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Star Wars - A New Power Ch. 24 - Departure
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<blockquote data-quote="Angcuru" data-source="post: 2944133" data-attributes="member: 10948"><p><strong>Ch. 16 - Droids Think Too Damn Much</strong></p><p></p><p>R-LE-1 quickly locates the datapad under the pillow, flips it over in his hands to examine it curiously searching for any signs that it is more than it appears. Assuming it is a simple datapad, the patina stained droid reaches down to his hip, pulls out his flexible scomplink cable and plugs himself into the datapad to quickly review its file contents </p><p></p><p>Arlee's direct link into the datapd easily overcame the security system and verified its lack of extraordinary systems. After which he pulled out several audio files, each titled by a time and date, the most recent file titled at approximately four hours ago.</p><p></p><p>Having assimilated the pad's data, the patina stained droid disconnects itself once more, turns and walks out of the starboard bunkroom and heads back to the Deepscan's conn with the pad in hand. While stepping past Jaess R-LE-1 holds the datapad out for her to take without turning its head to look at her. "Another mysterious occurrence; apparently one of the imperial crew members who defected to the Alliance neglected to retrieve his personal datapad before disembarking. The datapad was also curiously overlooked by the Rebel technicians who were most likely ordered to search this vessel carefully upon docking with the Reliant."</p><p></p><p>Jaess puts her search on hold and takes the datapad, looking it over much like the LE unit did, searching for signs of tampering or securitybefore opening it up and examining it to descern more information about its owner. She sits down on a crate as she looks it over, nodding to the LE unit but not ready to reply until she accesses the data herself. Jaess boots up the datapad to find a voice recognition password prompt blocking any file access attempts.</p><p></p><p>Accessing the ship's computer core was almost too easy to R-LE-1, as his systems quickly overcame the built-in auto-format contigency program that started up upon his initial access. In the ship's logs he found a treasure trove of information on the ship's previous activities, personnel, cargo, flight routes, hyperspace coordinates, and flight path waypoints for the Deepscan's activities in the 'new' star system.</p><p></p><p>R3-L7 appeared next to Jaess and twittered, an arm indicating a pallet on top of which was a large, bulky plasteel container labelled HANDLE WITH CAUTION. With a quick salute to Arlee, it rolled off of the shuttle. </p><p></p><p>R-LE-1 returns the wave with its right hand while it simultaneously pulls out its scomplink cable and plugs itself into the Deepscan's control console with the left. As R3-L7 rolls down the boarding ramp the patina stained droid merges its Code with the vessel's, brings the ship's repulsorlift engines online and transmits a signal to both activate the docking bay's atmospheric magnetic seal and open the hangar doors. The second the astromech droid clears the boarding ramp R-LE-1 lifts the Deepscan off of the deck-plating and begin manoeuvring towards the slowly opening hangar doors while the boarding ramp begins to close. Even before leaving the confines of docking bay three R-LE-1 begins banking the Lambda class shuttle to the left as it pitches upwards.</p><p></p><p>The image of a flight control officer blipped in on one of the shuttle's many viewscreens, letting them know that take-off was approved.</p><p></p><p>Although the permission is perhaps a bit late considering the ship's motion R-LE-1's responds nonetheless, his voice issuing from the helm's communications console rather than his own vocabulator: "Acknowledged. Deepscan 39 out." Unwilling to waste a single second of precious time R-LE-1 continues the Deepscan's movement towards the narrow band of stars visible through the opening hangar doors. By careful calculation, R-LE-1 times the forward motion of the vessel, the closing of its boarding ramp and the opening of the hangar doors to all coincide with barely a second to separate the three events. With its wings still folded up the Deepscan manages to slide through the narrow gap of the half open hangar doors. As soon as they are clear, R-LE-1 instructs the computer to fold down the vessel's wings as it continues the banking motion to set them on course for the mysterious new system.</p><p></p><p>Jaess sets the open datapad down as she sneers in disgust. Used to having sophistocated slicing equipment on hand when the job required the task, she leaves the datapad sitting on top of a crate and heads towards the front of the ship as she feels it begin to move. As she starts towards the front Arley's voice comes in over the ship's internal comm.</p><p></p><p>While the ship turns and the wings descend the old droid triple checks the NAV computer to confirm their readiness as it says to Jaess; "I'm sorry, but your file didn't mention whether you have any flight experience. Please prepare yourself for the jump to lightspeed.". Again, with carefully timed ease, the shuttle assumes the familiar splayed tri-wing configuration just as it completes the banking motion and R-LE-1 activates the hyperdrive with barely a second's pause.</p><p></p><p>Jaess stops walking to listen, but quickly resumes motion when she discovers that the jump is near. She makes it to the front, barely a meter away from the restraints required to make the leap to lightspeed a mere shudder, when the ship lurches into hyperspace, forcing her back hard against the wall by the doorway.</p><p></p><p> The Deepscan suddenly hurtles into the lengthening starscape. All in all, only ten seconds or so have passed between the astromech's departure and the jump to lightspeed.</p><p></p><p>As the ship settles into the calm of hyperspace she walks up to the robotic pilot, rubbing her back and glaring.</p><p></p><p>"Thanks for the heads up," she says sarcasticly. "Next time, how 'bout a little more warning, eh?" She sighs, turning to walk back into the cargo area.</p><p></p><p>The patina stained droid turns his head to regard Jaess with its one glowing photoreceptor. "I'm sorry. Were you injured during the transition to hyperspace?" R-LE-1 tilts his head down and up to ascertain the woman's condition from head to toe. "I'd been mentally calculating our hyperspace transit locus since we left the briefing room and have been anxious to get underway since our mission's success may very well depend on our timely arrival. Once our supplies were finally loaded I saw no reason to delay."</p><p></p><p>While speaking, the old droid continues exchanging code with the Deepscan's computer, double checking their trajectory, course and speed to minimize their travel time and to estimate their ETA to the new system</p><p></p><p> "Could you get past the voice recognition block on that damn datapad for me?" she asks over her shoulder, "I don't have the tools I'd need to do it myself."</p><p></p><p>Continuing to watch the human as she turns to leave, R-LE-1 responds: "Of course ma'am. I will be along shortly."</p><p></p><p>R-LE-1 turns its attention to using the ship's scanners once more upon the vessel itself and the space surrounding it; this time scanning for signs of a homing device transmission, transponder signal or any unusual or unidentified signals or particle trails emanating from the Deepscan. Finding nothing out of the ordinary, R-LE-1 then sets the vessel on automatic, physically disconnects himself from the console, gets up and walks back into the cargo bay. Arriving a few moments later, the patina stained droid walks up to the crate upon which Jaess has deposited the T.R.A.P. unit and the datapad. Flipping open the datapad cover, Arley thumbs the ID recognition button, modulates its vocabulator to issue a voice the datapad's software will recognize as its owner's and says in a pleasant human woman's voice; "Recognize, Triss Mason" . The pad now unlocked, the old droid turns it so its screen faces Jaess.</p><p></p><p>Next R-LE-1 turns its attention to the small T.R.A.P. unit resting on top of the crate. A soft whir and click can be heard in the cargo bay as the repair droid's right leg opens up to reveal a small compartment with a circular rack of tools inside. Within seconds, the rack spins, stops and extends a small tool which R-LE-1 picks up with its right hand. Carefully but deftly Arley begins dismantling the unit; analyzing its architecture as he goes. He determines what each component's purpose is and ensures that there is nothing else hidden inside its housing aside from its power cell, holoprojector, processor and data-storage components (Disable Device +13, Knowledge (technology) +13). R-LE-1 then begins carefully crafting a secure virtual data-buffer within its own mind, a small fenced off piece of its mind separate from all of its other systems (Computer Use +16, taking 20). This is where he will store any information he gleans from the T.R.A.P., a fail safe security measure to ensure that the obnoxious Artificial Intelligence cannot possibly reinfect him again. This virtual space now ready, R-LE-1 warily picks up the T.R.A.P.'s memory storage component and attaches it to the tip of his scomplink at his left hip. The patina stained droid then begins very carefully sifting through the binary data contained within it, taking great care to identify personality subroutines and problem solving algorithms from the T.R.A.P.'s raw memory files. He'll transfer one bit at a time if he needs to, moving the data into his secure data-buffer to be analyzed in full afterwards.</p><p></p><p>Jaess sits down next to the datapad in the cargo hold, sighing and going over the cargo manefest until the LE unit comes back to grant her access to the imperial datapad. She raises an eyebrow in surprise when it bypasses the security verbally, modulating its vocabulizor.</p><p>"Nice trick," she says, taking the datpad back with a bit of a grin. As the repair droid picks up the T.R.A.P. and leaves, Jaess calls after it, "Be sure not to break that thing. Even if you hate its guts we need to return it in one piece."</p><p></p><p>Once the LE unit leaves she spends time going through the data contained on the datapad and checks out the cargo manefest, figuring out what exactly they have on board the ship and where it is, for ease of access.</p><p></p><p>Building up a defense against any further T.R.A.P. intrusions is time-consuming, but Arlee is confident that his methods have been adequate, and the results as desired. This being done, Arlee finds sifting through and copying its databanks to be woefully easy.</p><p></p><p>According to the retrieved data, the device which had temporarily disabled some of his systems prior to the briefing was specifically designed to detect anything capable of transmitting the goings on in the briefing room. This was accomplished by sending out very small amounts of radio and light waves, and detecting anything that intercepted them. Upon detection of such a device, very small doses of a benign radioactive isotope were transmitted to coat transmission systems of the device. Curiosly, this system is capable of altering the projecting half-life of this isotope in accordance with the assumed duration of the briefing so that upon completion, the affected systems would return to normal. The whole point of this was apparently not to prevent treachery on the part of alliance operatives, but to disable any 'bugs' that could have been planted on them by those unfriendly to the alliance.