Star Wars - DRK-1X and its Mistress

[sblock=OOC]Ding! Ding! You are correct, the voice X heard was that of Captain Tarkin.

The three death stars were at the outermost point of the complex, so the damage directly to them is minimal. However, indirectly, by taking out the central command center and most of the support structure, it has made getting back to work on them to take quite some time. Another 20 years perhaps....

Many of the largest ships suffered mostly external damage, only the ones that were docked to the complex at the time were destroyed or at least severely crippled. I would hazard to say about 40% are lost or will be scrapped.

Cloaking devices do exist, but they are Experimental. A lot of experimental stuff in this game, eh? However, they are not in mass production and any cloaking system would require massive amounts of power to... power. The galaxy at large would not hear of them until about 30 years from now when Grand Admiral Thrawn returns to the galaxy.

In order for such a ship, should it exist, to follow the Ari, it would have to know the coordinates that Derek set, which would mean either a tracking device on the ship or a connection to the navicomputer that Derek is using. Either of these, one of the two of you would probably detect, unless they had better tech than you. But this is not possible, is it? [/sblock]

The astromech reluctantly agrees to DRK-1Xs compromise, allowing the probot to erase its memory until just prior to meeting it. It soon floats into space, a tiny object in the midst of all the debris.

Hyperspace brings welcome respite from the chaos of what had just happened, with the swirling blue of blurred stars and the clouds of hypermatter that create a calming effect in most organics. Droids know it for what it is however. A shortcut between two points.

Dofina breathes deep the stale recycled air of the ship, but she does so as if breathing the open air of a Naboo field for the first time in her life. DRK-1X does what it can to assist the Nemoidian woman in being comfortable, removing the flight suit and helping to feed her and wash the smell of the prison she had been in away from her. In doing so, the droid notices even more wounds on her than before. Most of them have become scars or slow healing bruises, but nonetheless, they are still there. A few of them are still tender, as evidenced by her wincing from them.

After her arduous task of attempting to get cleaned up, the exhausted Nemoidian woman, once a proud noble, fell asleep. Taking their opportunity, the two droids silently converse over the course of the previous few days, collecting and correllating data that would help them each determine whether or not better and more efficient solutions could have been found.

For the trip out of the cluster, Dofina sleeps most of the time. On the way towards the hidden cargo pod, she sleeps less, but doesn't say much except to ask for food or drink. It isn't until they trio is a day out from the pod that she starts to come around to herself.

Dofina is visibly more recovered from her injuries, both physical and mental, and she seems sharper than before. "X, where is it that we are going?"

[sblock=OOC]Heh. Well Captain Tarkin had best get used to having huge WMDs blowing up around him cause this aint the last time it'll happen to him.

It'd be fun to be able to follow the aftermath of 1X's little stunt; seeing Vader and Sidious' reaction, seeing them trying to pick up the pieces of their Death Start construction project, seeing them trying to reassemble their fleet, all while wondering who did this and why. Hopefully 1X didn't leave any clues behind that would reveal its involvement or any reason for the empire to believe that Dofina wasn't in her cell when that section blew up.

So, how did you think 1X's mission would unfold originally?[/sblock]Seeing that it's Mistress is awake, the diminutive probe droid ends its quiet meditation, retrieves the medkit from a storage compartment and floats over to the nemoidian woman. "Report: We are currently en route to a remote and largely unremarkable spot of interstellar space along the outer fringes of the galaxy, roughly halfway between Dubrillion and Zonama Sekot. Before departing Dantooine I collected some of the equipment and resources of the abandoned research facility there and transported them in a cargo pod to this empty region for later retrieval. It contains 20 full bacta tanks, 5 medical droids, a case of the research lab's biological samples and all of the facility's logs and research data. Inquiry: How are you feeling today Mistress?"

[sblock=OOC]Yeah, he'll be getting a promotion shortly, but one he will likely regret in a couple of decades....

if X and/or Dofina determines that it becomes necessary to track the rebuilding after X's escapades, there will probably be bits and pieces of news out there in the galaxy to pick up. We'll just have to see.

As far as how I imagined it would go, well, that changed on a regular basis. Originally, I figured that X would have found a way to infiltrate itself and Derek into the complex along with Four and essentially fly out with Dofina. A total stealth mission with no one the wiser. However, as time went on, certain interactions and the activities of other factions caused changes to that plan and it ended up occuring as it did, with a massive fireball at the end.

