Open [Tirahnn] Dig Deep

[Siria Zale]

Spoiler: Music

Song

Galactic Location: Tirahnn, Tirahnn system, N-8 - Independent Space

Siria Zale checked her datapad again and matched it to her personav. The former senator of the planet confirmed she was in the right place. Deep in one of the isolated mountain ranges of Tirahnn was a structure that once belonged to the dissolved Confederacy of Independent Systems. The woman's home world had been a place where they operated out of and still had some forgotten assets that could still be put to use.

Putting the navigation tools away, Siria swapped it out for a pair of macrobinoculars. Below her she zoomed in on a dilapidated structure. The rectangular building held an old shuttle lightly covered in moss. Flights of avian creatures flew across the natural landscape and rose on thermal winds. It was a beautiful sight which the woman took the time to capture with her dataphone before double checking the rest of her equipment.

Further down in the cavern was the spherical shape of a control core. There were no signs of recent activity as far as she could tell but she knew to use caution. Today she was armed with her stylish westar-37 blaster pistol along with a non-lethal flashpistol. On the other hip she had a what could be mistaken as a lightsaber but was just a lightfoil. Another device that looked like a pistol was a grapple launcher she had purchased to help travel the precarious terrain. There were numerous tools in her backpack she had brought, computer spikes, rope, rations, first aid, and more.

Siria expected to more or less be on her own in this endeavor but that was fine. It meant she would have fully earned anything she achieved today. The fliknot swoop bike she owned was idling just behind her and waiting patiently. The former politician swung a leg over the seat and gunned the engines, taking the bike over the cliff edge and towards her destination.

 

[Captain Ahab]

"Get yer carcasses moving, ye clanky clankers" Ahab commanded, turning around slightly. Behind him, the two brightly painted b1 battle droids groaned as they pushed a few branches out of their way, followed by the softly purring 'cabin boy' and two of his 'space rats'. One of the small buzz droids bleeped and buzzed something as it crawled along the ground and rested on Ahab's right shoulder, much as a bird or a lizard would upon its owner.

"Aye, aye captain." Blueblood stated, his chassis painted over with a neon blue paint that had long lost some of its shine. After his affirmation, he groaned, his vocabulator

"Captain, can we take a break and recharge a bit?" GreenHorn asked, raising a camo painted arm. "We aren't very well built for mountainous terrain after all..."

"Ach, thou clankers be built for the dephts of space, thine legs not be landlubbies." Ahab commented as he shook his head before turning and leading the way again. "No, we continue. Yer power will last ye long enough. We have info on ancient assets that prove useful to thee, and must seize the opprotunity. Crewmates for the crew, and consumables for the ship. Not to mention, treasures fer our nest"

The B1s nodded and agreed. The records of an old CIS base were recently rediscovered by the Collicoid Nest, and had sent its independent asset to secure whatever loot he could aquire. Weapons, droids, ships, anything was on the table, as long as in the end it would provide profit for the privateer's sponsor.

The small group found the building easily enough. Coming to the heavy doors, Ahab knocked on them with a metal fist, as if to test the structure.

"Alas! Thee be in our way, ye wall of scrap, and ye must fall!" Ahab commented. He raised a hand and began to pet the buzz droid on his shoulder.

"Thou best be doing what ye do best me thinks"

The Buzz droid hummed in agreement. Quickly, it and the other buzz droid crawled over the door and began to work. Their plasma torches and saws began to work on the door, making enough noise to alert anyone nearby. Still, Ahab did not seem to mind. After all, who else would be near this old CIS building?

@Darasuum

 

[Siria Zale]

The wind blew past the bike pilot as she flew through the canyons towards her destination. She landed her bike adjacent to the mossy shuttle and looked around. She heard the sound of vocabulated voices. They were not normal droid accents, pirates maybe or some rural smuggler with a voice disguiser.