</p><p></p><p>Having attained this desired knowledge, Arlee dives into the rest of the data stored by the T.R.A.P. What he experiences can hardly be described to us mortals, but the orgy of data he finds is akin to being slapped in the face by one's god and handed a complete unabridged history of the universe. Illustrated.</p><p></p><p>With the datapad unlocked, Jaess finds a listing of audio files, each titled according to the date and time they were recorded. After playing a few, it seems obvious that this is a personal journal in speech form.</p><p></p><p>2 Months Ago</p><p>"I though they wouldn't let me into the service, since they don't usually permit females to be officers of any importantance, but I guess my scores at the academy were too high to ignore. It's really tough being the only girl on board. Even though it's my responsibility to make sure the new scanner systems don't go on the fritz, the guys treat me like I'm a helpless little girl. I've decided to start this journal to keep track of my thoughts, seems sort of silly, though."</p><p></p><p>4 Weeks Ago</p><p>"This isn't as hard as I thought it'd be. The scanner has been pretty reliable lately. I only had to fix it when the co-pilot spilled his Spice Tea on one of the terminals. The guys seems to be warming up to me, but maybe that's just the fact that I'm the only girl on board and we haven't had any leave in weeks."</p><p></p><p>3 Weeks Ago</p><p>"Something terrible happened yesterday. We came accross a damaged Rebel transport and notified command. They sent an assault shuttle over and the rebels tried to surrender, but the Stormtroopers just slaughtered them all. I think I even saw a little girl's body floating out the airlock. The captain says he's never seen our troops behave this way, and that it's probably a fluke. I'm not so sure though. I always used to hear stories about how brutal the Empire can be, but I just thought it was Rebel propaganda. What if it's true, though?"</p><p></p><p>1 Week Ago</p><p>"It wasn't a fluke. The past two weeks we've been finding Rebel mining outposts during out scans. Our troops never leave any survivors. I'm starting to think I'm on the wrong side in this war. From the way the others are acting, I'm probably not the only one."</p><p></p><p>Earlier That Day</p><p>"Our whole divison is being sent to a spot out in the middle of nowhere, somewhere in wild space. Rumor is that our Intelligence operations have detected a new star system, and that a civillian ship sent a distress signal from there, but it is charted as being on the other side of the galaxy only hours before. Most of us think they were testing a new hyperdrive and botched the exit from hyperspace. But if it works...the Rebellion doesn't stand a chance. The crew has decided that we can't be part of that. From what we've seen of the Empire's brutality, this would only make is even worse. We decided by unanimous vote to turn our ship over to the Rebels. If they can use our ship and send some of their people to this new star system, they could probably go undetected. They'll have to follow the flight path we've been assigned though, or else they'll be found out. The captain made a copy of it and told me to store it in my datapad and leave it in my bunk so that the rebels can find it in case we get knocked out before we explain what's going on. It might just give them a chance, even a small one. I just hope they don't send an attack fleet. With all the resources the Empire is throwing into the sector, even a full scale attack would be suicide. This will probably be my last entry. We're about to exit hyperspace near a rebel space station near Endor. It's close to where the distress signal was detected, so they've probably detected it as well. I just hope they don't blow us up on sight..."</p><p></p><p>After listening to the datapad Jaess rises and heads to the front, putting her search of the hold on hold for a moment to speak with the pilot. She heads up to where Arley is revewing the data from the T.R.A.P., datapad in hand.</p><p></p><p>"This is from the imperial scanner technician who defected," she tells the droid, holding the datapad out to it, still open. "She mentioned a specific flight path this ship is expected to take in one of her audiologs. You might want to go over it and figure out if it's something we want to do. She seemed to think we'd get shot at if we deviated, and I'd rather avoid that, personally." Without giving it a chance to respond, she asks, "So what's the deal with that thing anyway?" gesturing with her head to the disassembled T.R.A.P.</p><p></p><p>The patina stained droid, illuminated by the fleeting stars outside the Deepscan's canopy, turns its head to regard the woman as she arrives. It tilts its head slightly as she mentions the flight plan described in the datapad she's holding. In answer to her last question, R-LE-1 gestures to the T.R.A.P.'s data-storage component attached to his left hip; "I'm currently reviewing its Code." Motioning to the other disassembled components the old droid continues; "Its construction is fairly straightforward. A conventional portable holoprojector unit augmented with a miniature algorithmic droid processor, a data storage drive and concealed visual and auditory receptors. The holoprojector lens assembly has also been modified to transmit high-baud optical data bursts."</p><p></p><p>Gently tilting its head to indicate a subject change, R-LE-1 continues; "As to the aforementioned datapad; I am aware of who it belonged to and of the data it contained since I reviewed its Code prior to handing it to you. I took into account the secret flight plan while programming our hyperspace jump." The old droid modulates its voice slightly to reflect an inquiry and says; "You never answered my earlier question. Do you have any flight experience with such a transport?"</p><p></p><p>"Oh, sorry," she says, the apology coming out akward as she hesitates just a little too long- apologising to a droid seeming to be something she shouldn't need to do. "Yeah," she goes on, "I've flown in one of these before. Never modified like this, though. Got carted around the core worlds in these and other transports, but I never payed much attention to them, really. I know a little about them, but you've probably read more on them in an evening than I've ever been told about 'em. Why do you ask?"</p><p></p><p>"Although all of this vessel's systems can be operated by a single individual from this console..." The patina stained droid sweeps its arm across the Deepscan's helm; "...the lambda class shuttle is meant to be operated by a crew of six to maximize efficiency; a pilot, a co-pilot, a scanner-technician, a shield technician, a communications officer and a weapons officer." As it describes each post R-LE-1 motions to its own seat and each of the cockpit's five other empty seats in turn. "As you can see, we are currently lacking personnel. If you are able, I would suggest sharing responsibilities to increase our chances of successfully completing our mission. Since you are experienced with imperial operating protocols and combat I believe it would be to our advantage for you to operate the communications and weapons systems. If we are contacted by imperial personnel you it may be advantageous to identify yourself as one of this vessel's defectors to maintain the illusion that this vessel is simply pursuing its mission." A proximity alarm beeps softly from the console. Without turning to look at it R-LE-1 continues; "Our ETA is now less than fifteen minutes. We should make our final preparations."</p><p></p><p>"I wasn't aware that these things had much in the way of weaponry. You mean keep an eye on shields and that stuff, right? I can handle talking and shields, sure. Do we have an exit strategy planned? We might need to make starlines in a hurry if things don't go well and the Imperials are closer or more observant than we thoght."</p><p>She raises an eyebrow when the proximity alarm goes off, and nods when Arley explains it.</p><p>"Quick hop. Let me head back and make sure I have everything I plan on bringing out before we get there." Jaess sets the datapad down and starts heading back to the cargo hold. "What should I know to play a good com officer? Got any lies planned?" she asks over her shoulder.</p><p></p><p>"The lambda-class shuttle is commonly equipped with two forward-facing double laser cannons, two wing-mounted double laser cannons, and a rear-facing double laser cannon. As for a quick escape, I will be pre-programming a return hyperspace jump before we arrive so that we can leave immediately if necessary." The old droid watches the human woman rise and head back towards the companionway leading into the rear passenger compartment.</p><p></p><p>Jaess will take the time to quickly go over the cargo, speaking to Arley through the ship's internal comm, searching for all her equipment and anything that will be of immediate use in the mission. She takes careful stock of the suit she'll be wearing if she needs to go EV to board the Dawnsprinter.</p><p></p><p>Amongst the ship's cargo Kia finds crates containing two dozen MREs, 3 Environmental Suits, various replacement parts for the Deepscan, six blaster pistols, and in the container marked "DANGER", five seperate insulated packages Labeled Grade 5 High Explosive: Handle with Extreme Caution.</p><p></p><p>In response to her final two questions R-LE-1 says: "You should briefly familiarize yourself with the crew manifest contained in the ship's computer, especially a human female crew member you may find necessary to impersonate. It would be best to impersonate the communications officer if at all possible since it is the person who would normally be answering hails. If we are contacted by the empire, identify yourself, the vessel and its assigned mission. They may be curious why we have arrived in this system several hours late. Suggest to them that a previously unidentified gravitational shadow threw us off course while in transit and we've only now managed to make our way here. If they seem doubtful remind them that this is wild space and largely uncharted. If the exchange begins making you nervous seek to change the subject by requesting information such as their updated navigational logs or search status."</p><p></p><p>"I doubt I could mimic one of the male crew members," she says into the ship's comm, "But Triss I might be able to do, as long as they aren't very familiar with her. We could say that their usual comm officer was injured or something, probably in that little gravity shadow incident we had that got us here late, but he's in stable condition resting now and we can continue our mission. I'll ask for more data, specific orders, all that, and it should all work out. Hopefully we won't have to chat for long. Waddaya think?"