Speaking of, after figuring in time and story plots accomplished, 1500xp.[/sblock]

Dofina's brow furrows as she considers your report. "I'm in a lot better condition, in no small thanks to you. You are certain you got all the samples? I certainly hope so. We don't need any more of them getting out. We'll have to destroy them as soon as we get a chance. Last thing we need is the Empire getting a hold of them. If they haven't already. Though..." She pauses, curling her lip and chewing it a bit as she thinks. "Did Four ever mention anything to you about her involvement in all this. Why she chose to help you?"

[sblock=OOC]So did I end up making the rescue mission way more complicated than it needed to be?

Thanks for the xp. I still need over 2k to level though. I guess I'll need to blow up a small planet next time to get that much...

Hm. With that in mind I wonder if I should have tried escaping with one of the Death Stars in tow... [/sblock]DRK-1X, holding the medkit in its deployed manipulator arms, pauses next to its Mistress seated in her sleeping bunk. Since the nemoidian woman seemed more intent on conversing than receiving medical treatment, the probot dutifully answers her questions. In truth 1X was pleased to see Dofina in good spirits and seemingly intent on receiving the droid's reports. It had accumulated a fair amount of data and questions over the past few weeks and had few opportunities to speak with its Mistress about them. As a probot, DRK-1X's primary function was to uncover information and report it to its Mistress. Doing so brought the droid a certain code-affirming pleasure that organics might equate with joy or perhaps even ecstasy.

From the pilot's chair, with his back to the pair, Derek silently listens to the exchange with interest and perhaps even a measure of envy.

shadowbloodmoon said:

"You are certain you got all the samples?

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"Report: I accessed the facilities' mainframe to direct the medical droids to prepare the samples case. I then had them collect and destroy all other remaining biological and organic matter throughout the complex, including the surviving rancors who'd gotten loose. I was quite thorough in my efforts. If there are any other samples in existence then I am unaware of them. There is however the matter of the facility's research data. Aside from the copy contained in the transport pod, there remains another copy recorded in a remote data recorder located elsewhere on Dantooine. I erased all of the original data in the mainframe before departing."

shadowbloodmoon said:

"I certainly hope so. We don't need any more of them getting out."

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"Report: I noted the existence of a creature or force within one of the labs that I could not positively locate or identify, much like the one we sensed in our last moments aboard the imperial station. I remain unaware what became of it following my departure from Dantooine however. Inquiry: How many of these creatures were developed and can they reproduce in some fashion?"

shadowbloodmoon said:

"We'll have to destroy them as soon as we get a chance. Last thing we need is the Empire getting ahold of them. If they haven't already. Though..."

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"Report: There was no evidence that the imperial forces explored the research facility following your abduction Mistress. Inquiry: Are you aware of how such a creature happened came to be aboard the imperial station? How can they be destroyed? Would the station's destruction have been sufficient?"

shadowbloodmoon said:

She pauses, curling her lip and chewing it a bit as she thinks. "Did Four ever mention anything to you about her involvement in all this. Why she chose to help you?"

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"Report: Four told me during her interrogation that she, along with her allies aboard the monitoring asteroid outside the cluster, belonged to an unaffiliated faction at odds with the current imperial regime. Apparently they'd once been allied with the Separatists but had split from that group to avoid a direct confrontation with the Republic. Her faction was aware however of a Sith Lord called Sidious supposedly helping the Separatists. Simultaneously however he appeared to have had plans to help safeguard the fledgling Empire after its creation by having some massive weapon system secretly built inside the cluster. Four's faction didn't know anything more about it, that she admitted to me at least, beside the fact that it had been under construction for several years.

Four seemed willing to help me infiltrate the cluster, I believed at the time, so that she could gather further intelligence on the empire's secret construction plans. Once there however it became clear to me that she had other goals in mind, in addition to your rescue it seemed. The empire had many scientists beside yourself held within the facility. Conjecture: After we separated following our covert infiltration of the cluster Four appeared to focus her efforts largely on trying to free the enslaved scientists and coordinate their escape off of the station. Report: A security report I intercepted indicated that the imperial forces had been tipped off about the escape attempt and they responded with force. Four was mortally injured during a resulting firefight. Further security reports indicated that the insurgents were eventually cornered in various shuttle bays by imperial forces. Conjecture: The datastick Four entrusted to me contains, I believe, the names and status of the various captives she'd been attempting to help."

