Ask Dangerous Acquisitions

[Ferus Vúlfur]

There is just one thing you need to stay alive in the galaxy. More than strength, skill, or intelligence, this thing defines the course of history. Hell, this thing often is history itself. The galaxy spins around a supermassive core of credits. If you want to survive, you need credits.

Credits are precisely what Ferus currently lacks. Having just left the Aranov for the first time, he sat aboard the Nebula Ranger pondering what should be his next step. The way he saw it, there were two options: either he could head to the Outer Rim looking for immoral work as a bounty hunter, or he could head to the Core Worlds looking for immoral work as a bounty hunter. So not much of a decision after all.

Nonetheless, there is one obvious point here. Khusēh had spent his life attempting to drive Ferus away from the senseless violence and villainy that ran rampant on the Outer Rim, so heading back there straight away seemed almost an insult to his father’s memory. Ferus held no delusions that the Core Worlds did not play host to its very own brand of senseless violence and villainy, but he also hoped that therein he could also find an opportunity to build something lasting. And if the idea of the moment is building, then there’s just one place to go.

______________________________________________________________

CORUSCANT​

Ferus had never set foot on an ecumenopolis before, and he couldn’t help but be filled with childish glee as he landed the Nebula Ranger. His mind rushed in wonder, pondering the immeasurable effort of engineering, logistics, and sociology it must have taken to allow such a massive organism to thrive. However, another side of him beckoned something completely different; this wicked place had once been the seat of power of the Galactic Empire. Coruscant represented galactic imperialism, the immoral imperative that allowed the Empire to massacre his people. This kind of place is precisely what his father had trained him to fight.

His incessant stream of thought is quickly pushed aside by a rumbling. Not a loud rumbling, but one so encompassing that it can instinctively stop even the most brilliant of minds dead on its tracks. “I’m so kriffing hungry.” Ferus said as he reached for a purse with nothing more than a handful of credits. He desperately needed work, so the order of affairs is pretty straightforward: go to a cantina, eat something, get a layover of the city and find someone to hire him. Ferus holstered one of his DG-34 Peacemakers and removed his helmet, holding it tightly under his arm. He descended the cargo door of his ship, allowing the sunlight and the bustling noise of the city to wash over him.

______________________________________________________________

[SONG]​

Several heads turned towards him when Ferus walked into the cantina. Aliens from all corners of the galaxy united in cheerful drinking stopped abruptly in apprehension, sizing the Mandalorian to assess his intentions. Although a Mandalorian without his helmet did not seem as threatening, Ferus nonetheless is a huge, heavily armored man, even by Mandalorian standards. He shyly hesitated for a brief moment, wondering if he should’ve removed his armor. “Nonsense,” he thought to himself as he brushed the anxiety away. He is a Mandalorian, and he should wear the armor with pride, and it surely would help him find gainful employment.

Ferus calmly made his way over to the counter. The people in the cantina regained their calmness and resumed their business as quickly as they had lost it. “Not every day we see a Mandalorian ‘round these parts” said the bartender jokingly, a burly besalisk whose breath smelled particularly foul. This man did not fear the Mandalorian, and even allowed a devious laugh out as if he had thought of something wickedly funny. Ferus placed his helmet on the table, scanning the menu for something to eat. “To be fair, not many of you people ‘round to be seen.” Another laugh, this one particularly grating to Ferus’ ears. He felt like punching the besalisk on the throat, the Mandalorian genocide is no laughing matter.

“A plate of parwan nutricake and a glass of blurrgfire.” Ferus said, staring directly into the besalisk’s eyes.

“Dwang, you people really don’t have a sense of humour, huh?” The bartender retorted, and shuffled away into the kitchen to fix the Mandalorian’s food.

The besalisk returned after a couple of minutes, bearing a plate full of nutricakes and a glass of bright red blurrgfire. Ferus didn’t even leave the counter before he ravaged the food, eating with the reckless abandon that only a famished Mandalorian giant could display. He washed it all down with the drink, taking a moment to let out a loud burp before finishing. The Mandalorian tossed the last of his credits on the counter, which the besalisk quickly scooped up. "I'm looking for work," Ferus interjected before the bartender could say anything else.

