Phantasy Star Horizon
ESKK: Well here we go a new chapter.
(Start ARKs fleet Xect)
Xect was a great number of things one of them is being paranoid though no one ever notices. He wasn't like the rest of the Council of Six or anyone in ARK's for that matter. He didn't give out trust like most would share a drink with a coworker. He was pragmatic and always assumes others have ulterior motives to their actions. With his pragmatic mindset he was able to become head of the Information Bureau of ARK's and with this in mind he had discovered questionable things about the Republic.
From what he had read Padme was taken hostage on the Malevolence super weapon when she was there on a diplomatic mission from Palpatine. It was that reason alone that began Xect's suspicion of the elderly Supreme Chancellor. But acting overt against him would pain a target on ARK's that they did not need hence why he opted with the Cloak and Dagger method. Covert and if something goes wrong easy to pass the blame on to another party.
Right now he was using the assigned ARK's troops to the Republic Forces to keep tabs on things. But so far he found Jedi General Krell to be questionable in his action with his troops. No ARK's operatives had faced a casualty under his command yet but considering his track record with his own Clone Troopers it was only a matter of time. It was also because of Krell that Xect developed some contingencies to neutralize the Jedi as well as other member of note within ARK's should any of them go rogue on ARK's. Of course he coined it to his fellows but they turned it down but Arthur and Klara were secretly with him on this emergency plan with the hopes it would never have to be used.
Still after everything thus far Xect wanted to be sure they'll be able to walk away from this and live. Regardless the Retem Region mining operations have been on the rise and so were the ones in the Aelio Region. They now had a steady supply of minerals and resources to start building cruisers to help aid the Republic forces. Thankfully for that since it was better than trying to boot leg attach their Photon Field Devices onto the Republic Ships for such a thing. The Fleets were to pick up their new ships from ARK's hence why many Republic Forces were arriving. Xect made sure everything was scheduled in advance so to avoid any nasty surprises from the Republic.
New armor was also being commissioned for the ARK's Operatives who would be joining the Republic Forces on the front lines. No doubt to help ID them among the many Clone Troopers fighting in the Grand Army of the Republic. The R&D Department of ARK's was handling that bit since they also were the ones responsible for the development of their new battle cruisers. Speaking of their new cruisers their design was wildly modeled after the ARK's City Ships but on a smaller scale with some major modifications on the city part. They downsized it for simplicity's sake and in turn replaced the cities with military bases inside the ships. The dome part was a tricky thing to deal with at first but adding a command bridge was the easy part in that regard. The dome was replaced with a structure and due to the smaller size of the city they managed to lower it deeper into the ship basically protecting it from outside attacks.
The new ships were of course ready for deployment as they already have a small fleets worth of ships to be distributed to Republic Forces. Still Xect can't help but grown concern with recent things mainly the fact Padme, or at least a version of her, was Dark Falz Persona. He suspected it and now that he had been proven right the hard part came in. How did Padme gain the ability to manipulate Photons and what lead her to become Persona. With these thoughts he had his sources increase surveillance on Padme so if she ends up becoming Persona they can snuff out the spark before it can ignite. And even if they can't Xect had a contingency plan for that outcome as well. Xect planned for every possibility that should occur even the stuff not likely to happen. After all he had plenty of experience over what happens when one is not properly prepared for trouble to arrive.
Regardless as he continued to go over data provided to him by the Intelligence department he also tried to put the pieces together involving the truth of the Clone Wars. So far he was making steady progress but he knew that every leaps and bounds made would be helpful. After all whatever the end game of all of this is Xect felt deep down they needed to figure it out long before it was reached. If they don't he feared that neither the Republic nor the Separatists could handle it. And once they were dealt with then in all likelihood ARK's would be next to suffer from that damaging outcome. Hence why Xect continued to work because if he does not find the answers then ARK's will suffer for it.
Funny if he thought about it, before coming to this world he used to be someone you would NOT want to be associated with on account of what he did for a living. He knew how and where to dig up dirt on people, where to find certain information, and how to get ones hands on such things. That career path had often made him paranoid that people may hunt him down to enact revenge for doing such things. It also had made him perfect to head up the ARK's Intelligence Division. Now he headed up a basic spy network with hands and fingers in many Republic aspects and more to be had with the Separatists as well. All it takes is planting the right mole in the right sport.
(Scene Break ARK's Lobby Yuvel)
Yuvel was toting a large military bag filled with equipment and belongings as he and his team were to be deployed with the 501st Clone Battalion. The same Battalion headed up by Jedi General Anakin Skywalker and Commander Ahsoka Tano. The Republic Fleets would each receive either one or two ARK's ships per fleet at least until they can get more of them ready for deployment to the front lines. They would depart with their ship once the Resolute and its fleet arrived to pick them up and after that it was simply a case of awaiting for their next orders from ARK's Council of Six or the Republics Command.