Eventually she came into view of the main entrance and saw the backs of the colorful droids focused on their work. It appeared there was a team of droids trying to access the surface base and using an energy cutter of some kind to do it. They could be thieves, looters, mercenaries or any number of things. They certainly looked intimidating even if there were only a handful of them. Siria had some skill with a weapon but she had no desire to turn this into a shootout.

"Fascinating!" She exclaimed aloud. If the droids had not heard the swoop bike approach they would likely have noticed the woman's voice echo from behind them.

The more she looked at each of the droids the more curious she became about each of them. She could identify each of the models with her expansive knowledge of droid products. "Please, don't shoot. I mean you no harm." She kept her gloved hands away from her sides and held up in the air.

@Narzen

 

[Captain Ahab]

"Captain! An attacker!" GreenHorn blared as he heard the female exclaim something. Ahab turned around suddenly, hand bringing up his peacemaker without hesitation, a moment faster than BlueBlood could keep up. The buzzdroids seemed to ignore the possible attacker, giving all their focus on the door. Cabinboy beeped in fright and hid behind Ahab.

"Oh ho ho ho!" Ahab laughed as he strided towards the woman, his weapon still drawn and ready. Each step made his gears whir and whined, and for a moment, it looked like Ahab enjoyed that fact. "What have we here boys? A lost ramp afar from paradise? Nay, thee be something with fouler intent me thinks... answer me! What be thy name, and why thou be here so far from civilization?"

Captain Ahab stopped a meter away from the woman, looking down on here much like most tactical droids would: expretionless. Despite that fact, his tone seemed to carry more emotion than any face ever could.

@Darasuum

 

[Siria Zale]

Siria's hands were already up and away but they rose even higher as the tactical droid leveled a weapon at her. She hoped she had not made a terrible mistake. The droid had a strange way of talking, definitely abnormal for a standard machine of its kind as far as the politician was aware.

"I am Siria Zale, my friend." She tried to remain cool and collected. But a few years ago she had been shot and nearly killed. Siria felt her heart beating faster in her chest but she willed her face not not betray an ounce of her fear. She stared at the droid's trio of photoreceptors watching her.

Realizing she had not answered the second part of the droid's question she cleared her throat and continued. "I am here to get the control core up and running again. I am in need of bodyguards." It was somewhat ironic given the current situation. "What is your name?"

@Narzen

 

[Captain Ahab]

Ahab looked at the female, studying her for a moment, then laughed.

"Ahahaha!" He chortled as he holstered his peacemaker away. "Boys, keep thy sensors and guns trained on this one, this fair thing. She be harmless at the moment, but I trust not her words alone"

Behind him, the two B1 droids nodded and kept their weapons aimed at her, even if they didn't understand why. She looked harmless enough after all.

Ahab placed a metal hand over where his central processor was located, similar to where the human heart would've been.

"I be Captain Ahab, corsair of the stars and seeker of treasure and riches. Perhaps you have heard of the Poggle's Revenge? Ah, tis not matter, for we be here for members of a crew, and technological treasures of old. Which indeed places us at odds, fair lady, for the droids inside will serve as a fine crew, and the guns fine treasure. Why should we let ye live, save to tell our deeds? We could ransom thee, but an ex-senator has little clout and thus little pay for scourges like we. I doubt we'd fetch enough credits for such risks"

Ahab raised his hand and waggled a finger. "Oh yes, I know ye previous position, civil worker of old. Thy name still comes up when research of this world is done. So tell me, lady of this world, why should I let thy presence along our merry band and let ye live?"

@Darasuum

 

[Siria Zale]

The woman kept her hands in the air as long as their weapons remained on her. She did not like being at the end of a weapon and really hoped none of the droids malfunctioned or were the machine equivalent of trigger happy. All the same Siria managed to keep her composure.

Hearing what the droid said and asked of her, Siria only had a few moments to think. Poggle certainly rang a bell but not his so-called revenge. But that was not to say it was not noteworthy. The woman had been in a coma for years so she could always play that card. The super tactical droid seemed to recognize her afterall.

