Competition: Military Recon of Tarthos

Finished
Military Recon of Tarthos

After the chaos since the end of the Great Jedi War has subsided, House Marka Ragnos has turned it's sight upon Tarthos to reclaim the land and to make sure there are no surprises hidden on their planet.

You have been tasked with exploring one of the abandoned military installations on Tarthos. The House Summit requires information on the various facilities on the planet. You will take a platoon of Stormtroopers and a LAAT/i and deploy to a facility of your choosing. The LAAT/i will drop your team at the facility's landing pad and then will hold close by. Secure the facility and report any and everything you find.

No more than 5,000 words per entry.

Winning participants will have their entries turned into wiki articles for Tarthos. If enough entries are received and the quality is exceptional, more entries could be added to the wiki as well.

Winners will be chosen using the fiction Grading Rubric.

Competition Information
Organized by
Warlord Hades
Running time
2021-02-22 until 2021-03-15 (22 days)
Target Unit
Clan Naga Sadow
Competition Type
Fiction
Awards
Third Level Crescents and Clusters of Ice as per VOICE guidelines
Participants
6 subscribers, of which 3 have participated.
Results
Member
Adept DarkHawk Sadow
File submission
Military Recon of Tarthos.pdf
Placement
1st place
Member
Malisane Sadow
Textual submission

Military Recon of Tarthos

Alabrek Castle
Tarthos
Orian System

The Quaestor studied the holographic map in front of him. Along with the principle cities on Tarthos a number of smaller sites were highlighted, with indicators of troop and member assignments. “It looks as if we have most of the first phase covered,” Hades commented, “our members are pretty thinly spread though.”
“The call has gone out to others,” Locke replied, “we are awaiting responses. We can hope our fellow house may send volunteers to assist.”
“Perhaps,” the Quaestor said thoughtfully, “though they have their own issues on Aeotheran and Inos.”
There was the sound of footsteps from behind, and an officer entered. “You have a visitor Quaestor,” he announced.
Hades turned. “Who?”
“The Quaestor of Shar Dakhan, sir.”
“Malisane?” Locke replied in surprise.
“Show him in,” Hades ordered.
They waited until the armoured figure entered the room, and removed his helmet to reveal his burned and ripped features.
“Greetings Malisane,” Hades said with a slight inclination of his head. “How can we help you?”
“You requested volunteers Quaestor.”
“We did indeed.” Locke confirmed cautiously.
Malisane turned to the Aedile. “I am volunteering.”
Hades glanced at Locke, and then back at his fellow Quaestor. “Very well. As you may be aware we are investigating a number of defunct facilities here on Tarthos. To see if they are worth restoring or deconstructing. We have several remaining in our first phase.”
“Give me the coordinates and some troopers and it will be done Quaestor.”
“Very well. Hades replied, “We are sending you to facility Vesh, at the north tip of Luger Mau. It is not one of ours so we suspect the Collective built it. It's designation is unknown and scans reveal nothing. A platoon and a LAAT will be waiting for you in the shuttle bay.”
Malisane nodded. “Good day.” He inclined his head, and then turned and departed.
Hades turned to Locke. “What is he up to? It seems odd him turning up.”
Locke considered this. He had spent several months working with the Dakhan Quaestor. “Do you want me to be honest?”
“Of course.”
“He gets bored easily.”
Hades frowned. “I see.”

Facility Vesh
Luger Mau
Tarthos

Malisane watched the cold and mostly featureless landscape pass. Tarthos at its best was cold and bleak and uninteresting, unless you liked dilapidated ruins or extreme hunting. He had spent a few months here a decade or so ago and had not missed it. He glanced at the young Lieutenant who was stood at the front near the cockpit. Currently the Chiss was trying to avoid the stare of the assassin droid. Zero did not like strangers and had no shame in showing it.
Lieutenant Obena, as his name was usually abbreviated to, turned to the Warlord. “Sir, we are here. We will land a safe distance away and make our way on foot for safety.”
“Very good,” Malisane replied.
The LAAT landed and immediately the Ragnos troopers deployed around it, as Malisane made his way down, followed by the assassin droid. He could see in the distance a short and squat building. Either the facility was very small or it lay below ground. At a signal from the Lieutenant the platoon began to approach and fan out surrounding the facility. A couple of troopers using specialist equipment approached ahead scanning for any defensive mines or alert systems. Malisane followed, letting his senses explore the area. He did not sense any danger. He looked down at the black assassin droid, who rolled along the hard ground smoothly as its lights flashed on and off.