But while Yuvel and his main party was here they opted to get their Class changed to one of the ones used in Episodes 5 and 6 of the original PSO2 story. Yuvel's class had become the Hero Class, Reggie changed his Sub-Class to the Luster Class, Zurna opted to keep the Braver Class and switch her sub-class to the Phantom Class… or the other way around she wasn't vocal about it, and thus Laura went for the Etolli Class for her Sub-Class. This in turn gave them all an edge should the need arrive as it helped them all balance out their combat abilities if and when the need should arrive for them all. Anyway they also had some new armor in development that would be issued to the ARK's Operatives once it was ready for deployment of course. But until then they had to keep using their standard issued gear while on assignment.
"Hey buddy!" Reggie called out as he came in via walking as opposed to hovering. It seems though that Reggie finally got his chaste switch out and with it some new war paint as well.
"Dude you finally got the nerve to do it." Yuvel said as he admired his best friend Reggie's new look.
"Hey had to get it done someday." Reggie said as he had collected a great number of CAST Parts using AC Coins and Star Gems back on PSO2 back home. Reggie's new chaste almost made him impossible to recognize if one did not know what to look for on him. For starters his torso armor now had tattered cape on it giving it a bit of a rouge like look. His arms on the other hand looked like they belonged to a Knight which helped give the image that Reggie was going for. Finally his feet was bulky like the rest of him no doubt using them for the booster aspect for his hovering power. He even changed his paint job to a white primary with a blue secondary and finally the head seemed to have two optics as it still held that robot motif to bring his form together. "Now I look bad ass!" Reggie boasted as he did a few flexing poses to give his profile some amp.
"I can tell." Yuvel said and in turn another set of footsteps could be heard nearby.
"Looks like we're right on time." Laura was heard as she walked toward the group with Zurna in tow. Laura still was in possession of Clarissa the White while Zurna simply had her Katana held in one hand and her military bag slung over her shoulder at the moment.
"For a bit there we thought you were leaving without us." Zurna said with a smirk torts her two friends.
"If we did you'd probably hunt us down." Yuvel said with a smirk on his face to the Deuman girl.
"So why the cape, doesn't seem efficient." Laura said as she adjusted her glasses a bit to the larger CAST.
"Hey you're just jealous you have to wear a uniform unlike me." Reggie boasted and thus Zurna smirked to this.
"Well considering the Male CAST don't have outfits that fit them unlike some of their female counterparts you have no other choice but to stay naked." Zurna shot back causing Yuvel, Laura, and Zurna to all laugh at the CAST.
"Yeah get bent!" Reggie countered as he crossed his arms in indignation and from the looks of it he was also pouting over the jab.
"Anyway we'll need to meet up with our new crewmates soon to get a needed tours out of the way and possibly give a tour before being debrief on how things are ran with Anakin's Fleet and his Clone Battalion.
"Yeah I agree on that." Reggie said until he and the group of four noted a group in robes heading to the City Ships Elevator. "I spy with my little eye a group of Jedi." Reggie said as he looked to them newly noted Jedi.
"Why are the Jedi here anyway?" Laura asked as she looked to her teammates curious as to why the Jedi are visiting ARKs right now.
"From what I've heard since ARKs is working with the Republic we also fall under certain laws one of them being an old one to help ensure the Jedi's continued recruitment into the order." Zurna said as she had done some snooping for that information. "From what I can gather it's normally done by Republic doctors but they want the Jedi here to probably see how The Force and Photons effect each other." Zurna said but had more to add to that. "Either that or there hear to perform the test themselves before bringing the results back to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant." Zurna added to her theory as to why the Jedi were here.
"Well whatever the reason may be we don't exactly have the time to look into it." Yuvel said but Zurna had more to add on what Yuvel had just said.
"Thant and it's none of our business anyhow." Zurna said showing she was keeping her nose clean on this mystery.
"Come on guys let's go." Yuvel said taking charge and leading his friends away to meet with their ride to the Resolute assuming it had already arrived for their pickup.
(Scene Break over with Anakin)
In the Resolute Command Bridge Anakin was seen standing with his arms crossed as he over looked the Halpha. The planet was large and ARK ships were seen flying to and from it at a regular basis. No doubt delivering supplies as well as dropping off and picking up ARK's Operatives or star faring travelers. The planet was apparently rich with Photonic based ore which is what makes up most if not all of ARK's the Phonic equipment they use. Photons were literally what keeps ARK's going and since the body naturally gives it off as well as Photons being naturally in the air made Anakin connect it to the Force in certain regards there.
