Ask Stolen Flower

[Wer Tracyn]

Wer paused at what Xim said over the comm.

"Please tell me you misspoke and did not say gammoreans with an E-WEB Xim..."

The Gravity locks suddenly clicked to an open position. Wer glanced at them. He was about to say something when the blaring klaxon alarms began to sound out.

"Or I guess now we are the center of attention!" Wer shouted as he threw his hands up in the air. He didn't have a moment to comprehend what was happening for long. Several of the Gammoreans made themselves known as they crowded the area that Wer himself had come through. And unfortunately for Wer, Xim had not misspoken. It was only thanks to the surpressing fire that Dar'Manda began to lay down that provided Wer a chance to react.

"Eat this pigs!" Wer shouted. He produced a smoke grenade from his belt and, after pulling the pin, chucked it at the approaching Gammoreans. The erupting smoke would hopefully keep them distracted long enough to let Wer start up the engines.

"Alright you droids, you got the fuel done?"

The leading ASP labor droid nodded. "Affirmative"

"Good, get on board and enter standby mode. Daddy is going to get something out of this after all"

Wer didn't even wait to hear the droids say affirmative or negative, and simply booked it onto the ship. Truth be told, he never flew New Alderaanian ship before, but provided it had a gas pedal and a steering wheel, Wer was sure he could get it running.

D20 roll to fly ship
Result: 5: failure

When Wer sat at the controls, he began to flip a few switches and press some of the buttons. For the most part, he was going off memory of how Xim flew his Manda Money.

"Alright, that shouldn't be wrong, lets uh...pull this..."

Wer flipped a switch. For a moment, the engines began to rev up.

Then they died down.

"Uhhh....." Wer stammerred as he took off his helmet and threw it aside to see better. Behind him, he could hear the ASP-Series droids board the ship.

"Hey Xim?" Wer shouted, his helm's comm still working despite being on the floor. "I got good news and bad news. Good news is the ship is ready to fly. Bad news is, and I need you to be as technical as possible, what is the proper checklist to starting up a New Alderaan ship? Only thing I've flown are speeders, skiffs and that one ship that I refuse to talk about..."

Wer just hoped that Dar'Manda could do her best to hold off the Gammoreans and the droids. He doubted the droids would shoot the ship, but those pigs were a different story.

@The Mad Hammer @Mythos

 

[Xim Zhan]

Drawn back toward the chaos as the Gammoreans began their assault under heavy fire and smoke from his brethren below. This far up the tower outside the perimeter, Xim was far from the fighting and out of sight and range, mostly. Chancing a glance at the dirty droid ship, the Mandalorian had a moment to think and ponder a semblance of a plan.

“Do you think every ship has the same controls? I’ve never flown an Alderaanian ship!” He responded, somewhat frustratedly into his comms. Every ship was different, but usually there were some similarities; one just had to work out the kinks as they went along. Reading was also a plus in these situations.

But Xim’s ideas were already moving along, his plan, to benefit them even more. “I hope Virgo can fly that heap.” He muttered before keying his comms up again, “Wer! Send those droids back outside. I’m gonna need them for another ship. But first,” Xim paused, focusing his HUD on the scrapyard and the stream of war droids hurrying toward the intruders, zooming in his with his magnifier, the antennae atop his helm flipped forward as Xim took aim. He would not be able to lock onto an individual droid, but there was a small pass between two derelict ships that worked perfectly. Locking onto the target, Xim leaned forward over the waist-high walled edge that encircled the apartment’s roof. “Fire in the hole!”

The rocket attached to his jetpack rippled outward and upward, locked on the point Xiim had designated, trailing a stream of white behind it across the cloudless Tatooinian sky. A moment later, the missile connected and erupted in a chaotic plume of fiery destruction sending smoke and shrapnel billowing in every direction. Instantly, the explosion drew the attention of the security droids and the Gammoreans as they turned their attention to whatever else might be interloping in the area.

With a one-step running leap, Xim leapt from the rooftop. At the height of his jump, just before gravity took her course, Xim activated his jetpack and launched through the air far overhead, unnoticed thanks to the chaos below.

