahead." Evolve jumped down into the pit and plugged herself into the ship. Simultaneously shes scanned the SSD, focusing in on the largest of the bio masses, and contacted the Sovereign Forge and connected to the data library. Nothing came up as an exact match but some flags were raised. It took a few more minutes but Evolve was pretty sure of herself when she finally spoke.

"They may be the remains or host to a biological weapon. Nothing that matches anything I know of, but there are similarities to those that I do know."

Miranda became visibly worried, "Well that's just great..." She turned to the comm officer, "Ground the shuttles..."

"Wait... We can still send Synths." Evolve said. Miranda turned back to her. "Normally I would have sent... well droids, sorry, instead but seeing how things are changing between organic and synth... I thought that would be insensitive." Evolve leaped back up onto the walkway next to Miranda. "No offense taken, but sending us into a situation that wouldn't affect us but could be deadly for you isn't being insensitive. Its making use of another being's strong point. Not making the best use of those around you would be inefficient."

"Maybe, not every race would see it that way." Evolve smiled, "Then maybe they are overly too sensitive about such subjects. I assure you we have a more practical out look on such things." Miranda despite her self chuckled a little, "Well that's a breath of fresh air for once... But the Synths sent over won't be able to return until that biomass is identified and we can be sure they are disinfected." Evolve nodded, "But of course, my team knew they would be on board that ship for a while anyway."

Miranda nodded then turned to the comm officer, "Organic crews are to stand down, Synths are clear to launch." The officer relayed the orders and soon two shuttle left the hanger along with a squadron of Tie Guards as escorts. A few minutes later the shuttle were able to land without any issues, the Tie Guards stuck around just in case the shuttles had to make a quick get away, but after an hour the Synths sent a signal that they had secured the bay and were setting up camp. With that the Tie Guards were recalled. Now all they could do was wait and see what they could find out about the ship and if there was a imperial presence here, though with what they discovered already about the ship... Miranda doubted it.
"This is the captain. We have a little problem with our entry sequence, so we may experience some slight turbulence and then... explode."
--Serenity
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Re: Recovered Artifacts: Act 4: Resurrection

Post by Red Dragon »

A few hours went by and they had their answer. The ship was a prototype for two concepts. First was the so called MK II Executor-class Star Dreadnought featured many design improvements over the first model and is significantly less resource and labor intensive. The second being it was to be a test bed for an axle super laser, but while the ship had the housing for the super weapon,the weapon itself was missing. As for the ship being here, the logs show that the ship was commanded by Bevel Lemelisk to hide as far in the Dead zone as it can and await his arrival. It not known if he ever did come to the ship or if he ever contacted it again. As for what killed everyone on the ship, the cargo manifest showed that a number of biological weapon samples are on board the vessel, including but not limited to the Krytos virus and the Emperor's Plague.

There had been no mention of these weapons being accessed during the time the ship laid in wait here, but current evidence clearly shows something got loose on the ship. Miranda left standing orders for the Synths to discover what happened and to research the vessel. She also made it a point to ensure them that they won't share the same fate of being abandoned like the SSD's crew.

The Moon Shadow soon returned to the fleet where news of Slade's condition was brought to Miranda's attention. Everyone was to come to the medical facility on the Forge. Miranda shifted fleet command to Macus and his Airam Dreadnaught, while the man did respect his long old friend Slade, Marcus needed to lose himself in work or his grief over the loss of his son would consume him. His work in the fleet earned him Miranda's respect and trust. So she could trust him with the fleet while she attended to other matters, such as a visit to Slade.

She often visited him ever since he was brought back to the fleet. She worried greatly over his well being, more then she ever thought she could. Seeing him the way he was gave her a sense of regret. Regret that she left his side so long ago, regret that she never told him how she felt. She didn't know if he truly could be restored to how he was but she made a silent vow that she would never leave him again.

