Searching for Frequencies

[Vindictive]

whirrrrrr... Her mind was disturbed as an old-model astromech droid whizzed by her head. Her eyes fluttered open, crouded with messy strands of red hair. She slowly sat up in her bed, which was so low to the ground it wasn't funny. Her ship was small. It was something she picked up on Nar Shadaa from a drunken spice trader when he lost a bet in pazaak. Men like him were too easy. Especially drunk.

'Madam, it's good to see you alive, awake and well,' the astromech said in its whistle language as it turned around and approached her.

"Yeah, good to see you too, K3," slypher said as she set her feet on the ground. She rubbed her eyes and then looked around the room. There was a small crew that agreed to come with her (they were all drunk... She was too, as much as she denied it), though she didn't even remember their names. She didn't care. They were there to find a freighter ship that had gone missing for over a year. From what she heard, the ship had a lot of gold and a lot of rare artifacts, both Sith and Jedi. It was too good to ignore.

She rose out of the bed, careful not to bump into any of the other bunks that her crew was sleeping in. Quietly, she grabbed her clothes and gear and snuck out of the room. She made her way to the shower area and put her clothes and gear on. Once everything was fitted, she made her way to the cockpit. The ship hadn't gotten off course from the coordinates she had entered in, much to her relief.

She felt like it was a good time to check local frequencies and listen in for any distress signals that might have been sent out. She kept the volume down low, though she was sure the crew would be waking up at any moment. Maybe one of them was specialized in checking for anything out in open space.

 

[Niklas]

Pain... Pounding, head-pulsing, annoying, hysteria-inducing pain. Rowan awoke with a slight smile. What a night last night was. It was so... boring. He frowned. In his matching flannel pajama set, he walked over into the lavatory to have himself a shower.

Once that was all said and done with, he dressed. His boots, clacked almost without noise as he stepped quietly about the ship. He smiled. I'm not even sure what I'm doing up now. Everyone's asleep like small children. He laughed, a giggle in fact. It could be heard quite easily, for it was not quiet. I want to look at stars, he thought. He headed for the cockpit.

A woman was in the cockpit. He stepped up to he controls next to her.

"Morning", he greeted with his accented voice. "Might I ask what you're doing at this... oh wait, how foolish of me, you can hardly tell time in space. Anyhow, what are you up to?"

 

[Vindictive]

"How's it going..." Slypher responded to his 'morning' in a droll and tired voice. "I'm mostly trying to scan to see if anything's just floating out there nearby. We'll be heading into a nebula if we aren't too careful... I was hoping someone better equipped to monitoring space frequencies would take over," she admitted. "I'm not very good at it."

 

[KineticEnergy]

Fork, or 4RK-008, had been on Nar Shadaa for one reason. He was there to find out some information on a slave smuggling right. It wasn't that hard to find. His superior hearing had been able to pick up bits and pieces of information of shady deals here and there. Surprisingly, it had been a group of Ithorians who led the slave ring. Stereotypical Ithorians were law abiding and ultra-conservationists, but these Ithorians didn't fit the stereotype. Fork simply listened to their conversations and made some mental notes.

Fork was a droid revolutionary to his core. He had been freed and given sentience by HK-01 during the Great Droid Revolution in 4,015 ABY and had been doing his best to complete his liberator's mission. Free all droids. HK-01's methods had been a violent revolution. History had proven that wouldn't work for the droid population, so Fork had to improvise. He constantly attended droid-rights conferences on Naboo and met with popular droid abolitionists all over the galaxy. During recent years, he realized that droids weren't the only beings that needed freed from slavery. Slavery was all over the place and needed to be stopped, no matter what species. There were two main problems with completing this dream though, money and support. He and several other abolitionists worked on the latter, but funding was hard to come by.

He spent the night in a cantina and watched pazaak players gamble away what little they had. Some got lucky, like the red haired woman who won a drunk spacer's ship. He had never played the game, and didn't plan to, but got the idea of it. Late into the night, the red haired woman called out for volunteers to look after a missing ship. One of her driving points for people to join in was the hope of gold and other valuables. That was when Fork's attention was taken. The droid abolitionist movement needed funding, and he was going to get some for them. He got up from his corner booth and joined the small crowd of volunteers.

That had been the night before though.

4RK-008 laid on his back in the ship's crew quarters. It really was a shame the man in the pazaak game had lost. The ship wasn't all that bad. It was well stocked with provisions and equipment, and had just been refueled. He could tell the bunk was comfortable. The mattress, pillow, and sheets were new, but Fork didn't have the ability to sleep that most organics had. He simply laid there and waited for the drunken crew to wake.