Anakin knew many Republic fleet would be flying here to pick up their assigned ARK's teams and ships. Some of those fleets would have one or two carriers with battle cruisers accompanying it. While not exactly large it still made his fleet a bit larger for it. Thankfully ARK's new ships would also be given a commanding officer to oversee its combat and thus Anakin may need to share command so help ease the two factions for their joins operations. Still Anakin's mind still wondered over to the Dark Falz and the fact Persona was another Padme and he knew it was her via the Force. It was impossible for Padme and Persona to be the same person with being in two places at the same time and it made him confused and even scared.
He was scared that when it came down to it he might have to help ARKs kill the Padme that was Dark Falz [Persona] the Masked. He was worried because he might not even have the nerve to do what was asked of the Jedi. Just then R2-D2 rolled in to greet his master as the Droid spoke in Binary. This of course got Anakin's attention thankfully enough and thus Anakin looked to his droid.
"What's up Artoo?" Anakin asked as he looked to the astro mech droid before him.
Just then Artoo activated his holo projector and in turn to Anakin's surprise Shmni showed up with her eyes closed. She then opened them as Anakin was wide eyed to see the ARK's overseer here. "Pardon me General Skywalker but I had to control your Droid for a moment to speak." Shmni said as she looked to the Jedi Knight. "I've seen that you have located the first of the divergences I spoke of." Shmni said as she looked to the Jedi standing before her.
"Wait divergences?" Anakin asked as he then remembered what Shmni spoke of when they first met back when she formed. "Wait you mean you knew who Persona was?!" Anakin demanded as he looked to Shmni feeling betrayed of this omission.
"It was the most likely possibility that I had calculated yes." Shmni explained with a cold tone but for Anakin he sensed Shmni had hoped it was a miscalculation on her part in this regard. "But young Laura acquiring Clarissa was only plausible of a future version of your wife was Persona." Shmni explained and thus made Anakin go wide eyed that someone else knew the truth about his marriage. Thankfully he was more or less alone and if anyone heard they didn't show it.
"How did you?" Anakin began to ask but Shmni cut him off.
"When I scanned your memories for this form I also saw the truth which confirmed it via Padme." Shmni said but she still had more to say on that. "Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi suspects something between the two of you but it seems out of respect he does not approach it." Shmni said making Anakin go wide eyed to this revelation from Shmni.
"He knows… and he doesn't reveal it?" Anakin asked shocked over this information from Shmni. If what she said is true then Anakin's respect for his former master had made a huge leap forward there. If Obi-Wan knows the truth or suspected it Anakin had assumed he would have told the Jedi Council of it but he didn't do so. He would need to speak with Obi-Wan about it later but until then it was as if a huge weight was lifted from his shoulders.
"Still my calculations are always in motion and thus as the Future is always so I adjust them to locate the best possible outcome." Shmni spoke as she then looked to Anakin. "I can confirm you are on the correct path so far but another divergence is upon you." Shmni said with a cryptic tone to the famous Jedi Knight.
"How do I know when it arrives?" Anakin asked as it was like Shmni was trying to guide him. "If Padme was if she." Anakin spoke as the high began to die down and with it the truth came to fore. "I don't know if I can do what needs to be done if it comes down to it." Anakin said only for Shmni to suddenly appear before him and put a comforting hand on the side of his face.
When Shmni did this Anakin went wide eyed to his mother when she was alive and how she did the same thing when he was in tears. He had almost forgotten it and thus began to smile a bit with tears beginning to flow forth. "Fear not you will know and I know that you will make it through such a hurdle." Shmni said as she looked to Anakin. "For I have seen your past and I know that your strongest of aspects is not your piloting skills, your lightsaber form, of even your connection to the force but it is your compassion to aid others and protect those unable to protect themselves." Shmni said as Anakin was wide eyed to such a revelation here.
Just then Shmni let go and looked to the side as if she had sensed something calling out to her. "I must go, just know that you will find the strength when the time comes." Shmni said before she vanished from sight and in turn Artoo went back to his normal self.
The Astro Droid made a few binary comments to ask what had just happened to him. "Nothing buddy just a small shock, from a loose wire, I've got crews coming in to repair it." Anakin said as Artoo saw Anakin was acting odd. But for Anakin… he had to call his master and Padme soon it felt nice to have others who he can share such secrets. Wait looking at it now calling Obi-Wan his master wasn't exactly right… perhaps brother was better suited for his old master.