She met up with Slade's daughters on board the Forge and they made their way to the medical ward. The inside of which was very impressive, Miranda had been in medical facilities in the upper levels of Coruscant and they didn't seem as advance as this one. Rebecca literally ran the place, with her own staff largely crewing it, though a few of Slade's and Miranda's own medical crew members seemed to be deemed worthy to join Rebecca's team. Though one person seemed to be favored over everyone else and was almost always by Rebecca's side, a man named Kieth. The second person Lunix and San'dara were sent to find to help heal Slade. The two had apparently become close during their trip back to the fleet.

Both were impressed with the medical tech and sciences Evolve was able to provide them, they both were excited to study and plan what they could do with Slade. It all sounded pretty morbid to Miranda when she really thought about it. But both Rebecca and Kieth were sure they could restore Slade, and make him "better" then he was, just as he wanted. Miranda couldn't even begin to understand what that might mean.

She followed the others into Slade's room and was just as surprised as Slade's daughters to see Slade's body whole... Not just whole but he looked to be younger then he was. Much younger, as young as when Miranda had first joined his crew! His daughters ran up to the bacta tube to get a better look at him, Miranda was left standing at the entrance alone and speechless.

Rebecca saw that everyone was present from the observation room next to Slade's and entered with Kieth. "As you all can see phase one and two is complete." Miranda suddenly remembered the "memo" Rebecca and Kieth sent out weeks ago with these so called "Phases" for Slade's "Resurrection". The first was to restore his missing limbs and health, something Miranda and Slade's daughters had thought would be hard enough. The second was to restore him to his "genetic prime". Never once did Miranda though that meant restoring his youth. She found herself wondering how they managed to do it.

"Slade, despite being a Corellian human, has very little difference to Kidian humans. Because of that many of my techniques needed very little modification to them to bring out the best results as you can see." Rebecca said as she pointed to Slade. "During my treatments i was able to repair his genetic faults making his over all base self stronger then he ever was before. All this with out the enhancements Phase..."

"Would you shut up!" San'dara cried out. "Excuse me?!" Rebecca retorted. San'dara had tears streaming down her cheeks, "Stop talking about him like he is some sort of product!" Lunix walked up and pulled San'dara into a hug. "Shes right, you sound like your trying to sell something to us." "You have the worst bedside manners." Arron added Miranda walked up to the group, "Look, for their sake just tell us if he is ok or not. You don't have him out of the tube yet so whats going on?" Kieth patted Rebecca on the shoulder, while she was insulted by being interrupted she did seem apologetic for how she was speaking about Slade. "Let me." He turned to the girls, "As of right now Slade is physically healthy and we of course would have let him out to be with you..." "But?" Lunix asked. "But he isn't waking up. There is brain activity but our efforts to bring him out of this coma haven't worked."

"Then what was all that crap she was talking about?" Arron asked motioning toward Rebecca. Kieth turned to her, "She was just trying to give you the good news before we dropped the coma thing on you. We didn't want you to think something went wrong." "Did something go wrong? What caused the coma?" Lunix asked. "You all know that Slade has been kept mostly asleep to save him from the pain his body has been going through. To keep his mind active we induced dreaming so that he wouldn't develop any atrophy of the mind. We think his mind may have been fooled into believing that the dreams are actually his reality due to him being in this state for so long." "How do we fix it?" Miranda asked, the fear of losing Slade heard clearly in her voice.

Rebecca cleared her throat. "We can't, but one of you can." Rebecca looked at Miranda. "Miranda, your visits and talking to him has had a profound effect on this situation." Miranda was shocked, "How?" Rebecca walked over to a monitor and put in a few commands then a very fuzzy image was displayed for all to see. "That's the interior of the Red Dragon... Are we seeing what dad is seeing in his dream?" Arron asked. Rebecca nodded, "Yes. I know its hard to make out features but you all should be able to make out one person with little problem." As she said that a younger version of Miranda appeared on the screen, her image so much clearer and sharper then the others. "He's dreaming of me?" Miranda asked, despite the situation her cheeks blushed. Slade's daughters all looked at her, which only made her blush more. "Yes and no, his mind seems to be replaying out the time you were on his crew." Rebecca said. "Which brings us to how you can possibly bring him out of this coma." Kieth said walking up to Miranda. "We want to sync you up with his mind and send you into his dreams."

