Ask Gas and Other Things

[K’Jun]

Kril'Dor l Death Enabled​

K'Jun had spent a lot of his time since joining the Jedi, gathering resources or ironing out alliances. Today was no different. He'd come to Kril'Dor because the planet offered one resources that couldn't be ignored. Tibanna gas. It powered hyper drives. It was the gas in energy cells for blasters. It was vital for an army to function as it was meant to. So he'd come to see if he couldn't negotiate something with the worker cooperatives that manned processing platforms on the planet.

Kril'Dor had once enjoyed the protection of the Sith Empire. That was no longer the case. It had become a target for pirates in the sector that looked to get rich fast. So, Jun was coming to offer these platforms protection and then back it up with action. It was a simple plan for a simple man.

As always, Jun wore his Matukai Gauntlets, a white tank, a pair of jeans, and brown leather boots. However, since Kril'Dor was a gas giant, there was nothing on the world to break the eternal winds. So he wore a brown leather jacket as well. Casual as always.

He made his way up towards the entrance to the primary platform to meet with the cooperative president. For some reason he believed he'd be meeting another Jedi or someone on this mission, it's how things had played out every other time after all.

 

[Elrolias Kayin]

Elrolias sat in the pilot’s seat of his ship as he made his way to a planet called Kril’Dor, though he wasn’t actually doing any piloting. His eyes were closed and his head rested on his left arm which was propped up on the armrest of his chair. The young Jedi Knight felt the slight vibrations of hyperspace as his thoughts dwelled on recent events.

The Jedi order was changing, for better or for worse. The Crusaders believed the Jedi should take a more active role in the galaxy and Elrolias agreed with that. As a Jedi Knight, he has full autonomy in how to build his resources and bring more planets under the Jedi’s protection. But where to start? The galaxy was a big place and full autonomy meant more to decide. After meditating on it, Elrolias felt the urge to travel to Kril’Dor, a gas giant in the mid rim with a tibanna mining facility.

“We have arrived at the planet Kril’Dor”, said a disembodied voice, prompting Elrolias to open his eyes. “Would you like to dock?” The blond haired man took a moment to gaze at the rather large mining facility in front of him before responding. “Yes. Take us in.” He replied. As the ship docked at the mining facility, Elrolias prepared himself to depart from his ship and take a look around. He still didn’t know why he was here, but he’d figure it out. After landing on one of the landing platforms, Elrolias exited his ship. He wore his signature Jedi robes which consisted of a green tunic, beige trousers, brown boots and full bracers, and a green hooded cloak since it was, admittedly, a bit chilly.

This was Elrolias’ first time docking at a mining facility of a gas giant, so he didn’t know what to expect upon setting foot on the facility. His main goal would be to figure out why he was here in the first place. So he would wander the facility and explore if undeterred.

 

[K’Jun]

Jun’s eyebrow quirked as he saw what was clearly a Jedi Knight hopped out of his ship. He tugged out the hand carved necklace that was the symbol for the Army of Light from beneath his shirt and approached the newcomer. He looked him up and down, and then jutted his chin.

“Not goin for subtle are we?” He asked “Name’s Jun.” He offered. “I’m guessin we’re here for the same reason? Secure tibanna for the Army.” He asked rhetorically.

He’s nod to head into the refinery and out of the eternal gusts. Once in it was clear that the refineries weren’t in the perfect state of repair. Some walkways were crumbling and entire sections had no power. Jun grimaced at the sorry state of things.

“We gotta meet with the workers cooperative president.” He told the other guy. “Help em get this place up and runnin then look to take out some pirates to secure the region.” He continued. “You ready to get your hands dirty?”

@JoelM

 

[Elrolias Kayin]

Elrolias wouldn’t get too far from his ship before being approached by a rather large man. While he’s only a couple of inches taller than the young knight, he has a substantial amount of mass on him. He spoke some initial words to Elrolias before pulling out a necklace with the Army of Light symbol on it. Elrolias glanced at it before making eye contact with the man. “I was not aware this was a covert mission.” He said in between Jun’s subtlety comment and his introduction. “My name is Elrolias.” The young knight would normally go in for a handshake, but Jun began to walk into the facility almost immediately, after signaling Elrolias to follow.