"Most astute in your observations Captain Ahab. I came here to not just salvage what was left here but to get it back up and running again. I want production to return to full operational status if possible. Allow me to propose a deal where instead of using me as bargaining chip for a small short-lived reward, you and I go into business together. Tirahnn has been ruled by a mercantile oligarchy for most of its history and our people are no stranger to business. However the merchant princes have run unchecked. It will take an army to make them even listen. I was going to make one but I am not a soldier nor a general. Do you feel like you and your crew would be interested in working for me?"


@Narzen

 

[Captain Ahab]

Ahab looked surprised, or at least as surprised as a droid could look. His head went back slightly and turned over giving the woman a look that spoke 'interested'. Internally, he was running millions upon millions of calcuations. Would this plan work? Was it possible that this woman would backstab him? If so, could he be ready for it?

But most important of all, could this be profitable for the Collicoid Nest, where his true loyalties lied, in the long run?

"Hahaha!" Ahab finally laughed. "I like thy thinkings Lady Zale. These mercantile princes make fine targets, and getting you a position of power amongst them would grant us lowly droids of fortune a port of trade and security, not to mention resources for me ship."

At these words, the droids lowered their guns and nodded.

"Very well then Lady Zale, I believe we have a concord for now." Ahab stated as he held a hand out to the woman. "If thou can get tis junk a rolling, then we will serve thee. For guts glory and glamourous credits untold. A privateer for ye and ye a sponsor fer us. Let us shake and be bonded by these words."

Just as this occurred, cabin boy beeped an alert. Behind them, a large hole in the door fell inwards with a loud clang and a echoeing boom inside.

"Ah! Fine timing! Our talks be concluded, our adventure be started. Lift the cabin boy mates, and bring him in!"

The two battle droids nodded and together, picked up and heaved the small repair droid through the hole and set him down. The two buzz droids scurried back to Ahab and rested on either his shoulders. Gesturing forward, Ahab allowed Zale to go in first, with the battle droids leading the way.

@Darasuum

 

[Siria Zale]

Siria wondered if a glitch had occurred in Captain Ahab's programing but his hesitation was brief. The robotic laughter was funny in its own way but the politician dared to not laugh. Instead she smiled professionally and waited for the droids to lower their weapons before she dropped her hands. "Precisely"

The fair skinned near-human gave a nod of her head and she approached the super tactical droid for a hand shake. Captani Ahab's manipulator arms however were cold and hard to the touch in contrast to the warm, round and soft grip of an organic hand. It did not even feel like a cybernetic. It was a full blown droid arm and the height of the droid forced Siria to incline her head when speaking to him. The pirate was basically a full head taller than the former planetary representative but she still held her head high.

Staring ahead into the new opening she waited a moment and pulled out a flashlight from her belt and clicked it on. The B1 battle droids led the way as a retinue but Siria remained alert in the halls of the abandoned base. "Let's find the generator first. We can take a lift down to the control core after that if it's still working." control cores were known to have the ability to take off and be able to travel between star systems under their own power. The surface base this particular one was connected to likely had its own power source in the even the two became disconnected.

The group of droid privateers and lone human explorer, would eventually descend into the generator room. It appeared there was a large opening in one side of the wall from natural collapse or perhaps a warhead had struck it in the past. Whatever the case, this had allowed a gigantict three eyed toad-like creature to inhabit the relatively safe and isolated space.

The oggdo noticed them quickly and bounded towards them. The thing was massive and it shook the ground under Siria's feet. Her own fear threatened to paralyze her but instead she scrambled for her blaster. With a quick draw and no small amount of luck her Westar found its way to her hands and she pulled the trigger twice. The first went wide but the second heavy blaster bolt struck a glancing blow in the central eye of the oggdo making it instantly halt in its tracks. The dangerous amphibian wailed in pain and frustration. It turned towards the opening in the wall and jump away, bounding through the hole and outside.