"What?! Is that even possible? Is it safe?" Lunix asked. Rebecca looked to Lunix. "The mind is very much like a computer, a very complex one, but one none the less. Once you know how its wired you can do all sorts of things. A lot of it can be bad morally, but others can be good like how we can connect two people that normally only your "force" can."

"Ok... Lets say i buy into that, you still didn't say if it was safe or not." Lunix said. Rebecca sighed, "There is some danger. Miranda could fall into the same coma, both her and Slade's minds unable to realize the dream is simply that, a dream. Worse case, the sync collapses and they end up brain damaged..."

"I'm not sure I understand... Why must it be Miranda?" Lunix asked. "Because as you saw, she is the one Slade is fixated on. She is the absolutely best candidate for this to work. What she would have to do is play out her role as she did during this time frame, while leaving hints that he is in a dream. We could maybe find some one else that was part of his crew at this time frame but with out them being the focus, the chances of Slade noticing the hints from them is less likely."

"All of this sound just... so crazy..." Arron said. "When has anything we have done with father been not crazy?" San'dara stated. Lunix was about to speak when Miranda cut in, "I'll do it, just tell me how?" The girls looked at her. "Your sure?" Lunix asked. "Yes." Miranda confirmed.

Rebecca smiled and motioned for Miranda to follow her. "Then we will prep you in the next room." She stopped before entering the next room blocking Miranda and turned to look at everyone. "I must tell you that this might take time. I can't be sure how long... But long enough that asking you to wait in the waiting room would be pointless." She looked to Miranda, "You'll have to assign someone to perform your duties while you do this."

Miranda turned to Lunix, "I want you and Minerva to work with Marcus. Find us our new home and keep everyone safe." Lunix nodded, "I will do my best." Miranda smiled and nodded. "Don't worry, I'll bring him back."
"This is the captain. We have a little problem with our entry sequence, so we may experience some slight turbulence and then... explode."
--Serenity
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Joined: Sat May 07, 2011 2:59 pm
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Re: Recovered Artifacts: Act 4: Resurrection

Post by Red Dragon »

Kieth lead the way then pointed out a room for Miranda to go in. He then sat down at a console and started punching up a few systems. Miranda Followed by Rebecca went into the room Kieth pointed out. Inside were two nurses and a bacta tank that looked identical to Slade's. Miranda was undressed and went through the typical procedure for going into the tank. Rebecca looked over Miranda's body in such a way as to make her feel nervous.

"You take care of your self well..." Rebecca said taking a closer look. Miranda reactivity took a small step away from Rebecca, who seemed a little hurt from the reaction. "I'll be frank with you, until this problem came up with Slade this tank was going to be used for me." Rebecca stepped up to the tank and place her hand on it. "What we have done for Slade... It required some very special fluids, the same fluids that are in this tank. Its not easy or cheap to get these fluids mind you and once they are used on someone those fluids are forever only usable by that person."

Miranda didn't know the science behind what she was being told, but she did understand that this was a personal sacrifice on Rebecca's part. Rebecca likely wouldn't Miranda any of this if she felt she could get another tank of what ever these fluids were. Rebecca sighed and turned to Miranda, "While your in Slade's mind, do you want the same treatments? To be younger and at your genetic peak? I'm not saying it would be a waste for you to just use it to bring Slade's mind out of his subconscious... But while you're in there we can do more..."

Miranda thought about it, "Is Slade really that young or dose he only look like it?" Rebecca laughed and walked up to a vid screen and brought up a live feed of Slade. "This process was being developed long before I knew Slade. He is the latest, and I'm sorry if my wording upsets you, product of this research." She looked on Slade with the same look she had given the tank not too long ago. "With Kieth's help and the data and technologies this facility has I was able to refine it and improve it greatly. Without which it would have taken me years and many more steps to reach this point." she turned back to Miranda, "He is that young now and his aging is slowed, he retains all of his memories and experiences, and his life expectancy should be greatly lengthened due to the slowed aging." She turned back to the vid feed of Slade. "And with that tank the process could be done again, so long as the fluids aren't compromised."