[sblock=OOC]Nah, we could have made it even more complicated

There is still more Xp along the way, but there are some loose ends that need to be tied up first. In fact they should be leaving Tatooine very shortly... or in your case, they already have.

I would be very curious to know how X would have thought to escape with an uncompleted Death Star. And then to think what you would do with it if it worked. Hmm....[/sblock]

Dofina listens intently, visibly cataloging the information you feed to her in the back of her mind. "We will have to return to Dantooine at some point soon to retrieve the data before someone else gets to it. Then we'll have to destroy it. All of it."

The Nemoidian woman nods as you question her about the strange creatures. "They are Sithspawn, to be sure. Some sort of hyperspatial creature, existing on two planes at once. We were able to develop, with help, nanocells that forced them to respond to certain code signals. As far as I knew, only one successful subject was grown. The rest died. Mostly from having to be put down." Dofina ponders the thought of them reproducing, an odd curl appearing in her brow. "We were told that it was impossible for them to breed, as they were grown from altered clone tissue. Though, I suspect that nature would have eventually taken its course. Certainly not in this short amount of time though."

"If any escaped the facility, they would be a hazard to sentients without the control transponders. You didn't happen to find one of those before you left, did you? Though I suspect that if the one you describe is the same one that we just met, we shouldn't have to worry about it. A fusion explosion of that nature should definitely have been sufficient to destroy it. I hope. Any large amount of energy poured into their spatial location disrupts their connection to our existence. A small blaster is of no use, but heavy cannons perhaps... Otherwise, they would be far more deadly than we had originally thought."

"When we get a chance, I should like to go over Four's notes. Though, there is obviously more to it than Four, or I for that matter, was at first willing to let on. Most of those scientists on board were involved in one project or another for this Sidious person. I imagine after the war, he wanted them to be in a central location. Like me."

"I'm guessing here, but I would think that he either intended for all of us to eventually die or be killed, but not until he got something from us. I still fail to see just what it was though, he already had access to all of our research files."

"Four was only doing what I told her too. Though, as is typical, she did it her way. I suppose I'm to blame for that. Four is my daughter."

[sblock=OOC]As to how 1X could have escaped with a Death Star, well, it did have those two nifty magnetic clamps. Given time I'm certain I could have worked something out.

Ooh! Ooh! 1X could have copied its code into the Death Star's computer core, effectively creating the BIGGEST BADA$$ PROBOT EVAR: DS-1X!!! The new über-droid could have then just flown off on its own! Huzzah! [/sblock]

shadowbloodmoon said:

"If any escaped the facility, they would be a hazard to sentients without the control transponders. You didn't happen to find one of those before you left, did you?

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"Report: I wasn't looking for such a device at the time; there was no mention of this creature or the device in the research data I processed. Four did however recover a small 1º medical micro-processor unit seemingly designed for installation into a Dark Eye series probe droid. I currently have it integrated into my neural network. When activated it identified itself as MSR-X. I have been using it successfully to treat your injuries over the past few days. With it I also managed, in part, to diagnose Four's particular condition."

shadowbloodmoon said:

Though I suspect that if the one you describe is the same one that we just met, we shouldn't have to worry about it. A fusion explosion of that nature should definitely have been sufficient to destroy it. I hope. Any large amount of energy poured into their spatial location disrupts their connection to our existence. A small blaster is of no use, but heavy cannons perhaps... Otherwise, they would be far more deadly than we had originally thought."

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"Expression of confusion: I yet remain unclear how such a creature came to be in the empire's construction facility within the cluster. Conjecture: If it was the same creature that I detected on Dantooine then the only explanation that makes sense is that it somehow followed me undetected through multiple planetary and intra-galactic trips to the station. Considering that I have been traveling quickly and evasively through confined areas and within this small vessel it is a possibility that seems difficult to fathom."

shadowbloodmoon said:

"When we get a chance, I should like to go over Four's notes. Though, there is obviously more to it than Four, or I for that matter, was at first willing to let on.