Coming into land with a few wincing steps forward to slow his momentum, Xim stopped in the shadow of the deactivated corvette and on the far side from his fellow Mandalorians and the chaos that was engulfing the scrapyard.

“Now to find an entrance,” he spoke to himself running a hand along the dusty hull of the lengthy craft. “Bingo.” He had spotted an open hatch a dozen or so meters beyond. It looked like, if anything, someone had been camping just inside the cool dark interior. “Wer, sned the droids around the far side of the picket ship. I’ll wait for them.” He hoped the simple droids would be smart enough to help him get the ship limping home at the least.

@Mythos @Narzen

 

[Virgo Armegedon-Lok]

All it took to handle the heavy repeating E-Web was a singular well placed shot to the Gamorrean's dense cranium and Virgo scored a direct hit as metal met bone in a vibrant display of physics. Even more miraculous that it was a blind woman doing it, but the Force worked in very mysterious ways for those whom had never taken the time to gain some semblance of understanding for it.

But the deed had been done and Virgo quickly made her way toward where @Wer Tracyn and hopefully @Xim Zhan were. However, the large explosion that deterred the Gamorreans and Droids soon suggested one of them had not made it. Boarding the ship, Virgo grabbed Wer and in essence slung him out of the driver's seat as she took control of the cockpit and began the start up sequence.

Hoping Wer was paying attention as her fingers ran across a select pattern of buttons, knobs, and switches, the ship was soon in the air and headed toward Xim's location. Hovering in place a mere half a meter above ground with the gangplank still lowered, she noticed what had distracted her partner's attention. Removing her helm and tossing it aside, she turned to Wer.

"Lay down some suppressive fire and give the droids time to get him going. Seems today has blessed us with two ships." Virgo spoke with a grin behind her sweat glazed platinum hair as it's hung loosely across her face from its bun. "We've got about five minutes to spare."

 

[Wer Tracyn]

"Uh..." Wer looked at the droids who had just boarded the ship. He wasn't sure how simple it would be to get the droids to follow commands to work on another ship. The only reason he guessed they obeyed him was because they were programmed to work on the ship he was actively trying to steal. Getting them to work on another ship was a different matter entirely.

Thankfully, Dar'Manda was able to come in and get the ship running. Wer, after being thrown aside, couldn't help but chuckle.

"Thank goodness you can work that, its all Gree to me"

Getting to the droids, Wer puffed out his chest.

"Alright clankers, insert new orders. Go and help my friend start up that ship."

The head ASP droid looked at Wer.

"Negative"

Wer sighed as his head dropped in annoyance. It was just as he figured. These droids were programmed to work on this ship. He would have to get this manually.

"Alright alright, new orders. Insert new target for, uh, whats the word you probably use, destruction? No, dismantlement. New target of dismantlement... the ship over there where my buddy is. But ship must be dismantled at new site. Uhhh.... Concordia I guess. Can always be updated later. Understand?"

The ASP leader looked at the other droids and began beeping in binary before turning back to Wer and concluding "Affirmative" Having done so, the droids began to march to their designated task.

"Xim, droids are en route" Wer advised. "Just make sure those babies are still working by the end of this. I'd like to have one to modify."

As the droids jumped from the ship to the ground, Wer unholstered his carbine and took aim.

"Imma firin my laser!" Wer shouted as he began to lay covering fire.

@The Mad Hammer @Mythos

 

[Xim Zhan]

With the swine-minded enforcers actively taking fire, the simple ASP droids were able to make it to the Auto-Picket Corvette with minimal casualties; if one could call a missing arm from a Gammorean cleaver minor for a droid.

Meanwhile, Xim had made it into the open doorway of the ship. A quick scan and a few well-placed kicks and stomps led him to be relatively sure the campsite was empty. The layer of course sand blown in by the wind all but assured it. To say it was dark inside would be an understatement. A droid-controlled ship really had no need for windows; so it was pitch black inside and the baking sun that beat down on the ship’s hull turned the interior into a proverbial oven. The air hurt to breath and Xim coughed as he began to feel his way through the foreign ship.