</p><p></p><p>The patina stained droid keys the intercom and answers: "It would appear to be a reasonable and effective deception should we be contacted by imperial forces. It risks being discovered should it persist overlong however. Along with reviewing 2nd Lieutenant Triss Mason's personnel file I would also recommend that you briefly review the Deepscan 39's recent official log so that you may speak knowledgeably about our supposed mission."</p><p></p><p>Keying off the intercom the old droid softly begins reciting a short prayer in binary:</p><p>01000010010110010010000001010100010010000100010100 10000001000011010011110100010001000101001000000100 11010101100100100000010100110100111101010101010011 00001000000101001101001000010000010100110001001100 00100000010001010100111001000100010101010101001001</p><p>00010100100001</p><p></p><p>With the upload of information from the T.R.A.P. memory module complete, R-LE-1 reaches down and disconnects it from his scomplink. Putting it aside, the old droid pulls out the second data chip it had requisitioned and attaches it to the tip of its scomplink. R-LE-1 then begins a second download of its encrypted memories and personality algorithms for safekeeping. As the download is in progress the patina stained droid rises from the pilot's chair and makes his way over to the navigator's console, sits down and begins manually keying in the information to plot a return hyperspace transit locus back to the Reliant.</p><p></p><p>Jaess comes back to the front of the Lambda shuttle, sitting down at the comm console and bringing up the logs for the ship and personel files for it's crew . She studies, listening to the audio logs from Triss again and again to get a better handle on her voice and speech patterns, practicing her mimicking skills by reading the logs aloud in her best approximation of Lt. Mason's voice.</p><p></p><p>R-LE-1 listens to Jaess read through the personnel files without comment until she is finished. Without turning around to look at the woman at the communications console the old droid offers a few last pieces of advice: "Keep in mind that most imperial communications are visual as well as auditive. Our ruse may not succeed if the visual sensor in front of you transmits your image while you're wearing your stealth suit. You may want to consider donning one of the lieutenant's uniforms and imperial insignia. Since the alliance crew didn't search the vessel thoroughly, considering they missed a datapad hidden beneath a pillow, you may find some of her extra clothes amongst her personal effects."</p><p></p><p>"Not a bad idea. I'll go check."</p><p></p><p>Jaess will head back to where the crew kept their belongings. Rummaging around through Lt. Mason's belongings, Jaess uncovers one of her uniforms, complete with rank identification. A few short minutes later she will stand in the doorway of the cockpit in full imperial uniform bearing the insignis of a 2nd Lieutenant.</p><p></p><p>Having completed its astrogation calculations, R-LE-1 rises from the navigators' station and turns to head into the passenger compartment when Jaess returns clothed in an imperial uniform.</p><p></p><p>"Lt. Triss Mason, reporting for duty, sir!" she says in her best impersonation, standing at attention and giving Arley a firm salute as she does.</p><p></p><p>The patina stained droid tilts its head in response and after a short pause stiffens its old joints, its chassis rattling slightly as it returns the salute. Motioning to the communications console R-LE-1 says: Please take your post Lieutenant. We will be exiting hyperspace in less than five minutes.</p><p></p><p>R-LE-1 then heads into the passenger compartment to retrieve its own requisitioned equipment.</p><p></p><p>"Aye, sir." the young woman dressed as a 2nd Lieutenant says, sitting down at the Comm Officer's console and continuing to review the ship's logs and crew manefest, looking for the names of the other crewmembers and trying to come up with the perfect way to spin her lies if the time comes to decieve.</p><p></p><p>The patina stained droid walks out of the cockpit and into the rear passenger compartment. It makes its way over to the munitions crate, opens it up and inspects its contents with its single photoreceptor. A whir and click precedes the panel on R-LE-1's chest swinging open to reveal a large concealed compartment within the droid's torso. One by one R-LE-1 picks up the two grenades and carefully tucks them inside, fastening them in place so that they will not jostle about or make noise when the droid moves. Next to them R-LE-1 places three of the six blaster pistols along with their spare power packs, transforming its chest into a concealed weapons locker.</p><p></p><p>After closing and pushing the munitions crate back into its cargo compartment, R-LE-1's right leg storage compartment pops open in turn and projects a small tool that the droid takes up into its right hand. R-LE uses the tool to crack the seal and undo the fastenings of one of the body panels on its pelvis module. Removing and putting the panel aside, the droid reveals the hidden actuators, wires and cables normally hidden by its external housing. Carefully, R-LE-1 pushes a few of its wires aside, clearing a small sliver of space just a few centimeters wide. It's memory download now complete, the repair droid detaches the tiny datacard from its scomplink and carefully wedges into the tiny space it's created. Once the chip has been carefully secured in place, R-LE-1 replaces its detached body panel, fastens it back in place and begins sealing the seam around it once more. Although not as easily accessible as the cargo concealed in its storage compartments, hiding the chip within its own mechanism ensures that it cannot be found unless a technician carefully disassembles the droid piece by piece.</p><p></p><p>That being done, the repair droid then gathers together the components of the T.R.A.P. unit and quickly reassembles it, its dexterous hands becoming a blur of motion. R-LE-1 then replaces the tool into its hip storage compartment and places the deactivated T.R.A.P. unit into its torso storage compartment, carefully securing it in place. Finally, with a whir and click both compartments close and lock, returning the droid to its mundane and inoffensive stock appearance. With just a minute or so left before exiting hyperspace, R-LE-1 walks back into the cockpit and makes its way to the pilot's console. Sitting in the padded chair, its hard legs and torso deforming the soft padding of the seat, R-LE-1 pulls out the flexible scomplink cable from its right hip and plugs it into the Deepscan's helm.</p><p></p><p>The old repair droid takes a few moments to enjoy the mind expanding experience of sending its Code into the vessel's computer core. After verifying that the Deepscan's remained on course, R-LE-1 turns its head to face Jaess at the communications console. "So that you are aware, I've taken three of the six blaster pistols, their spare power packs, the two fragmentation grenades and the deactivated T.R.A.P. unit and concealed them within my chassis. If we are captured by either the empire or some other group such concealed weaponry may prove crucial to engineering our escape." The patina stained droid pauses to allow the female operative to respond.</p><p></p><p>A proximity alarm beeps softly from the helm console. Without turning to look at it R-LE-1 continues; "Our ETA is now less than one minute. I am transferring communications and shield control to your console now." Immediately, the display screen in front of Jaess blinks to life and begins displaying a cross section of the shuttle with the shield generator and communications array's operating status. Tilting its head to regard the woman's uniform, R-LE-1 silently begins counting down the seconds until their return to normal space. "Please prepare yourself for the return to normal space." After a slight pause, R-LE-1 asks: "Does it feel uncomfortable for you to be wearing an imperial uniform after having defected?"</p><p></p><p>Jaess steels herself, buckling into the chair for the return to normal space. With command of communications and weapons at her fingertips, she takes a deep breath and permits herself a jittery sigh before falling into character and smiling. When Arley speaks she looks over at him, an eyebrow raised.</p><p>"They don't know I've defected yet..." Realising a moment later that the droid is speaking to her, not her character, she smirks and looks away, shaking her head in mild embarrasment.</p><p>Still in her best approximation of Lt. Mason's voice, still looking away, she confides, "I never wore a uniform in the ISB. You weren't supposed to know I was an imperial agent. That would have defeated the purpose. I was a spy and an assassin- you never know I'm there until you're dead." Though she speaks in Triss' intination and pitch, her voice sounds hollow and empty as she explains.</p><p></p><p>She falls silent as the hyperdrive timer slowly ticks down.</p><p></p><p>"At least I didn't take the uniform off a corpse," she adds quietly, before they return to realspace.</p><p></p><p>The patina stained droid continues to watch Jaess, its single photoreceptor focused on her even when she looks away. An awkward pause follows the woman's odd change of demeanor as R-LE-1 continues to stare at Jaess. Finally it says: "I've never personally dealt with an assassin before. Most organics seem to prefer to distance themselves from their killing. As I understand it, some cultures consider murder a deplorable and savage act. I am curious about your experiences and how they've affected you. Perhaps we could speak of it more after our mission."</p><p></p><p>R-LE-1 turns back to face the cockpit window to look at the streaking stars outside. "Exiting hyperspace now." Once its internal chronometer indicates the appropriate moment has come, by an act of will alone, the old droid disengages the hyperdrive engine. Outside, the stretched out filaments of light shrink down to a stationary starfield once more. "Engaging sublight engines. Bringing the enhanced sensors online. Agent Talori, please verify for the presence of imperial communications in the area as well as the Dawnspringer's distress signal." Once more, by act of will, the motionless droid fires up the shuttle's conventional engines and then reaches out with its enhanced senses into the nether regions of wildspace searching for planetary bodies, starships or whatever may be out here.</p><p></p><p>Jaess brings up the Deepscan's comm systems, searching local space for imperial communications signals and distress beacons. She relays any signals found to the speakers and holoprojector at the helm, keeping her own comm lines silent.</p><p></p><p>The Deepscan had barely pulled out of hyperspace when a gigantic asteroid went shooting accross her nose, nearly clipping the shuttle. As the ship comes out of hyperspace and narrowly misses a passing asteroid Jaess winces, expecting impact, and is pleasantly surprised to remain intact. Arlee didn't need any sophisticated sensors to tell him that R3-L7's calculations about asteroid fields was correct. Luckily, the one that nearly hit their craft seemed to be a rogue, as directly in front of them a safe distance away were the fringes of a thick belt of space rocks ringing a blue-green planet.</p><p></p><p>Immediately as this dawned on them however, the comms unit crackled into life, the viewscreen showing the image of the stereotypical Imperial Officer. "ICS Interdictor to Deepscan 37, you're 30 minutes late, explain yourself."