*So in a way, Rebecca has given away two tickets to a form of immortality... If I really want to be with Slade then I would need the process, but what if he doesn't want me... But then why am I his focus in his dream?* Rebecca could easily tell Miranda was thinking hard and going through many different emotions at once. To her it was interesting to see how the thought of a perfected, long lived body could be such a hard decision. For her it was a goal, still she waited for the woman to make up her mind. Miranda took a few more moments then her body relaxed and a determined look formed on her face. "Yes, I'll take the treatment."
"This is the captain. We have a little problem with our entry sequence, so we may experience some slight turbulence and then... explode."
--Serenity
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Joined: Sat May 07, 2011 2:59 pm
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Re: Recovered Artifacts: Act 4: Resurrection

Post by Red Dragon »

"As you may know dreams are fickle things. They can last only a few seconds but give days worth of information, or visa versa. More often then not they switch between the two and can jump around to many different subjects." Rebecca said, hooking up a few medical monitor sensors to Miranda.

Keith's voice came over the intercom. "The unpredictability of dreams is about all we really know. We aren't experts in such a field." Miranda got a little nervous, "Your not making me feel good about all this you know..."

Rebecca finished up with the last sensor, "Syncing you up with another's dream is easy, predicting how the dream will react is nearly impossible. Just the act it self might waken Slade." Rebecca helped Miranda up the platform to the top of the tank. When it slid open a sweet fishy smell forced Miranda to cover her mouth and nose. "What is that?!"

"A special mix of Kolcta and other fluids as well as a nano-machine colony... Its highly expensive and hard to make." Rebecca had a bit of a sour tone saying that. She held out a breather mask to Miranda, who took it and put it on quickly. Rebecca tightened the mask then Miranda slid into the tank. It was warm, thick and she could feel it penetrate every inch of her body. She had been in Bacta tanks before and felt the healing fluids, but this was on a whole different level. She never felt so great in her life and she had only been in the tank for only a few seconds.

Rebecca walked into the control room with Keith and sat down at a station next to him. "Now we bring her into the waking sleep and bridge her with Slade."

Keith nodded, "Already in the process."

Miranda never knew what happened, she was first trying to squint to see anyone outside of the tank and the next thing she knew she was in a dark place. "Hello?" Her voice eerily didn't echo like she though it would. In fact it was like it never left her mouth. She first thought that maybe she was dead, but she still felt the tank's fluid. Then the darkness took on the shape of a tunnel. Wisps of light formed the walls of the tunnel, the light quickly turning into images. Slade's memories and her own, at first different but quickly became the same scene, only from two different perspectives.

Miranda seemingly blinked and she was inside the Red Dragon, before her stood a smiling Slade. Miranda knew this moment, it was the time she told Slade she would be leaving the crew, at least that is how it ended up. She had originally intended to profess her love for him, but she chickened out. This time it would be different.

"Rebecca... Look at these readings..." Keith's voice was low. She looked and found herself lowering her voice as well. "What the hell?"

"So what did you want to talk about?" Slade asked. Miranda felt to old feeling of wanting to just run away. She didn't want to have to deal with rejection should Slade not return her feelings. She fought down the urge to run and surprising herself, as well as Slade pulled, him down into a kiss. Slade was hesitant, and a tear rolled down Miranda's cheek. Her one sided kiss filled her with such dread, but then Slade returned the kiss in full. He pulled her body against his in a tight embrace.

"Their lighting up the boards, I don't understand whats going on here!" Keith was nearly panicked. Rebecca had a thought and brought up Slade's and Miranda's brains. She scanned deep, past the practically exploding neurons, down to the genetic level. Keith had no idea what Rebecca hoped to find there to explain what was going on.

Miranda's body trembled in Slade's arms as they kissed deeply. Although she didn't want it to end they both pulled away from the kiss, looking into each others eyes, both smiling at one another. That's when Miranda noticed they weren't alone. To either side of them were men and women, all in the same position, the women held in the mans arms looking at each other longingly. The rows of them seemed to go on forever.