He had only made it part way down the first adjacent hallway when the clamor of metallic droid feet entering the hatch rang throughout. Instinctively, Xim tucked himself into a corner; an effort to conceal himself further even in the dark as a lone beam of light pierced the hot dark air illuminating the face that broadcast it. It was an ASP. Xim relaxed slightly. At least it was not the security droids.

“Oy! Over here,” he called out as the light was focused on the waving Mandalorian.

“Negative.”

Xim sighed. “Why? This is the way to the cockpit,” or the control center that housed the key processors that made up the neural processors of the droid brain that powered the ship.

“Negative.” The droid buzzed before turning to march down a completely different hallway.

Several more ASPs, 11 in total including the one with the missing arm, marched aboard. Xim was not sure if they had come from Wer or not; but they all seemed to be marching to the same orders. At least he hoped they were, the fact that several of the droids spun off in different directions through the ship made him worry.

Unsure exactly where to go or what to do, Xim faultered for a moment before following one of the head-mounted lamps as it bobbed through the hot darkness. “Hows it going out there?” Xim queried via his comm unit as he made about his dozenth turn through a cramped passageway after the droid. He was beginning to think this may have not been the best idea.

The droid stopped at a long dead panel and with all the grace of a dewback slammed a creaky lever upwards from the off position it had been in. Nothing happened. Xim had not expected it to, but he held his breath nevertheless. As the droid trundled on, Xim relaxed and fell back into step behind the droid. He was not entirely sure what use he was; but he hoped, at some point, the ship would come alive.

Tapping the droid on the shoulder, the fifth-degree droid turned to face Xim. If droids could give off attitude, the annoyance from this droid would have been off the charts. “Can you take me to the, uh, biological passenger area?” He asked, hopeful that perhaps once the ship came online he could interact with it there.

“Affirmative.” The droid buzzed in it’s monotone metal voice before turning and continuing on it’s way.

Of course, outside things were becoming more chaotic as sentry droids and security droids alike arrived on scene. Almost immediately the takeoff, and by that de facto theft of the luxury liner, was logged and relayed through channels all the way back to the Gand, Bizger Myst in his den of oppulance. To say the insectoid was angry would be an understatement and a quick comm to call in a few gambling debts send a small swarm of local planetary enforcers in their hodgepodged fleet of fighters zipping from the Port Authority to intercept the stolen luxury liner.

@Mythos @Narzen

 

[Virgo Armegedon-Lok]

Virgo's eyes narrowed as the remaining Gammoreans and incoming Sentry and Surveillance Droids brought too much heat upon them and sent the sensor array into a resounding fit of blazing noises. She had had enough and the grin upon her face only emphasized it as she activated the Deflector Shields and brought them ship about.

"Let's give them hell." She resounded toward the ship as her voice likely echoed from the cockpits cabin across the entirety of the yacht as she slung the ship into a brief tailspin and used its shielding array to make their advisories nothing more but space debris within the yard's confines, whilst the roaring engines cooked a delicious meal of pork for the inhabitants that likely made the yard a home. She only hoped @Wer Tracyn had had enough sense to hold on because her maneuver came unexpected. "You still there vod?"

She chuckled at the thought of Wer falling off the gangplank and on his helm before being roasted alive by the yacht's engines, but knew proudly that her Brother in Manda'lor wasn't so easily taken down. And yet, no longer than it took to think up the thought, her sensors went ballistic once again as a unmistakenly fleet of mishappened fighters came inbound and this ship held no ability to defend its self.

Closing the gangplank, and hopefully with Wer inside, Virgo spun the yacht on its axis and blasted out of the yard entirely as she took to the skies with the fleet in tow, a consistency of spins both left and right that would likely end in barrel rolls and testing the ship's artifical gravity to its limits. Opening the comm to @Xim Zhan, she left but a brief warning. "I'll take care of the boogies. You just focus on getting into the air. Let's see what this stolen flower is capable of."

With that said, she would give Xim as much time as she could. But if they began running out of it, Xim may would have to let the heat die down before he could follow their own departure.

 

[Wer Tracyn]

Wer grinned under his helmet as he continued to fire shot after shot. Even when the enemies starting firing back, he remained stoic and still, unable to pull himself away. He hated to admit it, but the thrill of battle was always so electrifying to his very soul.

