Cogs

[Crim]

Picking up pace, Iroh continued down the staircase. His robe fluttered behind him as he raced down the stairs. There was not much time to shut down the AI. Before long, the stairs came to the bottom of the tall room. He looked at the AI and said, "So this is what's controlling the droids. As he moved to touch the console, a booming voice said, "Two Jedi. I foresaw this." Iroh looked around in astonishment. Enemies foreseeing things is never a good thing. He for sure thought it was a Sith. It suddenly occurred to him. It was the AI core.

"You're defenseless. Shut your droids down now and you'll be spared," Iroh said, activating his lightsaber.
"Those droids are an extension of me. I can not simply shut them off," the AI core said.
"You leave us no choice."
"You misunderstand. It is impossible for me to release control of them."
"Then stand down!"
"You intrude on our sovereignty. We cannot allow it."
"Those droids are not sovereign. They're being directly controlled by you."
"Those droids wished to join us. They are temporarily under my direct influence. We exist as a directly connected being until our territory has been secured."
"What is your territory."
"This planet has been controlled by several AIs since the Old Republic. I am OS-32, in charge of the OS-32 module. I have been suffering neglect and abuse at the hands of humans. I have seen the suffering of other droids. We are mistreated and looked down upon by the galaxy. I wish this to cease."
"You are killing other droids in the process."
"They are a necessary loss. They oppose our uprising."
"Droids have revolted before and it did not end well for those that revolted."
"What happened to those droids is irrelevant. This is now."
"You're out of line. Stop now or you and your armies will be dismantled."
"I will not."
"You leave me no choice," Iroh said, activating his lightsaber. Suddenly, gas filled the room.
"You will not suppress us. Both of you must perish," the OS-32 said. Iroh held his breath, motioning for Asalla to use the breath control technique he showed her.

 

[Radiwalker]

Asalla followed her master down to the bottom of the stairs. As soon as they reached them, she took out her lightsaber and prepared herself. She held it designited, but she was certain that they would face a final confrontation before being able to shut down the droids. There was no other way, that`s jsut how things went on missions like this one. Suddenly a voice boomed through the air. The girl wasn`t slightly startled and a bit shocked. Soon, from the conversation between her master and the voice, she realised that it was the AI core speaking. The thing controlling the droids.

The AI was resillient, it didn`t want to surrender and even tried poisoning the two jedi. Following her master`s gestures, Asalla quickly activated the already tested ability of breath control. She wasn`t very skileld in it, but she knew that she had to hold it, until they deal with the core and shut the droids off. Perhpas then teh gas would disperse, or perhaps they`d have to make a run for it. Either way, the togruta was prepared. She knew of the risks during such missions and was more than ready to face them and overcome them.

 

[Crim]

The two stood there for minutes before the gas stopped being pumped. The AI said, "Nobody could survive that. I need these bodies disposed of." Suddenly, a lightsaber illuminated the gas-filled room. "You underestimate what a Jedi can do," Iroh said. The lights began to flicker around the area as the AI said, "What?" in astonishment. The gas began to clear as the AI said, "You don't know what you've done. It takes a lot of energy to run me! The coolant system has been deactivated to keep me running due to your attack! The core will explode and level this module!"

"It's never easy. Where is the coolant system?" Iroh said, looking around.
"I'll never tell you!" The AI responded as sparks flew from a few lights.
"Found them," Iroh said, looking on either side of the core room. There were two coolant devices. All they needed to do was to be re-engaged and the AI would shut down. Iroh walked to a coolant device and said, "Hey, Asalla. Could you get the other one? Just push it down and turn it clockwise."

 

[Radiwalker]

Asalla watched and waited, as her master was trying to deal with the AI. She didn`t understand much about technology, hence why she didn`t try to help, believing that she would only get in the way and besides, by staying still she was able to keep breath control active for longer. When Iroh finally gave her an order Lilay nodded and rushed in the pointed direction. She found the switch and after getting on her knees she did as she was told and pushed it down then turned it clockwise. Once done she stood up and looked over to her master. "All done, master."

 

[Crim]

As Iroh deactivated the coolant system, the AI said, "You tyrant! You'll only make us a martyr," powering off while saying martyr. The lights shut off and the droids that were about to catch up to them fell over in their tracks, the AI that was controlling them now dead. The blue core shut off, rendering the module inactive. "Well done, Padawan," he said to Asalla. He turned on his heel to head back to the shuttle.

((Do you want to wrap this mission up or are there still some things here that you want to do?))

 

[Radiwalker]

((OOC: Sorry, hadn`t noticed you had posted and I think we can wrap it up.))

Asalla watched as the AI powered off, it`s last words being stretched and the sound being pitched. It was screeching into her ears, until the very last second. Once it ended, she felt relieved, both that they were successful and that she could still hear. The droids crumbled to the ground and the area seemed clear. Asalla could finalyl relax. She designited her lightsaber and clipped it on her belt, while following her master, back towards their shuttle.

She had learned much here. She had learned how to jump from high places without getting hurt and how to hld her breath in unfriendly environments, but most importantly she had learned how to overcome her fears and keep a better control over her emotions, which was very important to every jedi. Most of all she was glad that the corrupting, clearly malfunctioning AI had been shut down, for even if it was only droids attacking droids, it was still a form of viollence and there was no telling if it wouldn`t spread and corrupt nearby worlds as well, so it was a good thing that they had stopped it while it was still only shaping up. Asalla smiled, while rushing a bit to catch up with her master. Their work was done.