Once inside the facility, Erolias removed the hooded portion of his cloak. Looking around, it was a lot more obvious just how much of a poor state the mining facility was in. Elrolias gritted his teeth. This is exactly what inaction does. Yes, it’s to life that not everyone can be helped, but surely, the Jedi could have helped many more souls by acting instead of deliberating.

He looked over at Jun when he started speaking. The objective was to talk to the “worker’s cooperative president” and to see what could be done to not only help repair the facility but also deal with the pirate scourge. Elrolias’ face lit up when Jun asked him if he was ready to get his hands dirty. “I am always ready for a proper extermination.” He said with a confident grin.

@Apollyon

 

[K’Jun]

Elrolias, weird name. Jun shrugged it off, he’d heard of dudes and chicks with weirder more uncommon names. Like Stephen or Becky. He didn’t quite get some naming conventions of other cultures but it really didn’t matter.

Jun continued to inspect the section of the station they were in. There was a lot of work to get done and a lot of trust to be built before these guys would work with the Army of Light. That was alright, Jun was relatively confident they could get it done.

There was a little concern when Elrolias seemed to light up at the prospect of killing pirates. While Jun never really hesitated in putting down those that deserved it, it wasn’t exactly something he relished in. It was something necessary to upkeep Balance and Order. Sometimes weeds had to be plucked to maintain a garden, or some shit like that.

“We’ll get to them pirates eventually.” Jun reassured. “First let’s help these people out, get em to believe in us.” He explained. “Then when we solve that problem, it’ll be what brings em in.” He gently tapped the side of his head, a gesture to show he was thinking.

Jun led the pair of them further into the station, the deeper they went into the refinery the more the semblance of normalcy appeared. At its very center there was little disrepair, it seemed like nothing was wrong at all. That was curious. Something else concerning stood out to Jun, there were few workers, most work stations seemed empty.

“Wonder if the pirate raids scared em off.” Jun said glancing back to Elorolias.

Regardless, Jun followed the faded directions on signs until they arrived at an office with a bright red door. Jun looked to Elorolias and shrugged before he rapped his gauntleted fist against the metal door. There was no sound at first but then Jun’s sensitive ears picked up movement on the other side of the door. Eventually a far Toydarian answered, his wings barely able to support his mass.

“Huh? Yeah? Whaddaya want?” He asked gruffly. The bags beneath his eyes told of restless nights. “Can’t ya see I’m busy here?” He asked.

“Yeah…real busy we can tell.” Jun replied looking back towards the empty work stations. “Look, I’ll be brief. I’m Jun and this is Elrolias and we think we can help you get back up and running.” He stated flatly. “You’ll be back to making creds and in exchange you supply us with tibanna at wholesale prices.” Jun offered. “Seem fair?”

@JoelM

 

[Elrolias Kayin]

Elrolias nodded at Jun when he talked about dealing with the pirates after helping out at the mining facility. He agreed wholeheartedly with the priorities set by Jun. The young elf followed his bulkier partner deeper into the mines. Letting Jun take the lead was only logical as he seemed much more familiar with the situation at hand.

As they walked further into the mining facility, it became more and more… untouched. It was definitely odd. Something was off, but it was too soon to know exactly what, at least for Elrolias. “It is also possible the workers could have been taken by the pirates. Let us hope that is not the case.” It would be much better if the workers simply fled like Jun suggested, but the possibility of something far more sinister was also present.

They continued to walk through the mining facility until they came across a bright red door. Elrolias gave Jun a slight nod when he looked over at him before knocking on the door. Jun’s gauntlets combined with his presumed strength produced a loud bang with seemingly little to no effort at all. After a while, the door would open, revealing a rather overweight Toydarian.

He was rude, people of his race tended to be. Jun got straight to the point, explaining why they were there and what their intentions were. The fat Toydarian laughed. “And what? I’m supposed to believe a couple ‘o kind souls are just gonna show up at my doorstep, offering to solve all my problems out of the kindness ‘o they hearts?” Elrolias would finally speak. “We did not say we would do it ‘out of the kindness of our hearts’. We are looking to make an exchange, as stated by Jun.” The Toydarian let out an exasperated sigh before responding. “Right, wholesale prices. And what do a couple ‘o strangers want with Tibanna gas? Are ya really gonna buy so much of it to make this all worth it?” The Toydarian was asking too many questions for Elrolias’ comfort. “That is our business. All you need to know for now is that we are capable of helping and are offering our services in exchange for the aforementioned discount. Are you going to accept our help or not?”