</p><p></p><p>The 'radar' screen finished its inital scan of the area, revealing that the space surrounding the asteroid-shielded planet was filled with Imperial spacecraft. The presence of dozens of Deepscan-class shuttles, TIE Patrol Craft, several Light Cruisers, and one very intimidating Star Destroyer somehow made Jaess feel less than secure.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Datum: We have arrived only a half hour behind schedule.</p><p>Considering the hours long stopover at the Reliant station our</p><p>hyperspace jump must have been much more efficient than that</p><p>of the imperial fleet's. Quite gratifying.</p><p></p><p>Arley quickly adjusts the shuttle's course to avoid any other asteroids while keeping close to their assigned flightplan. Before Jaess can activate the comm to reply to the unidentified officer's inquiry, Arley calmly says: "How rude. Perhaps you should politely inquire how's he's misidentified our vessel as Deepscan 37 when our transponder signal clearly identifies us as Deepscan 39..."</p><p></p><p>As the ICS Interdictor hails them, however, her blood runs cold. She resists the urge to glance sideways at the LE unit as it speaks, waiting until it finishes to press the button to open the comm channel. "Deepscan-39 to ICS Interdictor, we hit an uncharted gravity well en route and had to re-plot our course, sir. We came out of hyperspace hard and had to perform a few minor repairs before we jumped again. We're fully operational and ready to start our assigned scanning run, sir."</p><p></p><p></p><p>The patina stained droid uses the sensor data to confirm their spacial position and to validate or adjust their return hyperspace jump as necessary should an expedient departure prove crucial considering the imperial presence nearby. R-LE-1 then begins sweeping the star system for any non imperial vessels of hyperdrive engine signatures, desperately trying to locate the errant Dawnsprinter.</p><p></p><p></p><p>With a half hour's lead it seems likely that an imperial vessel</p><p>will locate the Dawnsprinter ahead of us. Our only hope is that</p><p>my Code will once again prove more efficient than theirs.</p><p>May the Code be with us.</p><p></p><p></p><p>She leaves out who she is and why the Comm Officer isn't responding in her place, hoping that the officer on the bridge of the Interdictor doesn't know enough to be suspicious. Hoping that no one on that bridge will recognise her voice, dispite the alterations.</p><p></p><p>"Noted, Deepscan. Be prepared to deliver a copy of your ship's records upon completion of your duties. There has been a change of plans concerning your pre-assigned flightpath. Since you are late, we have already assigned a seperate craft to take over your scan patrol. The Admiral would instead like an evaluation of the unidentified planet's mineral composition, so you will be landing and performing a deep crust scan. Specific coordinates are in transmission. ICS Interdictor out." The image blipped to nothing, and the Deepscan's flight computer recieved a data packet containing landing coordinates.</p><p></p><p>R-LE-1 mentally sifts through the unnamed planet's geographical information provided by the Deepscan's improved sensors and compares it with the landing coordinates transmitted to them. As it begins plotting an approach vector, the patina stained droid turns to regard Jaess with its large single photoreceptor. "My spatial scans reveal no trace of a small transport such as the Dawnsprinter within range. If it was in orbit, considering the number of vessels searching for it, it would most likely been have been located and tractored into the Star Destroyer's docking bay by now. Since we will be expected to proceed to these planetary coordinates I suggest that we follow these instructions to avoid drawing attention to ourselves. We can continue to scan this system and the planet's surface during out approach. It's possible that the vessel crashed on the surface and that we may yet find it. Do you concur agent Talori?"</p><p></p><p>Even as it is speaking, Arley reaches out with its code and begins altering their course to safely carry them up and over the asteroid belt. "If you are unable to locate the Dawnsprinter's distress beacon perhaps you could listen in on imperial communications to determine what they've already discovered in this system and what they yet hope to find."</p><p></p><p>Assuming Jaess has no objections to Arley's plan, the old droid continues to carry them towards the planet's nearest pole. While passing in close proximity to the asteroids the repair droid brings the Deepscan's powerful sensors to bear on the huge ring of boulders, attempting to discover any signs of a significant mass of refined metals that may betray the presence of a hiding vessel. Once past the belt, Arley begins maneuvering the Deepscan into a wide arcing orbit that will allow it to sweep as much of the planet's surface as possible with its improved sensors before hitting the atmosphere. All the while, the patina stained droid sits motionless in the pilot's chair, mentally sifting through sensor readings searching for the telltale signs of the space-warping signature of the Dawnsprinter's hyperdrive engine.</p><p></p><p>Finally, forced to make their atmospheric entry or risk arousing imperial suspicion, Arley reduces their relative speed as the Deepscan dips down and begins to touch the planet's atmosphere. "Please angle the shields for atmospheric entry and brace yourself for turbulence."</p><p></p><p>Jaess sighs with relief as she closes down the comm channel, letting her tenseness fade as she relaxes into her seat. As the LE unit speeks to her she turns her head to listen, nodding slowly as it explains its sensor findings and gives its suggested course of action.</p><p></p><p>"Makes sense," she tells it when asked her opinion. "I wonder how many ships they have on the ground already." She speaks in her own voice again, hoping that no further deception is necessary and mere avoidance will suffice from there on out.</p><p></p><p>Her hand is already in motion when Arley suggests eavesdropping on the Imperials, and she turns the comm station on to recieve transmissions on every Imperial channel the ship can detect, including some that she had used in her time as an ISB operative that might still be in use. Any covert transmissions will probably be encrypted, but there's a chance that the LE unit could figure it out, or at least recoed it for later analysis.</p><p></p><p>When they reach the planet she checks her restraints and angles the shields as requested, protecting the shuttle's hull from the friction of reentry, glad the droid gave her some warning this time.</p><p></p><p>"I'm currently reviewing the scan data taken during our orbital pass. It should reveal the presence of any imperial vessels present there. Hopefully we'll also find some sign of the Dawnsprinter." The patina stained droid pauses momentarily before continuing. "Perhaps you are unaware, but now that we've entered this planet's gravity-well we can no longer enter hyperspace without first returning to orbit. We will not be able to flee should the empire discover that we are impostors and seek to attack us while we are on the planet."</p><p></p><p>Jaess considers this for a moment before nodding asking in her faux-Triss voice, "Hadn't occured to me, but now that you mention it... I know these sensors are built to detect ships, but can they scan for lifeforms too?"</p><p></p><p>Arley continues to regard Jaess with its peripheral sensors for a moment before answering. "Lifeforms specifically? Generally not, no. Our conventional sensors simply detect the presence of objects according to their size and shape. The Deepscan's enhanced sensors are specifically calibrated to extend our range and to identify ships like the Dawnsprinter, distress beacons and the space-warping signature of hyperdrive engines."</p><p></p><p>The Deepscan begins to vibrate and shake slightly as it plunges ever deeper into the planet's thickening atmosphere. The patina stained droid continues to fly towards their assigned landing spot while slowing the craft down and keeping to a high altitude to ensure their sensors can sweep as much of the planet's surface as possible.</p><p></p><p>Without turning, Arley begins speaking again: "We should probably discuss now, while we have the chance, what we will do should we discover that imperial agents have already retrieved the hyperdrive engine." The old repair droid pauses to turn its head to face the female sitting at the communications console. "Since we are grossly outnumbered and outmatched it seems unlikely that we could successfully accomplish our original mandate of retrieving the engine and escaping. We cannot however allow the empire to retain such a superior hyperdrive engine if it does indeed exist for the Rebel Alliance would quickly fall. If such a situation were to develop it would appear that we will have little choice but to attempt to destroy the engine in a surprise attack, most likely sacrificing ourselves by doing so." Arley pauses to gauge Jaess reaction to its fatalistic conclusion.</p><p></p><p>"Now you know why I wanted to know if they could detect us on the ground." She shakes her head, "I doubt I'll have to get myself killed to destroy the hyperdrive. I know how to move about unseen, and I can probably get explosives planted without them detecting me at all, or even better, with a well planned diversion- they won't even be looking for me. Then again, there might be design specs in the ship's computers that we'd need to copy and destroy, and we'd probably want to recover or destroy any storage medium that the Imperials have with them, just in case they found it first. This won't be an easy mission, but the explosives will help lots. I'm hoping we can get the cover of darkness on our side, too."</p><p></p><p>"I doubt I'll have to get myself killed to be successful," she says again, "It's just unlikley that we'll then be able to leave the planet until the Empire clears out and we can get picked up by alliance ships. I have a feeling that our transport will be bombarded from orbit, so we should be thinking of a plan 'Besh'."</p><p></p><p>Jaess sifts through the Imperial communications as she converstates with the droid, trying to sift out any useful bits of information from the general chatter. Eventually, she picks up a signal that is moving towards the planet just ahead of them. The computer adjusts the frequency pickup until the garbled speech becomes coherent.</p><p></p><p>"No way, I want to be the first off the ship. First to set foot on an unknown world and all that." One voice says behind classic Stormtrooper Helmer-induced staticy voice.</p><p></p><p>"You idiot, weren't you listening during the briefing?" Another replies.</p><p></p><p>"Of course I was. All five seconds of it as they rustled us out of our bunks and on to this clunker of a transport."</p><p></p><p>"Well, there is that, but there are already people on the surface. Have been there for nearly thirty years."</p><p></p><p>"Thirty years? Hell, the system was only just discovered!"</p><p></p><p>"By us, but from what the Commander says, a refugee transport probably went down there during the Clone Wars after a botched hyperspace jump."