“Hah! When you people not looking fo’ work Mando?” Responded the besalisk. “Why don’t ya go to the guild’s office, huh?”

“I’m not with the guild.” Ferus answered.

“That complicates things fo’ you, don’t it?" The bartender asked as he polished Ferus’ glass with a stained cloth. “Rarely work for someone such as yo’self outside the guild these days. But this might be ya lucky day…” The besalisk said, and laughed deviously again. “Couple hunters passed through earlier, talkin’ about a job at that fancy Blackwell place. Some engineer hotshot hiring mercs for a… uh… Expondation? Extrapolation? Expeniation?”

“Expedition?”

“Yeah, expedition. What did I say Mando?” The besalisk answered, clearly frustrated. “Swear to the Force, ya people try to be superior at everything.” He exhaled loudly in frustration. “Tha hunters said the job paid very well, but it was suicide. They’d never do it. But they was weequay trash no? You a Mando, right? Best of the best! Should be a cakewalk fo’ ya.” The besalisk concluded, bursting out into laughter with his usual deviant tone.

Ferus pondered for a moment, is this wise?

“Tell me. Where I can find this Blackwell?”

 

[Newton]

"Alright Mando, there is a Blackwell office on Level 5126, it's close by the Federal district." the besalisk wasn't sure if the 'Mando' has been on Courscant before. "If ya' aren't sure where that is, you could try hailing a cab, they will take you to where you want to go."

"Anything else Mando?" the besaklisk would ask.

Meanwhile, Newton Arden would be at the office, he is putting together an expedition to Geonosis, to explore the hold droid factories there. Newton studied about the Clone Wars, a war circa hundred years ago where one of the sides involved extensively fielded droids against the Republic. Even though it was a hundred years ago, the droid army had lots of potent droid designs, the BX commando droid, the Mangaguard. A Newton wonders if he could find any prototype technology or any designs that they can use. Maybe an efficient power source, or anything else that might be experimental but never seen the light of day? Who knows, but Newton probably can't do it alone, he might need an organic to help him, the old warzones still aren't declared safe yet, and Newton's own droids can only help him so much.

Newton would be taking a hands off approach to finding outside help, this isn't an official Blackwell venture, so he isn't going to try using Blackwell resources for this. But the Blackwell Manager would be doing some other computer work, while his assistant droid L3 is taking calls from anyone interested. Anyone could also visit the office as well, they could just go through the office doors and ask in regards to the job to the receptionist. So far Newton hasn't heard of anyone trust worthy yet, but maybe given time....


@JMSix

 

[Ferus Vúlfur]

The Blackwell Technologies tower rose into the sky like a mighty monolith, striking a mixture of respect and disgust within Ferus. He pondered for a brief moment about the past. Once upon a time, the artisans of his family also owned mighty towers such as this one. What fate had befallen these places? What had the Empire done to them after their unceremonious robbery?

The automatic doors opened, revealing a grand lobby where corporate drones rushed through on their way to work. Once again, the Mandalorian immediately attracted the attention of everyone in the room, who seized him viciously. Security grasped their weapons tightly, fearing Ferus’ intentions. He shook it off easier this time, accepting that he’d need to grow accustomed to the suspicious staring if he was ever to walk seemingly through the Core Worlds. He approached the Twi'lek receptionist, who was particularly dumbfounded.

“Uh… can I help you… sir?” She said, struggling with her words.

“Howdy,” Ferus answered quickly, attempting to transmit a sense of calmness. “I’m looking for work.”

“Work? Here?” The receptionist paused for a moment, desperately attempting to reorganize her ideas. Then her eyes lightened up as if she had just remembered something. “Oh! You must be here for mister Newton’s expedition, right?” She whispered.

“Yes, ma’am. That sure sounds like the job.” Ferus confirmed.

“Great! Our droids will escort you to his workplace.” The receptionist replied. She pointed towards four heavily armed D3-NB droids making their way towards Ferus. Ferus sighed, admitting to himself there was probably no point complaining about his heavily armed escort.