(Meanwhile with Dark Falz Persona)
Persona was kneeling on the platform once more as before her the image of Darth Shiva hovered in darkness. "I find myself quiet crossed with you Persona." Shiva said as she tapped her finger on her odd looking thrown. "You and the other Dark Falz were to open me a path into the Galaxy yet here you are focusing on eliminating Skywalker." Shiva said as clearly she was not happy about any of Persona's actions.
"Master I can explain this." Persona said with her head kneeled down only for Shiva to glare at the Dark Falz.
"No allow ME to explain as long as I left Skywalker unharmed you would ensure my arrival, by the looks of things you hoped to remove Skywalker and nullify our agreement." Shiva said as Padme under Persona's mask grit her teeth in rage against Darth Shiva. "I am willing to honor our deal Persona… but your attempts to undermine me and our agreement will not be ignored." Shiva said and thus got to the gritty bit of it. "I created the Dark Falz and I can quiet easily eliminate them and that includes you, Persona." Shiva threatened and thus she sighed to this. "But I still need you and now I question if I must send forth another to aid in my rising." Shiva said and thus Persona went wide eyed to Shiva's words.
"You don't mean to send one of your fellows do you?" Persona asked hoping that Shiva did not have that power as of right now.
"As much as I wish it to be otherwise, at the moment I cannot." Shiva said as she was brutally honest about her current short comings. "But I can send another Dark Falz forth one I am sure you are quiet familiar with." Shiva said and in turn the entire room was filled with ominous synthetic breathing and from the shadows near Shiva a familiar form walked forth. "I'm sure you're familiar with Dark Falz [Vader] The Machine." Shiva said as the being whom Persona had been trying to prevent from forming against stood tall. He had his arms crossed as the raspy breathing of his suit glared down with crimson eyes filled with hare. The Black armor had changed as the tail coat around his waist had become torn giving it the look of tails. His armor and cape however was also noted with changes.
The control module Persona knew was normally there was gone and in its place was the crest of the Dark Falz Collective. His armor and suit had been modified greatly while being airtight also had threads of violet and dark crimson commonly found on the Dark Falz outfit. His helmet had also noted to look for more intimidating then it did in the past showing that the Dark Falz made the monster of Sith even more intimidating.
"I will be clear on this matter Persona, fix your act or Vader shall be sent to pick up your slack." Shiva said as she showed even she had a limit to her patience.
"As you wish." Persona said as she did NOT want Vader to come here in any timeline.
"Good… I have tasks to distribute to the others, Gemini is to remain on standby for the time being with Elder." Shiva began as she gave out her next orders for Persona. "I want Luther to continue work on his cloning projects and I do mean ALL of them." Shiva continued as she knew the projects Luther was in the works on and that was the cloning of Force Users and of Photon users as well. "Finally I want you to send apprentice to Tatooine the Hutts control it and in turn I want it removed from their control." Shiva said and thus Persona had to ask for clarifications sake here.
"And if Apprentice cannot make it happen?" Persona asked as she looked to Darth Shiva.
"Then send Gemini in to destroy that backwater dust ball." She said as if it was obvious as closing doors. "Fail me and in turn Vader will be joining your Collective in their given mission." Shiva said and in turn she and Dark Falz Vader both vanished from sight there.
As Persona kneeled there the platform began to lower as she clenched her fist in rage over the clear threat. "I can't let him arrive here… I'm running out of time." Persona said as she knew the last bit was ironic coming from her.
(Later with the Dark Falz collective)
Persona entered the room and found the Dark Falz Collective have again gathered for it. Luther was reading a book and by the looks of it the book was a new acquisition. Elder was on a chair with his arms crossed scowling as always clearly desiring a battle to fight. Near him was Gemini who was seen using their free hands to play with what looked to be a toy Starfighters acting like children here. Apprentice as vain as ever was applying her makeup despite being summoned for an obvious meeting of their Dark Falz Collective.
"Now that everyone is gathered I have missions for each of you." Persona said as she glared at her fellow Dark Falz. "Elder you are to remain on standby we need to ensure the orchestrators of the war still think you too injured to do battle." Persona said as she knew if Sidious and Dooku thought the Dark Falz weak in certain aspects then their surprise would be enjoyable when they saw the weakness was faked by the Collective.
"Fine." Elder snarled as he didn't like it but let it be for the time being.
Once that was done Persona directed her attention over to Gemini. "Gemini you will stay out of the spotlight I still need you to gather more consumption into your subspace." Persona ordered and thus Gemini was in agreement on this.
"Ok." Gemini said together as they then went back to playing with their toys.
"Luther your task is the same as ever continue with the cloning projects and corrupting the Droid Army." Persona said and thus Luther nodded to this with a smirk.
"How utterly droll but it shall suffice for the time being." Luther said in a bored tone before returning to his book.