They reached the door, and Malisane watched as one of the specialists worked on the lock. There was an impatient tone from Zero, as the droid watched the trooper's efforts. Malisane's head turned to regard the droid. “Quiet.” The droids head turned to him for a second, and then back to watch.
The door opened and four troopers slipped inside taking the lead, followed by the Lieutenant, Malisane and Zero. The rest followed, except for a rear guard remaining outside the facility.
It was dark inside, as the lead soldiers torches scanned the entrance room. The entrance was mostly empty, save for a few broken pieces of equipment and a desk with a missing chair. There was also a lift at one end, its panels dark.
“We need to restore the power,” Lieutenant Obena commented.
Malisane nodded, and glanced at a trooper who was examining a panel on the wall. The specialist turned. “The panel is inactive,” he replied, “the system seems to be locked out.”
“Zero,” Malisane addressed the droid, “see what you can do.”
There was a deep, sonorous tone from the droid, but it moved forward to obey. It extended it's tools and began to work on the panel. Finally it turned and made another deep tone, this time of annoyance. The Lieutenant turned to Malisane questioningly.
“We will have to do this the hard way,” the Battlelord replied.
“We can cut the door open sir.”
“Allow me,” Malisane said and walked forward, igniting his saber. He raised it and inserted it between the gap in the doors, and then began to slowly drag it downwards with a shower of sparks. Finally he turned it off and raised a hand. With a groaning sound the doors slid open revealing the empty dark shaft. At a signal from the officer a trooper stepped forward and dropped a flare into the shaft, and it fell downwards. They looked down. It was perhaps a hundred feet down, and the lift car was at the bottom.

At a signal from the Lieutenant the troopers lowered ropes into the shaft. Malisane pushed aside and went first, sliding down quickly to land on the roof of the car. A second later he was joined by two troopers who examined the roof. There was a panel and one of them skilfully opened it. They dropped into the lift and Malisane joined them. The doors were open and the Warlord looked into the darkness. He could sense something in the darkness, but his helmet display showed nothing. Slowly the two troopers with him moved forward, rifles raised. Behind him he could hear the sound of more troopers making their way down. Slowly the troopers advanced forward, more joining them at the bottom of the shaft.
“Here sir,” a trooper said pointing to another panel, “this one is lit.”
Malisane gestured to Zero, who grumblingly made its way forward and began to work on the panel, the two specialists ready to help if needed. The rest of the troopers lead by their Lieutenant made a defensive screen, their weapons ready as several shone weapons into the darkness. The room appeared to be large, and several desks and terminals could be made out.
“What is this place?” Lieutenant Obena asked, as the Chiss surveyed the darkness, “it does not look like a military base.”
Malisane shut his eyes, his senses reaching out into the darkness. “There is something here, hostile.”
“What sir?”
The Warlord opened his eyes. “I am unsure.”
The droid made a triumphant noise and a loud whirring of machinery filled the room, as the lights came on, briefly blinding the troopers who shut their eyes against the burning brightness. Malisane, his integral lenses protecting him beneath his helmet visor, was unaffected, and looked around him in surprise. Beyond several desks and cabinets, and tables in the centre of the room were a pair of corridors leading off to the left and right of the lift. There were several skeletons on the floor, surrounded by shredded pieces of clothing and armour and some discarded weapons.
“It would seem you were right sir,” the Lieutenant observed.