Ferus and the security droids marched through a decent chunk of the Blackwell facility, allowing the Mandalorian to catch occasional glimpses of their operations. The droid assembly lines and scientific workshops instilled within him a sense of childish wonder, one that can only manifest when the Vúlfurian is in contact with the workings of technology and precise craftsmanship. “You think this Newton would consider giving me a tour of the facility when I’ve finished helping him?” he asked the droids, which didn’t answer.

The droids then suddenly stopped a couple of seconds later, forming a phalanx around a door. Ferus positioned himself next to it, allowing the automated mechanism to slide it open, revealing the manager as he worked. His blue eyes fixated on a lengthy piece of paper.

“Howdy,” Ferus stated. "Heard you were hiring hunters." The Mandalorian added, walking into the room with a somewhat faked boisterousness. He had to look the part of a Mandalorian bounty hunter if he wanted to get the job after all, even if he had never done bounty hunting in his life. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance. The name is Ferus Vúlfur, and I'm your man."

@The Good Doctor

 

[Newton]

There are multiple upsides about having droids as workforce instead of organics. Droids (generally) won't think about stealing from the work place, other shady stuff, and they do as they are ordered to, with little deviation. But organic protection might be better for what he is planning to do.

Anyways, the other person came from the door, Newton's attention went from his menial computer work right to him, a Mandalorian? His eyebrow raised in intrigue, he never seen one of them before. They are a rare people, had a big golden age, but are lost and scattered, but still famous for being great soldiers, or bounty hunters, or in general just good at shooting things.

Sure, Newton could just say 'you're in, welcome aboard' at first sight, but Newton doesn't believe things are always as they seem and take things at face value. He might take him up and probably will, but not before asking some questions.

"Pleasure" he replied back. He would straighten his posture as he would be speaking to the Mandalorian. "I'm not hiring hunters so much as I am hiring protection."

"Where I plan to go, it probably end up being more than a simple VIP escort. Lets see, a droid factory from the Clone Wars era, may be filled with hostile droids, and maybe unstable from the war and age. Could be other dangers as well." Like lets say, pirates who decided to settle in, or local fauna taking over, anything could happen.

"So, what kind of skills do you have? You are a hunter?" he asked. He'd figure he'd say something along the lines that he's a gunman. But he was curious of it there is more to him under the armor than meets the eye.

@JMSix

 

[Ferus Vúlfur]

Newton’s words transformed Vúlfurian's perception of this mission. Initially, he had pursued this goal only due to a need for credits. However, as the Blackwell manager described his mission, the artisan within Ferus emerged with fury. The faked boisterousness he had assumed to assert himself as a bounty hunter, which he is not, vanished as quickly as it had appeared. His racing thoughts crashed in like a massive wave. “A factory from the Clone Wars era?” He wondered in his thoughts, quickly listing several ancient companies that could fit the bill. Maybe it was the Colicoid Creation Nest? Or perhaps the smaller Retail Caucus? Possibly it could also be the Techno Union… no. It must be Baktoid Combat Automata, they had manufactured the bulk of the CIS’ army, and their sheer numbers probably meant the likelihood of having a relatively functioning factory after a century of neglect was not improbable.

Ferus had walked into that Blackwell office expecting to receive a mission that did not suit his nature, a task suited to a vicious hunter or a heartless mercenary. He was glad to be surprised: to know this mission would be perfect for his particular set of skills. The Vúlfurian within him swelled with glee. Ferus loved the idea of being able to witness firsthand the ruins of an ancient droid factory, which at one point directly competed with his ancestors. Places like these could hold the knowledge that could refine his craft and to form a more connected understanding of the past role of his people among these distant stars.

"So, what kind of skills do you have? You are a hunter?" Newton asked, and Ferus could not help but smile. He liked how the businessmen was cordial but direct, going straight into business. The Mandalorian had just left a period of social isolation, and he has yet to grow accustomed to his new environment. Nonetheless, his newfound shared interests with this man allowed a more profound side of Ferus to emerge.