Miranda looked back up at Slade who was also looking at the long rows of men and women. "This is a dream isn't it?" Slade's realization filled Miranda with hope. "Yes, you were in a dream coma. Do you remember what happened?" Slade looked back at her, "Your real..." He thought for a moment, "Rebecca set this up?" Miranda nodded, "To wake you up."

Behind Miranda she could hear the old memory play out. The old Miranda stood before the old Slade, struggling to find words, but then said "I'm leaving the Red Dragon." and then she turned and left, leaving the old Slade standing there. Miranda never knew she had said it like that, so devoid of emotion and so directly with utterly no explanation. Miranda turned to look, knowing this was Slade's version of the memory, as only he remained in the corridor now. She was surprised to see how defeated and sad the old Slade looked. The old Slade said "Oh... ok..." in a very low tone. He held up his right hand and looked into it. Miranda's eyes filled with tears when she saw what the old Slade was looking at, a ring, then turned to current Slade, "Really?!"

"Rebecca... We need to stop this, something seems to reaching a peak here!" Rebecca turned to Keith, "No! Let this play out... Something is indeed about to come to a peak..." Keith looked at her then at the screen she was looking at, and was immediately as enthralled as she was.

Slade nodded, his expression neutral. "I struggled a long time with my feelings for you Miranda. You were unlike anyone I knew before. I didn't know how to act with you, So I tended to treat you like one of the guys and not like how I treated the girls. But by this time, this moment, I managed to sort things out and I was going to tell you everything. The moment you wanted to talk to me in private, but then you left..."

Slade held out his hand and the ring the old Slade had, it appeared in his. Around them the many men also produced a ring in many different ways to the many different women. Miranda and Slade was oblivious to what was happening around them. "Miranda..." The many other men stated a different woman's name. "I Love you." The statement echoed from the many men. Miranda all but broke down in happiness, "I love you too!" Her statement echoed from the many women, and all of them and Miranda embraced their men, and everything went white.

"Do you see this! Memories of past lives! Genetic Memory! And they are syncing up!" Rebecca couldn't hold back her excitement. Never had she ever thought she would see such a thing. Never had she thought such a thing was possible! Keith, while understanding that this was quite the event, was more concerned for Slade and Miranda. Both of their brains were showing more then one set of brainwaves. "This can't be good...! Instead of two people there seems to be more like a hundred! What do we do?" Rebecca turned to Keith, then back to the monitor, then she started working on her console.
Last edited by Red Dragon on Wed Aug 19, 2015 11:57 am, edited 1 time in total.
"This is the captain. We have a little problem with our entry sequence, so we may experience some slight turbulence and then... explode."
--Serenity
Posts: 1222
Joined: Sat May 07, 2011 2:59 pm
Location: Behind You!

Re: Recovered Artifacts: Act 4: Resurrection

Post by Red Dragon »

Lunix and the other girls didn't get far before Evolve stopped them, "We have a problem." Evolve looked around then motioned for the girls to follow her into a side room none of them had seen before. When the room was closed off she then spoke, "My stock piles of Adegan Crystals has dropped into the critical levels." Lunix looked shocked, "What? Why weren't we told you were running low on the crystals before?" Evolve sighed and slumped her shoulders, be it in frustration or disappointment Lunix wasn't sure. "Miranda was made aware of the low stockpiles before we entered the Dead zone. She prioritized our Exodus into the Dead Zone, but asked me to inform her of when the crystals reached the critical zone."

Arron held up a hand, "Wait, hold on. What are these crystals? Whats so critical about them?" Evolve perked up some, she did love explaining her technology. "They fuel the stealth systems on my ships, without which they no longer operate and my ships lose the biggest advantage they have." Arron nodded now understanding. San'dara then asked, "What happened... Wait never mind I can make a guess. Three thousand years and your expansion attempt drained it all?" Evolve nodded, "There are other factors that ii have taken notice of as well..."