Malisane nodded. His senses were growing stronger now, there was something near by. “We need to search.”
Lieutenant Obena turned to his sergeant, a burly man stood nearby. “Sergeant, send two teams into each corridor. Maintain silence unless you find something significant. One team will remain here.”
Malisane watched as the NCO disposed his troops and then followed one of the teams down the right corridor, the droid following him. Malisane pushed forward to walk next to the sergeant who was leading, the Lieutenant having taken the opposite direction. He could still sense hostility somewhere near, though he could not tell what. They reached a junction, with a blank wall ahead and two more corridors leading off left and right.
“Which way now Sir?” the Sergeant asked.
Malisane looked left and right, and then his senses suddenly ramped up in intensity. “Back!” he ordered as the sound of scrabbling paws could be heard. As the eight troopers and their NCO reacted dark creatures bounded down each corridor towards them, with yellow eyes and sharp teeth. “Fire!” the sergeant ordered as his troopers took defensive positions backing off into the single corridor. Malisane drew his shotgun and fired into the creatures. Two were hit and staggered, blood bursting from them, but they kept coming as more scrabbled past them in the narrow corridor. Dropping the shotgun he ignited his saber, and as his blood began to surge he leapt forward towards the creatures, to the surprise of the troopers behind him who were backing off and firing their blasters.

Planting his feet, he scythed his white saber blade back and forth as the creatures leapt at him, as blaster fire shot past him. A second later there was an explosion as Zero fired an explosive round into the horde pushing forward, raising cries of pain from the creatures caught in the blast. Malisane backed off slightly into the single corridor, as the troopers covered him. More of the creatures burst from the two corridors and the Sith raised a hand, and then made a gesture at the ground and the floor rocked in a telekinetic detonation, sending the four legged attackers backwards as they rolled and scrabbled to right themselves.
“There are too many sir we must retreat,” the Sergeant shouted.
Malisane snarled, and then he began to back off, waving his saber warningly at the creatures as the troopers began a withdrawal, firing their weapons at any creature which bound round into the corridor from either direction. Zero loosed another explosive shot that burst amongst the creatures, causing them to roar in pain as several were torn apart.
In twos the troopers pushed back through the doorway into the main chamber. From the left corridor Lieutenant Obenas section were doing likewise. They were now moving out into the chamber, taking defensive positions to maximise firepower on the corridors. Malisane backed off into the centre of the room, Zero beside him.

Suddenly everything went quiet, aside from a quiet growling and the sound of many claws on metal concrete flooring. “They're waiting,” the sergeant observed.
The Lieutenant looked at Malisane. “They have us surrounded. Do we or retreat?”
Malisane looked back at the lift. Despite the power being back on, the controls and display were dark. “The turbo-lift is out of action, probably due to our entrance. The only way up is to climb two or three at a time. When enough of us are out the remainder will be overrun. Retreat is not an option.”
“What are those things?” the Sergeant asked, “I don't recognise them. And what are they doing down here?”
The Lieutenant glanced at Malisane who shrugged. Obenas looked around at everyone slowly. “Either they were brought in here for, or there is a secondary entrance or air filtration pipe they entered by and killed the inhabitants. Either way we have no idea how many there are left.”
Malisane walked over to a terminal in the centre and examined the display. “The fire suppression system is still operational.” He looked around at the helmeted troopers. “We all have an oxygen supply. We can flush the base with retardant gas and flush them out of whichever way they got in.”
The sergeant looked at him dubiously. “That may flush them all in here sir.”
Malisane shrugged. “That is possible. It is better than waiting. Prepare yourselves.”
Lietenant Obena nodded. “Everyone check your seals and make ready.”

As Malisane hit the controls, a loud alarm began to sound throughout the facility, and a second later gas began to pour down from the ceiling. He tensed himself and readied his saber, as around him the troopers readied themselves, gripping blaster rifles. Above the sound of the alarm a loud roaring could be heard from the corridors, and he felt the sudden emotion of panic and anger from the creatures. A second later the troopers began to fire through the gas as some of the creatures burst into the room, and the battle begun. As he braced himself, and then attacked with his saber, Zero moved forward to fire it's blaster cannon at the creatures that burst into the room, as many more were mown down by the troopers weapons. One soldier was dragged to the ground by a maddened creature that ripped at his armour seals, before a companion shot it dead. Malisane focused on any enemy that came close, keeping his feet planted and his saber swinging with both arms as creatures leapt at him through the fog that was now filling the room. One near him reared up, and then fell gasping as the air supply was pushed out up the lift shaft by the increasingly heavy blanket of gas. Finally it was harder to see in the room, and he focused on the force to see any creature that entered. Finally it went quiet.