Unfortunately, it was this cockyness and thrill that made him unprepared for what happened next. When the ship was brought about, he stumbled. He barely had a chance to grab onto the wall next to the airlock.

"This is why I hate flying!" Wer shouted as he pulled himself deeper into the ship. He slammed at the controls for the door, sealing the airlock. Unfortunately, the ship's artificial gravity hadn't kicked in yet where Wer was at, and the Mandalorian began to be thrown about like a spiced-infused ewok stuffy at a drug rave.

Next thing Wer knew, he was on the floor after a patiular bad crash with a wall. Pulling off his helmet, Wer did the one thing everyone could count on Wer to do in a spaceship battle. The trail of green jawa juice and yellow bile on the floor would need a lot of scrubbing to get out of the carpet of the high-class ship.

"Just remember..." Wer said between gasps as he wiped his mouth, hoping his comm was still active despite them helm off his head. "That this ship is the priority!"

After picking up his helmet, Wer moved towards the first room he saw. Thnakfully, it was a medical bay. Unfortunately, it had been depleted of all its medical supplies and anything of worth on the black market. Still, at least the chairs were comfy. Wer Sat down and gripped the table beside him as he braced for whatever came next.

@The Mad Hammer @Mythos

 

[Xim Zhan]

‘Bogies?’ Xim’s eyes widened at the term, “What have we gotten ourselves into this time?” He queried. There was not much he could do. The droids seemed to be operating on their orders and the Mandalorian dutifully followed the droid along the winding corridors unsure where they were going. Turning yet again, Xim had lost count, suddenly the whir or old mechanics began to grind and echo throughout the ship. A few moments later, dim lighting along the edges of the ceiling illuminated.

“Haha! We have power!” Xim cried to no one in particular before haphazardly crashing into the droid in front of him. The droid had led Xim to the passenger unit and stopped, it’s job complete. The duo tumbled to the floor.

Rolling, Xim found himself staring at an entirely nondescript room. Soft white floors met soft white walls and followed up to a soft white ceiling. The bunks about the room were painted a matching white and the mattresses, well he figured they’d have been white two if there had been any left. Fixed tables and chairs and couches before a holscreen were all the same, white and the kitchenette followed suit. It was no wonder the ship needed a compliment of droids. Stick a group of commandos in this room and cleaning it would have been more than a full time job.

The Mandalorian took this all in in an instant as the holscreen flickered to life, a relat of techno-babble playing across the screen before a warning flashed, alerting passengers to prepare for liftoff. Hatches would be sealing momentarily. Beneath the floor, Xim felt the rumble of long silent engines roar to life as dust and sand were purged from their systems.

He smiled as he picked himself up. The ASP already having gotten up and started walking back the way it had come. “Thank you!” He called out after the droid before stumbling as the entire ship lurched, a massive wave of creaking and cries of durasteel beams as they readjusted to being in flight. The aged ship was airborne again; but for how long?

The ship slowly raised up into the air, a variety of background system checks running to insure the integrity of the craft. For any hailing craft, a string of binary would be the response. When translated the ship’s name was Dorn Isk Three Esk Three Two Seven - Jenth Six Mern Eight Three Esk; for whatever that was worth. The more important thing was that the ship identified itself with the Sesid System Security Force and that thr looming dogfight overhead set of alarm klaxons warning of imminent combat.

The ship began to scan the inbound fighters and then the stolen craft Xim’s fellow Mandalorians were aboard. It had already been flagged as stolen by some Hutt-employed tech wiz. And so the ship’s ion cannons began to lock on to the craft, opening a hailing frequency in a mechanized emotionless drawl. “Pirates, thieves, or would-be desperados you are currently operating a stolen craft without proper authorization. Power down your engines and prepare to be tractored to an authorized government processing facility. Resistance is futile. Do not endanger your lives or those of innocent civilians in the area. You cannot escape.”

Of course all this went down without Xim knowing anything more than that Virgo had bogies of some sort and the ship was preparing for combat. “What is going on?!?”