"And finally Apprentice." Persona began as she looked over to the female Dark Falz who hummed to show she was listening. "You will deploy to Tatooine I want control of that dust ball and with it the Hutt Cartel via Jabba the Hutt and if not send word to us and Gemini will be sent to clean up the mess." Persona and thus Apprentice smirked and closed her hand mirror.
"Oh if that is all, then I do hope you will see fit to give me some pleasurable rewards." Apprentice offered as she traced a hand down her body. "I've already had time to test this body on many suiters yet I've yet to taste it with another Dark Falz." She said with her sleeve pulled up before giving it a good seductive lick.
"Dismissed." Persona said and thus the Dark Falz all took their leave via their portals. Apprentice pouted when Persona did the same and thus left the meeting table with her own portal. She had the silent promise that she would get Persona to break and give in to her desire and pleasures. Besides even though they were both woman Apprentice wasn't picky on pleasurable suiters.
(Scene Break Back with ARK's)
Yuvel and his team arrived on their new home for their time among Anakin's forces. As they entered the main deck it seems very similar to the ship back at the fleet but on a smaller scale. They were at what was clearly the main square where they saw shops set up for any needed equipment and items. They were set up in a circular order as it was set up just outside the elevator to the main mission deck.
Speaking of the Main Mission deck they went for functionality as opposed to aesthetics. The main mission hub is just under the command deck and just beyond that was Gate Ships and below that was the hanger itself. The hanger held most if not all of their other Gate Ships as well as their AIS and other equipment for deployment. Walkers were still going through R&D but so far they have what appeared to be hover based vehicles similar to equipment found in Halo.
They also had a ground troop transport in the works and so far the first functioning model was almost ready for its first deployment. It needed a field test before it can be mass produced and used in the field. It was slow but designed to take on some of the harshest of punishments from enemy and environment alike. But as previously stated it was still in the final testing phases.
Below the Main Deck was maintenance, engineering, and storage locations as just pass a set of elevators were the ARK's Operatives main dwellings. The tour via their given data pads were quiet informative to them as right now Yuvel and his team were getting their bearings of their new home.
"So what do you guy's think of it so far?" Yuvel asked as he looked to his immediate party here.
"Not bad, not bad at all." Reggie said as he checked the place out. Other ARK's Operatives were also doing a bit of exploring as they looked around.
"The main Quest counter will take some adjusting but all in all I like it." Laura added as she looked to her team. The quests have been changed to mission by mission bases. In other words if they want to head out they need to have prior approval for it. Even more so the ships have a training deck ready so to run combat strategies and let them all stay in shape. As previously stated it will take some adjusting for all of them but they'll figure it out eventually.
"Well we better adjust fast since this will be are home for a good amount of time." Zurna said as she looked to her teammates gathered here.
Just then three stomachs growled and thus showed there was a clear desire for food. "I'm hungry." Yuvel said as he looked to his friends.
"Same here." Laura said with a playful smile to Yuvel.
"Let's check out the mess hall might be something worth eating there." Zurna offered as she looked to the group.
(Later in the mess hall)
The mess hall looked much like Franca's Café back at ARKs but the main thing was this one gave food away for free to those on the ship. ARKs Operatives and Clones alike were seen on the ship. No doubt to help ease peaceful cooperation between ARK's and the Republic. But looking at all the clones here and the fact the outside venue left gave them extra room to eat based on seasons did wonders.
The Clones were enjoying the food as at the center station the chefs on duty were hard at work. Many of the shops and quest stations were traded out back on their ARKs ship for more cooking spots. So the sound of sizzling food could be heard as some of the Clones even watched in anticipation for their desired meals.
Among the Clones were the last two members of Domino Squad Fives and Echo. They were asked to come here by Rex on orders by the General. Nothing major just a basic run down of the new ships so when it comes time they can transfer between ships without much trouble for the involved parties.
Ahsoka also came in to speak with the Admiral in charge so they can get this show on the road. "Was this why you two really came here?" Rex asked suddenly with a smile on his face.
"No offense Captain but this is yards better then field rations." Echo said as he enjoyed the food given to him by ARKs.
"These ARKs guys sure know how to treat troops." Fives said as he took a bite of the food that was apparently one of many culinary cuisines among ARKs Ops. "Besides you're hardly on to talk Captain." Fives countered as in Rex's hand was his own plate of what seemed to be rice with a yellow egg like souse atop of it.
"Yeah well not one to turn down generosity." Rex said as he took his seat with his soldiers.
"Order up for Breaker!" Came one of the Chefs and thus one of the Clones had the ticket for it.
"Over here!" The clone named Breaker called out and thus went to take his meal.