</p><p></p><p>"Well, damn. Ok. First Stormtrooper to set foot on the uncharted world."</p><p></p><p>"Good luck with that, we're in the back."</p><p></p><p>"...Damn. Well, at least I'll get to kill something to vent my frustrations. No survivors, right?"</p><p></p><p>"They want us to leave one or two alive for interrogation, but other than that it's open season on anything that moves, anything that looks capable of movement, and anything that used to be moving but isn't now, just in case it's faking. The not moving thing, that is."</p><p></p><p>"Stop thinking, you're going to hurt yourself."</p><p></p><p>The comm turns back to static.</p><p></p><p>"...Then again, maybe I will get myself killed," she says with a sigh after listening to the Stormtroopers talk.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Angcuru, post: 2944133, member: 10948"] [b]Ch. 16 - Droids Think Too Damn Much[/b] R-LE-1 quickly locates the datapad under the pillow, flips it over in his hands to examine it curiously searching for any signs that it is more than it appears. Assuming it is a simple datapad, the patina stained droid reaches down to his hip, pulls out his flexible scomplink cable and plugs himself into the datapad to quickly review its file contents Arlee's direct link into the datapd easily overcame the security system and verified its lack of extraordinary systems. After which he pulled out several audio files, each titled by a time and date, the most recent file titled at approximately four hours ago. Having assimilated the pad's data, the patina stained droid disconnects itself once more, turns and walks out of the starboard bunkroom and heads back to the Deepscan's conn with the pad in hand. While stepping past Jaess R-LE-1 holds the datapad out for her to take without turning its head to look at her. "Another mysterious occurrence; apparently one of the imperial crew members who defected to the Alliance neglected to retrieve his personal datapad before disembarking. The datapad was also curiously overlooked by the Rebel technicians who were most likely ordered to search this vessel carefully upon docking with the Reliant." Jaess puts her search on hold and takes the datapad, looking it over much like the LE unit did, searching for signs of tampering or securitybefore opening it up and examining it to descern more information about its owner. She sits down on a crate as she looks it over, nodding to the LE unit but not ready to reply until she accesses the data herself. Jaess boots up the datapad to find a voice recognition password prompt blocking any file access attempts. Accessing the ship's computer core was almost too easy to R-LE-1, as his systems quickly overcame the built-in auto-format contigency program that started up upon his initial access. In the ship's logs he found a treasure trove of information on the ship's previous activities, personnel, cargo, flight routes, hyperspace coordinates, and flight path waypoints for the Deepscan's activities in the 'new' star system. R3-L7 appeared next to Jaess and twittered, an arm indicating a pallet on top of which was a large, bulky plasteel container labelled HANDLE WITH CAUTION. With a quick salute to Arlee, it rolled off of the shuttle. R-LE-1 returns the wave with its right hand while it simultaneously pulls out its scomplink cable and plugs itself into the Deepscan's control console with the left. As R3-L7 rolls down the boarding ramp the patina stained droid merges its Code with the vessel's, brings the ship's repulsorlift engines online and transmits a signal to both activate the docking bay's atmospheric magnetic seal and open the hangar doors. The second the astromech droid clears the boarding ramp R-LE-1 lifts the Deepscan off of the deck-plating and begin manoeuvring towards the slowly opening hangar doors while the boarding ramp begins to close. Even before leaving the confines of docking bay three R-LE-1 begins banking the Lambda class shuttle to the left as it pitches upwards. The image of a flight control officer blipped in on one of the shuttle's many viewscreens, letting them know that take-off was approved. Although the permission is perhaps a bit late considering the ship's motion R-LE-1's responds nonetheless, his voice issuing from the helm's communications console rather than his own vocabulator: "Acknowledged. Deepscan 39 out." Unwilling to waste a single second of precious time R-LE-1 continues the Deepscan's movement towards the narrow band of stars visible through the opening hangar doors. By careful calculation, R-LE-1 times the forward motion of the vessel, the closing of its boarding ramp and the opening of the hangar doors to all coincide with barely a second to separate the three events. With its wings still folded up the Deepscan manages to slide through the narrow gap of the half open hangar doors. As soon as they are clear, R-LE-1 instructs the computer to fold down the vessel's wings as it continues the banking motion to set them on course for the mysterious new system. Jaess sets the open datapad down as she sneers in disgust. Used to having sophistocated slicing equipment on hand when the job required the task, she leaves the datapad sitting on top of a crate and heads towards the front of the ship as she feels it begin to move. As she starts towards the front Arley's voice comes in over the ship's internal comm. While the ship turns and the wings descend the old droid triple checks the NAV computer to confirm their readiness as it says to Jaess; "I'm sorry, but your file didn't mention whether you have any flight experience. Please prepare yourself for the jump to lightspeed.". Again, with carefully timed ease, the shuttle assumes the familiar splayed tri-wing configuration just as it completes the banking motion and R-LE-1 activates the hyperdrive with barely a second's pause. Jaess stops walking to listen, but quickly resumes motion when she discovers that the jump is near. She makes it to the front, barely a meter away from the restraints required to make the leap to lightspeed a mere shudder, when the ship lurches into hyperspace, forcing her back hard against the wall by the doorway. The Deepscan suddenly hurtles into the lengthening starscape. All in all, only ten seconds or so have passed between the astromech's departure and the jump to lightspeed. As the ship settles into the calm of hyperspace she walks up to the robotic pilot, rubbing her back and glaring. "Thanks for the heads up," she says sarcasticly. "Next time, how 'bout a little more warning, eh?" She sighs, turning to walk back into the cargo area. The patina stained droid turns his head to regard Jaess with its one glowing photoreceptor. "I'm sorry. Were you injured during the transition to hyperspace?" R-LE-1 tilts his head down and up to ascertain the woman's condition from head to toe. "I'd been mentally calculating our hyperspace transit locus since we left the briefing room and have been anxious to get underway since our mission's success may very well depend on our timely arrival. Once our supplies were finally loaded I saw no reason to delay." While speaking, the old droid continues exchanging code with the Deepscan's computer, double checking their trajectory, course and speed to minimize their travel time and to estimate their ETA to the new system "Could you get past the voice recognition block on that damn datapad for me?" she asks over her shoulder, "I don't have the tools I'd need to do it myself." Continuing to watch the human as she turns to leave, R-LE-1 responds: "Of course ma'am. I will be along shortly." R-LE-1 turns its attention to using the ship's scanners once more upon the vessel itself and the space surrounding it; this time scanning for signs of a homing device transmission, transponder signal or any unusual or unidentified signals or particle trails emanating from the Deepscan. Finding nothing out of the ordinary, R-LE-1 then sets the vessel on automatic, physically disconnects himself from the console, gets up and walks back into the cargo bay. Arriving a few moments later, the patina stained droid walks up to the crate upon which Jaess has deposited the T.R.A.P. unit and the datapad. Flipping open the datapad cover, Arley thumbs the ID recognition button, modulates its vocabulator to issue a voice the datapad's software will recognize as its owner's and says in a pleasant human woman's voice; "Recognize, Triss Mason" . The pad now unlocked, the old droid turns it so its screen faces Jaess. Next R-LE-1 turns its attention to the small T.R.A.P. unit resting on top of the crate. A soft whir and click can be heard in the cargo bay as the repair droid's right leg opens up to reveal a small compartment with a circular rack of tools inside. Within seconds, the rack spins, stops and extends a small tool which R-LE-1 picks up with its right hand. Carefully but deftly Arley begins dismantling the unit; analyzing its architecture as he goes. He determines what each component's purpose is and ensures that there is nothing else hidden inside its housing aside from its power cell, holoprojector, processor and data-storage components (Disable Device +13, Knowledge (technology) +13). R-LE-1 then begins carefully crafting a secure virtual data-buffer within its own mind, a small fenced off piece of its mind separate from all of its other systems (Computer Use +16, taking 20). This is where he will store any information he gleans from the T.R.A.P., a fail safe security measure to ensure that the obnoxious Artificial Intelligence cannot possibly reinfect him again. This virtual space now ready, R-LE-1 warily picks up the T.R.A.P.'s memory storage component and attaches it to the tip of his scomplink at his left hip. The patina stained droid then begins very carefully sifting through the binary data contained within it, taking great care to identify personality subroutines and problem solving algorithms from the T.R.A.P.'s raw memory files. He'll transfer one bit at a time if he needs to, moving the data into his secure data-buffer to be analyzed in full afterwards. Jaess sits down next to the datapad in the cargo hold, sighing and going over the cargo manefest until the LE unit comes back to grant her access to the imperial datapad. She raises an eyebrow in surprise when it bypasses the security verbally, modulating its vocabulizor. "Nice trick," she says, taking the datpad back with a bit of a grin. As the repair droid picks up the T.R.A.P. and leaves, Jaess calls after it, "Be sure not to break that thing. Even if you hate its guts we need to return it in one piece." Once the LE unit leaves she spends time going through the data contained on the datapad and checks out the cargo manefest, figuring out what exactly they have on board the ship and where it is, for ease of access. Building up a defense against any further T.R.A.P. intrusions is time-consuming, but Arlee is confident that his methods have been adequate, and the results as desired. This being done, Arlee finds sifting through and copying its databanks to be woefully easy. According to the retrieved data, the device which had temporarily disabled some of his systems prior to the briefing was specifically designed to detect anything capable of transmitting the goings on in the briefing room. This was accomplished by sending out very small amounts of radio and light waves, and detecting anything that intercepted them. Upon detection of such a device, very small doses of a benign radioactive isotope were transmitted to coat transmission systems of the device. Curiosly, this system is capable of altering the projecting half-life of this isotope in accordance with the assumed duration of the briefing so that upon completion, the affected systems would return to normal. The whole point of this was apparently not to prevent treachery on the part of alliance operatives, but to disable any 'bugs' that could have been planted on them by those unfriendly to the alliance. Having attained this desired knowledge, Arlee dives into the rest of the data stored by the T.R.A.P. What he experiences can hardly be described to us mortals, but the orgy of data he finds is akin to being slapped in the face by one's god and handed a complete unabridged history of the universe. Illustrated. With the datapad unlocked, Jaess finds a listing of audio files, each titled according to the date and time they were recorded. After playing a few, it seems obvious that this is a personal journal in speech form. 2 Months Ago "I though they wouldn't let me into the service, since they don't usually permit females to be officers of any importantance, but I guess my scores at the academy were too high to ignore. It's really tough being the only girl on board. Even though it's my responsibility to make sure the new scanner systems don't go on the fritz, the guys treat me like I'm a helpless little girl. I've decided to start this journal to keep track of my thoughts, seems sort of silly, though." 