Chapter 14 To Save Alluuvia
"You have all done well.
We hoped you would be like the first, and we’re glad that we’re
right,” Anyar said. “They had
come to our world many tides ago. They
were very much like you—they explored our world and left again. We
watched them from a distance, but we did not make contact.”
“The Grey Griffins,” Kosh nodded.
“Then fifteen tides ago, another group had landed.
There were many more strangers this time, wearing strange white shells.
We decided then to make contact, but the ones in the white shells
slaughtered many of us. Eight tides
ago, a huge metal fish had come and landed on our waters.
It is far away in the southern ocean and still has not moved or made any
indication that it would be leaving anytime soon.
I and my people will join you in helping to rid our planet of this new
metal fish. Also to help would be
our friend Iych-thae, who has only come to us only five tides ago.
He and his pilgrims have promised to protect us from the white shelled
strangers, and to help keep our world just the way it is—untouched by outside
technology,” Anyar said as he led them back up to the surface.
Just as they came back to the ship, they were all surprised as another
ship set down next to the Moonshadow. It was
Iych-thae and his pilgrims!
“Ah! My friends!
So happy I am that you are not dead!
I see that you have made good friends with the
“We’re here to get rid of the Imperials also,” Maharet spoke up.
“We’ll try falsifying the Imperial report—if they haven’t sent
one yet, that is.”
“And just how do you plan to do that, my shadowy friend?” Iych-thae
asked.
“You do a little lying—say that there was absolutely nothing of
value, that there are no resources and that all earlier reports were wrong and
untrue,” Andromeda said with a smile. “But
in order to accomplish that, we’ll have to break into the base and take out
the communications so they can’t correct the report, somehow take care of the
imperials themselves so they don’t report back to IML.”
“We could capture them as prisoners,” Iych-thae suggested.
“I will send hundreds of warriors,” Anyar offered.
Iych-thae seemed almost hesitant.
“Friend Iych-thae, while your words do carry some serious weight, they
fall heavily against deaf ears. Unfortunately,
your words without the actions to back them are meaningless to them,” Anyar
said. Iych-thae understood and his
pilgrims took up arms.
“And you may be right, Brother Anyar.
But what will happen once Alluuvia is rid of Imperials?
What of Radell Mining?” Iych-thae looked almost disapprovingly at the
Black Hawks.
“This world will be under protection.
While Radell Mining would have legal claim, I’m sure you can come to a
responsible agreement. This would be
assured by us, the Grey Griffins and with Iych-thae acting as your spokesperson,
Alluuvia will not suffer the same fate as Dega,” Tolian explained to put Anyar
at ease.
“Very well. I agree to
this,” Anyar said quietly. “But
for now, we must concentrate on getting the Imperials off our planet!
I will send two of my best scouts with you to for escort to the silver
fish. They can get you there
unnoticed. You find a way to sneak
inside and let my army in. I will
send hundreds of
Because of the
In the distance could be seen a huge octagonal platform resting on the
water’s placid surface, easily 200 meters in diameter.
Andromeda was able to make out a heavy turbo laser cannon and a quartet
of smaller laser cannons rising from the base’s towers.
A pair of sensor towers were flanking the main landing pad, and a working
shield generator was making a protective bubble around the place.
There was also a kind of chute to be seen behind the heavy turbo laser
cannon used for ventilation? No,
that was too big. It was big enough
to fly a TIE Fighter through, so it must be a launch chute.
“So it’s nothing more than a small version of the big Imperial
Aquatic Garrison Base!” Tolian muttered and sighed heavily.
“How are we supposed to get past that?” Gorr groaned.
“This way!” the scouts indicated as they submerged and began leading
the way again. They took them
underneath the station and pointed upward. Before indicating that this was where
they had to part. After a quick
search, it was clear that there was no hatch.
Maharet shrugged with a look of confusion on her face.
Kosh whipped out his light saber, ignited it and pointed upward.
Luse and Zaron moved back knowing what he was about to do.
He went and made a hatch big
enough for them to go through so they could enter the base. Andromeda gave him a
thumbs up sign and with blaster drawn, went first.
Stealthily as she could manage, Andromeda pulled herself up through the
hole, all the while looking around for any signs of life.
She was almost surprised to find that there were none, and turned to help
Maharet come up through the hole, who in turn helped the next person in.
Upon further inspection, Andromeda was able to deduce that they had made
their way in to the barracks—a seemingly empty one at that.
There were very few footlockers indicating that not all the bunks were
occupied—maybe 30 out of the 300 bunks. That
meant that it was still being run by a skeleton crew, they were all out or on
duty somewhere and that they were not expecting to be attacked or harassed. If
anything, there were mostly technicians aboard, who really didn’t know the
first thing about combat. Andromeda
had to smile about that. Luse seemed
to be trying to hide some kind of disappointment that there wasn’t more that
he could fight.
