Log:Mandalore: Searching Memories
Mandalore: Mandalore: Searching Memories
OOC Date: July 7, 2021
Location: Mandalore
Participants: Sumi Kora and Hadrix Kora Clan Kora Mandalorian
Removed from the chilling units and given time to warm enough to be... workable. Noona of the Remembrancers, now only a recording of history is laid out on one of the medical tables. Helmet by her feet... though there had been one eccentricity, perhaps a little too eager and angry. But the head with broken jaw is next to the body, spine attached with signs of a vibroblade having traversed along the sides.
The rest of the trophy preparation halted for the want to check over the body.
On site, with actual medical tools on hand from his field kits Hadrix looms with helmet off, opening clasps and strap holds on the armor, but not removing it without a second pair of eyes. He already took her head off; no need to further risk missing something.
On a table to one side her affects are arranged. Pistol, control gauntlets, and various bits of scrap tech that had been on her person at the time of death.
Sumi came through the hatch absent a helmet, but still in armor. She looked well rested, with lively eyes, and her inherent resting bitch-face. She had come to claim the armor of the Remembrancer's Speaker, leaving the trophy of her broken skull to whoever wished to claim it. The true intelligence was burrowed in the armor's memory banks, requiring a keen slicing droid or slicer to crack it open.
"My anger returns just from seeing her again. I want nothing more than to jettison this naked body to the void to be lost forever. A Remembrancer not remembered. It seems fitting.-- Have you plugged into the armor's network yet?"
"Some." Hadrix notes while Gripper is hovering, working, running lines to and from the gauntlets while Hadrix is lifting plates to put in connectors - rather than rely on the salvaged power systems. "Some of it is jury rigged to work with what they had available of course." plugging a line into the back of the helmet.
"No datapad or the like, but the suit was still mostly functional, such as it was." looking back up from his work, "It's ready for accessing if you want. I was just making sure running so much at once didn't short out the power supplies.
"I suspected as much," Sumi confides, not eager to touch the computer herself. She glances to the corner where the R2 unit dubbed 'Rain' was seated on its charge pad. "Rain, I need you," and the droid responds with a series of multi-pitched tones to which Sumi shakes her head. "No, something more delicate. Come make sense of this network and project your findings.."
Sumi stepped beside Hadrix and stayed there, crossing one arm over her torso while bending the other so her hand could thoughtfully support her chin. Rain began to work on extracting data, at first making positive beeps, then a raspberry noise, followed by more positive beeps. Sumi's gaze lifts to the body, eyes studying the terrain of flesh uncovered in quiet thought.
Most of the data found runs basic encryptions that the R2 and ID10 working together can crunch through with only a few minutes setback while they work. Much of that found being short-hand notation that likely serve as mnemonic trigger cues for the wearer. But there are some gems amongst the rubble. A low altitude scan of the area around the Butte, recorded by multiple helmets. The nearby canyon to the east, the white open deserts to the north and the poisoned and radiation soaked stretch of water where the Shrieker's reside near.
The cuirass is removed by Hadrix, carefully to keep its data wafers connected to power, set with the inside facing up, iconography there giving little besides the litany of owners prior to Noona.
Then Rain's display changes again, showing a southern sky and the command tower of an Imperial class cruiser jutting out of the sand, numerous supports and cables holding it upright and buttressing it to remain so.
Sumi's dark gaze lifts back up to study the holo-projected imagery trying to make sense of the data and put it in perspective. When the final image comes up, Sumi points at it. "That is their home. Even the skeleton of the Empire provides technology that clans could only dream of. I wonder if the old probe droids are the source to their intelligence?--Rain, do you have grid coordinates for this?"
The droid initially makes a raspberry noise, then a series of toned beeps that sounded like it was processing and cross referencing, then it projected a map using resection to find what it perceived to be the likely location of the image. "What do you think?" Sumi asks Hadrix.