Siria's hands held the blaster out with a tight white knuckled grip. The muzzle smoked and the dallorian alloy had not even heated up from the two bolts. Thankfully none of the droids had been damaged by the wild animal.


@Narzen

Spoiler: Dice

Rolled for complication
59/100 success

 

[Captain Ahab]

"Excellent shot" Ahab commented once the beast had left. "Tis a pity my retinue could not be as accurate as thy own arms"

The two battle droids sheepishly wilted under Ahab's words, and focused on the generator room. Slowly they spanned out and made sure the room was indeed empty of any other potentially harmful wildlife. Once he was satisfied, wiuth their work, Ahab turned to his cabin boy.

"Tis thee time me lad." Was all the captain had to say. Beeping in acknowledgement, the small treadmill repair droid pulled itself forward to one of the inactive and frankly decrepit generators. It was obvious these things had not been working for a long time, and it would take some handiwork to get one of them running again.

OOC: Dice roll: 39/100
Success with complication

Dutifully, the small droid began to work with the skill a droid could only provide. Whirring, burning and hissing could be heard as the thing removed panels, reattached wires, and rewelded pieces of metal that had rusted to uselessness. It took some time, and even at one point Ahab was about to order Buzz droids to help out in any way they could, despite not being programmed for such tasks.

Eventually, the generator came to life. Some of the less degraded lights flickered on, and the sound of electricity filled the air.

"Aha! That is a good lad!" Ahab chortled again, his deep voice resonating in the room. Cabin Boy beeped happily, retracting himself from the generator.

However, a few moments later, a klaxon sounded off in the distance. The two battle droids jumped in fright and pointed their guns down the hallways, looking for any approaching threats as Cabin Boy rolled back behind Ahab's legs.

"Hmmm..." Ahab pondered aloud. As if a sign of worry, the tactical droid pulled out his peacemaker. "It seems that restoring power caused a power spike, and triggered a security protocol somewhere else. My lady, we may be facing a few threats from golden ages past. Possibly turrets, or battle droids even. Alas, I'd hate to have to destroy members of my future crew. But if tis be done, then tis be done. And since thy skills with a weapon are assured, I believe we are capable of handling whatever may be thrown our way."

@Darasuum

 

[Siria Zale]

Siria was a bit shaken at having just faced down a huge animal that could have flattened an airspeeder or probably even eaten one whole. She thought she had fully recovered from the trauma she experienced on Mon Cala. But there were still some things she would need to accept and explore inside herself.

"Thank you."

The former senator of Tirahnn had time for introspective thought as the treadmill droid went about working on the generator. Eventually power was restored but with a slight hiccup. The woman looked at the super tactical droid and listened intently. It sounded like a serious situation.

Siria was not a soldier, not a pirate or mercenary. She was the daughter of an aristocrat. The politician hardly considered herself a warrior. The shot against the giant toad had been lucky in her opinion. But Siria kept such thoughts to herself. "I'll switch to stun" At least that way they had a chance at retaining some droids for later reprograming. It could help expedite getting things back online in the long run too. More hands means less work.

Siria waited with the privateers as the security response drew near. She half expected to see super battle droids or maybe droidekas coming through the halls. The industrial grade turbolift she had expected to take down to the control core was still motionless.

The reaction force would suddenly make its appearance from the same hole the oggdo had fled out of. Four D1 series aerial battle droids glided into the chamber and began firing right away. Red blaster bolts hit the ground at Siria's feet and she ran for cover.

A bright blue circle shot from Siria's westar and completely missed the thin droid and dispersed on impact against the wall beyond it. The second shot was more accurate and dropped one of the droids. However it would cost the woman as a blaster bolt graced her left shoulder. It was a glancing blow that left a burn mark on her half-cape armor. It stung sharply and made the woman's third shot miss a target as well. Siria swore in pain. She hoped what Ahab said earlier was not true and the other droids were a more accurate than she was. They were literally built for this sort of thing afterall.

Spoiler: Dice

neutralize droids w/out destroying them
43/100 barely success

@Narzen

 

[Gram Van Alasdaire]

"What the Kriff."