The three smiled as it seems ARKs did in fact treat their troops well. Just then a new voice was heard which the three recognized. "Rex?" Yuvel was heard as he approached with his team.
"Oh it's you kids." Rex greeted as he saw Yuvel and his teammates had arrived.
"Yeah we got hungry so here we are." Reggie said holding some odd looking injector in his hand.
"How do you even get hungry big guy?" Fives asked recognizing Reggie and his Fire Eight ball on the large CAST's Chaste.
"Like this!" Reggie countered and thus plugged the injector into himself and fed through it. Since most Male CAST didn't have mouths unlike their female counterparts they used items like this if they wanted to eat. It's basically food in liquid form charged up by Photons to help feed the CAST. Many foods were ingested by the CAST through this method as they didn't have a digestive track to really enjoy it. Of course they can still eat but they didn't have to do it as much as their organic counterparts in ARK's had to.
"Well you asked." Echo joked as he smirked to Fives.
"So are you guys enjoying ARKs thus far?" Laura asked as she and her teammates joined the Clones to eat.
"Can't complain as of yet but looks like you guys run a tight ship." Rex said as he saw how ARK's move around the ship.
"Yeah kind of have to still having you guys on board is a huge help." Yuvel said as he then took a bite out of his current meal.
"Glad to help." Fives said as he then went back to eating himself.
Just then a radio broadcast began as this got everyone's attention. "This is the Grand Army of the Republic Broadcast the Voice of the Outer Room with Kuna guest singing for us." Came the woman's followed by Kuna's voice.
"This next one goes to the Flying Wolf Pack of the 104th Clone Battalion fighting in the skies and stars over Taris, here's Cosmic Twinkle Star!" Kuna called out over the radio as her hologram appeared for this track. When this started the Clones began to cheer as Kuna had no doubt become a major favorite for the Clone Troopers.
Rex began to sport a big smile when Kuna came on the station. But seeing as he was a commanding officer here he opted to display professionalism for his subordinates for both Fives and Echo. "Well she sure is popular." Yuvel said as Kuna was currently singing Cosmic Twinkle Star.
"No kidding." Fives said as he agreed on why Kuna was so loved by many.
"She was famous with ARK's already becoming famous with the Republic just spreads the cooperation I guess." Laura added as she smiled over Kuna's success. "But let's face fact if she needed a Clone escort or guard detail almost every Trooper will be at each other's throats for the spot." Laura joked and thus Echo smirked to this.
"But is she right now?" Echo asked and thus Reggie laughed a bit.
"Nope sorry." Reggie countered and thus they all shared a laugh with each other.
"Maybe next time, Echo." Rex added and thus their laughter grew for that small joke.
"Anyway let's finish our food." Yuvel said as he looked to his gathered allies here. "We will be ready for takeoff soon and some of us need to be back at the Resolute soon." Yuvel said with that last one directed to the Clones Troopers.
"No argument there." Rex said and thus the group continued to eat their delicious meals.
But as they ate Yuvel could not help but crack a small smile at the normal atmosphere of this scene. It was peaceful and felt like a simple group of friends enjoying each other's company over a nice delicious meal. It was the sort of scene that made many forget that there was a war raging between the Republic and the Separatist as well as ARKs and the Dark Falz. Despite focusing on the meal with Kuna playing in the background the group still shared a laugh together enhancing their friendship and with it the comradery. This would no doubt help them in the conflicts to come against the Separatist and Dark Falz Collective's alliance.
After all peace and freedom was something that was work fighting for to be achieved. With this mindset ARKs will do all they can to aid the Republic to achieve the goal that they seek. But one must wonder of the toll that the war would inevitably asked of them. When that time comes the answer will be made clear but they all agreed that they would cross that bridge when they get to it.
(Later over with Ahsoka Tano)
Ahsoka was seen entering the ARKs ship command deck as she saw the bridge crew was carrying out their duties without fail on their part. Standing at the front of the deck was no doubt the commanding Officer of this vessel assigned by ARKs Ops. Seeing this Ahsoka approached the man as she was asked to meet with him on behalf of Anakin who was helping ARKs load up their new equipment before their departure.
As she approached the man she heard one of the bridge tech giving a report to the admiral to which he of course nodded in confirmation to the given report. In turn Ahsoka began to speak to get this Newman's attention. "Admiral Beldos?" Ahsoka greeted and thus the Newman turned to face the new arrival. He was wearing an ARKs officer's uniform with slicked down cyan blue hair, blue eyes, and by the looks of it his officer coat but more as a cape then a coat as it should. "Ahsoka Tano I was asked to meet with you on General Skywalker's behalf." Ahsoka spoke as she looked to the Newman before her.