Gripper moves up, linking with Hadrix's systems to put a projection from his equipment over Rain's, trying to match them up to topographical maps gleaned from orbital passes. The big man and the spy droid working in tandem, one clicking rapidly as her systems work and the other tapping rapidly at his control gauntlet.
Should've left his bucket on, blink commands so much simpler.
The ID10's projection pulls away from Rains, if only slightly, while the droids then begin speaking in their own quick tones, faster than the binary needed to speak to organics. But again projections link showing a stretch of desert near the half-sand buried skeletons of what was once a major trade hub in the area. Big for Mandalore, maybe a quarter the size of Mos Eisley, a third if being generous.
Projected search grids are set up, suggesting possible locations relative to historical records from the Purge and where AA emplacements were supposed to have been.
"A start at least. Something to make it easier to hunt than before."
"Perhaps we can bring the ship in for scans. Now that we know what we're looking for, we can narrow the search for large deposits of duranium and strong signal strengths. This gives us a region to scan, too." Sumi brushed her hand back through her hair and sighed. "A shame they tried to poison and divide the alliance. It seems in poor taste, but the moment they mentioned the Journeymen Protectors /lording/ over the historical records, I knew it was about control, not best interests."
Sumi brushes the severed head's hair, fixing her jaw and moving her hair to frame her face. The gore and presence of her spine had little affect over Sumi. "She could have been pretty. A fair warrior is a rare thing, but she was no warrior, either. She ran. I might have spared her if she had fought. There's no spirit in cowardice."
"We don't make suicidal gambles either, Sumi. Tactical withdrawal... from superior numbers" devil's advocate? Maybe. But the big man has become more and more grounded in studying from different angles since Sumi took him in, from Ex-Order, to rootless wander, to where he was supposed to be, by her own wording. "They got what they wanted as well."
Hadrix stares at the battered face being arranged by Sumi. "If we do scans, better to use the cruiser, or maybe your E-Wing. Small and maneuverable enough for it. Less chance that if they can fire something that high in orbit it doing real damage." his own assumptions of the Remembrancer's wanting control meeting Sumi's - how many others had been lured by Noona's words? Were there more like her? Recruiting? Over half of those taken on the Butte were members of the resident clans, gone over to Noona's people. The rest escaped by pack or transport.
"I think they enjoy being underestimated as well. It's what I'd do." what he did on Cophrigan IV as well, "You killing this Noona has to have been a blow though. Cannot deny she wasn't exceptional at what she did." eyes back on the holo-displays while Rain and Gripper continue shifting the joint projection, little markers shifting, appearing or disappearing while the droids chat and work.
"It was not a gamble when I issued the challenge. One champion against me. One test to see where they stood. They chose to run." Sumi replied in a cool tone. With Noona dead there was little reason to keep the ice in her veins. Noona spoke Sana's name like she knew her, and wielded such knowledge like a weapon. Sumi smirked, thinking that, 'now she wields nothing.'
"I can bring the Frogdog in for a closer scan but I imagine it's a one-shot only thing. Orbital scans should narrow the region further, then I launch below." Sumi stopped doting over the dead woman's head, turning then to the body. Hadrix's talk of other clans joining the Remembrancers earns a grimace from her. "Do you think the children were taken to this Imperial ruin?"
"Seeing what we have been made to do to even begin a search? Having to pass Shrieker territory and open ground... It's either where I expect them to have, or they'll know where they actually taken them if not." expression little more than a concentrating scowl, fists on his hips. "But if it were me, they'd be in the middle of the tower if they're there."
A huff of a breath while he leans as if that might magnify the vision of the map and get him closer to find what they seek. "If any of the point defenses on the tower still work, after the one-shot flight you may have to ground and camouflage before you boost for orbit as well." another shake of his head. "The way she spoke, if his is how they all operate, they think sideways. Hard to come at them."