"Such as?" Lunix asked. Evolve waved a hand and a holo feed came up detailing what she was about to explain. "It would seem that the Stealth system was optimized for ships the size of up to one kilometer. Larger ships put strain the system making it use up its crystals faster, like the Doombringer. Smaller ships are inefficient as well, the stealth field they produce is much larger then it needs to be and while the crystals tend to last longer, by comparison they are still being used up faster then needed."

"So basically there is only one version of the stealth system and its not a case of one size fits all..." Lunix said. Evolve nodded, "That's it exactly. I'm already in the process of simulated and live testing with the current stealth system hoping to come up with a solution for the over use of our resources, but even if I come up with a solution we still need more crystals."

"Well where can we get more crystals?" San'dara asked. But before Evolve can answer Arron added, "Doesn't the Jedi use Adegan crystals for their lightsabers? We can just ask them for more." The moment she said this though she thought of a number of reasons they couldn't.

"While the Jedi may have stores or locations where they could get the crystals, they aren't likely going to give them to use for any reason, nor do I believe they have the amount would would need. Luckily my old master, Darth Occlus, prepared for this." Evolve waved her hand and the holo changed to that of a planet Illum. "He seeded numerous ravines, caverns and caves in remote areas, well away from the typical areas that the Jedi have built temples. After three thousand years, and if these seeded areas have remained untouched, we are likely to have a near unlimited supply."

"Well then we know where we are going... And we so happen to have people in the fleet who know at least a little something about mining." Arron stated. "Yes Miranda's mining company... At least those who came with us, will come in handy here." Evolve yet again waved her hand and new information came up in the holo. "I have detailed methods for mining the crystals here, methods that allow for little to no waste during the process as well as methods to allow enough crystals behind that they may regrow." Lunix smiled as she skimmed through the information, "Perfect, we can even train new miners with this information, and there is even schematics for mining vehicles here. Lets go meet with Marcus and Minerva and plan this out."
"This is the captain. We have a little problem with our entry sequence, so we may experience some slight turbulence and then... explode."
--Serenity
Posts: 1222
Joined: Sat May 07, 2011 2:59 pm
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Re: Recovered Artifacts: Act 4: Resurrection

Post by Red Dragon »

"How many Imperial patrols was that now? Three?" Arron asked walking back from the forward view port to the sensor officer.

"Yes, but it was the same patrol we came across the first time. Either they are on to us or we just so happen to be going the same way as they are." Arron hopped down into the sensor well and leaned in close to look at the readings. The Imperials didn't seem to have noticed them, at least they haven't made any sudden deviations from their current flight path or made any emergency transmissions.

Not that the Imperial patrol was a threat, the largest vessel they had was a Imperial modified Dreadnaught Heavy Cruiser. But they could call in a larger fleet or tack them to Ilum, maybe both. After all the Dominator is a unregistered unaligned super heavy warship that had been skirting around the Imperial boarder for three days now.

Arron was sure everyone in the galaxy was tired of stray super capital ships and if one were to be found there was likely a policy of shoot first ask questions later. They had little choice in its use for this mission though. Dominator wasn't housing many of the refugees because it didn't have the living space. It does however have cavernous hangers that currently aren't in use and could be used to hold the massive quantities of crystals and mining equipment.

"They have reached their hyper point and are leaving the area." Arron watched the Imperial blips disappear. "Ok... I'm not willing to take the risk they aren't on to us. This route is way to narrow, if they are on to us they can easily track us with the few hyper routes we can take..." She stood up straight and looked toward the helmsmen. "Double back to the fork in the road, we are going the long way around.
"This is the captain. We have a little problem with our entry sequence, so we may experience some slight turbulence and then... explode."
--Serenity
Posts: 1222
Joined: Sat May 07, 2011 2:59 pm
Location: Behind You!

Re: Recovered Artifacts: Act 4: Resurrection

Post by Red Dragon »

Slade wasn't in pain, not as people would normally know it anyway. His mind was full of voices and fragmented memories of people he didn't know, but yet familiar. This gave him no comfort though as they were all at the forefront fighting for center stage. Slade could have sworn his brain would explode when it all but stopped. All of it reduced to a sort of white noise in the back of his mind, one that was still loud enough to cause him migraine to go with the massive headache the first experience gave him.