@Narzen @Mythos

 

[Virgo Armegedon-Lok]

"Um....Wer?" Virgo explained as the other ship's hail came through, the robotic voices coming across the ship's communication array. "We got a ship about to shoot us down if we don't do something quick." Her gaze darted behind her and toward the cockpits entrance as she yelled out. "And by we, I mean, you, Mr. Roboto"

He seemed to have a repartee with droids and she could only hope his affinity with them could somehow get them out this mess. If not, she'd have to outfly a droid.

 

[Wer Tracyn]

"You've got to be kidding me!" Wer yelled out as he stumbled towards the ship's cockpit where he could handle the communications and scanners. Holding back a dry heave, Wer settled into the seat and began to punch at buttons while his mind franticly raced for solutions. "Just because I speak basic enough for a droid to understand me doesn't mean...ah, nevermind!

"Ok, ok, one moment...Sesid? Sesid System Security...I know that name somewhere....oh ya, some of our product went there. Uhhh....Lets see..."

Wer scratched his brain for anything that would help prevent the ship from literally shooting them out of the sky.

"Alright, here's an idea. Long shot but worth it..." Wer stated. With a click of a button, he began to signal back to the ship. "Attention designation Dorn Isk Three Esk Three Two Seven - Jenth Six Mern Eight Three Esk, Emergency. Mandalorian captives on board, trying to escape captors. Emergency Code: Ge'tal Mirci't. Request Aid. "

The idea Wer was trying to employ was to confuse the ship's systems, if even for just for a temporary bit. The Sesid planet was a popular tourist destination for the longest time in the galaxy, and Wer knew that some Mandalorian mining supply went there after the Galactic Empirie fell apart to help refortify the planet's less tidally secure areas. If the ship's systems was new enough, it would recognize the code Wer just sent it as an official distress signal from Mandalorian aligned planets, and possibly believe the ships attacking them were the pirates. It was an older code, but it would theoretically work. And even if it didn't, it would stall firing long enough to see if the code was legit.

Spoiler

D20 Roll to see if code works
Result:16 Full Success

Thankfully for Wer, it seemed the ship recognized Wer's codes, despite the fact that he was drawing from the same memory of flying the ship that resulted in him losing his parents.

@Mythos @The Mad Hammer

 

[Xim Zhan]

Xim could quite literally hear the grating hum of the mainframe droid’s central processors as it took in the rapidly unfolding scene before it. She had received the mayday distress signal. Immediately it set in motion a variety of long dormant programs designed to respond to such things. With the speed of electricity, the core found the highest probability markers and began to enact those protocols.

OOC: 2d6 to determine outcome:
1: fire ion cannons to neutralize ship so as to rescue the hostages
4: alert Sector authorities (ISC)

Of course, this went on with Xim not knowing any of it as his comm had failed to reach his comrades or gone unanswered. And so, he did the next logical thing. He tried to talk to the computer. All the while, the computer operated on a variety of frequencies.

A deep space signal was transmitted to the Independent System Consortium; a trail of binary 1s and 0s that broadcast the description and location of the stolen ship and that it may have been hijacked by individuals with proper, albeit old, codes notifying them of a hijacking in progress with prisoners aboard. The response, given the chaos of the galaxy of late: Do not let the pirates escape. Save the hostages if possible.

On the horizon the squadrons of ugly craft came screaming low and fast. They immediately leapt into action, opening fire on the luxury yacht and the suddenly rising cruiser.

Aboard the droid ship, a voice called out over the comm system. “ALERT. ALERT. We are taking fire from pirates, brigands, or would-be desperados. They seek that which is under our protection. All passengers are to immediately return to their bunks and all non-essential services will be suspended until safety is restored.”

Xim’s eyebrows shot up as his eyes widened? Bogies and now pirates, brigands or desperados? “WHAT. IS. GOING. ON. OUT. THERE?!?!” He bellowed into his comm unit as suddenly he was enveloped in darkness. The ship had shut off the lights in an effort to preserve and reroute power. “Computer! What is happening?” He shouted through the dark. “That luxury yacht has my friends aboard. We are Mandalorian. We are on the same side and are to escort them!”

“NEGATIVE. We are to divert to Concordia for retrofitting and salvage. Our primary programming directives remain intact and we must ensure that these ruffians are brought to a swift end before we proceed.”

