Star Wars - DRK-1X and its Mistress

[shadowbloodmoon]

[sblock=OOC]Okay, let's see here:

You know, I had in my mind how I was going to describe the text that the droids found, but it seems my fingers refused to type it out...

Hyperdrive: I had the stats down for the ship in a separate file and added what you had wanted before I went over what was possible. Cut and paste doesn't have an autoedit function. The ship has a x1 multiplier and a x4 Backup.

As for upgrading it to x0.75, that's another jump up on the scale and that will cost you 20000 credits and approximately 2 days of work.

Standard Comms go about the distance of ship to planet and in system. The new hyperspace transceiver allows for cross galaxy transmissions, but it isn't completely real time. Very close though.

I thought it was odd that the R4 didn't have Astrogation automatically as well, I didn't see a change for it in any of the errata I found either. *shrug*

Derek's image disguiser, with a little HRD surgery, could be wired into his system, possibly through a small hole drilled into the small of his back. Easily covered by clothing, etc.

The ship's cargo listing does account for the space taken up by the extra stuff. I figured the extra 5 tons I was able to squeeze into the design more than covered for it.

[/sblock]

Dofina looks at DRK-1X quizzically. "I had thought I said I didn't want any more to do with those creatures. I also thought, according to your report, they were all dead." She stops, her nostrils flaring open and closed. 'I'm sorry, X, I've just been stressed, some of these sequences aren't coming out right. I'll see what I can do for you."

Spending the rest of its freetime corellating the data of the writings that it had found and the journal, plus new information from the high powered translation software installed into its chassis, DRK-1X comes up with an interesting discovery.

Though not 100 percent certain, indications point to the writings being an ancient Sith code. Not just any code either, but that of the race of Sith before the dark Jedi corrupted them. The journal seems to indicate that the Venerable was once called the Vossian Waverider and it belonged to a Jedi of millenia past. This particular Jedi was an archaeologist it seems and his last visit was to the worl of Korriban. Korriban is well known to be the last resting place of many Lords of the Sith.

The Jedi seemed to go through many psychological changes during the course of the journal. In the space of months, it appeared that the vaunted clear thought and calm of the Jedi had been replaced with panicked paranoia and confusion. This is very evident during the final entries.

 

[Ambrus]

The black spherical probot pitches forward 30º and sinks down a half meter in a display of shame and subservience. "Statement of apology: I'm sorry Mistress. Report: I had previously reported my experiences which, based on your own conjecture, seemed to point to my having encountered these creatures. Knowing so little about them beyond what you've communicated to me, I remain unable to properly judge the likelihood of their having been terminated by my actions. I yet remain dependant on your personal expertise to guide me in preparing to deal with them. It was also my understanding that you wished to ensure that they were summarily terminated in the event that one or more of them yet survived."

When it finally reaches its conclusions about the Vossian Waverider DRK-1X will report its findings to Dofina at a time that is more relaxed, perhaps while she is enjoying a light meal.[sblock=ooc]Derek will arange the purchase and delivery of the necessary components to finalize the upgrade of the new hyperdrive engine. Those final conversions will likely take place during the last few days on Corellia.

Ideally, Derek would try to avoid drilling peculiar seeming holes in his new sythskin. Perhaps he could simply replace (or upgrade) his existing holorecorder/projector system with the refined components of the image disguiser; which I assume it located in one of his eyes. If that isn't feasible then he'd opt for an existing orifice in which to hide the image disguiser; such as inside his navel.

Like I said, feel free to narrate our departure from Corellia. The droids have pretty much accomplished everything they'd set out to do and they head to next is largely up to Dofina.[/sblock]

 

[shadowbloodmoon]

Mistress Dofina nods to DRK-1X. "The we will have to make sure of their end. There are pheromone sensors in the facility that will detect them, if they haven't been shut down in the destruction of the place. If that's the case, then we will need to modify your sensors to adjust. I'll have to extract the information from the backup data storage first. Or rather, you can simply send it to me and I'll tell you what you need to do to calibrate your sensors. Then we can see if any are left and then eliminate them. Then... we'll have to see what's left of the place before I decide what to do with it."

Later during that same day, Dofina listens with interest to what DRK-1X tells her about the reading of the old Jedi's diary. This seems to picque her interest. Even more so than that of the facility. "I want to go to Korriban. Not now of course, but soon."