Maharet went into her infamous “sneak-mode” and began to lead the way
out with Andromeda, Tolian, Gorr, Zaron and Luse following close behind.
They crammed into the turbo lift that was across the hall and headed up
to the top level. Maharet still led
the way as she headed for the right and down the corridor.
Zaron began to feel uneasy.
“Where is everybody?” he hissed.
“I don’t like this.”
“Shh! Look! A blast door.
I’m willing to bet this room is important!” Andromeda whispered.
“It’s either the control room or the communications.
I can tell by the Rank Cylinder. Let’s
get a better idea of this place before we go barging in,” Tolian suggested.
“The nest door doesn’t look so threatening.
Let’s hit that one. If
we’re lucky, we can lift some floor plans or something.”
Door Number Two revealed a plush office.
No one was occupying it at the moment, but whoever was, left the computer
running. Zaron was in front of it
with Andromeda and Maharet looking over his shoulder.
Gorr and Luse stood watch at the door while Tolian walked about the
office.
“Looks like you were right, Tolian.
According to this floor plan, that is the control center and the
communications is on the other side,” Zaron confirmed and the computer beeped.
“There’s also an incoming message.
Shall I read it?” Tolian
nodded. Zaron pushed on the keyboard
to retrieve it and the screen suddenly blanked out.
Wordlessly, he quickly backed away and began heading for the door with a
look of “oops” on his face.
“Tripped an alarm?” Andromeda snapped.
“Maybe,” was all he mumbled as he headed for the door, blaster ready.
“May I suggest that we split up. We
need to take over the control room to obtain the IML report and let down the
shields so the
“No need to split up,” Andromeda snapped and made ready to lead the
way out. “Uncle, you might have to
work your magic on that Rank Cylinder.”
Tolian hurried down the hall and set to work on the Cylinder while
everyone else stood watch. Zaron was
nervously shifting from one foot to the other.
Luse seemed to be on the ready, just waiting for an Imperial to come
around the corner. Maharet was
looking over Tolian’s shoulder, Gorr was watching for Imperials, Kosh seemed
to be calmly standing by.
“Zaron, I thought you tripped an alarm,” Andromeda said nervously.
“So did I. Stop that!
You’re making me more nervous!” he hissed.
“Got it! Ready?”
Tolian rushed the blast door as it slid open.
There were four IML techs and two soldiers taken completely by surprise.
Gorr knocked one soldier out while Luse pounded the other completely
senseless. The four techs were
unarmed, so their hands went right up into the air, and Maharet had them herded
into the center of the room where she, Andromeda, Tolian, and Kosh had them
covered.
“We lucked out. No one
knows we’re here yet,” Zaron looked over the controls.
He was busy looking them over, trying to find what activated the shield
generators. He made a little
exclamation of joy as he found the right controls.
The shields were lowered and sensors were showing that the
“So change it already!” Gorr seemed to be getting impatient.
“Change it to what? Maybe
we should get creative,” Zaron was feeling extremely confident.
“Say that sensors were malfunctioning and that the readings were all
wrong, when in truth there isn’t nearly as much mining material to be
found,” Andromeda began.
“That won’t be believed!” a tech boldly spoke up.
“Say that the locals are highly volatile and very hostile,” Luse made
a threatening move toward the tech who instantly shrank back.
“Their numbers are overwhelming.”
“The planet is highly unstable,” Maharet said next. "And
that the base no longer exists due to a big tidal wave or some other natural
disaster”
“Ooo, I like that,” Zaron smiled almost wickedly.
“Kosh, you have nothing to say?”
“No,” he said simply. “There
is no need for me to add to the lie.”
“I’ll just put this on disk and run her on over to the
communications,” Zaron was all smiles as he pulled the disk out and put it in
his pocket. Luse took the honor of
knocking out the techs and locking them in the storage closet before leaving.
As they made their way into the corridor again, they were still surprised
that still no Imperials were coming around the corner to apprehend them.
The communications door was another blast door with another Rank Cylinder
on it. Tolian was having a much
harder time with this one.
“It’s a good bet they know we’re here,” Maharet said quietly.
“Maybe not. I can get
this,” Tolian tried.
“They do now!” Kosh made a hole in the door with his light saber.
They leapt forward in attack again. Luse
took out the only Trooper in the room and again as before, there were four
unarmed techs, whose hands were reaching for the sky.
With Gorr’s help, they were knocked cold and locked into the storage
closet.
“Now I’m nervous!” Zaron said as he began to upload the disk of the
IML Report. Lights were flashing and
an alarm was sounding. Kosh, Gorr
and Luse were standing watch at the gaping hole of a blast door.
Andromeda and Tolian were ready on backup and Maharet was supervising
Zaron.
“There’s that incoming message again!” he pushed the com button and
began to read aloud:
“Alert
to Alluuvia mobile base:
This is exploratory mining rig Berea-3.