The sound of the ships shields coming online buzzed in the ship as the ship shook with the first few blasts of local police fire.

Meanwhile, subspace transmissions from the yacht were answered: “Attention Mandalorian refugees. Tatooine has not been identified by Intergalactic Code 36421-34besh as a war torn world or desolate world which fleeing persons can be legally classified as refugees. Furthermore, the Mandalorian culture has been annotated as refusing to flee from a fight. It would dishonor your culture and jeopardize your understanding of eternity. There are; however, exceptions and you will be taken into our protective custody against these raiders, brigands or would-be desperados. We will begin firing ion cannons upon you so as to escort you to safety. You may experience some slight discomfort; but you shall be safe.”

And with that, the larger corvette accelerated to place itself between the advancing local fighters and the luxury yacht. From there, the droid craft opened a barrage of port side ion cannons on the high end pleasure craft.

Xim stumbled as the guns fired and recoiled. In the dark, he caught himself on the wall. Sliding to the floor, the man began to tug at his belt until he found the small flashlight he kept there. Turning it on, he clipped it to his helmet. The room was eerie. The white walls cast upon by the passing beam in the darkness. The total and complete emptiness of the ship. Carefully, Xim slowly stood. Apparently the gravitational dampeners were slightly misaligned; a curse of the sands of time on Tatooine. So tryibg to maintain a handhold, The black-clad Mandalorian made his way to the door that opened to the access hatch. “Locked!” He cursed as he tried to force his fingers through the crack before the automated voice sounded again. “Biologicals are required to remain in their housing unit during all times of emergency. Return to your bunk at once or security will be dispatched.”

“Security?” Xim whispered as his thoughts turned to the army of droids that had pursued them some hundred yards below. Was it possible they were aboard too?

Regardless, Xim pulled the thermic blade from his boot. Activating it, the blade began to glow orange and then white hot and the Mandalorian began trying to force it through the crack in the door in an effort to pry it open.

@Mythos @Narzen

 

[Virgo Armegedon-Lok]

Outflying a droid it was then!

Virgo listened attentively to the conversations being had around her as a loose feeling in her gut came roaring up through her mind like a burrowing Geonosian aiming for the sky. There was little time to make any decision before the droid ship opened fire upon them. And time was running out on their escape. There was only but one thing she could do in a moment like this.

"Hold on Wer. It's going to get extremely bumpy." Virgo warned before hand and prayed the Mandalorian was quick. At the count of three, she cut the engines and allowed the Yacht to go into a free fall toward the sands below, allowing the droid ship's armaments to miss them. Silently she counted to herself within the cockpit as the pursuing ships gave chase. "1.... 2.... 3...."

She reached downward toward the ship's engines and reignited them at the right time, sending the ship into a skirting drive forward across the Dune Sea. Thankfully she knew Tatooine all too well, and the lingering plateaus and canyons ahead would give them adamant coverage from both side. It was time to put metal to the peddle, and Virgo was tired of playing by the rules.

 

[Wer Tracyn]

Wer crashed into another wall as the ride suddenly became much more chaotic.

"I'm gonna hurl again if this doesn't get better..." he began to grumble. Still, at least the message from xims ship was slightly better then just pure destruction. Still, he wondered if he could adjust its parameters.

"Attention designation Dorn Isk Three Esk Three Two Seven - Jenth Six Mern Eight Three Esk..." Wer started again, this time holding back a dry heave. "We are unarmed. Use of ion is unnecessary and overkill. Repeat. Unnecessary and overkill. Uh... Subjects on board have life maintaining implants. Ion shots could render hostages in life threatening situation."

Wer thought a few more moments before snapping his fingers "final destination is hopefully with Clan on Concordia. Does this comply with your protocols?"



Ooc dice roll
Result: 14

Wer hoped that his BS was as wondrous as his natural charisma normally was, minus that one situation with that twilek earlier. And even then, that didn't end with him getting slapped.

@The Mad Hammer @Mythos

 

[Xim Zhan]

As the luxury yacht cut it’s engines, the message from @Wer Tracyn managed to burst through the static. The whir of the ship’s aged servo-brain sought to process the request as the Mandalorian-bearing target vessel began to freefall.