He found himself standing in a white room, at least he thought it was a white room, for all he could tell it could have been the whole galaxy. Looking around he saw Miranda laying on the "ground" some distance away from him. He started to run toward her, but the harder and faster he ran the farther away she became. He stopped highly annoyed but then smiled, "Oh I had this dream before." Realizing this he closed his eyes and opened them again, now he stood before Miranda. He fell to his knees and scooped her up into his arms. "Hey, this is really you right? Wake up..." She groaned and opened her eyes. Seeing Slade she smiled and embraced him then kissed him, to which he returned in full. After a moment she pulled away reaching for the back of her head, her face clearly showed she was in pain.

Slade helped her up as he got up. "You know what happened?" He asked her. She shrugged her shoulders and looked around them. "No idea, this is your mind we are in..." A voice, the first one to echo since this all started, answered, "You were, but know your in my cyber space... Well a partitioned of section of it anyway." Evolve's avatar materialized out of nowhere and stood before the two. Slade stepped forward, "Who are you?!" Miranda stopped him before he did anything stupid. "This is Evolve, she is a AI that has become pretty much the center of your plan." Slade looked to Miranda, "Plan? What plan?" Miranda was surprised, "What do you mean what plan? You asked me to gather what forces I could and set up a hidden base, after you told us about how the galaxy was about to enter an all out war."

Slade thought for a moment, the strain of which made his head hurt even more. Then it struck Miranda that Slade had been riding the razor's edge of life and death, consciousness and unconsciousness for months now. She drew him into a embrace, "Its ok, never mind that. Just know that she is a friend and lets just deal with whats going on now." Slade nodded, the strain seemingly loosening from his mind.

"I was monitoring Rebecca and Keith's progress when you two seemed to awaken genetic memories, something that is about as uncommon as someone having them in the first place it seems."

"What do you mean?" Miranda asked. "From what information I have genetic memory is exactly as it sounds, memories stored on the genetic level hidden away in your cells. Studies on the subject, at least those I have access to, claim that its these memories that allow for evolution in organic beings. Despite this humans and many other sapient beings in the galaxy lack genetic memories, or is a very rare this to have. But from what Rebecca has been saying you two are even stranger then simply having genetic memories."

Slade raised a brow, "And that is...?" Evolve waved a hand and screens appeared showing recordings of everything that had just happened. "Typically genetic memories are passed from parents to children, passing on information that would subconsciously be second nature. The best way to put it would be to say your father learned to fear snakes because they are dangerous. You would be born with that fear of snakes. You wouldn't know why but you would just know they were dangerous. But you both don't have memories in the form of information left by your parents, you have full blown vivid memories of past lives, and not from your parents or other past relatives... But what seems to be of your own past lives, especially those where you two had met. According to Rebecca, this is completely unheard of." Slade and Miranda looked at each other, both confused over all this.
"This is the captain. We have a little problem with our entry sequence, so we may experience some slight turbulence and then... explode."
--Serenity
Posts: 1222
Joined: Sat May 07, 2011 2:59 pm
Location: Behind You!

Re: Recovered Artifacts: Act 4: Resurrection

Post by Red Dragon »

Slade looked back to Evolve, "So what does that make us?" Rebecca appeared next to Evolve, "We don't know... Might mean nothing."

"It means a great deal actually. Your past lives helped shape the galaxy more then once during times of war. You could say it was your destiny to be reborn during times of strife to steer the galaxy on a path of... survival." Despite this booming voice was inside their minds, everyone turned to look in single direction, as if prompted to do so. The Gate Keeper's mechanical form stood over them, much to the surprise of Evolve. She was about to question his presence, but he beat her to the punch. "I'm sorry to intrude on your world without permission, but I felt it was necessary considering these events."