The overweight Toydarian looked back and forth between Jun and Elrolias a few times before responding. “Fine. You wanna help? These terms seem… agreeable to me.” He said with a raspy grunt. “Follow me.” The Toydarian would walk through Elrolias and Jun and out of what was seemingly his office. Elrolias would not move until Jun did.

 

[K’Jun]

Jun listened to the exchange between the Toydarian Union President and Elrolias. It took a little convincing but they were able to talk their way into a meeting to repair the facility. Jun intended on leveraging the fact it was a defenseless ghost town to their advantage too.

“So wholesale prices to get the facility back up and runnin’.” Jun reiterated with a shrug. “But you’re definitely lackin’ in the workers department of your union.” Jun continued. “And, even if we get things runnin’ and workers to keep things rollin’, you ain’t got defenses against pirates.” Jun continued. “Things I can solve for you…at a fair cost.” He added sneakily. “You sell to us at wholesale price, you give him ten percent of produced tibanna across all facilities as residual for helpin’ deal with the pirates. You’ll give me a further twenty-five percent for findin’ the workers, gettin’ a defense contract set up, and dealin’ with the pirates.” Jun continued. “Seem fair to everyone?” He asked, glancing between Elrolias and the Union Leader.

The Toydarian nearly fell from the sky at Jun’s continued demands. “Thirty-five percent? Are you trying to run me out of business?” He gasped as he clutched at his chest.

“Nah, you can afford it. Especially if we get two or three more of these platforms up and runnin’ for you.” Jun replied. “It’ll be a drop in the bucket and you know it.” Jun pushed. “So do we have a deal?”

The Toydarian was silent for a long while, he stroked his unkempt mustache as he thought. “Twenty percent for you and we have a deal!” He spat finally.

Jun shrugged and extended his hand. Twenty percent was better than what he currently had. With the deal worked out Jun requested a written and signed copy of their contract, then the pair of Jedi headed off to start their work.

“First things first, we find out what’s goin’ on with the workers here.” Jun told his partner. “I got a funny feelin’ there’s more goin’ on than just disrepair and I wanna know what it is.”

@JoelM

 

[Elrolias Kayin]

Jun’s tactics were a lot more… elaborate than Elrolias originally thought. He didn’t just want a discount, he wanted continuous residual supply equal to a percentage of the entirety of the facility’s production. A single person wouldn’t be able to burn through that much gas on their own, but Jun presumably wanted to gather his own forces much like Elrolias did and contribute to the budding Crusaders. Elrolias stayed quiet throughout Jun’s whole spiel. The blond elf wasn’t expecting anything at all from this surprise mission, so 10 percent sounded marvelous.

“These terms are just.” Elrolias said when Jun asked if everyone was satisfied with the conditions set. The Toydarian resisted, haggling Jun down to 20 percent instead of 25 percent. Once the verbal agreement was done, Jun demanded a written one. The fat Toydarian let out an exasperated sigh at the thought of having to walk the 20 feet back into his office. Once the contract was drafted, it was read and then signed by all parties involved.

The two Jedi would begin their mission of restoring the facility. “I agree.” Elrolias responded to Jun when he spoke. “We should start where the disrepa–” Elorlias stopped speaking abruptly. “Yes, Maya, I am here.” he said, putting his right hand on his ear and his left hand up towards Jun to signal him to hold on for a moment. “Copy that. Standby, but be ready to provide aerial support.” Elrolias turns his attention back to Jun. “It looks like we have company. My ship’s on-board AI has detected several ships approaching the facility. A couple of light freighters accompanied by a squadron of starfighters, all belonging to different factions. It is very likely these are some of the pirates plaguing this facility.”