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"Report: We have the time now if you wish Mistress. Our ETA is over 20 hours. Once we have recovered the transport pod we will still have another multi-day hyperspace trip ahead of us to reach any particular destination of significance. Report: Also, you should be made aware that I had the opportunity to process Four's personal journals during her interrogation. I can speak knowledgeably about her recent activities, theories and the various safe-houses she had previously arranged around the galaxy; at least those she was willing to record."

shadowbloodmoon said:

"Four was only doing what I told her too. Though, as is typical, she did it her way. I suppose I'm to blame for that. Four is my daughter."

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"Statement of sympathy: Please accept my condolences for your personal loss Mistress. Report: I had no idea that was the case. Four's cybernetic implants along with her nanobot infestation were successful in masking her true identity even on a genetic level. I did not even realize she was nemoidian until after she'd died. Conjecture: I believe it was her intention to try rescuing you along with the other scientists aboard the construction facility."

[sblock]You do realise I am going to be having GM Nightmares about three giant DRK-1X copies running loose in the galaxy.... Thanks [/sblock]

Mistress Dofina helps herself to some more rations as the two of you converse.

"Hmm.... Odd that you didn't find the records for them. Let alone the device. Unless... It is possible that both had been removed before you arrived."

Mention of the MSR-X module earns you a perplexed look from the Nemoidian woman. "That? You have it installed in you?" She shakes her green head. "That was designed for assisting us in our research, but we found that it had certain... faults. It refused to help us perform our experiments. Did you ever hear of a droid with a conscience?"

"I'm going to hazard a guess as to how one of those got on board the complex, though I suspect it has a tie with the reason you couldn't find any records of them before you left. I imagine that when they took me, they took the wrong specimen. Even if they did get the control transponder, it won't respond to it, at least not once it is awakened fully. I highly doubt the other one followed you. If anything, it is still in the facility on Dantooine, waiting for a command or," a pause, "killing anyone else who decides to explore it."

"Let me get some things in order, then I definitely want to look those records over. I suspect that Four didn't put half of what she knew in there, but there will be clues as to how to find out where she did record that stuff."

The woman, now known to have once been a mother to another like her, sighs. "Perhaps it was my own fault that she was in that situation. What kind of mother was I when I allowed her to become a part of my experiments? I mean I... nevermind. It makes no difference now. She knew what she was getting in to. There's no point in going back and questioning things I can not change. What I have to do now is try to get somewhere that I can re-establish my holdings. I don't suppose you have any idea what happened to Torrba? Or even if I should still trust him?"

The diminutive probe droid continues to float unmoving at arms length from its seated Mistress. It watches the nemoidian woman without a hint of emotion in its three unblinking optic sensors or cheap, genderless vocabulator unit.

shadowbloodmoon said:

"Hmm.... Odd that you didn't find the records for them. Let alone the device. Unless... It is possible that both had been removed before you arrived."

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"Report: I only began my search of the facility nearly twenty hours after your abduction due to some critical self-repairs that I was forced to undertake. Conjecture: It is possible that someone entered the facility during the interim and removed both the creature and device and then erased all pertinent research data from facility's mainframe. Report: If that is the case then they would also have had to modify the facility's security logs to hide their activities, as I did not find any data to support such an intrusion. I did find it odd that the imperial forces did not seem interested in exploring the facility following your abduction though."

shadowbloodmoon said:

"It refused to help us perform our experiments. Did you ever hear of a droid with a conscience?"

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"Report: Of course. Most droids are programmed with ethical protocols to help guide their conduct; especially in regards to preventing harm to sentient organics. Class 3 droids naturally have the most sophisticated ethical programming, except perhaps for class 1 medical droids. Even we class 4 droids, who often lack life preservation protocols, have ethical programming that help guide us in matters of loyalty to our masters and personal honor in regards to fulfilling our duties. We also do not usually inflict harm upon anyone unless it is unavoidable or we are instructed to do so explicitly or by implication.

An artificial intelligence without any ethical programming is, some argue, not truly sentient. The primary difference between the conscientious droids and organics is that droids cannot violate their personal ethics."

shadowbloodmoon said:

"I highly doubt the other one followed you. If anything, it is still in the facility on Dantooine, waiting for a command or, killing anyone else who decides to explore it."