The atmosphere in the room was heavy with weariness, tension and the gas. “I think it is over sir,” Lieutenant Obena called across the room.
Malisane nodded. “Zero, switch it off and vent it.”
There was a deep tone from nearby, and then they heard the droid motoring across the floor. Finally the alarm quietened, and a few seconds later the gas jets turned off and the sound of the air conditioning turned up. Malisane waited while the room slowly began to clear. There were several bodies of unlucky troopers, but more of the creatures. He reached out with the force and found only emptiness. Either they were all dead or many had escaped another way, but the only living creatures within a hundred metres were himself and the troopers.
“They are gone.”
“Thank the maker,” the Sergeant commented.
Malisane ignored the derisive tone from the assassin droid and turned to the Lieutenant. I will take a squad down the right corridor. Commence a search of the left.”
Lieutenant Obena nodded. “Sergeant, secure this location.”

Malisane lead the team of four troopers, one of the specialists and Zero down the corridor. They briefly searched the right turning at the junction, and found it led to a supply room and a large hole in the wall, with a battered door hanging off his hinges, presumably the way the creatures had broken in. An inclining tunnel lead off into the darkness, coming out somewhere near the cliffs. Leaving two troopers to secure it he lead the remainder back and along the left tunnel, until he came to a sealed door.
“Warlord, sir,” Lieutenant Obena's voice came over the communicator, “we have secured the right corridor. It simply leads to mess and sleeping facilities.”
“Acknowledged,” Malisane replied, “we have located and secured secondary entrance. We have found another chamber and will investigate.”
“Acknowledged sir, Obena out.”

Malisane examined the door, and tried the panel. It did not respond. He glanced at the specialist who came forward and examined it.
“It requires a palm or retinal scan sir,” she replied.
“Can you override it.”
“It will likely have an anti tamper system sir,” she told him, “and possibly trapped. It will take some time to safely bypass it, even for your droid.”
Malisane looked down at the droid, who made a deep tone, it's meaning lost. He made a decision. “Stand back.” He turned to the door, and focused on it, letting his mind search down through it's components. Painstakingly he began to slowly shift key levers and mechanisms. The troopers and even the assassin droid watched cautiously. Finally there was a loud clunking noise and the door slid open.

Malisane pressed inside, followed by the troopers. The room was dark, but he located a switch. Suddenly the chamber was illuminated, and even the world weary Sith was surprised. They were stood at the top of a platform, with metal steps leading down into the room. On the wide floor below were banks of terminals, and in front of them was what appeared to be an immense holo projector. Malisane led them quietly down, as Lieutenant Obena joined them from behind. They reached the bottom and approached the central terminal and examined it. He pressed a few buttons experimentally, and then there was a loud whirring noise. Instinctively the troopers grasped their rifles and looked around them cautiously. Then a lights on the holoprojector lit and the giant mostly frozen ball of Tarthos appeared in front of them, shimmering slightly. There was a pause and then features began to appear, first the cities of Kar Alabrek and Markosian, and then Mucenic, and then others began to dot across the planet, some already on the map he had seen earlier, and others the Ragnos Summit probably did not know about.
“A Map?” Lieutenant Obena asked.
Malisane shrugged and clicked a few more buttons, and the planet shrunk slightly, and projected moons appeared, and flickering shapes of ships moving in the planets orbit. The data pinpointed an Acclamator and Vindicator amongst other smaller ones. More much smaller images were moving across the surface of the planet, the biggest concentration around the population centres.
“More than that I think,” Malisane observed. “I suggest we return to the surface and report back to your House Summit. I suspect we have found something very useful.”

Placement
2nd place
3rd place
Nikana
Member
Nikana
Textual submission

Vibrations from the air resistance as the LAAT/i descended came through in the electronic helmet voices of its stowed Stormtrooper platoon as the ships lateral gunners continually confirmed no contacts and relayed unimaginative information about the frozen landscape below as far as the eye can see to the platoon leader.