Elrolias reached into one of his pouches and pulled out his AT-Specs which were connected to his ship’s on-board AI. Putting them on, he’d speak again. “It looks like they are approaching from the north. 2 light freighters and 6 starfighters, all presumably at capacity. We are definitely outnumbered.” Elrolias looked at Jun before speaking again. “Thoughts? Comments? Concerns?” He would say to him. While Elrolias had his own way of how he would deal with the situation, he wanted to give Jun a chance to speak since he was technically the leader of this mission, at least in Elrolias’ eyes, and the young elf was really trying to work on his rash and impulsive nature.

@Apollyon

 

[K’Jun]

Jun was glad to hear Elrolias was satisfied with the outcome of negotiations. However, as the pair made their way to the outer rings of the facility to inspect the disrepair, Elrolias passed along some grave intel. Likely pirates inbound. Shit.

Jun was silent for a moment when the younger knight turned to him for guidance. His ears flattened as he thought, then he reached up and tapped a metal pipe. It wasn’t entirely hollow, refined tibanna ran through it. Highly flammable refine tibanna ran through it. Jun had an idea.

“We eliminate their advantage of blasters.” Jun stated simply. “You won’t be able to use your lightsaber either but we have somethin’ they don’t…the Force to guide us.”

He plucked his rebreather from his utility belt and popped it into his mouth and nodded for Elrolias to do the same. Then Jun activated his gauntlets and slugged the pipe. Refined tibanna gas pumped into the room. Jun began shutting exit points and breaking more pipes. Eventually a thick miasma covered the enclosed space and an emergency shit off system was engaged. When the pirates came into the room they would be greeted by the scent of tibanna and the thick fog within.

Inside the room, Jun and Elrolias would wait. Jun’s eyes flicked to the other Knight, he reached out through the Force and brushed his mind. We wait until they are all inside, then we sprin’ the ambush. Don’t kill them if you can help it, we need information. Jun instructed telepathically. May the Force be with you.

Jun and Elrolias would be able to hear the pirates as they bolstered weapons and engaged rebreathers before venturing into the room. Jun closed his eyes and allowed the Force to flow through him, he saw the room from a different plane. He saw it unobstructed through the realm of the Force. All twelve of these pirates would soon be paying the price.

Sucked to be them.

@JoelM

 

[Elrolias Kayin]

Elrolias waited for Jun to come up with a plan. The plan he ended up coming up with was definitely not Elrolias’ style, but he was still willing to execute it. It was an odd plan. Not the plan itself, but its style. It was careful and methodical but also brutish and direct. Elrolias did not say anything, he just nodded and put on his rebreather as he took his position. As refined Tibanna gas filled the room, the pirates knew all too well exactly what it was. While Elrolias’ connection to the force was strong, it was not his strong suit. His most developed powers were Force Enhancement and Force Speed. He had other powers at his disposal, but they were pretty shotty.

Luckily, the young elf had a piece of tech to help him cover his weakness: the AT-Specs. They had infrared vision and Maya had already tagged the pirates for his convenience. Elrolias closed his eyes for a moment to concentrate as he waited for the pirates to approach. They knew there had to be someone there that wasn’t supposed to be there, Elrolias’ ship wasn’t exactly hidden and they had to go through the room the two Jedi were in if they wanted to get to the fat Toydarian’s office. The pirates knew this all too well, as they split off to go through two different entrances instead of all coming through one of them.

Elrolias covered one of them and Jun presumably covered the other. By the time the pirates got through the door, six that he could count, Elrolias had his Force Enhancement all ready to go. While it wasn’t his strongest area, the young elf was well versed in unarmed combat. He hated blasters, so this was his next best way of fighting in case his lightsaber was out of commission, like it is now. As soon as the pirates came in, the young elf rushed the first one with his Force Speed, delivering a swift, but powerful blow to the poor man’s solar plexus. He would immediately follow this up with a force push designed more to knock the pirates on their ass than a far distance backward before disappearing into the cloud of Tibanna gas once more.

@Apollyon

 

[K’Jun]

Jun saw the pirates through the Force. There were six in total that be had to deal with. The pirates advanced forward into the room, Jun would allow them to hit a midway point before he made his first move. His muscles tended as he got ready to launch himself.