The Gate Keeper turned to Slade and Miranda, "Even I don't know what you experiencing these past lives may mean, but I do know that its a sign of great importance. A destiny manufactured by the Celestials... or the Ancients, as a part of their goals to guild the galaxy in one direction or another."

"So that's why someone like you took an interest in me?" Slade as the Gate Keeper. The Gate Keepers large photoreceptor focused on him. "At first, I knew there was something special about you. Never thought you were possibly connected to the Celestials or Ancients... But over time as i got to know you that interest in you faded as I was drawn to you more as a person then a passing curiosity." Slade eyed his long time friend with mock suspicion then shrugged. "I've made friends in worse ways." This comment actually caused Gate Keeper to laugh a little, he being the only being among them to truly understand that statement.

"So what do we do? These memories are kinda hurting us. Even now I can feel them in the back of my mind." Miranda said. Evolve gestured to the area they are in. "This is a partitioned off section of my cyberspace, its where I and my children can interact socially. I created this space and allowed Rebecca to 'plug you in' to alleviate the stress on your minds. But this is only a temporary solution for your problem." Rebecca stepped forward, "Indeed, as you said you can still feel those memories in the back of your mind and, no offense... Evolve was it?, this place is no place for humans to live." Evolve nodded in agreement.

"A more permanent solution would be to use this space and have them experience the stronger memories and personalities of their past lives, the ones that are pushing the hardest to the forefront." The Gate Keeper focused on Evolve, "Your cyberspace is capable of this correct?" Evolve was silent for a moment, staring off into nothing, then she focused back with everyone and nodded. "Yes, With the connection i have with Sir Slade and Lady Miranda I have access to these memories and can recreate the locations and the people... But you must know that memories from a biological standpoint can be erratic, skip and jump around. It won't be smooth like watching a holo vid, and there is no guarantee that the memories will be coherent."

"I can possibly help with that, if we can concentrate on one brain wave at a time it should smooth things out for them and make more sense. The trick is to find the matching pair between the two." Rebeccca said.

Slade made the motion of cracking his neck and stretched his arms above his head, to his surprise his neck did pop and his arms felt looser and relaxed. This cyberspace sure was impressive or maybe it was all in his mind... He looked over to Miranda, silently asking if she was ok with this course of action, she caught his eye and nodded. Slade turned back to everyone, "Great then lets do that, but first me, Miranda and Rebeca need to talk about enhancements..."
"This is the captain. We have a little problem with our entry sequence, so we may experience some slight turbulence and then... explode."
--Serenity
Posts: 1222
Joined: Sat May 07, 2011 2:59 pm
Location: Behind You!

Re: Recovered Artifacts: Act 4: Resurrection

Post by Red Dragon »

Illum is cold... Colder then any planet Arron had been to yet, but it was beautiful too, especially in the crystal caves and ravines. The information was right, these seeded areas were well off the beaten path from where others may travel to on the planet, dangerous areas too. It was colder in these areas, and full with predatory fauna, though they weren't much of an issue. The landing of the Dominator and the constant noise of the mining equipment and other heavy vehicles kept most of the wild life away. Those they did encounter were ones "trapped" in the cave from all the commotion. Arron had her men capture the beasts if it was reasonable and set them free away from the operation, but not all of the animals could be saved and fresh food was always welcomed by everyone there.

The mission wasn't just to collect as much of the "crop" as they could on this run, but to also set up a small discreet base and a comprehensive passive sensor network in the surrounding area. This was to keep an eye on their only source of crystals for their stealth generators, not so much as to stop anyone one person or small groups of people from taking any, but to keep a log on coming and goings and if anyone shows up that threatens the crystals, to deal with them.

The mining of the crystals was going better then anyone would have hope for. Say what you will about the old Sith Empire, they knew how to be efficient in cutting and gathering the crystals. There was little in the way of waste thanks to their instructions and procedures, and while there were claims that seeding new crystals was best done by a force user, the projected returns for non force user seeding was nearly just as good. All in All everything was going well.
"This is the captain. We have a little problem with our entry sequence, so we may experience some slight turbulence and then... explode."
--Serenity
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