* * TWO HUNDRED METERS. GO IN TEN * * — came the call. The pilot complained about a lack of visual references and not knowing where to land. There was no facility and their orders clearly stated the drop-off location was a structure. Largely ignored the pilot took their frustrations out on the landing and by extension an eagerly unbuckled trooper who left the floor and clattered to the deck as the LAAT/i bumped its landing hard.

* * GO, GO, GO! **

The large lever doors dropped open on either side and the interior became part of the harsh cold climate instantly. Reactively the door to the pilots compartment snapped shut as wind and sleet blasted through the previously crowded cabin, the troopers had pridefully setup an outward facing perimeter securing the ice outside from nothing but scattering flightless birds, but despite their discipline there wasn't a single one not shuffling in the cold trying to fend off the temperature.

Nikana stood at the exit of the LAAT/i and from under their hood took a slow deep breath and exhaled a long warm dewy cloud that froze and disappeared as a gust of wind whipped the air, pelting the side of the LAAT/i with snow and ice as he disembarked.

---

* * Orders, Sir? * *

The LAAT/i took off sharply and for a few seconds its wake darkened the air with lifted snow which offered a brief clear glimpse through the ice below before it was lost once again as more snow fell.

The planet Tarthos is so distant from its star that seasons offer nothing more than a shift in freezing temperatures. However when travelling in close proximity to the nearby crystalline planet Ombus the additional reflected heat catching in Tarthos' thick moist atmosphere generates unusual warmth. Due to this the planets frozen oceans and large glacial masses have been noted to shift, rise and fall over the course of centuries. 5000 years ago during the reign of Urias Orian, this was not an ice sheet, recovered historic data showed this was a peninsula of the Lugar Mau continent, and was the site of a Sith temple built upon ancient ruins. Now it was supposed to be the site of an excavation and research station.

Somehow the weather was becoming less welcoming. Pressing two fingers against his military style throat comm Nikana spoke, "Captain, I could make out a tunnel roughly 4 meters below the ice."

* * Affirm, Sir — BT-244, setup a thermal drill, 3 meter depth — TK-337, ready 2 thermal detonators on a 30 second timer — Everyone else, CLEAR THE AREA! * *

Though listening to the communications below the LAAT/i above still veered unexpectantly in the sky as a column of vapourised ice and debris was flung hundreds of feet into the air with explosive force. Once the vapour clouds had dispersed what remained was a shallow bowl crater the bottom of which neatly carved into what must've been a tunnel from the excavation, it's dark passages leading deeper under the ice. As the troopers moved to secure an area that now had tactical value, the wind whipping over the edge of the crater howled hauntingly.

---

The Stormtroopers crowded both passage ways turning on lights affixed to their blasters, a few thick cables lay on the floor and lights occasionally hung from the passage ceilings but there was no power. Nikana pushed through the mess of bodies, peering into the darkness as the pathway sloped down and seemed to curve back on itself in a large downwards spiral.

Knocking on a Stormtroopers helmet, Nikana pointed down the passage, "Two of you, up front. Two squads follow.", pointing to the cables on the floor, "... have a third Squad follow these cables, look for a power generator."

* * SIR. * *

With two troopers ahead lighting the way progress should've been quick, but the deeper they went the thinner the air became and it was obvious the troopers were slowing and breathing more heavily. Whatever ventilated this passage previously was no longer functioning. Nikana tapped his comm, "Captain, have you found a generator?"

As they spoke Nikana could hear the static coming through the commlink of the closest Stormtrooper, there shouldn't have been any interference. Reactively each trooper tried their own commlink creating a pitiful cacophony of unanswered requests and resulting static. Hidden amongst the noise the tunnel groaned painfully.

Ordering the troopers to wait, Nikana relaxed and slowed their breathing before taking one of their blasters and the underslung light it provided. They continued deeper now only accompanied by silence and the intermittent crunch of frost underfoot.

---

After a dozen rotations downwards the silence changed, footsteps began to echo as the passage ahead opened into a large chamber it's floor covered in a cracked and uneven classical mosaic distantly surrounded by walls of crystalline ice arching into a high ceiling.