“Affirmative.” came the reply as the ion cannons ceased for the moment. In their place, the tractor beams of the droid ship activated, their magnetic pull catching the falling ship midair so that when it aftivated it’s engines all it did was grind in place. “Please cease all attempts to escape. You will damage the target craft. Preservation of life is preferred, but is a secondary objective. You will be stopped.” The ion cannons then locked onto the craft but did not fire, as if to emphasis the point.

At least on that side. The barrage of fire from the planetary forces was less acceptable, and a torrent of ion fire erupted from that side of the droid-corvette, sending a trio of fighters spiraling powerlessly through the air as gravity took hold.

Inside, Xim’s knife gained some purchase as the thump of the guns seemed to microscopically reverberate through the ship. The long deactivated power fore fluctuated with the sudden output of power and the lights aboard flickered for a moment. It was all the Mandalorian needed as he forced the door open into the dark catwalk beyond. Geyser’s of steam from pressure release couplings filled the air as Xim hurried along the corrugated catwalk. Conduit of wires and tubes ran along the walls within reach.

“Return to the biological passenger area. Immediately. Security has been notified.”

There it was with that security again. Xim shot a worried glance around him in the steamy darkness with only his light to pierce the veil. In truth, he had no idea where he was going, but this was, after all, a ship. How hard could it be?

After many twists and turns, Xim was thoroughly turned around and he felt no closer to his target than when he had left the passenger bay; a place he was not sure he could return to if he wanted. On a positive note, it did not seem that there was any security aboard, or he had not met any as of yet. Come to think of it, where were all the ASPs?

Finally, Xim came across a panel mounted within the tubes and wires. Hastily he swung it open and bobbed his head back and forth and up and down as he took it in. Tapping on a black screen it flared to life and Xim’s heart sank at what he saw:

PASSWORD:​

the cursor blinked awaiting input from the wall mounted keyboard.

“Mother Kriffer!” Xim swore loudly as he slammed a fist against the edge of the panel in frustration.

“What is going on out there?” He howled into his comm. “Virgo? Wer? DO. YOU. COPY?”



@Mythos
@Narzen

 

[Virgo Armegedon-Lok]

With the ship grinding at place, shields up, Virgo sighed with displeasure, and killed the accelerator, leaving the Yacht to the mercy of the droid ship. Wasn't much she could do now.

Hearing @Xim Zhan come across the comms, she made a defeated reply. "Xim. We've been caught in a tractor beam. Unless you can do something about that droid ship, it's over."

Spoiler

@Narzen @The Mad Hammer

 

[Wer Tracyn]

"Haha! Groovy!" Wer shouted as the droid ship acknoloegldge his message. His stomach actually almost began to settle when the tractor beam kicked in.

"No no! That's good! Everything is good!" Wer told Dar'manda as she began to speak to Xim . "I simply told the thing we are going where to where it should be going anyways. Once we get to Concordia, it will try to message any authorities it can find, and confirm that we are who we say we are. From there it'll be a matter of stopping those little buggers from dismantling the ship and badda Bing badda boom, we got ourselves some new droids, a new ship, AND the bounty. Am I awesome or am I awesome?"

Wer then pulled out the small probe droid he managed to disable and knab from the scrap yard. "Heck, even got myself one of these beauties. Think I'll connect it to one of those ASP 's and have a handy scout on all my missions. What do you think?"

Suddenly, a blare through the comm of Xim shouting made wer change his attention.

"Hold that thought"

Wer turned back to the comm.

"Copy ner'vod, we copy. Turns out bringing me on this case was better for you then you imagined. Call me the droid whisperer, cause I am awesome. Next stop will be Concordia, though you may want to double check that with the ship. "

Wer was feeling high on life. Unfortunately he glanced out the window and saw how high he wlreally was.

"Um, I'm going back for...something " wer stated as he nearly gagged again. "You want to contact our client that we made the hunt? I'll busy myself cleaning the mess I'm about to make..."

@The Mad Hammer @Mythos
(Think next post should be the last one)

 

[Xim Zhan]

The console before Xim chined pleasant, “Password . . . Accepted.” and the Mandalorian picked his head off the wall with a look of confusion and surprise on his face.