Although it was hard to tell time in space, it would have been late morning on Nar Shadaa when the first few crew members woke up. First the red headed female, then a man who headed to the showers. Fork got out of his bunk. He smoothed out his trousers with his gloved mechanical hands and took a look at his jacket. Someone in the cantina had spilled some alcohol on the right sleeve. Hopefully it would wash out, as the brown jacket was his favorite. The droid slipped on his shoes that waited at the foot of his bunk and headed for the cockpit. It seems the two individuals that awoke had already met by the time he got there, although it wasn't that far. He crossed his arms and leaned against the doorway of the cockpit. His social skills weren't quite up to par.

 

[Lindgart]

“Ahh...” the accented raucous voice moaned his first morning words “... why have I drank that much... cheap drink.... headache.” he loudly expelled some gases and felt a little less worse. He sat and looked around, he felt a sharp pain on some back nerve as his small wings flapped quickly making him hover above the transparisteel floor. “Oh blast...” At first he was scared, the tight room reminded him of the place he had been held captive for a decade. The Toydarian, paler than normal, shivered. His mind slowly began to recall the last happenings.

He picked through the doorway and saw the empty small corridor. He was in a ship... of course! He was drinking last night after making sure his old belongings were someone else's, now. He decided to go to the dirty cantina and spend the last few credits he had on him. He vaguely recalled he had agreed joining a venture with a beautiful woman commander. She said they were after a Jedi or Sith lost ship. There would be treasure. A beautiful female, force user knowledge he could use against those abominations and a ride out of Nar-Shadaa added up on a convenient cocktail. He was already getting a cup of hot caf while looking down at the ship “Ehhh... needs to be better taken care of... no secondary and tertiary redundant systems... no droids running all over check the systems 24/7... Ahh... this ship is mess...” in fact that was nothing wrong with the ship, it was only bad humor added up to a peculiar view on a how a ship should be.

He drank the first cup faster than he should and cursed, he had almost burnt his tongue. He filled another cup, lighted up a cigarra and holding one in each hand wandered to the cockpit. The way the caf mixed with the cigarra taste made his morning better. He could perceive activity in the cockpit, it seemed others were already up. He smiled as he caught up the scent of the Captain, he loved females who had just showered. “Ohh... Good morning Captain...” he sipped from the cup “ Have we found anything yet ? “ Before the pause was long enough for a reply, he added with a frown “Have you had your caf ...Captain?”

 

[Vindictive]

"Morning. Nothing's shown on the sonars or radar yet," Slypher assessed. The crew was starting to all wake. Good. They would be able to find the ship faster. "No caf, yet. Probably should get a cup. Could one of you keep an eye out for anything that pops up?" She asked, turning her attention last to her silent friend that had joined the crew with the others the previous night. Even though his presence was cold like a droid, she could detect sentience from him. She felt as though there was a slight connection with him that was tied to her bloodline...

She reached the pantry room and immediately went for the caf dispenser. Perhaps it would help clear some of the throbbing in her head. After she stirred it around and took a sip, she returned to the cockpit and stood at the doorway, leaning against it. "Find anything?" She asked as she took another sip. Her eyes prowled the vast open space outside the windshield, looking for anything out of the ordinary.

 

[Lindgart]

Gaa-dooh watched as the Captain left the cockpit, the way she moved pleased him. He shifted his attention to the other two crew members who were also in the cockpit. A well dressed man who copied the holoss stars style and an interesting droid. The human were just... another human, however the droid seemed very interesting... He gazed at the droid for a few moments already wondering what kind of modifications it needed. In his belief the factories never got it right, although this droid for sure haven't come from a large production line. "Hmm... interesting droid...eh?" he spoke as he flew in place. A quick scan on the cockpit instruments already told him things probably would take time that way.

He fiddled on his belt pockets until he found a couple of tools he'd need. He took sometime fiddling on the sensors and communication panels after opening both. The Captain just had returned as he finished his assessment. "Uhhh... Captain..." he smiled and scratched his ugly and flimsy beard. "Pretty... untouched the ship systems, Captain" the accented raucous voice filled the cockpit. "It could take a lot of time this way..." he scratched now his head lost in thoughts. "Yes... yes.... Captain... I can try to amplify the signals reception... this could make our search shorter... I'll need to improvise an amplifier... I can use some not all necessary parts from other systems..." he smiled broadly, happy with the prospect of spending less time in the dark. "All I need is... to re-route energy though... it can be from the shields, weapons or artificial gravity systems... Your call Captain... Also, I could optimize this nice droid of yours if you want... it is a nice piece and probably can be programmed in many unusual ways..." the two last words carried an evil scarcastic hint on them... As he waited for an answer, his always creative mind already ran through the many possibilities for the droid...

 

[KineticEnergy]

Spoiler: OOC

Are we gonna establish a posting order?

Fork stood in the cabin of the cockpit. To his distaste, it had become quite crowded. The attractive young woman who seemed to be in charge of the operation had left the controls to a strange Toydarian. The Toydarian seemed to rant endlessly about the systems of the ship, something about improving a sensor array. It was no concern of Fork's though, especially since the Toydarian started to mention 'programming' and 'optimize' his 'possibilities.'