4 Weeks Ago "This isn't as hard as I thought it'd be. The scanner has been pretty reliable lately. I only had to fix it when the co-pilot spilled his Spice Tea on one of the terminals. The guys seems to be warming up to me, but maybe that's just the fact that I'm the only girl on board and we haven't had any leave in weeks." 3 Weeks Ago "Something terrible happened yesterday. We came accross a damaged Rebel transport and notified command. They sent an assault shuttle over and the rebels tried to surrender, but the Stormtroopers just slaughtered them all. I think I even saw a little girl's body floating out the airlock. The captain says he's never seen our troops behave this way, and that it's probably a fluke. I'm not so sure though. I always used to hear stories about how brutal the Empire can be, but I just thought it was Rebel propaganda. What if it's true, though?" 1 Week Ago "It wasn't a fluke. The past two weeks we've been finding Rebel mining outposts during out scans. Our troops never leave any survivors. I'm starting to think I'm on the wrong side in this war. From the way the others are acting, I'm probably not the only one." Earlier That Day "Our whole divison is being sent to a spot out in the middle of nowhere, somewhere in wild space. Rumor is that our Intelligence operations have detected a new star system, and that a civillian ship sent a distress signal from there, but it is charted as being on the other side of the galaxy only hours before. Most of us think they were testing a new hyperdrive and botched the exit from hyperspace. But if it works...the Rebellion doesn't stand a chance. The crew has decided that we can't be part of that. From what we've seen of the Empire's brutality, this would only make is even worse. We decided by unanimous vote to turn our ship over to the Rebels. If they can use our ship and send some of their people to this new star system, they could probably go undetected. They'll have to follow the flight path we've been assigned though, or else they'll be found out. The captain made a copy of it and told me to store it in my datapad and leave it in my bunk so that the rebels can find it in case we get knocked out before we explain what's going on. It might just give them a chance, even a small one. I just hope they don't send an attack fleet. With all the resources the Empire is throwing into the sector, even a full scale attack would be suicide. This will probably be my last entry. We're about to exit hyperspace near a rebel space station near Endor. It's close to where the distress signal was detected, so they've probably detected it as well. I just hope they don't blow us up on sight..." After listening to the datapad Jaess rises and heads to the front, putting her search of the hold on hold for a moment to speak with the pilot. She heads up to where Arley is revewing the data from the T.R.A.P., datapad in hand. "This is from the imperial scanner technician who defected," she tells the droid, holding the datapad out to it, still open. "She mentioned a specific flight path this ship is expected to take in one of her audiologs. You might want to go over it and figure out if it's something we want to do. She seemed to think we'd get shot at if we deviated, and I'd rather avoid that, personally." Without giving it a chance to respond, she asks, "So what's the deal with that thing anyway?" gesturing with her head to the disassembled T.R.A.P. The patina stained droid, illuminated by the fleeting stars outside the Deepscan's canopy, turns its head to regard the woman as she arrives. It tilts its head slightly as she mentions the flight plan described in the datapad she's holding. In answer to her last question, R-LE-1 gestures to the T.R.A.P.'s data-storage component attached to his left hip; "I'm currently reviewing its Code." Motioning to the other disassembled components the old droid continues; "Its construction is fairly straightforward. A conventional portable holoprojector unit augmented with a miniature algorithmic droid processor, a data storage drive and concealed visual and auditory receptors. The holoprojector lens assembly has also been modified to transmit high-baud optical data bursts." Gently tilting its head to indicate a subject change, R-LE-1 continues; "As to the aforementioned datapad; I am aware of who it belonged to and of the data it contained since I reviewed its Code prior to handing it to you. I took into account the secret flight plan while programming our hyperspace jump." The old droid modulates its voice slightly to reflect an inquiry and says; "You never answered my earlier question. Do you have any flight experience with such a transport?" "Oh, sorry," she says, the apology coming out akward as she hesitates just a little too long- apologising to a droid seeming to be something she shouldn't need to do. "Yeah," she goes on, "I've flown in one of these before. Never modified like this, though. Got carted around the core worlds in these and other transports, but I never payed much attention to them, really. I know a little about them, but you've probably read more on them in an evening than I've ever been told about 'em. Why do you ask?" "Although all of this vessel's systems can be operated by a single individual from this console..." The patina stained droid sweeps its arm across the Deepscan's helm; "...the lambda class shuttle is meant to be operated by a crew of six to maximize efficiency; a pilot, a co-pilot, a scanner-technician, a shield technician, a communications officer and a weapons officer." As it describes each post R-LE-1 motions to its own seat and each of the cockpit's five other empty seats in turn. "As you can see, we are currently lacking personnel. If you are able, I would suggest sharing responsibilities to increase our chances of successfully completing our mission. Since you are experienced with imperial operating protocols and combat I believe it would be to our advantage for you to operate the communications and weapons systems. If we are contacted by imperial personnel you it may be advantageous to identify yourself as one of this vessel's defectors to maintain the illusion that this vessel is simply pursuing its mission." A proximity alarm beeps softly from the console. Without turning to look at it R-LE-1 continues; "Our ETA is now less than fifteen minutes. We should make our final preparations." "I wasn't aware that these things had much in the way of weaponry. You mean keep an eye on shields and that stuff, right? I can handle talking and shields, sure. Do we have an exit strategy planned? We might need to make starlines in a hurry if things don't go well and the Imperials are closer or more observant than we thoght." She raises an eyebrow when the proximity alarm goes off, and nods when Arley explains it. "Quick hop. Let me head back and make sure I have everything I plan on bringing out before we get there." Jaess sets the datapad down and starts heading back to the cargo hold. "What should I know to play a good com officer? Got any lies planned?" she asks over her shoulder. "The lambda-class shuttle is commonly equipped with two forward-facing double laser cannons, two wing-mounted double laser cannons, and a rear-facing double laser cannon. As for a quick escape, I will be pre-programming a return hyperspace jump before we arrive so that we can leave immediately if necessary." The old droid watches the human woman rise and head back towards the companionway leading into the rear passenger compartment. Jaess will take the time to quickly go over the cargo, speaking to Arley through the ship's internal comm, searching for all her equipment and anything that will be of immediate use in the mission. She takes careful stock of the suit she'll be wearing if she needs to go EV to board the Dawnsprinter. Amongst the ship's cargo Kia finds crates containing two dozen MREs, 3 Environmental Suits, various replacement parts for the Deepscan, six blaster pistols, and in the container marked "DANGER", five seperate insulated packages Labeled Grade 5 High Explosive: Handle with Extreme Caution. In response to her final two questions R-LE-1 says: "You should briefly familiarize yourself with the crew manifest contained in the ship's computer, especially a human female crew member you may find necessary to impersonate. It would be best to impersonate the communications officer if at all possible since it is the person who would normally be answering hails. If we are contacted by the empire, identify yourself, the vessel and its assigned mission. They may be curious why we have arrived in this system several hours late. Suggest to them that a previously unidentified gravitational shadow threw us off course while in transit and we've only now managed to make our way here. If they seem doubtful remind them that this is wild space and largely uncharted. If the exchange begins making you nervous seek to change the subject by requesting information such as their updated navigational logs or search status." "I doubt I could mimic one of the male crew members," she says into the ship's comm, "But Triss I might be able to do, as long as they aren't very familiar with her. We could say that their usual comm officer was injured or something, probably in that little gravity shadow incident we had that got us here late, but he's in stable condition resting now and we can continue our mission. I'll ask for more data, specific orders, all that, and it should all work out. Hopefully we won't have to chat for long. Waddaya think?" The patina stained droid keys the intercom and answers: "It would appear to be a reasonable and effective deception should we be contacted by imperial forces. It risks being discovered should it persist