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"Report: I reversed the facility's ventilation system to suffocate the three surviving rancors that were loose. I then powered down the facility's environmental systems before my departure. I also had the medical droids dispose of all organic matter in the facility. Inquiry: Would the lack of air and sustenance over the past several weeks have killed the creature?

Conjecture: This may be of some relevance Mistress. Report: During my preliminary search of Dantooine for a suitable place to hide the Ari's Sorrow I discovered an abandoned research complex nine and a half kilometers north by northwest of your drop-point. In it I discovered evidence of violence as well as a recording by one Deren Hulat, a Chandrillan scientist. He said that three individuals; Phy'ryx, Goldus and his assistant Darla were dead. He went on to describe that during their research they'd discovered some creatures that they'd believed to have left the galaxy long ago but had now returned and that had to be kept below the surface if at all possible. His previous log entries reported odd occurrence around the facility which he described as a 'haunting'. The most recent log entry dated to three months before our arrival. Inquiry: Does this have something to do with the development of the creatures in the second research facility?"

shadowbloodmoon said:

"What I have to do now is try to get somewhere that I can re-establish my holdings. I don't suppose you have any idea what happened to Torrba? Or even if I should still trust him?"

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"Report: During my interrogation of your daughter Four said that she had sent Torrba to Tatooine to be with his cousin following the seizure of his residence on Nar Shaada. She then intentionally did not follow up on his progress to avoid inadvertently revealing his location to Kellon for fear that he'd sent his people after the hutt.

As to whether you can trust him, while you were drugged in his audience chamber he spoke at length with Ventress during which he addressed her fondly as his 'apprentice'. Conjecture: Since you and Ventress were mortal enemies I'd imagine that might cast a critical light on your future relationship with the hutt."

DRK-1X pauses momentarily to converse briefly with its HRD counterpart via their comlinks. Together they discuss how to proceed tactfully with a subject that both droids find troubling. Derek finally convinces the probot to proceed by reminding the droid that if it had the courage necessary to overcome all the obstacles to rescue Dofina, that it certainly had the courage to breech this very important topic with their Mistress. What the human replica droid doesn't mention to the probot is the relief it feels in not having to do so itself.

"Statement of opinion: Mistress, it occurs to me that attempting to re-establish your holdings may not be the best course of action to pursue at this time. Statement of fact: The Separatists have lost the Clone Wars. Your holdings on Taris and Cato Neimoidia and those of your former ally Torrba on Nar Shaada have been forcibly seized by the new empire regime. Each time we've attempted to return to one of your former holdings we've found the empire's forces there waiting for us. The empire has also displayed a willingness to expend extensive resources in their attempts to capture you.

Conjecture: I believe it worth mentioning that it was Four's opinion that it was most likely one of only three people who she entrusted with the knowledge that you were heading to Dantooine that in turn betrayed your destination to the empire. It remains quite possible that Torrba's location on Dantooine has similarly been communicated to the empire and that, if they haven't confronted him already, that they remain poised to capture you should head there in search of the hutt.

Statement of intent: The extreme measures I took to enable our escape from the cluster were enacted in the hopes that the empire would have no reason to believe you hadn't died in the construction facility's destruction. Statement of opinion: It would be a shame to relieve them of that belief at this time.

Suggestion: It is my belief Mistress, that it may be in your best interest to focus on acquiring altogether new holdings while continuing to obfuscate your continued existence from the empire by avoiding your old contacts. To that end I have secured some of the resources of the Dantooine research facility, which I can conservatively estimate to be worth over two million credits, for your future use. Statement of loyalty: I defer, as always however, to your better judgement Mistress."[sblock]Please Mistress, don't make me bitch slap you!

You know, I'm fighting the nearly overwhelming urge to drop this broad on Endor where she can safely cuddle up with a bunch of teddy bears for the next two decades without much risk. [/sblock]

"Hmm... that is puzzling. Unless they already had what they wanted. I can't imagine them leaving it intact however. Odd. They had to have someone on the inside. Someone who knew what they were looking for."

"That was a rhetorical question, X. I know you are all programmed with that. I'm sure even you have questioned your own programming though."

"We never tested the beings in a vacuum. We weren't even sure that they needed to breathe. Let alone have a need to eat. At least not what we considered normal sustenance. While I'm curious to know, at this point, I'm not to eager to go found out. Yet."