The rest of the week on Corellia goes rather uneventfully, with the droids finishing their tasks with the ship and for some, self-modification. Dofina in turn has finished her work on Derek's new synthskin covering and the operation to attach it goes smoothly. With this finished, the group's stop on Corellia was complete. Now to determine Dofina's hiding place.

"I want to go home." This phrase was heard more than once during the discussion, but eventually Dofina decides on a place called Polonia. The droids' preliminary scans determine that this planet is clear of any fawna, but it fully capable of sustaining it. there is plenty of flora however, so Dofina's interest in it is even more questionable, as is the fact that the Galactic Record indicates that Polonia is nothing but lifeless rock.

There are no settlements to speak of, and Dofina is content to set down anywhere on the planet. She seems to know where she is going though and is relieved to be able to breathe real air again. Any questions about what she knows about the place are simply met with, "Trust me."

It is soon determined that Polonia is officially listed as a lifeless rock because the scouts that found it were from the original progenitors of the Trade Federation, the Nemoidian Exploration Guild. They of course had other plans for it, as is evidenced by the local plant life.

Dofina eventually tells DRK-1X that the only people that are still aware of its true nature were on the Separatist High Council, which no longer exists according to what the latest newsfeeds had said. If the droids find out on their outings that someone else knows of it, they have standing orders to "lessen that number by one."

Dofina takes little time to adjust to her new surroundings and prep the droids for their mission to Dantooine.

When the droids return to Dantooine, they find that the facility has indeed been turned upside down. There is much evidence of the Empire having set foot here, especially considering the numerous shredded Clone Soldier armor pieces lying about. Apparently there were more of those creatures here. A thorough scan of the place doesn't turn up the bodies of the creatures however. From the sizable additional roof installed, apparently by concentrated turbolaser fire, there isn't much left here to salvage. There are a few counters with eliminator droids left behind to make sure that any scavengers stay away, but Dofina's droids easily manage to thwart them and DRK-1X even takes one as a pet.

The backup relay station was still operable however and thus had to be destroyed. A well placed thermal detonator took care of that final string.

Dofina was sad to here that the facility had to go, as she had planned on using it as a base when she returned to power, but in the end she agreed that it was for the best so that she wasn't tempted to return to her previous work.

Eventually Dofina went to visit Korriban, the Sith Tombworld. Her inbred love for more power simply couldn't let her pass up such an opportunity and DRK-1X and Derek got a ful exrecise of their capabilities in defending Dofina from harm, as Korriban is certainly not a friendly place. Between encounters with Force spirits, traps of all kinds and even Sith Shadow scavengers, the exploration was not easy. Dofina eventually found what she was looking for though, or rather, it found her.

A man calling himself Davion Murr offered to teach Dofina everything he knew before passing on. While Dofina's droids protested their trust in this man, Dofina could not resist. Sure enough, at the end of two weeks, the man died and Dofina was the heir to his legacy. She had ten years to find a new host for her power, or her spirit would go into oblivion at death and not into the Force. This didn't sit well with DRK-1X.

As time went on, Dofina grew bolder and began making her moves back out into the realm of the underworld, starting with petty things here and there and moving up. Eventually she, or rather Derek, being her facedroid, began a small racketeering operation on Ord Badrill, a spice mining colony and waypoint into some of the major tradelanes. This turned out to be a strategic move as currently the Hutts were at war with the Black Sun syndicate, a group that Dofina and her droids would get to know very well within the next few years.

As Dofina's power base grew, she eventually came out of hiding and made her presence known. At this point, there wasn't much anyone could do about it, and so she solidified her holdings in nearly eleven systems. This number was to rise to twenty in the next five years.

In time, DRK-1X, ever so loyal, had been given its own portion to manage and control, essentially becoming a major part of Dofina's power council. Specifically, DRK-1X was internal security. In all of its years of operation, Dofina's syndicate never had a traitor as far as she knew. The moment X had got wind of anything of that nature, the person would be dead and replaced soon after. This was because of a new thing that DRK-1X and Derek had discovered. How to build more of Derek.

Eventually, over half of Dofina's powerbase were HRD droids. Unfortunately, her largest competitor, the Black Sun, caught wind of this and the war began. To top this off, it was getting close to Dofina's ten year limit and she hadn't found a suitable heir in her eyes. She once tried passing it on to Derek, but this if course didn't work.