"Ah welcome Commander Tano." The Newman named Beldos greeted with a pleasant tone that gave off a welcoming aura. "I assume you are here for a full readout on these new ships?" Beldos asked as he looked to the Togruta Jedi Padawan.
"Of course among other things." Ahsoka said as she needed a full detailed report on the ships joining the fleet.
"Of course." Beldos said and thus signaled to one of the nearby ARK's Operatives. Seeing this the ARK's bridge officer approached the two and did a customary ARKs Ops salute. "Escort Commander Tano to our main data room and help her to acquire the ships readouts and troop data." Beldos said and thus the Officer nodded in confirmation to Beldos.
"Yes sir." He responded and thus he began to escort Ahsoka to where she needed to go. During this Ahsoka found the man hardly had much to hide and seemed to value hard work when she used the Force to read his surface emotions. It was a bit welcoming in that regard considering how young the man she met looked. He must have been gifted or worked his ass off at a young age to get where he was now. Still ARKs have been very open about themselves and been willing to help yet Ahsoka still felt they were hiding something from the whole Galaxy.
But they have yet to show if they were lying or not so Ahsoka had very little reason to doubt these out of galaxy visitors. She did admit it was impressive they already had one city built on their new home as well as a second city in the works. But still the Togruta Jedi Padawan wondered if that truly was an impressive feet or if ARKs had in fact done such things before now. For the time being Ahsoka opted to let it be as she knew that no good came from suspecting people without sufficient evidence to back it up. After all if she did do such things she may just end up imprisoning someone for a crime they did not and could not even try to commit.
But as she followed the tech to the main data room Ahsoka saw many ARKs Operatives roaming the ship. They were either bushing crates of supplies through the ship or heading to their stations for takeoff with Anakin's Battle fleet. It was oddly reminiscent to the Resolute and its crew of Clone Troopers that Ahsoka found it to be a welcoming sight for nostalgia reasons.
After a good amount of time of walking they eventually arrived at their intended destination. "Here we are Command Tano." The ARKs Operative said as he gestured to the data room which the door slid open to allow them entry. Once inside she saw many ARKs Operatives on varying stations doing their jobs as they organized and sent off Data to where it was needed. "We have an open station over here for you to use Commander Tano." The ARKs Operative said as he then guided Ahsoka to the station in question.
"Thank you." Ahsoka said with a nod and thus after she was guided to the station she sat down and accessed it using the access key provided to her by ARKs. Once she was in she got to work on going over the data to share with both her Master and Admiral Yularen.
Needless to say Ahsoka was impressed with what she found. Other than the AIS and that tank used during the Dark Falz sacking of the Jedi Temple ARKs had a great deal of equipment to handle any possible situation they may face. They ranged from deep sea exploration to extreme environmental scenarios such as acid rain or even subzero temperatures. Needless to say Ahsoka was impressed with it all and what was even more amazing they even had mining rigs to acquire minerals from deep under the surface without causing harm to the local environment.
Clearly ARKs was advance in this regard and due to the Dark Falz well equipped for combat as well. No doubt they will prove to be excellent aid in this war and hopefully help bring about an end to this conflict with the Separatist Alliance. Those Battle Droids won't know what hit them and if what she heard about them was true then even Bounty Hunters will be wary when dealing with any ARKs Operatives.
"Will you need any refreshments?" The Operative asked as Ahsoka almost forgot about him.
"Yes that would be nice thank you." Ahsoka accepted and thus the ARK's Operative went to bring Ahsoka some desired food. With him gone she got to work on her current task so help better Republic ARKs cooperation for the war.
(Scene Break Back with Anakin)
Anakin had just gotten through the final check over everything he needed to know. He had to admit he actually enjoyed the AIS as they were a challenge for him to pilot. And knowing the Man with No Fear Anakin welcomed a challenge with new tech when he found some. Still maybe a simulation flight will be better suited until Anakin adapts to the AIS as Obi-Wan had suggested. After all the AIS was no Starfighter since it came with arms and legs while a Starfighter only had wings, boosters, and a cockpit to worry about while in a battle.
"Progress General?" Yularen asked as he walked up to Anakin.
"Oh yeah some of this stuff may need our boys to be able to learn how to use them." Anakin said as he looked to the Admiral. "ARKs was willing to cross-platform to help make for easier use to those unfamiliar with their tech but it may take some adjusting on our part." Anakin said as he looked over the data Ahsoka had sent over.
"I can agree with that sentiment General Skywalker, but it also appears that ARK's has provided a training simulator to help the troops adjust to the new tech they provided." Yularen said as he was given the same data and knew that ARKs had apparently thought of everything for them. "From what I understand they also sent a copy of their training Program to Kamino to help the new Clones learn to use the new technology as well." Yularen said and thus Anakin nodded to this clearly agreeing with Yularen.