"The Shriekers ought to be dealt with first before I hazard a flight mission into Remembrancer airspace. Dodging two sets of anti-air is asking to be shot down, I much prefer dodging only one." Sumi places her hands to her hips and adjusts her cape back. "Rain, begin the scan programming. We'll need to prep the corvette to jump soon and head to Mandalore. Best have the programming already set so all I have to do is press a button." Anytbing less and this mission was doomed to fail!
"Aye, bad enough the one..." head inclining, looking at the tactical data, "If the corvette can position in high orbit - could drop you in the fighter, go in cold and start systems so you're pulling up about halfway?" spit-balling, Hadrix frowns, "With the Butte clans forming up, we could very likely use the momentum on the Shrieker holdout, get them out of the way on the journey south, like you said."
His turn to cup one elbow and rest his chin against thumb and forefinger. "Your call. Move past or plow through. Either one I can start prep and have an operational plan drawn up for you."
"It's time we make our mark. Everyone uses the shriekers as a threshold, a trophy to prove something. I want to wipe out the shriekers and send a definitive message to all clans that we are power, and an alliance is in their best interests." Sumi walks around the body and table it's on, gesturing. "I do not want to play it fair. I would like to shell the Shriekers in their home from above, make use of this girl's firepower before we drop in to finish them off. Let it be ash and nightmares we leave in our wake as we take the butte and burn a path right to the Remembrancers. If they want to remember, we'll give them something worth remembering."
"Full orbital strike then?" Gripper has already begun repositioning her maps to a topographical of the old, battered, fortress that Hahtavi led them to, where Avery almost died. "We've the turbolaser support, for certain. How close to potential planetside defense guns would you want to bring the Old?" scratching his chins, organic eye half-lidded while he thinks.
"She has the speed for a swoop... Could put Pheegus and Fae in charge of flight ops, Greeza can work with the gunnery crew." nodding to himself. "All depends on how low you want her before they start spitting and how much you want to risk them in range to go to work." wetting his lips and at last his hand comes away from his face. Little finger, oddly enough, being used to point while Gripper makes marks appear on the holomap.
"Bank in from west to north east runs a risk of more fire on the incoming, less on the sweep back up out of ranges. Keep the ship in a bank-turn down and up and two groups of turbo-lasers have direct sightline." still throwing out ideas, trying to see what he doesn't by pointing out what he can.
"I was thinking a high altitude jump. Upon cold descent, we do visual and enhanced scans of the facility from above and map out or mark their defense guns, feeding it back to the Busted. Then, like you suggest, she comes in close with a feed on the defenses whilst we land." Sumi rubs her own chin in thought.
"After targeting defenses are down, it shells the fortress itself. Following that, we sweep into the ruins on foot and kill what's lucky enough to survive after that."
He knows there's something he's studied in his old life. Had been practically obsessed and when Mandalorians had come up in those bygone days The Purge was a specified target.
Hadrix finally speaks, marking points rapidly with points that Gripper begins to follow making unit markers and paths. "You should have Zelo, Evie, or Hahtavi with for that. Their ships are heavier... but two can make for combination scan maps, maybe even three of you from different entry vectors - fore to aft, straight line in a triangulation pattern." not very interestingly descriptive, but it's quite literal.
"Then the cruiser sweeps... loaded troops on a drop craft and as the Old sweeps we drop, hard landing and out. Heaviest weapons first, ordinance..." there's a hard pause and a breath, "I could wake up something kept in the cellar." shock and awe tactics. "Keep the dropcraft on hover for medevac as required?" rolling his shoulders, "We have the numbers with the Butte clans and Imperial tactics worked." after all, it was only because of an emerging space wizard, phenomenal luck and underestimating primitives that cost the Empire two Death Stars and the Emperor.
"We have a plan, then. Let us hope it survives contact with the enemy." Sumi says, a slight smirk forming before she turned to leave. "Let me know when I'm needed. I suspect I should be a part of the ground team, but, I will adjust if you think I serve better doing other things." Sumi nodded, then stepped out to give Hadrix the room to think. Noona couldn't add anything to the mad plan, she was missing a tongue, nevermind the fact she was beheaded and well past dead.