Gram turned on his heels and nearly flattened himself against the underbrush as his ears picked up the distinct twang of blaster fire in the distance. His hunting kit was now in a complete state of disarray.

His recovery from his wounds had taken significantly longer than original estimations. He was still trying to figure out how to properly contort his mechanical appendages in ways that made sense when comparing them to their biological counterparts. Often he found his left arm moved too fast, or struck too hard. His legs worked fine, he was nimble and agile. But they had a weird quirk, often accelerating too fast for his torso to keep up.

He couldn't ignore the blaster fire. Scavengers looking to salvage often came to this place, rarely prepared to deal with the vicious wildlife. Kicking into a sprint, Gram would start sliding down his perch on a small hillside, towards the sound of fighting. Emerging from the underbrush, Gram leveled his rifle - at nothing.

Stepping forward cautiously, the Vahla peered around softly, wondering where the sounds had been coming from - until he fell into a crevice and started tumbling into the caverns below.

His answer was right in front of him.

A woman and a droid, in combat with other droids.

Fascinating, if it wasn't for the fact he felt like he had just been overrun by a tram car. He tried to get to his feet but only managed a pitiful wheeze, pulling his pistol from his belt and desperately trying to steady it.

@Darasuum @Narzen

 

[Captain Ahab]

"Unless thy aim is at thee, stun is not neccessary" Ahab commented. "Such crew mates are replaceable, unlike thy fleshy body. Still, if thy deems it necessary, then I will not stop thee."

Ahab flashed his own weapon before setting it to stun, for the ex-senator's sake. He was working for her at the moment, and as far as he could calculate, there was no harm in stunning the enemy. He signaled his others to do the same as everyone took their positions.

"Get ye to a vantage point, and prepare for me signal" Ahab ordered his buzz droids. Beeping in confirment, they jumped off and began scrambling up the walls to the ceiling.

When the enemy droids entered and attacked, Ahab was ready for them. With a signal to his two B1's, he began to fire, hoping to clip them before they caused too much damage. After all, a stray shot could destroy the generator.

Roll for to disable droids: 11/100

Unfortunately for everyone, Ahab's confidence in his own crew proved to be more braggart than actual knowledge. The droid's shots went high, and seemed to become the initial targets for the D1s. Within moments, GreenHorn and BlueBlood went down like flies, blaster shots hitting their chests.

"Alas! My crew! Ye shall be avenged!" Ahab lamented as he continued to open fire at the enemy while moving for cover. "Rats! Your time is now!"

Buzz droid attack roll: 60/100

The signal recieved, the buzz droids dropped from the ceiling and landed on two separate D1s. Ever the strategist, Ahab watched as the two 'rats' began to slice and saw their way through droid chassis and wire alike. These two would definately not be repaired.

Only one droid remained, and seemed momentarily distracted as its compatriots were sawed apart before it. Ahab stood behind the generator, cautiously peeking around to see if he could get another shot.

Meanwhile, cabin boy beeped wildly, unheeded by anyone. One of his arms was going up and down violently, trying to get anyone's attention towards the newcomer.

@Aurius @Darasuum

 

[Siria Zale]

Siria would shrug and change the weapon to stun all the same. She would prefer to not be in the habit of ending lives, even if they were synthetic ones. The heavy blaster pistol would be able to take out most battle droid in a single shot but the trick was keeping her cool and remembering her training amidst the chaos of the moment. She also did not want to kill anyone with the slim chance she hit a friendly target by accident. Siria was using caution for her own piece of mind just as much as the practicality of saving droid parts.

She was surprised to still see two of the B1 droids get dropped. Siria's allies were dropped just like that. She had droid bodyguards on Mon Cala and they too had been the first too go. Her heart rate was beating rapidly and she was doing her best to control her breathing.

Leaning out of cover with her elegant Westar-37 at the ready, she aimed at the last remaining D1 droid and fired a single shot. The circle flew through the air and collided the hostile machine's center mass. Its joints seized up and its surprisingly robust frame clattered to the ground heavily.