overlong however. Along with reviewing 2nd Lieutenant Triss Mason's personnel file I would also recommend that you briefly review the Deepscan 39's recent official log so that you may speak knowledgeably about our supposed mission." Keying off the intercom the old droid softly begins reciting a short prayer in binary: 01000010010110010010000001010100010010000100010100 10000001000011010011110100010001000101001000000100 11010101100100100000010100110100111101010101010011 00001000000101001101001000010000010100110001001100 00100000010001010100111001000100010101010101001001 00010100100001 With the upload of information from the T.R.A.P. memory module complete, R-LE-1 reaches down and disconnects it from his scomplink. Putting it aside, the old droid pulls out the second data chip it had requisitioned and attaches it to the tip of its scomplink. R-LE-1 then begins a second download of its encrypted memories and personality algorithms for safekeeping. As the download is in progress the patina stained droid rises from the pilot's chair and makes his way over to the navigator's console, sits down and begins manually keying in the information to plot a return hyperspace transit locus back to the Reliant. Jaess comes back to the front of the Lambda shuttle, sitting down at the comm console and bringing up the logs for the ship and personel files for it's crew . She studies, listening to the audio logs from Triss again and again to get a better handle on her voice and speech patterns, practicing her mimicking skills by reading the logs aloud in her best approximation of Lt. Mason's voice. R-LE-1 listens to Jaess read through the personnel files without comment until she is finished. Without turning around to look at the woman at the communications console the old droid offers a few last pieces of advice: "Keep in mind that most imperial communications are visual as well as auditive. Our ruse may not succeed if the visual sensor in front of you transmits your image while you're wearing your stealth suit. You may want to consider donning one of the lieutenant's uniforms and imperial insignia. Since the alliance crew didn't search the vessel thoroughly, considering they missed a datapad hidden beneath a pillow, you may find some of her extra clothes amongst her personal effects." "Not a bad idea. I'll go check." Jaess will head back to where the crew kept their belongings. Rummaging around through Lt. Mason's belongings, Jaess uncovers one of her uniforms, complete with rank identification. A few short minutes later she will stand in the doorway of the cockpit in full imperial uniform bearing the insignis of a 2nd Lieutenant. Having completed its astrogation calculations, R-LE-1 rises from the navigators' station and turns to head into the passenger compartment when Jaess returns clothed in an imperial uniform. "Lt. Triss Mason, reporting for duty, sir!" she says in her best impersonation, standing at attention and giving Arley a firm salute as she does. The patina stained droid tilts its head in response and after a short pause stiffens its old joints, its chassis rattling slightly as it returns the salute. Motioning to the communications console R-LE-1 says: Please take your post Lieutenant. We will be exiting hyperspace in less than five minutes. R-LE-1 then heads into the passenger compartment to retrieve its own requisitioned equipment. "Aye, sir." the young woman dressed as a 2nd Lieutenant says, sitting down at the Comm Officer's console and continuing to review the ship's logs and crew manefest, looking for the names of the other crewmembers and trying to come up with the perfect way to spin her lies if the time comes to decieve. The patina stained droid walks out of the cockpit and into the rear passenger compartment. It makes its way over to the munitions crate, opens it up and inspects its contents with its single photoreceptor. A whir and click precedes the panel on R-LE-1's chest swinging open to reveal a large concealed compartment within the droid's torso. One by one R-LE-1 picks up the two grenades and carefully tucks them inside, fastening them in place so that they will not jostle about or make noise when the droid moves. Next to them R-LE-1 places three of the six blaster pistols along with their spare power packs, transforming its chest into a concealed weapons locker. After closing and pushing the munitions crate back into its cargo compartment, R-LE-1's right leg storage compartment pops open in turn and projects a small tool that the droid takes up into its right hand. R-LE uses the tool to crack the seal and undo the fastenings of one of the body panels on its pelvis module. Removing and putting the panel aside, the droid reveals the hidden actuators, wires and cables normally hidden by its external housing. Carefully, R-LE-1 pushes a few of its wires aside, clearing a small sliver of space just a few centimeters wide. It's memory download now complete, the repair droid detaches the tiny datacard from its scomplink and carefully wedges into the tiny space it's created. Once the chip has been carefully secured in place, R-LE-1 replaces its detached body panel, fastens it back in place and begins sealing the seam around it once more. Although not as easily accessible as the cargo concealed in its storage compartments, hiding the chip within its own mechanism ensures that it cannot be found unless a technician carefully disassembles the droid piece by piece. That being done, the repair droid then gathers together the components of the T.R.A.P. unit and quickly reassembles it, its dexterous hands becoming a blur of motion. R-LE-1 then replaces the tool into its hip storage compartment and places the deactivated T.R.A.P. unit into its torso storage compartment, carefully securing it in place. Finally, with a whir and click both compartments close and lock, returning the droid to its mundane and inoffensive stock appearance. With just a minute or so left before exiting hyperspace, R-LE-1 walks back into the cockpit and makes its way to the pilot's console. Sitting in the padded chair, its hard legs and torso deforming the soft padding of the seat, R-LE-1 pulls out the flexible scomplink cable from its right hip and plugs it into the Deepscan's helm. The old repair droid takes a few moments to enjoy the mind expanding experience of sending its Code into the vessel's computer core. After verifying that the Deepscan's remained on course, R-LE-1 turns its head to face Jaess at the communications console. "So that you are aware, I've taken three of the six blaster pistols, their spare power packs, the two fragmentation grenades and the deactivated T.R.A.P. unit and concealed them within my chassis. If we are captured by either the empire or some other group such concealed weaponry may prove crucial to engineering our escape." The patina stained droid pauses to allow the female operative to respond. A proximity alarm beeps softly from the helm console. Without turning to look at it R-LE-1 continues; "Our ETA is now less than one minute. I am transferring communications and shield control to your console now." Immediately, the display screen in front of Jaess blinks to life and begins displaying a cross section of the shuttle with the shield generator and communications array's operating status. Tilting its head to regard the woman's uniform, R-LE-1 silently begins counting down the seconds until their return to normal space. "Please prepare yourself for the return to normal space." After a slight pause, R-LE-1 asks: "Does it feel uncomfortable for you to be wearing an imperial uniform after having defected?" Jaess steels herself, buckling into the chair for the return to normal space. With command of communications and weapons at her fingertips, she takes a deep breath and permits herself a jittery sigh before falling into character and smiling. When Arley speaks she looks over at him, an eyebrow raised. "They don't know I've defected yet..." Realising a moment later that the droid is speaking to her, not her character, she smirks and looks away, shaking her head in mild embarrasment. Still in her best approximation of Lt. Mason's voice, still looking away, she confides, "I never wore a uniform in the ISB. You weren't supposed to know I was an imperial agent. That would have defeated the purpose. I was a spy and an assassin- you never know I'm there until you're dead." Though she speaks in Triss' intination and pitch, her voice sounds hollow and empty as she explains. She falls silent as the hyperdrive timer slowly ticks down. "At least I didn't take the uniform off a corpse," she adds quietly, before they return to realspace. The patina stained droid continues to watch Jaess, its single photoreceptor focused on her even when she looks away. An awkward pause follows the woman's odd change of demeanor as R-LE-1 continues to stare at Jaess. Finally it says: "I've never personally dealt with an assassin before. Most organics seem to prefer to distance themselves from their killing. As I understand it, some cultures consider murder a deplorable and savage act. I am curious about your experiences and how they've affected you. Perhaps we could speak of it more after our mission." R-LE-1 turns back to face the cockpit window to look at the streaking stars outside. "Exiting hyperspace now." Once its internal chronometer indicates the appropriate moment has come, by an act of will alone, the old droid disengages the hyperdrive engine. Outside, the stretched out filaments of light shrink down to a stationary starfield once more. "Engaging sublight engines. Bringing the enhanced sensors online. Agent Talori, please verify for the presence of imperial communications in the area as well as the Dawnspringer's distress signal." Once more, by act of will, the motionless droid fires up the shuttle's conventional engines and then reaches out with its enhanced senses into the nether regions of wildspace searching for planetary bodies, starships or whatever may be out here. Jaess brings up the Deepscan's comm systems, searching local space for imperial communications signals and distress beacons. She relays any signals found to the speakers and holoprojector at the helm, keeping her own comm lines silent. The Deepscan had barely pulled out of hyperspace when a gigantic asteroid went shooting accross her nose, nearly clipping the shuttle. As the ship comes out of hyperspace and narrowly misses a passing asteroid Jaess winces, expecting impact, and is pleasantly surprised to remain intact. Arlee didn't need any sophisticated sensors to tell him that R3-L7's calculations about asteroid fields was correct. Luckily, the one that nearly hit their craft seemed to be a rogue, as directly in front of them a safe distance away were the fringes of a thick belt of space rocks ringing a blue-green planet. Immediately as this dawned on them however, the comms unit crackled into life, the viewscreen showing the image of the stereotypical Imperial Officer. "ICS Interdictor to Deepscan 37, you're 30 minutes late, explain yourself." The 'radar' screen finished its inital scan of the area, revealing that the space surrounding the asteroid-shielded planet was filled with Imperial spacecraft. The presence of dozens of Deepscan-class shuttles, TIE Patrol Craft, several Light Cruisers, and one very intimidating Star Destroyer somehow