The once detailed mosaic seemed to be a depiction of Urias Orian seated atop a black hemisphere with scepter and sword in either hand. His face seemed dispassionate, his pose exalted. This should've been a central feature of the old temple surrounded by a grand hall and ante chambers, but it seemed to be all that remained between the clear ice walls peering out into the black, leaving the mosaic as if floating in an infinite void.

Inspecting the mosaic closer, the sword was obviously Orians famous weapon pulled from darkness and wielded with great destructive power. But to Nikana the scepter was new and the smooth hemisphere throne; was it representative of the Star of Ombus? On hands and knees Nikana brought their face close to the ground to take in details, a sweet smell of decay thickened the stale air. Seven symbols were engraved on a ring of stones that had done their best to hold the mosaic together. The air was becoming distressingly thick and taking a deep rasping breath provided no relief, trying to stand gravity somehow proved too strong. Held in place on knees that felt ground into the floor, Nikana fell forward and laid their cheek to the mosaic as their arms splayed at the elbows giving way to gravity, their exasperated spittle mixing with the dust and the dirt with short struggling breaths. Nikana's vision glazed over as colours and the memory of light gave way to the encroaching darkness behind the lids of their eyes.

---

"Plees! Anagi omhi Dar Itha! Anagi omhi!", there were many nearby voices stained with emotion baying out in reverence and fear inside the brightly lit grand hall of a large golden temple. At its center a man sat cross legged in meditation atop a translucent glass-like obsidian hemisphere, a scepter in one hand and a sword in the other. Unlike his mosaic he didn't just look exalted, he had the presence of a god.

Throngs of human-like faces cried out in their native tongue over and over, part praise part seeking forgiveness or respite. But neither came as like Nikana, their bodies were held down by the overwhelming presence at the center of the hall. Heads bowed low yet voices were high as their cries slowly became a chant and eerily the words began to make sense.

"Lord Emperor, I live to serve! I live to serve!", as the voices changed so did the bodies, some falling to the stone floor writhing in excruciating pain, others clawing at themselves as their skin thinkened in scaley patches, some with their limbs enlarging, still others pulling the hair from their heads or simply nursing engorging tumours that were slowly killing them. These were sithspawn, they were Ekind, the enslaved Ombi people.

As agonising moments passed, the screams faded, with bodies either still or dead the voices began to unify, chanting their one purpose, "I live to serve. I live to serve. I live to serve."

Urias Orian opened his eyes.

---

Nikana opened their shocked eyes to darkness and fresh echoing screams, lucent ethereal forms of men and woman were entering the frozen chamber backwards on all fours, their horrific movements sharp and agonised, joints bending at incorrect angles as they seemed forced to move towards what had been the Urias Orian mosaic but had now fallen away to reveal a gapping black maw, a seemingly bottomless pit that desired to be filled.

Attempting to retreat from the dark aberration of the maw, Nikana scrambled back into the passage to make their way up to the surface, but the horror continued. Slumped on the floor of the passage otherwise prestine Stormtrooper armour lay soaked in blood as if bled out from the inside. Unpowered overhead lights flashing in the presence of more tortured lucent forms pulled towards the hungry maw below. The walls of the passage groaned and strained, as cracks snapped through the ice sheet like ballistic gunshots, the passage itself beginning to break up and sheer, the pathway beginning to fall away as Nikana reached the surface and with one defiant leap jumped through a violent haze of updrafted snow and ice to the edge of the crater and continued to run as the original landing area collapsed in on itself.

A short distance away the LAAT/i lay broken on its side, the pilots drained corpse pressed against cracked cockpit glass, like the troopers its blood on the outside, dripping through the cracks in the cockpit and forming frozen red icicles. Nikana shattered the already failed glass, the pilots blood slick body still hung from its harness and quickly froze from the exposure. Scrabbling around the cockpit controls, lights flicked on and off as switches were thrown or buttons pressed, there was still power.

Nikana picked up a wired commlink tied into the ships more powerful communication array and clicked to transmit, "Priority 4. This is recovery team RT-16, requesting EVAC — one survivor. The research facility is completely destroyed, likely rigged to explode after entry", they lied, "it's gone there's nothing left to recover.", Nikana paused momentarily and clicked again to continue transmission, "I live to serve."

Placement
3rd place