4RK-008 didn't like the idea of that. Not one bit, so he spoke out for the first time during their short voyage.

Statement: If you were to ask anybody to augment my existence, it would be me, Toydarian.

He added a little emphasis on the last bit to show his disapproval.

Unnecessary Addendum: The answer is no.

While he was a droid, Fork was more. He was indeed a sentient, no matter what anybody else thought. You wouldn't simply walk up to somebody and say, "Hey, can I change things about you that I think would be better?" It was offensive to him. He was just fine the way he was.

 

[Vindictive]

[How does this sound;
1-Vind
2-Kinetic
3-Lind
Posting order. This good with everyone? And sorry. I've been busy.]

"Let's calm down, gents," Slypher said excitedly as she noticed a rythmatic blinking on the radar display. Something was close. Something big. "Looks like our big payday is getting close-

She stopped mid-sentence, picking up a very bad sensation in her heart. The force was warning her about something on that wreckage. Something that was pure evil. Funny, she was a sith and yet she was getting a bad feeling about something dark in the force.

"Be sure to keep on your P's and Q's. Something feels ****ed about this set-up," she said, turning back to the droid leaning in the doorway. "Would you mind waking the rest of the crew and telling them to ready arms? Even if it is a hunch, there's no harm in being prepared for anything," she more requested than demanded. She knew of droids like him. Droids with a personality complex that separated them from their average kin. She also felt it deserved recognition.

Without waiting for a response, though, she resumed her seat in the cockpit and switched the controls to manual. Where there were wrecked ships, there was debris. "And make sure everyone straps themselves into something," she added as she kept her focus to the front of the ship. She trusted the force to heighten her senses and guide them to a safe dock.

 

[KineticEnergy]

Fork nodded at the captain's request. She seemed like a capable leader. He walked back to the living quarters where the majority of the crew were still waking up. The droid raised his dialog volume significantly.

Statement: We are approaching the wreckage. You orders are to prep as an armed boarding party. We don't know what to expect, so be ready for anything. Once you are prepped you will strap yourselves down to something. There is a lot of debris around the wreckage.

All of that reminded 4RK-008 of his past experiences on Foerost during the Revolution, so many years ago. He had commanded Juggernaut War Droids in his short lived campaign against organic oppression. He liked the feeling of being in charge again as he once had been.

Some of the crew members on his current mission refused to wake up, so he forced them awake. The droid pushed his hand against a control panel on the portside wall and gained control of the interface using a break-pass security program. He blared the emergency fire alarm in the room for a good thirty seconds until the last crew member finally stood up, his eyes half closed and bloodshot.

 

[Lindgart]

Gaah-doo seemed a bit offended by the droid and snorted in his raucous voice as it left the cockpit "Ahh... I droid who is his own owner huh? How would I know?" his smalls hands were turned upwards in an ignorance gesture. He scratched his unshaven chin and turned to the Captain "Ahh... Captain... if it was your it would be free... huh? But now, if droids wants to get better it will have to pay..."

He floated to a chair in the cockpit where, in front of it, countless. As no seemed to care about his ability to amplify the signal. added to the fact the Toydarian never had been a hard worker during his life he just worked with what he had available "Captain... I'm cleaning interferences and sending to your screen what could be some energy reading. A transmitter maybe ... or an ion engine. With this poor tools I have in hand...., no offense meant of course..., it will take some more time do have a clear reading..."

And he kept without much interested fiddling with the sensors switches... He sucked on his teeth making some annoying noises...

 

[Vindictive]

"Keep amplifying the signal. I'm going to try and bring her in to the docking bays," Slypher said as she flew the ship through loose scraps of metals. The darkness between the twinkling specks in space made it harder to see every little thing. She relied on the force to guide her.

The closer she got, though, the more she could sense the growing darkness. The twisted evil. It plagued the ship in some mysterious way. There was something more to what they would see, she was sure of that.

 

[KineticEnergy]

4RK-008 watched the crew for several minutes as they prepped. Weapons and armor of all kinds were worn by the rag-tag bunch. Hopefully, a few of them had some combat experience. There was a strong potential for danger here. Fork jogged back to the cockpit to report back on his completed task.

Statement: The crew is armed and ready for orders, captain.

 

[Lindgart]

"Captain.... I'm trying but, ..... hmmm.... It is strange....." the Toydarian kept fiddling with dialsand switches. "I don't know if something is masking the energy emissions... there's interference.... or if they are low emissions.... nothing is clear yet...." He flew to another pannel and went back to the chair after adjusting something "It is a pretty stange place you want to go in...." he grabbed his unshavedchin and expelled some gases so he could think better.

"Hmm... if I was to set some kind of trap, I'd do the same..." the last sentence was spoken more to himself that to the Captain "I advice... caution, huh?"