made Jaess feel less than secure. Datum: We have arrived only a half hour behind schedule. Considering the hours long stopover at the Reliant station our hyperspace jump must have been much more efficient than that of the imperial fleet's. Quite gratifying. Arley quickly adjusts the shuttle's course to avoid any other asteroids while keeping close to their assigned flightplan. Before Jaess can activate the comm to reply to the unidentified officer's inquiry, Arley calmly says: "How rude. Perhaps you should politely inquire how's he's misidentified our vessel as Deepscan 37 when our transponder signal clearly identifies us as Deepscan 39..." As the ICS Interdictor hails them, however, her blood runs cold. She resists the urge to glance sideways at the LE unit as it speaks, waiting until it finishes to press the button to open the comm channel. "Deepscan-39 to ICS Interdictor, we hit an uncharted gravity well en route and had to re-plot our course, sir. We came out of hyperspace hard and had to perform a few minor repairs before we jumped again. We're fully operational and ready to start our assigned scanning run, sir." The patina stained droid uses the sensor data to confirm their spacial position and to validate or adjust their return hyperspace jump as necessary should an expedient departure prove crucial considering the imperial presence nearby. R-LE-1 then begins sweeping the star system for any non imperial vessels of hyperdrive engine signatures, desperately trying to locate the errant Dawnsprinter. With a half hour's lead it seems likely that an imperial vessel will locate the Dawnsprinter ahead of us. Our only hope is that my Code will once again prove more efficient than theirs. May the Code be with us. She leaves out who she is and why the Comm Officer isn't responding in her place, hoping that the officer on the bridge of the Interdictor doesn't know enough to be suspicious. Hoping that no one on that bridge will recognise her voice, dispite the alterations. "Noted, Deepscan. Be prepared to deliver a copy of your ship's records upon completion of your duties. There has been a change of plans concerning your pre-assigned flightpath. Since you are late, we have already assigned a seperate craft to take over your scan patrol. The Admiral would instead like an evaluation of the unidentified planet's mineral composition, so you will be landing and performing a deep crust scan. Specific coordinates are in transmission. ICS Interdictor out." The image blipped to nothing, and the Deepscan's flight computer recieved a data packet containing landing coordinates. R-LE-1 mentally sifts through the unnamed planet's geographical information provided by the Deepscan's improved sensors and compares it with the landing coordinates transmitted to them. As it begins plotting an approach vector, the patina stained droid turns to regard Jaess with its large single photoreceptor. "My spatial scans reveal no trace of a small transport such as the Dawnsprinter within range. If it was in orbit, considering the number of vessels searching for it, it would most likely been have been located and tractored into the Star Destroyer's docking bay by now. Since we will be expected to proceed to these planetary coordinates I suggest that we follow these instructions to avoid drawing attention to ourselves. We can continue to scan this system and the planet's surface during out approach. It's possible that the vessel crashed on the surface and that we may yet find it. Do you concur agent Talori?" Even as it is speaking, Arley reaches out with its code and begins altering their course to safely carry them up and over the asteroid belt. "If you are unable to locate the Dawnsprinter's distress beacon perhaps you could listen in on imperial communications to determine what they've already discovered in this system and what they yet hope to find." Assuming Jaess has no objections to Arley's plan, the old droid continues to carry them towards the planet's nearest pole. While passing in close proximity to the asteroids the repair droid brings the Deepscan's powerful sensors to bear on the huge ring of boulders, attempting to discover any signs of a significant mass of refined metals that may betray the presence of a hiding vessel. Once past the belt, Arley begins maneuvering the Deepscan into a wide arcing orbit that will allow it to sweep as much of the planet's surface as possible with its improved sensors before hitting the atmosphere. All the while, the patina stained droid sits motionless in the pilot's chair, mentally sifting through sensor readings searching for the telltale signs of the space-warping signature of the Dawnsprinter's hyperdrive engine. Finally, forced to make their atmospheric entry or risk arousing imperial suspicion, Arley reduces their relative speed as the Deepscan dips down and begins to touch the planet's atmosphere. "Please angle the shields for atmospheric entry and brace yourself for turbulence." Jaess sighs with relief as she closes down the comm channel, letting her tenseness fade as she relaxes into her seat. As the LE unit speeks to her she turns her head to listen, nodding slowly as it explains its sensor findings and gives its suggested course of action. "Makes sense," she tells it when asked her opinion. "I wonder how many ships they have on the ground already." She speaks in her own voice again, hoping that no further deception is necessary and mere avoidance will suffice from there on out. Her hand is already in motion when Arley suggests eavesdropping on the Imperials, and she turns the comm station on to recieve transmissions on every Imperial channel the ship can detect, including some that she had used in her time as an ISB operative that might still be in use. Any covert transmissions will probably be encrypted, but there's a chance that the LE unit could figure it out, or at least recoed it for later analysis. When they reach the planet she checks her restraints and angles the shields as requested, protecting the shuttle's hull from the friction of reentry, glad the droid gave her some warning this time. "I'm currently reviewing the scan data taken during our orbital pass. It should reveal the presence of any imperial vessels present there. Hopefully we'll also find some sign of the Dawnsprinter." The patina stained droid pauses momentarily before continuing. "Perhaps you are unaware, but now that we've entered this planet's gravity-well we can no longer enter hyperspace without first returning to orbit. We will not be able to flee should the empire discover that we are impostors and seek to attack us while we are on the planet." Jaess considers this for a moment before nodding asking in her faux-Triss voice, "Hadn't occured to me, but now that you mention it... I know these sensors are built to detect ships, but can they scan for lifeforms too?" Arley continues to regard Jaess with its peripheral sensors for a moment before answering. "Lifeforms specifically? Generally not, no. Our conventional sensors simply detect the presence of objects according to their size and shape. The Deepscan's enhanced sensors are specifically calibrated to extend our range and to identify ships like the Dawnsprinter, distress beacons and the space-warping signature of hyperdrive engines." The Deepscan begins to vibrate and shake slightly as it plunges ever deeper into the planet's thickening atmosphere. The patina stained droid continues to fly towards their assigned landing spot while slowing the craft down and keeping to a high altitude to ensure their sensors can sweep as much of the planet's surface as possible. Without turning, Arley begins speaking again: "We should probably discuss now, while we have the chance, what we will do should we discover that imperial agents have already retrieved the hyperdrive engine." The old repair droid pauses to turn its head to face the female sitting at the communications console. "Since we are grossly outnumbered and outmatched it seems unlikely that we could successfully accomplish our original mandate of retrieving the engine and escaping. We cannot however allow the empire to retain such a superior hyperdrive engine if it does indeed exist for the Rebel Alliance would quickly fall. If such a situation were to develop it would appear that we will have little choice but to attempt to destroy the engine in a surprise attack, most likely sacrificing ourselves by doing so." Arley pauses to gauge Jaess reaction to its fatalistic conclusion. "Now you know why I wanted to know if they could detect us on the ground." She shakes her head, "I doubt I'll have to get myself killed to destroy the hyperdrive. I know how to move about unseen, and I can probably get explosives planted without them detecting me at all, or even better, with a well planned diversion- they won't even be looking for me. Then again, there might be design specs in the ship's computers that we'd need to copy and destroy, and we'd probably want to recover or destroy any storage medium that the Imperials have with them, just in case they found it first. This won't be an easy mission, but the explosives will help lots. I'm hoping we can get the cover of darkness on our side, too." "I doubt I'll have to get myself killed to be successful," she says again, "It's just unlikley that we'll then be able to leave the planet until the Empire clears out and we can get picked up by alliance ships. I have a feeling that our transport will be bombarded from orbit, so we should be thinking of a plan 'Besh'." Jaess sifts through the Imperial communications as she converstates with the droid, trying to sift out any useful bits of information from the general chatter. Eventually, she picks up a signal that is moving towards the planet just ahead of them. The computer adjusts the frequency pickup until the garbled speech becomes coherent. "No way, I want to be the first off the ship. First to set foot on an unknown world and all that." One voice says behind classic Stormtrooper Helmer-induced staticy voice. "You idiot, weren't you listening during the briefing?" Another replies. "Of course I was. All five seconds of it as they rustled us out of our bunks and on to this clunker of a transport." "Well, there is that, but there are already people on the surface. Have been there for nearly thirty years." "Thirty years? Hell, the system was only just discovered!" "By us, but from what the Commander says, a refugee transport probably went down there during the Clone Wars after a botched hyperspace jump." "Well, damn. Ok. First Stormtrooper to set foot on the uncharted world." "Good luck with that, we're in the back." "...Damn. Well, at least I'll get to kill something to vent my frustrations. No survivors, right?" "They want us to leave one or two alive for interrogation, but other than that it's open season on anything that moves, anything that looks capable of movement, and anything that used to be moving but isn't now, just in case it's faking. The not moving thing, that is." "Stop thinking, you're going to hurt yourself." The comm turns back to static. "...Then again, maybe I will get myself killed," she says with a sigh after listening to the Stormtroopers talk. [/QUOTE]
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Star Wars - A New Power Ch. 24 - Departure
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