Star Wars - DRK-1X and its Mistress

[shadowbloodmoon]

It take's some time for Four to respond, which gives X plenty of time to study what the two men are up to. The transmitters look to be pre-coded, as the taller man is simply installing them in the conduits. This man seems to know exactly what he is doing as it appears that each conduit he has attached explosives to leads to key parts of the ship's control systems. The order he does it appears to be as such: communications, navigational sensors, navigational control, environmental control systems, safety lockdown protocol system, engine core temperature control system. Four finally responds.

"No hands. Getting to mirror. Take care of cleaning it."

***
The two large cruisers, as that is what they appear to be more the size of than the destroyer classification, wait motionlessly. Even chatter between the two ships is kept to a minimal operational level, with only the exchanging of coordinates and orbital drift information occuring. Derek's curiousity tells him that could attempt to monitor internal comms but he'd have to get closer. Much closer.

[sblock]Heh. Knowing me, I more than likely misused azimuth as well.

Wait until X finds out what these two are really up to... [/sblock]

 

[Ambrus]

DRK-1X, confused by Four's cryptic response, nonetheless understands that it itself will have to deal with the sabotage alone. The probot briefly considers taking offensive action against the pair but wisely decides to wait; an armed conflict would pose a grave risk to itself as well as to the delicate equipment inside the control hub. The fact that the saboteurs are installing remote transmitters and receivers lead 1X to conclude that they'll eventually seek to leave the freighter once their work is complete. The diminutive probot would then be free to disarm the explosives and remove the other installed devices before preceding with its mission.

******

...drifting falling,
floating weightless,
calling calling home... [sblock=OOC]Sorry, I was listening to Major Tom earlier and Derek's current situation reminded me of it.

Uh, are the two cruisers star destroyers or not? Either way Derek is not going to move towards them, or anywhere else until something changes.

I have no idea what Four just said; she found a mirror she wants to clean or 1X has to clean up the saboteurs?!? Either way 1X will have to slap her around later from trying to improvise code words. The chicken rides the bus at midnight indeed. :\

So do the two saboteurs appear armed? Does 1X have what it takes to safely remove the technology the pair have installed simply with what's it's observed and its knowledge (technology) skill or will it need to reprogram itself with some disable device ranks first? I mean, do the detonators appear to have fail-safes set to explode if tampered with or is simply unpluging all this stuff sufficient?[/sblock]

 

[shadowbloodmoon]

X watches to two men for a while. After a few more minutes of tampering, they finish up and start replacing panels. When they complete that, they pull out a set of guard uniforms from the bag and begin changing their clothing.

***
Derek watches the two ships for awhile, as it seems he has not much else to do but hope... wait. Could droids hope? He would have to ponder that later. He would prefer if his companions below did well so the mission went smoothly. While waiting, his sensors pick up another ship hypering in. It is a smaller vessel, but at this range it's difficult to tell its configuration. It is currently on the opposite side of the planet from the two Imperial ships and headed right for the atmosphere.

[sblock=OOC]No worries, it could have been a worse song... Of course now that one is stuck in my head and I will have to find the CD I have it on so I can listen to it and thus remove it from my head.

They are star destroyers, I was just implying that for being called destroyers, they are actually much bigger, as 'normal' Republic destroyers have been in the 400-500 meter range whereas Victory II's are about 900 meters long. It's more of a foreshadowing of things to come. The Imperial and Imperator class are in the 1600 meter range and the Executor class is 5000 meters. Not to mention the Sovereign and Eclipse, both nearing 17000 meters or so.

Yeah, I figured Four's response would throw you a little. She figured that X would be able to figure it out. I intend for her to explain it later though.

As far as disabling the explosives go, X has seen the man put them inside the panels. X knows that normally the fail safes are there to prevent a blast as these are industrial explosives and need a code transmitted to them in order to go off. Otherwise, they remain inert. Thus, the installed tramsitter/ receivers. and no, the two do not appear armed at all.

Also, in case you miss the OOC post, I'll be out of town next week. I'll try to get one more post up tomorrow before leaving. [/sblock]

 

[Ambrus]

DRK-1X selects a clear holo-image of the two saboteurs in their new clothes and then transmits it to Four so she'll know who to look out for. "Saboteurs. View image on pad." The probot continues to watch and wait from its concealed position.

******

Derek attempts to track the small vessel's path through the planet's atmosphere, curious to see if it'll approach the mining facility.[sblock=OOC]A week without game?!? But no game and no fun make Ambrus something something...

Four seems to have developed this annoying habit of expecting 1X to guess the most abstract of information without any clues. 1X suggested the use of code-words to confound eavesdroppers, not each other. Is Four intended to come off seeming like a ditsy NPC?