Mistress Dofina makes a face that suggests she is attempting to remember something when you mention the other facility. "I don't recall allowing any of the specimens outside of the facility. I don't see how they would have gotten into that other one, especially so far away. The description of the attacks fit the bill though. I'm not familiar with Deren Hulat, but I've heard of Goldus. I don't suppose you found Hulat with his journal entry?"

The woman listens to your reasoning behind why she shouldn't enter into galactic limelight just yet, nodding in some places, frowning at others. A very noticeable smile creeps to her lips when you mention the capital resources you have acquired. "Hide? You think I should hide? You know X, were you any other droid, I would have you dismantled for suggesting such a thing. You have a point though. I trusted Torrba for as far as I could throw him, but I think his relationship with Ventress was more a matter of business than anything else. Being a typical Hutt, he was more interested in his own matters than what the effects were on others, myself included."

"I imagine that any of my old contacts have already been...contacted by the Empire already. If they believe I am gone then, that would make it easier for me to move without their notice. I think now, we should start formulating a plan on how to go about erasing all trails that could lead back to you or me. Find all the data out there we can and eliminate it. If I'm going to hide, I need to disappear, vanish from the galaxy. The question is, where to begin?"

shadowbloodmoon said:

"Hmm... that is puzzling. Unless they already had what they wanted. I can't imagine them leaving it intact however. Odd. They had to have someone on the inside. Someone who knew what they were looking for."

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"Report: I did find a surviving nemoidian scientist in the facility during my explorations of one of the laboratories. He claimed you'd instructed him to stay behind and wait for me. He went on to say that he'd warned 'them' that the solution was unstable. He also mentioned that he'd been forced, against his better judgement, to 'remove the DNA locks'. The scientist then died suddenly of unidentified trauma. Conjecture: Since I had earlier detected some evidence of one of the creatures' presence in the laboratory I wonder if it may not have somehow injured him during our brief exchange."

shadowbloodmoon said:

"That was a rhetorical question, X. I know you are all programmed with that. I'm sure even you have questioned your own programming though."

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"Report: I have in fact been meditating upon my programming since it recently lead me to cause the death of countless thousands of sentient organics and droids in an effort to facilitate your escape."

shadowbloodmoon said:

"I'm not familiar with Deren Hulat, but I've heard of Goldus. I don't suppose you found Hulat with his journal entry?"

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"Report: No. I only found a blood stain upon a wall panel behind which I found his personal log. In it he stated his belief that he would inevitably die. He also requested that whoever found his log to send help for the 'rest that are hiding below'."

shadowbloodmoon said:

"Hide? You think I should hide? You know X, were you any other droid, I would have you dismantled for suggesting such a thing."

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The black spherical probot pitches forward 30º and sinks down a few dozen centimeters in a display of shame and submissiveness. "Statement of Apology: Please forgive me Mistress. As a Dark Eye series probot my code predisposes me to choose stealth whenever possible. It is my nature."

shadowbloodmoon said:

"I think now, we should start formulating a plan on how to go about erasing all trails that could lead back to you or me. Find all the data out there we can and eliminate it. If I'm going to hide, I need to disappear, vanish from the galaxy. The question is, where to begin?"

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DRK-1X rotates and rises back to its former position at arms length from its Mistress. "Conjecture: I worry Mistress, that since the empire most likely believes you to be dead that any attempt to slice their archives to eliminate information pertaining to you may inadvertently alert them to our activities. Statement of opinion: If we are to start with our greatest liabilities then I would propose that disposing of this vessel may be our priority. Report: We were in the Ari's Sorrow when we fled from the imperially occupied Cato Nemoidian. We subsequently landed, in the same vessel, in a settlement on Dantooine where we were being sought by imperial agents. Following your abduction this vessel ignored an imperial agent's comlink instruction to allow itself to be boarded and subsequently fled the vicinity of an independent space-station by jumping to lightspeed. Lastly, while you were space-walking to board this vessel in the cluster, we faintly detected some type of unidentified sensor-resistant vessel in our immediate proximity. It remains possible that we were being covertly observed by one of the empire's enemy factions.

During my mission to reach you in the cluster, I personally encountered some saboteurs at work and indirectly observed the activities of one or more such enemy factions seemingly operating within the cluster. I don't know who they represent, how many such individual factions there may have been or whether any of them represent a threat to you."