"Ok Admiral start scheduling mandatory training for the troops I want them to be able to drive these things blindfolded before our next deployment." Anakin said and thus Yularen nodded to Anakin.
"Yes sir." Yularen said and thus went to get the training schedule set up for the Clone Troopers.
Speaking of a bridge tech clone walked over to Anakin with an update for him. "Sir we're receiving a holo call from Coruscant shall I patch it through?" He asked and thus Anakin nodded to this.
Just then form the holo table the image of Yaga and Clara showed up no doubt calling from Palpatine's office or their own office. "Yo how is my favorite sky-guy!" Yaga greeted with a huge grin as the Senator/Council of Six member was as always in his good mood.
"Senators what do I owe the pleasure?" Anakin asked and thus Yaga smiled to this.
"Well I have a huge favor to ask, see in the following months the Retem Region will be ready for people to move in and considering it's in a desert we kind of need some folks to help with moisture farms." Yaga said surprising Anakin about this.
Just then Klara cut in as she crossed her arms a bit. "That's not all dummy, we also need moisture farms of Lillipa, the fuzzy folks who live there will benefit from the tech and with it so shall ARK's." Klara said knowing Lillipa was a dessert planet.
"Ok but why the Retem Region for farms?" Anakin asked as he was honestly curious about that one odd choice.
"Well we discovered that there are water deposits underground in the Retem Region and we want to be able to utilize it, ARK's is willing to pay a good amount of Mesta and Credits for it and we were hoping you might know of a few people who might be willing to help us." Klara said as she looked to Anakin.
"See long story short, Morgan asked us, we asked Senator Amidala, and then Senator Amidala directed the two of us to you General Skywalker." Yaga said and thus Anakin got the gist of it and also knew who Padme was speaking of. "Come on it's to help ARKs and the Republic better cooperate against the Separatists and Dark Falz." Yaga added and thus Anakin sighed to this as he honestly did not want to return to that particular planet.
"Alright I'll see what I can do." Anakin said as he knew why Padme sent them his way considering his step family as on Tatooine and they were Moisture Farmers.
"Thank you General you are a life saver!" Yaga said giving a thumbs up and a grin to Anakin Skywalker.
"Yeah keep talking I'm amazing." Anakin joked with a small grin on his face and crossed arms. The Communication link ended and thus Anakin dropped his arms and headed to see if they can plot a course to Tatooine or if he would need to take the Twilight to there. As he walked Anakin knew how awkward it would be if he goes to Tatooine. The last time he was there was when he had his vision of his mother's death and it was there he met his step family. Regrettably he didn't stay long to actually get to know them but he was needed on Geonosis to help Obi-Wan. The Clone Wars began and then the rest was history. So here he was being asked to see them to try to offer them to move to a new Moisture Farm and in turn build a whole new life with grander opportunities for the Lars.
Thinking back on it Anakin when he was a child did want more family in his life. Maybe a brother and/or a sister and possible a father. But that was when his mother was still alive before the Tuskin Raiders abducted and took her away from all of their lives. But as he headed off Anakin had no way of knowing of the discoveries about to be made by ARKs Ops on the planet Halpha.
(Scene Break in Aelio Town)
Just outside the city of Aelio Town ARKs scout teams were investigating a case of missing people from Aelio Town. The only thing they had in common were that the missing people were Deuman or Newmans and none of them had any prior ARKs training. They were sent by the Intelligence Bureau as well as the Security Bureau for investigations. AS they continued to look one of them grabbed a rifle that was left behind and noted it was not ARKs grade. Taking aim with it they targeted a rock and in turn fired it off sending out an energy net from the particular weapon.
Seeing this the Intelligence and Security reps both knew that this was bigger than a few random missing people. The missing people were abducted and thus in a Galaxy where Slavery was still in use… one shudders over what was happening.
"Contact HQ tell them we have a lead." One of the Security Reps said as he added the rifle to the other pieces of Evidence they had found already. "And inform the Council that we have a big problem." The ARKs Security Officer said knowing shit was going down.
It was clear the missing Newman and Deumans were kidnapped and one shudders to think of what they were currently going through. The missing people were not ARK's Operatives nor did they have the noticeable ability to become ARKs Operatives. But if the Evidence they gathered will build a map they might be able to locate who took them and thus how to get them back from wherever they were. After all there was one major piece of evidence to note and that was a badge of sorts one that belonged to the Hutts.
(TBC)
Well here we are another chapter of Phantasy Star Horizon finished and ready. I hope you all enjoyed it and will join me for the next chapter. Now remember leave a review before leaving and as I always say ja-ne.