I hope you have fun during your vacation. Are you traveling anywhere?[/sblock]

 

[shadowbloodmoon]

Soon, the two men finish changing their clothing. Now, appearing as prison guards, they make their way towards where X is hiding. They are apparently ready to head out. As they reach the tiny droid's position, the thin man stops and looks around. The larger man, completely oblivious, is shocked when the other man's arms reach up to strangle him. In a few short seconds, the larger saboteur is laid out near X's hiding place. The smaller man then vanishes into the access tubes.

Not long after, Four reports in. "Face in. All clear. I'll keep an eye out for them. Eyes clear?"

***

Resetting his scanners to focus on the new vessel, Derek watches its electronic trail pierce the planet's atmosphere and descend to the surface. Sure enough, its trajectory seems to indicate that it is indeed headed for the mining facility. In fact, it doesn't seem to be making any attempt at hiding that truth.

[sblock=OOC]Awww.. we don't need a cranky Ambrus now...

No, Four is meant to be intelligent and methodical. Which means she assumes a lot, and has difficulty thinking outside the box.

I did have a lot of fun. Wu Shu camps are always great ways to remind me that as much shape as I think I'm in, I still have some work to do. I only had to travel to Hastings which is an hour's drive from here. Eventually though, I'll have to make the trip to China itself for the rest of it...
[/sblock]

 

[Ambrus]

DRK-1X records the unexpected betrayal and cold blooded murder from its concealed vantage point. As it turns to watch the disguised murderer make his escape the probot systematically purges all but a few seconds of key footage from its limited holo-buffer. For future reference it keeps an image of the two men installing the explosives, the pair changing into their disguises and the murder itself. When satisfied that the remaining saboteur has in fact left the hub 1X floats over to the body of his partner to conduct a quick scan to confirm that he is in fact dead. The probot remains mindful that although alone, it yet remains in a foreign and possibly dangerous environment and so continues to periodically scan the room and its access points in case the saboteur or some other imperial agent should approach (Listen +9, Spot +13, taking 10).

The diminutive probot then deploys its twin arms from within its chassis and traces a quick arc through the compartment to the wall panels the two saboteurs had just finished replacing. DRK-1X pries the panels off one by one and gently deposits each onto the deck below. The probot then rises back up and slowly pans the assembly behind the panels, surveying the various components the saboteurs had just finished installing. Without hesitation, 1X then moves from one permacrete detonator to the next, manually disconnecting each one from the receivers which might deliver the trigger signal. The diminutive probot them carefully removes each of the six explosive charges and moves to set them down gently onto the deck below in a small pile.

Thinking itself safe from explosive destruction for the moment, 1X examines the various data recorders and receiver/transmitter components as well as the systems they've been connected to in an attempt to determine what the saboteurs might have been attempting to accomplish with the devices' installation (Search +10, Knowledge (technology) +6, taking 20). Since the saboteur or his cohorts would be expecting to receive data transmission from the hub DRK-1X judges it wise to leave the components in place for the time being, less the saboteur become aware that his handywork had been sabotaged in turn. The probot does however note the frequencies that the receivers and transmitters are set to and begins monitoring those frequencies with its comlink so as to directly monitor the data exchange.

DRK-1X pauses in its work to respond once it receives Four's transmission. "Eyes blue. Ears yellow. The small man killed the large man. Remains in aft hub. Eyes proceeding as planned."

Assuming all has gone as planned until this point, DRK-1X will proceed to jack itself into an available computer port to cautiously begin slicing into the freighter's computer. The probot's first goal is to attempt and determine the vessel's operational status, the status of the ore loading procedure and the estimated time to departure. It'll then attempt to tap into the freighter's communications system to try and determine the result of the slave revolt as well as the purpose of the two star destroyers in orbit (Computer Use +14).[sblock=OOC]Glad to hear you had a good time on your vacation, and even more glad to see that you're back! Is a trip to China actually in your near future? I'd love to visit the orient.

I'd say Four's plan to try cutting into the superstructure of a moving freighter undetected would count as 'thinking outside the box'. It does make me question her supposed intelligence though.

Great, now 1X has got to deal with a dead body. If it'd wanted to leave dead bodies piling up in here it would just have shot the two saboteurs in the first place. Damn saboteurs, so messy. No consideration for others.

I'm not clear on where the saboteur went; did he squeeze out through one of the vent ducts to the outside or simply walk along the ship's spine along the interior companionway?

I'm curious to know if 1X could somehow make use of the explosives itself. Could 1X simply reprogram the various receivers to operate with a different frequency and then reconnect them to the charges to make its own set of remotely activated explosive charges? If so, what might be the range and damage of one of the charges, or all of them put together? BTW, isn't permacrete a construction material in the SW universe? Shouldn't the explosive be made of detonite or something else? [/sblock]

 

[shadowbloodmoon]

X watches as the thin killer disappears into the tiny accessway, presumably on his way out. Looking back to the body on the floor, it is easy to tell that the man is quite dead. Not only is his body temperature slowly cooling, but his throat has been crushed. It is here that X realizes that the battle outside must be over as it no longer hears the sounds of blaster fire. Without further checking, it would be difficult to tell who had won.