There was a sudden crash and set of yelps that came from elsewhere in the room. The squad head of these pirates held up a hand for the group to stop. He pressed the comm bead in his ear and said something in Huttese. He only got partially through the first sentence when Jun struck.

The thick miasma of the fog covered his movements. The reverberating crash from the pirates Elrolias had hit cover the sound of his heavy footsteps. So when Jun’s massive bear paw of a hand snatched the pirate leader as he ran by, it would be like something straight from a horror holo. His men would hear his yelp of surprise quickly fading into the distance. That was followed by a short scream of pain that suddenly fell silent with a wet crunch.

Jun hadn’t killed the man. But he had broken his arm in several places. The sudden and overwhelming pain had caused the squad leader to pass out. Jun would quickly lash him to a thick pipe to ensure he would escape when he woke up.

Panic was setting in with the pirates. A few spoke in basic and pointed out that the squad leaders had the access codes for their ships. They couldn’t leave without them. They would have to fan out and find their leadership.

They would fall to Jun, one by one because of that.

@JoelM

 

[Elrolias Kayin]

The Pirates recovered quickly, or as quickly as they could after being knocked down. They were in a bit of a panic as only five of them remained instead of six and they had only just walked into the room. To make things worse, their assailant was nowhere to be seen. While the thought of retreating would cross all of their heads at different points during the ensuing battle, it would be hard for any of them to bring themselves to do so as it would have incurred the wrath of whoever their faction leader was.

So they pressed on, walking into the room and past the body of their unconscious comrade. They knew they couldn’t use their blasters in this area with all this Tibanna gas in the room, so they each wielded various different vibroknives and blades that were safe to use in such conditions. None of that mattered, however, as the near invisible Elrolias used the force to close the door behind them once they were all inside. The pirates all turned to the door expecting to see a person only to be greeted by nothing.

Within moments, Elrolias stood behind the pirate that found himself now in the group’s flank as they had all turned around. The young elf wrapped his arms around the pirate’s waist and pulled back with all of his might and all the help of the force, lighting him up and over his head, still holding on to the pirate’s waist and slamming his back and neck into the ground. The unarmed knight wasted no time at all, quickly jumping to his feet and greeting another freshly turned pirate with a swift and precise Force Kick to the jaw, knocking him down also. Once again, Elrolias would disappear into the thick miasma of Tibanna gas that only got thicker the longer that pipe remained broken.

 

[K’Jun]

Jun moved quickly as he could through the miasma. He used the Force to guide him and it led him to the next pirate. Jun grabbed the man by his waist and slammed him up into an overhead pipe before bringing him thudding down across the railing. The man’s collarbone snapped, he likely had skull fractures as well. Jun dropped him to the ground and moved on.

Through the realm of the Force he saw another pirate rushing towards the sounds of breaking bone and metal being dented. Jun extended an arm as they ran towards one another and close lined him. He’d spin around and bring his knee crunching down on the her face, incapacitating her before she could recover.

Three down, three to go.

Jun already started moving off into the miasma again.

@JoelM

 

[Rena Ivens]

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___Somewhere among the fray, Elrolias became indisposed from inhaling too much of the toxic tibanna fumes billowing from the pipeline. When Elrolias relayed his status, the command instructed him to retreat, and they rerouted another knight to take his place. As K'Jun navigated through the choking effluvium, he would run into his replacement: a diminutive, frail-looking woman adorned in a gas mask with a crutch tucked under her arm. She raised her free hand.

___"Hello, K'Jun," she said. "Rena Ivens, here to replace Elrolias," the woman introduced herself. Beneath the goggles of the mask, Rena's eyes flicked to the side as a pirate charged into view. With reflexes belying her infirmity, she thrust her free hand towards the encroaching pirate. He yelped as an invisible battering ram punched into his gut, sending him sprawling back into a tower of stacked plasteel barrels. With the threat disposed of, Rena turned back to the man who towered a whole foot over her. She readjusted her crutch.

___"Probably not the cavalry you wanted, but I'm what was available," she chuckled. "What's the situation? They were quick to rush me out here with minimal details. I also brought another mask if you need it," Rena finished, reaching into a satchel around her waist to retrieve a second mask for K'Jun to take if he chose.

@Apollyon