We are between jumps and ready to complete crossing the drift.
We are scheduled to arrive in Alluuvian system tomorrow by 0800 hours,
your time.
Be prepared to direct our crews to the most promising mine site.
We have orders to draw core samples immediately and begin operations as
soon as possible.
We are looking forward to this new assignment.
Your assistance is greatly appreciated.”
“But that’s tomorrow morning!” Luse said.
“And we’ll be ready for them!” Andromeda said with certainty.
“Send a message back to them. Give
them some hokey story so that they turn around and go home,” Gorr suggested.
“Too late for that. They’re
in their final jump. There’s no
communicating with them while they’re in hyperspace,” Andromeda shook her
head.
“Good to go! I’ve sent
the report. Our work here had
finished. Now let’s get the heck
out of here and let the Anguilla have at this place!”
Zaron said.
“I’m for that,” Kosh agreed quietly.
They managed to take off on a few wave skippers amidst all the confusion
and make it safely back to the Moon Shadow.
The following morning, they were just above the planet’s surface, lying
in wait for the incoming Imperial mining rig.
They didn’t have long to wait. They
were right on time. The Berea-3 came out of hyperspace, escorted by nine TIE Fighters.
The Imperials didn’t bother to ask who they were, but opened fire on
the Moon Shadow.
Andromeda returned fire, watching three TIE’s explode into bright
orange and green balls. The
remaining six TIE’s were shooting, but Moon Shadow’s shields were holding.
“I hate to sound like a droid, but our chances—” Tolian began.
“And I hate to sound like General Solo, but never tell me the odds!”
Andromeda snapped. She seemed to
grumble something inaudible under her breath as she took the Moon
Shadow into a dive and two more TIE’s collided with each other in a
brilliant fiery display. Only four
more TIE Fighters, but she wasn’t counting on the rig or the freighter getting
involved in the fight too. As much
as she hated to admit it, she knew that Moon
Shadow was no match for this display of firepower.
Then from what seemed like out of nowhere, the freighter was badly
crippled as Iych-thae’s ship came blasting onto the scene.
With a crow of delight, Andromeda maneuvered the ship around for another
pass and Tolian took out the mining rig and they watched it explode.
With Iych-thae’s help, the remaining TIE Fighters were easily taken
care of.
Just when it looked like a clean victory, more trouble showed up—the
Scourge, to be exact, and they were jumping in on the Imperials’ side!
They still had that barge with the gravity well on it and a few blast
boats.
“The Impasse,” Maharet read
on the barge’s hull. “Uh-oh. That
grav-well is going to keep us from escaping.”
“This looks not good,” Gorr said from his seat.
Andromeda was trying her best to keep out of the way.
Andromeda was shaking her head. “Suggestions,
anyone?”
“Look! Behind the barge!
Isn’t that—” Gorr pointed.
“Starwing!” Kosh said excitedly.
“He’s here to help us!”
Starwing’s massive form was seen behind the barge, wings flapping.
He reared his head back and let go with his fiery breath on the barge,
which caught fire and began to fall out of position.
That had managed to kill the grav-well.
“Yes!” Luse cheered.
“The score is now even, he says,” Kosh said quietly.
“He has paid his debt and will now be on his way.”
“Thank him for us,” Maharet said quietly.
“He knows,” Kosh smiled. “Mission
accomplished! Now that it’s all
over, we can go back down and properly thank the Anguilla and Iych-thae for
their assistance!”
Back on the surface of Alluuvia, there was a great celebration going on,
now that their new friends helped them get rid of the white-shelled foe.
Iych-thae convinced Anyar to come with him back to Elrood to plead
Alluuvia’s case to Jameth over at Radell mining, but they didn’t have to go
anywhere. Just as they were about to
go, Radell Mining came to them!
It was learned that Radell was able to make a legal claim of the planet
through the Elroodan Government and that IML had no claims whatsoever,
mysteriously pulling out of the deal. But
Iych-thae and Anyar wouldn’t let Radell mining take over the old Imperial base
until an agreement was reached. Radell
would be mining “responsibly”, and it would be made sure that Alluuvia would
not suffer the same fate as Dega.
When the terms of agreement were reached, the Black Hawks were able to
take their leave and return to Elrood.
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* Chapter 11 and subsequent chapters are based upon the module "Operation: Elrood", a game concept owned by West End Games, written by John Beyer, Chris Doyle and Anthony Russo. I wish to make it known that the game and/or story concept is not mine. This is simply written into readable story form of our adventures as we went through it, and that passages are taken directly from the module itself. Concepts of people and places are not mine except for PC's listed on previous page. I'm doing so because I thoroughly enjoyed the story and wanted to do this for entertainment purposes only--I'm not making any profits of any kind off of this. I'm just wanting to make clear that I'm giving credit where credit is due. Thank you.