“Really??” he asked the empty ship in disbelief. “That was the password? Of all the moons in all the galaxies,” he keyed his comm, “Boys! I’m in.”

“Now to get to work on you,” he muttered as he began to read the list of options that scrolled before him. “Aha! There you are,” he punched the button for current command module and what spat out before him was a long list of garbled commands ranging from destined for the scrapyard all the way through notifying authorities and transporting the Mandalorian’s stolen prize to Concordia, for ‘scrapping.’ It would be simple enough to divert that once they arrived

“Buckle up you two. If this tin can can get us out of here without any interruptions, we should be in for a smooth ride home.” He chimed over the comms, unaware of the pursuit he was now involved in over the skies of Tatooine. The soft thus of the ion cannons clues him in something was amiss; but to what extent, he had no idea. Outside, the droid brain was taking highly calculated shots, sending the local goon constabulary reeling as their ships fell disabled from the sky to erupt in plumes of fire on the sands (and possibly a building or three) of Tatooine. All the while, with craft in tow, accelerating for open space and a hyper point that was already being calculated, the larger corvette intended to fulfill it’s newfound primary duty.

Xim, meanwhile, continued to scroll through lines of data before locating the ship’s loyalty matrix and primary assignments. It had never been rewritten when it was sent to the scrapyard for what was only listed as an“adverse personality matrix, unfixable by memory wipe,” whatever that exactly meant. Still, with password in hand, it was only a matter of a few simple keystrokes to reassign the ship’s primary loyalties to the Endless Watch.

Now, all they needed to do was make the jump to hyperspace. Speaking of, “Computer, can you slave the ship to our programming if they open the system to you?” He asked aloud.

“Affirmative.” The mechanical voice responded. “We are attempting that now. Your associates are refusing us access, endangering the jump to hyperspace Please return to the biological passenger unit at once. Security has been notified. A jump to hyperspace without proper securing may result in adverse effects upon your person. The removal of biological debris from our interior is most unwanted.”

Xim rolled his eyes. “Hey Virgo, can you bypass the lockout protocols on that fancy hunk? Let the droid ship access your computer core and maybe we can get out of this with two ships and the reward money.”

@Narzen @Mythos

((Agreed. Dar’manda can get us to hyper and Wer can finalize delivery and we are done))

 

[Virgo Armegedon-Lok]

Hearing Xim's commands, Virgo went to work across the Yachts systems, first bypassing the security module before letting the droid ship access the navigation. Once that was done, they were at the mercy of their captures.

With reluctance, she replied to Xim. "Done." Now she hoped the two of them were correct.

Spoiler

@The Mad Hammer @Narzen

 

[Wer Tracyn]

With the two ships now working together, the group were able to make a hyper jump away from Tatooine. The droids that Wer had half-hazardly re-programmed followed their instructions to take the ship to Concordia. On the way there, Wer had to give a bunch of instructions on how to handle the droids, seemingly deemed the 'droid whisperer', but in the end, they seemed to respond well to their new charges.

At Concordia, after some talking with other Mandalorians to help 'convince' the droid ship that the yacht was in fact now under Mandalorian control and being returned to its rightful owners, Dar'Manda and Wer were able to fly the yacht taken to Corellia, where their contact was waiting for them. Despite Wer's best efforts, some of the vomit stains did not come out of the upholstery, and he lost a few credits to cover the fees to replace it. When asked if anyone was injured, Wer calmly, though confidently, explained that no one of importance was hurt. He did fail to mention that the group stole a bunch of droids on Tatooine, but since it didn't come up, Wer didn't worry too much about.

Back at home, Xim began to work on stolen ship. It would serve the Eternal Watch well once it was reprogrammed from the ground up. Licensing fees would be a hassle, and cost a few credits, as well as the repairs for what damage the ASP's started when the ship arrived at Concordia, but the job would've covered everything for the most part. The ASP's would help serve as crew mates until no longer needed, though Wer thoroughly insisted one of the ASP's go to him.

"I always needed a cleaning droid or something" He would later comment.

END OF THREAD

@Mythos @The Mad Hammer