This war would be Dofina's undoing. Not having found an heir and refusing to simply give it to anyone, Dofina soon passed on. Her last words to DRK-1X: "I'm sorry." This event would cause a major change in DRK-1X and Derek's programming, as well as that in all of the HRDs that had been programmed at their cores to be subservient to her. As is true of all copies of copies, the HRDs fell to infighting and this spelled the end for Dofina's empire of corruption.

DRK-1X and Derek however did not have the same problem, the two having worked together for the longest and having formed an electron bond, even beyond that of the shared core programming. The two decided to finally do what they set out to do originally: continue attempting to improve their existence as droids and discover everything they could about the galaxy.

Whether DRK-1X and Derek will ever be seen again is left up to the fates and the logic of indisparate energies. What is known is that Guri, the HRD droid sidekick of the current leader of the Black Sun, Prince Xizor, was made on Polonia. And she has a secret subset of loyalty parameters. To the maker...

[sblock=OOC]I am hoping that this isn't too short of a 'future history', and that it is to your liking as a satisfactory ending for our time together. It was actually... difficult... for me to write it all out, but I think it came to a decent end. Obviously I took a few liberties, but alas, there ya be... [/sblock]

 

[Ambrus]

A very interesting read. I found myself cringing at some of the questionable decisions Dofina made (as always) and the path she ended up leading the the trio on. Poor guys; they were stuck being the slaves of a power-hungry sith-bitch. The problem with they're being so good at their jobs simply helped to ensure that Dofina lived much longer than she deserved. C'est la vie. Still, I'll always have a soft spot for the danged broad; it's a love-hate thing.

It's nice to imagine that the droids did eventually outlive their Mistress and subsequently managed to slip away into the background of galactic society to pursue their own interests. With Derek's ability to become anyone and DRK-1X's knack for stealth they could be anywhere by the beginning of the original trilogy. Very nice wrap up. Thank you very very much for the great campaign; it'll easily rank amongst my favorites.

I'm curious, what were your favorite parts of it? Oh, and are there any behind-the-scenes revelations you'd care to share with me? For instance, what was really going on in the cluster with the odd saboteurs and stealth vessels and sensor blind spots and such? Inquiring minds want to know.

I hope you find great personal satisfaction in your new real-life role and with your wife. I wish you all the best. Also, I feel I should offer you the opportunity for me to run you through your own campaign. I've never tried running a PBP game, but if you find yourself with more free time in the future, please just drop me a line and I'll see if we can't work out some means for me to repay your kindness.

 

[shadowbloodmoon]

Thank you so much for the sentiments, they really do mean a lot to me. As far as joining a campaign of yours, I would certainly look forward to something like that. Let me know when you decide to run something, I'll try to free up some time for it.

There were many parts that I truly enjoyed, but I think when DRK-1X finally realized the true purpose of his mission was saving Dofina's bacon and being her conscience was definitely at the top of my list.

Secrets:

The people attacking the cluster at the time were none other than a Jedi known as Shaak Ti and her rogue unit of ARC Troopers. Not all the clones followed Order 66 and some didn't even get the message. This would be her undoing however, since it located Shaak Ti for Vader and she was subsequently found and killed.

The other voice there, as I believe I told you, was a young Tarkin, at the time only a Captain.

The stealth ship from Hurven 7 and that was subsequently seen in the Cluster belonged to a Force user. I hesitate to use the word Jedi because he was never of that order, nor was he a Sith. Let's just say that he was curious about the goings on of the planet because it was his home.

The Facility had long been a project of Darth Plagueis. When Sidious had finally found out about it, he ordered the work of his former master found and annihilated. The creatures that had a familial tie to Dofina had a portion of her DNA as one of their control centers. It kept them 'sentient'.

Dofina's 'daughters' were a pet project of hers, creating bodies to experiment with. Two and Three (Dofina being One) died after too many bad effects. You know the fate of Four. There was never a Five, as Dofina had grown too attached to Four and didn't want to keep creating clones to kill.

On a side note, and you would have eventually discovered this as well, the entire transformation of Dofina into the Sith Sorceress was planned out by Darth Tyrannus before his death. He wanted more than one apprentice and Sideous wouldn't allow it. Sideous knew anyway, but didn't see Dofina as a threat at the time. So, he strung Dofina along and planted many things throughout what he knew would be her eventual path. Then he let her go to let her develop her own strength and power, all the while knowing that Asajj and Greivous would eventually be killed. It was unfortunate he couldn't foresee his own death at the hands of Skywalker. Thus, he couldn't see the fruits of his labors.