“I’m a verdgoran of Clan Vúlfur, a warrior-artisan.” He said proudly. “Mine is a heritage not only of warfare but of craftsmanship too. Vúlfurians have designed and forged excellent equipment for the people of Mandalore for millennia, and I’ve been raised to be just like my ancestors. My people have a saying: ‘Kar'tayl cuyir cuun ga'amur.’ Knowledge is our weapon.” Ferus stopped for a split second, realizing that Newton probably wanted to know less about his clan and more about himself. “I’ve lived alongside droids more than people, I know how they’re built and how to repair them. I also know quite a bit about these Clone Wars you speak off... those were the golden years of my clan. I’m a fine blasterslinger too when push comes to shove, and I’ve got a ship if one is required.”

Ferus concluded his description, allowing the weight of his past to be lifted off his shoulders. “That’s about it. You now know all you’ll ever need about me.” He concluded, allowing some time for him to breathe while allowing his mind to wander once again. “This factory you’re talking about, chances are it's one of Baktoid Automata’s, right? If that’s the case, then I’m willing to bet we’re going to Geonosis.” Ferus added in a frantic pace, complimentary of his often erratic thought processes. “I’d also like to know who I’m working for, if you don’t mind telling me about yourself.”

@The Good Doctor @Newton Arden

 

[Newton]

Newton leaned back in his office chair, intrigued at the guy's words. He liked his story to be frank, Mandalorians, as rare as they are, do tend to be type-casted as mere bounty hunters or super well-equipped super soldiers, but his words show he has more depth than that. Newton widened his eye as he listened, and by the end he is smiling. He lived alongside droids more than people, very interesting indeed.

He would nod his head, good guess. Geonosis was indeed where he was planning on going. There were other suitable locations, but Geonosis was the one "Nice, I'm impressed" he had to get props to the Mandalorian. "I was infact planning on going there" he nodded his head.

The Mandalorian wanted to know more about him now, Newton was never really the sharing type. He can't say his story is as interesting as his, but since he asks nicely he will oblige. "Well, I was born here on Courscant, just a regular person. Droids are my gift though, I been building, tinkering, disassembling, and reassembling droids since I was in elementary." This guy right here, he would look at the astromech droid right beside him. "This is M7, i built him when I was younger." the droid would then beep affirmative. "I can't say I wasn't much of a people person either. Anyways, I wanted to get better and better, eventually my path took me to Blackwell, and he"re I am." he would gesture at the office. "Started as just a roboticist, but now I'm a manager." He climbed the corporate ladder a little ways, still a lot left to go. "Those droids that escorted you, the Deneb droids? They are my design" he stated. "But still, I seek better, to continue to improve."

Newton would pause, he supposes his story is done unless the Mandalorian has anything else. As interesting as he is, Newton does want to get to buisness sooner if he can help it. "Anything else? If not, we can proceed." he stated.

@JMSix

 

[Ferus Vúlfur]

Ferus listened attentively as the Blackwell manager explained his craft, and the Mandalorian could not help but feel a degree of respect for the man. Despite the fact that Newton seemingly represented everything his father had taught him to dislike about businessmen, Ferus could not help but respect a man who had achieved his position thanks to the quality of his craft… and a man willing to improve even further. The Mandalorian nodded respectfully as Newton concluded his introduction.

"Those droids that escorted you, the Deneb droids? They are my design."

“These were your designs?” Ferus replied. “They seem excellently designed, you must have earned your place through hard work and sheer ingenuity. I can respect that, it’ll be an honor to work with you.” The Mandalorian concluded.

"Anything else? If not, we can proceed."

“That’ll be all.” Ferus replied as he placed his datapad on Newton’s desk. “Just forward the navigational data to my datapad. I’ve also established a Comlink channel where you can easily contact me. I’ll depart alongside you whenever you’re finished with your duties here and we’ll rendezvous there.”