The ex-senator finally noticed Cabin Boy and what he was pointing at. The treadwell model droid drew the woman's attention. With two of the B1 battle droids disabled. Greenhorn and Blueblood had at least been better than nothing as far as bodyguards went and without them she was one step closer to needing to defend herself. She already had been thus far and now adrenaline was pupping through her veins. Siria kept the blaster raised and held in the cyborg's direction. He was carrying a weapon and possibly had the intention of using it. "Captain!" She yelled to make sure the tactical droid had been made aware.

@Aurius @Narzen

Spoiler: Dice

Siria finishes last D1 droid
55/100 success

 

[Gram Van Alasdaire]

Gram's heart raced as he found himself suddenly confronted by the woman and the droids. His eyes darted around, assessing the situation in a split second. The woman was experiencing heightened emotions, her mind felt fuzzy and unclear - her intent uncertain.

"Whoa now, hold your blasters," Gram called out, his voice carrying a smooth cadence.

He hoped to defuse the tension with some light humour. Nonetheless, he felt into the back of his mind’s reservoir to touch on the Force, steeling himself in the circumstance they had ill-intent. His main focus would be the woman’s blaster - he doubted the droid would consider him an immediate danger.

Their crew had taken several hits, and nasty ones at that. Those that remained were in no condition to truly face him, or any other danger this cavern held. The probability they were scavengers, however, was fading in his mind rapidly. These naval references were beginning to make him suspicious.

If it turns out these folk are Pirates, and those droids were the Security, I may be in a lot of trouble right now…

With a disarming grin, Gram slowly lowered his hands, showcasing his willingness to cooperate. His mechanical appendages moved with a fluid grace that belied his recent struggles as he slowly rose to his feet, abandoning his DL-44 and A180 to the cave floor.

"Apologies for the abrupt entrance," he continued, keeping his tone light and non-threatening.

His eyes flickered toward Ahab, the tactical droid who seemed to hold a position of authority. "Captain, is it?" he addressed the droid respectfully. "I don't mean any harm. Heard blaster fire, wanted to make sure you hadn’t become an afternoon snack."

@Narzen @Darasuum

 

[Captain Ahab]

At the ex-politician's shout, Ahab spun around with an agility that his large clunky appearance belied. With peacemaker still in hand, Ahab aimed the weapon at the intruder. While the man didn't appear threatening at the moment, Ahab was a tactical droid, and knew that everyone could be dangerous at any given moment.

"Keep ye hands high, and make no swift moves..." Ahab ordered, his deep vocabulator resonating with the ground. However, once the man dropped his weapons, Ahab eased up slightly, as much as a droid could be at ease.

"I be Captain Ahab, and while I am not armed with me crew anymore, I see ye know better than to mess with me. Sadly, we may not have time for thy antics or barterings stranger. We be hard pressed, and more droids of this place may be enroute once the initial guards do not report correctly. If ye wish to convince us of reasons to let thy body continue breathing, move ye self along before us, and stay before me, lest ye find an early grave."

Ahab glanced at Siria. "We need to move quickly, less more droids investigate this area. Grab his guns, until we know we can trust he."

The small treaded droid beeped sadly as he tried to pull the two defeated battle droids together in an effort to begin repairing them.

"Leave them cabin boy!" Ahab ordered rather forcefully. "Me crew can be fixed and retrieved later. What cannot be fixed nor regained is time. Rats! Get thy bodies to me, and let us move with haste."

Hearing the command, the two buzz droids abandoned their now completely destroyed targets and scurried over. One took itself to Cabin Boy and made itself comfortable amongst its arms, and the other crawled up Ahab's body and rested on his shoulder.

Shaking his pistol, Ahab gestured towards a corridor for the stranger to lead forward into. "My fair lady, ask him any questions ye see fit, and if ye say so, thy command will issue a quick death"

@Aurius @Darasuum