If there's anything else you want to know about the 'secrets' of the game, let me know.

Thank you again for the kind words!

 

[Ambrus]

I wouldn't likely run a PBP game unless you specifically asked me to. What I meant is, if in the future you find yourself with some free time and would like me to run something for you then drop me a line, tell me what you have in mind and I'll see what I can do.

I kind of clued in to the fact that Dofina would always require someone to look out for her after 1X found her completely baked in Torrba's throne room. The second and third rescue simply confirmed my worst suspicion; Dofina was her own worst enemy. It doesn't seem that 1X ever succeeded in serving as her conscience though; considering that she plunged ever deeper into the dark side. I'm just lucky that 1X didn't suffer Dark Side issues from the various actions it had to take while in Dofina's service. Are you referring to a particular instance in the campaign?

So it was Shaak Ti's people who staged the slave revolt and planted the explosives on the Freighter? Why did the smaller saboteur kill his companion and then simply leave the body behind? Neither of these guys looked like ARC troopers. How did they manage to commandeer a Star Destroyer to attack the cluster?

So the force user just happened to be parked in the sensor blind spot when DRK-1X and Derek chose to rendez-vous there? What did he think of the whole episode?

Very nice surprise twist for Four's origin. It never occurred to me that she was simply Dofina's clone. Did Four look like her when she transformed into a nemoidian before her death? What was the deal with her disease, implants, nanobots and secretive faction? Did she know that she was Dofina's clone?

 

[shadowbloodmoon]

Perhaps conscience was a poor choice of words. Sounding board would probably have fit better. Mostly in the sense that she wouldn't admit to herself that many of her plans had numerous holes in them and X was there to either plug them or let her know about them.

DRK-1X is a droid of all things and anything it did to serve Dofina was simply programming. Either way, it wouldn't have been able to amass any affinity to Dark Side or for that matter, the Light Side of things. Droids don't have to worry about such messiness...

The Jedi and her troops were already on board the Star Destroyer. It was their ship. They had successfully convinced the Imperial Command structure that Order 66 had been followed and they were simply returning to base.

As for the saboteurs themselves, not everyone working for the Republic military were clones or Jedi. A group called the Arcturian Rangers are a sort of paramilitary group that helps support the Jedi in a sort of bastard child way. The thing is that during this time, there are too many factions within the Rangers and one hand sometimes doesn't know what the other is doing. As was the case with a the dead one and the one that got away.

The Force user is... powerful... he is a remant from a time when there were no Jedi or Sith, there was simply the Force. He belongs to a race of beings who are technically immune to aging, even more so than Yoda was. His unique insight told him where to be at a certain time and he went there. As far as satiating his curiousity, it did. His concerns were only so much as interested in how it would affect his home, once he determined that what was going on in the cluster wouldn't affect his way of life, he went home. There was a point, had any of the droids attempted to make contact, you would have met him.

While much of the DNA used in Dofina's clones was her own, they were mixed with various other strains, including that of Clawdites, as part of the experiments. Being that Nemoidians pretty much look a like anyway, well....

Because of her genetic makeup, Four was very unstable physically. She had to be constantly medicated. One function of the nanobots she had implanted was to make sure that her own body produced what was necessary to keep her body somewhat under control, besides the other function of being able to change her shape at will. Of course, as I explained before, to do what she was made to do, and to draw attention away from her makers, she was given a different default body than that of a Nemoidian. The implants in her besides the nanobots were the control center for the machines. A CPU if you will.

When she was completed, the Separatists pretty much took Four from Dofina and started putting her to use as a spy and such. Well, spies can turn on a moment's notice and when Four finally learned of her origin and some of the other secrets of the true leadership of the CIS at the time, she was least to say, perturbed. Deciding it better to work within the system, she started her own secret rebellion against the Separatists. At first she had considered joining one of the smaller Republic factions, but it occured to her she would be choosing between two evils. Being a true Nemoidian underneath all her many shapes, she chose herself over all.

if I should find myself some extra time, I'd like to be run through something. It's rare get to be on the player's side of things...