Ferus spent nearly an hour wandering the streets of Coruscant, carefully taking notes of the intricacies that allowed such a massive ecumenopolis to work properly. He would’ve bought some supplies and memorabilia but the circumstances of his wallet did not allow for it. Unfortunately, he had to settle for visiting popular sights like the Monument Plaza, the old Senate Rotunda, and the old Imperial Palace. Ferus even took a detour from the scenic touristic route so he could visit the lower levels of Coruscant in order to better understand the dynamic of the world, noting quickly that the lower you went the more Coruscant began to appear like any Outer Rin world.

________________________________________________

GEONOSIS​

The Nebula Ranger and the Messier 7 skirted the atmosphere of Geonosis, revealing the arid landscape marked by mesas and buttles. The whole world was tinted in several shades of a rocky red. Ferus’ destination was a collection of spires shooting from the ground, a compound that once housed several underground Baktoid factories, the Mandalorian scanned the landscape for a fitting place to land. Ferus and Newton managed to touch down shortly thereafter in a clearing near the factory, which already made the whole ordeal easier. Transversing the rocky and irradiated landscape of Geonosis could have proved a danger itself. The factories themselves remained hidden under a large rocky spire, as was common of Geonosis design.

The Blackwell manager and the Vúlfurian only had to walk for a short while before arriving at a decrepit landing pad, filled with decaying crates of ruined B1-series battle droids and a handful of B2-series super battle droids, a handful of broken freighters occupied most of the leftover space, impeding the Nebula Ranger and the Messier 7 to land directly next to the factorial compound. The primary entrance to the compound hidden beneath the rocky formation was a large, thick steel blast door that probably led straight into a cargo elevator, probably used to haul the droids from the underground factories to the landing pad above. Ferus scanned the door thoroughly, managing to identify a sliceable electronic socket and a weak spot that could probably be blasted open with a powerful breaching charge.

“Any chance you’re a slicer? Or maybe one of your droids?” Questioned Ferus as he inspected the rocky spire surrounding the door. “This thing has been here unmaintained for quite some time, I could also knock it down with some breaching charges applied near the edges. That might damage the superstructure of the facility though, considering the place is nearly ruined already.” He concluded, turning towards Newton. “It’s your call.”

@The Good Doctor

 

[Newton]

The Messier 7 alongisde his protection's vessel landed at a clearing by the factory, one could see how bad the facility looks just by looking from the cockpit. M7 took the ship down just fine though. Before departing, Newton tasked the Deneb droid on board to guard the ship while he and M7 would be gone.

Newton also dropped his business attire for more casual clothing fit for a arid world along with a blast vest, he would also have a Blackhand pistol in hand as well, with other powerpacks on him to spare.

As Newton and the Mandalorian would walk to the landing pad, it's clear that the Clone Wars and a hundred plus years of age had taken it's toll on the place, rust, signs of battle. Reminds him of the junk worlds like Raxus Prime. He supposes if he ever wanted second-hand parts or try his hand at restoring one of these things he could, but not now.

When the electronic socket was identified, Newton would go with a course of action. He would look at his companion astromech droid which he brought along with him. "M7, if you would be so kind." to which the droid would enthusiastically beep, as to say 'gladly'. The droid would move over there and begin cracking it with it's computer probe. "No sense of doing anything reckless that might put us in danger" Newton prefers the side of caution if able. Even a Shistavanen would be able to blow the factory down it looked like.

Before too long, M7 would finish, The doors would begin opening, slowly. And then they would stop a little ways in, and begin trying to open again, it's clear the damage and lack of disrepair is causing the door to malfunction. The door would give-up with only opening a short amount. Newton would be able to squeeze through without too much issue, but he wondered if the Mandalorian would be able to get through, considering he is bigger and has a lot of equipment on him including armor.

'You able to get through?" he asked, ready to assist him as needed. On that note getting in would be awkward for his droid as well.

@JMSix

 

[Ferus Vúlfur]

"No sense of doing anything reckless that might put us in danger."

“Indeed.” Answered Ferus calmly. “Greeting the ashes of the past with explosives surely would be a bad omen… or outright stupidity.” The Mandalorian stared at the doors as they struggled to open, wondering about the possibilities of exploring such an ancient facility. Perhaps witnessing the foundries of those who once fought against his people would allow Ferus to grasp the dynamics of his times.

The ancient doors inevitably failed to open properly. Although Newton could easily pass, Ferus’ heavy build and Mandalorian armor could not possibly fit through such a small passing, and the same could be said of the Blackwell’s curious robot. Ferus quickly analyzed the doorway, formulating possibilities on why such a massive door could possibly be stuck. Extensive rusting, electrical failsafe failures, and even missing parts. Explosives could have resolved the problem easily but Ferus agreed with Newton’s perspective on their use during this particular situation.

“Maybe a build-up of dust across the centuries might be drowning the slide,” Ferus concluded. “Perhaps if I apply enough force it’ll clear the blockage and open.” The huge Mandalorian did not wait for a second, placing each of his hands on one of the sliding doors and pushing them with all his strength. The massive door did not even bulge initially but the mechanism eventually rumbled back to life, managing to open the door only slightly more before failing. Nonetheless, both Ferus and M7 could now easily slip through into the elevator.

______________________________________________________________

The massive elevator descended its shaft very slowly. The shaft itself passed right through the facility, allowing both Mandalorian and businessmen alike to witness the massive production lines, forges, foundries, and the meticulously crafted automatized assembly that allowed the production of war droids on a scale never seen again. The Confederation of Independent Systems had fielded an entire army of robots, the vast majority of whom produced on massive Baktoid Combat Automata factories like these.

Ferus’ eyes widened in wonder as he identified and cataloged several different pathways throughout the labyrinthine scheme of production: most were obviously meant to produce B1-series battle droids, the second most popular model was clearly the B2-series super battle droid. However, Ferus also managed to recognize uncommon models like the occasional BX-series droid commandos and automated machines that were probably designed to produce key components of the ST-series super tactical droid. Unfortunately, the facility also clearly displayed the sights of a century of ruin, with many of the factory’s sections hopelessly buried under rubble.

The elevator finally concluded her descent in a couple of minutes. Ferus and Newton disembarked, walking straight into what seemed to be a control station of the facility with a deactivated terminal.

“Power's dead… obviously,” Ferus stated as he cleaned up the terminal, tinkering with the ancient machine in order to assess the condition. “This terminal would probably work if we managed to restore power. In the terminal we can find probably some info on the facility itself, a map might point us towards whatever section was concerned with research and development of prototypical tech.” He concluded, walking away from the terminal and facing Newton. “I’m hoping your mech can slice the terminal’s induction port so we can get emergency power. If he can’t, it means the systems badly damaged… then we’ll probably need to find our way to the power plant and fix it manually.”

@The Good Doctor

 

[Newton]

The Mandalorian did it, he got pass the door and let his own droid pass through too. They went down the massive elevator, Newton was wondering if that would still work too or if it would malfunction as well, but thankfully it didn't. Once they go through, Newton did see the inside, what was a great droid foundry. It might be ruined beyond hope now, but he could only imagine what it was like during this facilities heyday. He can see all different kinds of droids being assembled here, from the classic B1, to the powerful super-battle droid, and even the more rare specialized models. Facilities like this produced big batches of droids at minumumal cost, in minimal time. Efficiency, is one thing he had to give the Separatists, they were ran by Mega-Corps too and knew how to produce.

Once they got down, they would example the terminal at the control station. It's not functioning, but his Mandalorian friend has good insight. Newton would look towards M7 after the Mandalorian finished. He smiled "You got this" and M7 beeped enthusiastically as he would get to work. Newton would watch as his droid companion gets to work, M7 is being careful as that is an ancient terminal.

Eventually M7 would get it, slicing through as the Mandalorian said, but when power is restored, M7 then gets hit with a jolt of electricity, the droid would scream. Newton's expression would droid and he would quickly jump into tend to his droid. "M7, you ok?" M7 is offline at the moment, but from what Newton can tell it's not a powerful enough shock that it would permanently disable the droid. "Let me try rebooting you." he would give it some time and then try rebooting M7, in which seems to be working as the droid is coming to life again. "Phew" Newton muttered breathed a sigh of relief. Newton would turn towards Ferus to see if he was already on the console they just reactivated.

@JMSix