Without much hesitation, X then sets about removing the explosives from the conduits. The layout and placement of these and the data recorders seem to indicate that the goal was to disable communications and navigation after taking signals from these and sending them to another location. It is not difficult to key X's receivers into this data.

As X taps into the ship's systems, it picks up on the internal and outgoing communications. For the most part, discussions of procedure seem to occupy the waves, but an oddly familiar male voice can be heard talking to someone else.

"Roger, Arrester. We'll be leaving orbit in approximately two hours. I under... yes... understoo...yes, sir." Four is obviously not liking her temporary job.

The ship's ground procedures are once again underway, as the last of the ore begins to get loaded, air gets recycled and fuel tanks are replenished. It is almost as if the fight below never happened. Only a few mentions of clean up operations underway are any indication of it occuring.


[sblock]A trip to China is actually the far future. I figure if I'm to do that, I'm going to go all out and go to Japan as well. Make a whole thing out of it. That and see if I can sneak a peak at Vladivostok.

Well, you know saboteurs.. can't trust them as far as you can throw them... Speaking of, the thinner one has started squeezing down the same access tunnels that X first floated through. Now if only X can figure out why the thin man left the body there...

Permacrete is the stuff that most buildings and other fixtures are made of in Star Wars. Permacrete detonators are meant to remove such structures quickly and efficiently. Which is to say a starship doesn't have a chance of surviving such a blast from the inside. These are the equivalent of a microfusion bomb without the radiation. Of course, they can also be used for mining, thus the access to them.

As far as X using them, each detonation receiver is set to a specific frequency which is keyed to a transmitter set that is elsewhere. X would have to take apart the receiver and rewire it for the new frequency that X wants to set. So in a sense, yes it is possible but time consuming. As far as damage, etc. Consider these what we call plot devices. They do what is necessary. Nothing more, nothing less. But if you're really wanting stats, take a look at the assault concussion launchers that Republic Assault ships carry. Double it. That should tell you something

I am extremely tired as I type, so please forgive grammar and spelling errors, if any. Subconscious has begun to take over.
[/sblock]

 

[Ambrus]

[sblock=OOC]If the permacrete detonators are so powerful why did the saboteurs bother installing more than one, or placing them on the various sub-systems, or even bother installing them behind the panels? It sounds like a single charge would have been sufficient to obliterate the entire hub along with all of its sub-systems and most likely the entire freighter with it. It seems like an over-complicated and ultimately pointless example of overkill.

If 1X were to use the charges itself it'd have to be able to estimate a minimum safe distance for it from the point of detonation; could you at least ballpark the yield of one of these things for me?

So how is the hub laid out? How many exits are there? Are there any hatches or doorways that cut off this part of the ship from the engine room in the aft or the bridge in the front? Are the vents going to remain open once the ship lifts off or is this area going to be sealed with its own atmosphere? Is there artificial gravity along the spine of the ship? Is there somewhere in the hub where 1X could stash the body to avoid crew members from tripping across it if they walk through the hub on the way to the engine section? Could it be stuffed behind the panels? If not, would it be possible to do so if the body were dismembered first?[/sblock]The spherical black droid's extended scomplink probe spins slowly with little more than a mechanical whir. As it does so, DRK-1X's consciousness begins to cautiously penetrate deeper into the freighter's onboard computer network. Remaining weary of its slicing tripping any alarms or drawing unwanted attention, the probot minds its Code carefully, attempting to navigate its way deftly through the sub-systems of the network.

After establishing the freighter's operational status DRK-1X's turns its attention to attempting to locate Four's computer console and to create an isolated and protected network connection through which the two of them could communicate without continuing to transmit com-signals. Remaining cautious however, DRK-1X first attempts to access a visual and auditory pickup in the vicinity of the woman's console so that it can make certain she's not being observed directly before attempting to contact Four. When satisfied that it's precautions are adequate and that Four is clear DRK-1X sends a simple text message to appear at the bottom of Four's screen in small type: "Violet?"

Continuing its subversion of the freighter's computer core, DRK-1X cautiously attempts to next access the ship's navigational logs, external sensor array and communications systems. The probot would need to control, at least in part, all three to prepare and transmit a course to Derek as well as to mask the fighter's presence while it would be trailing the freighter. While accessing the logs and com-systems 1X attempts to determine the intended purpose of the two Star Destroyers and whether or not they would be escorting the freighter once it reached orbit. If they did escort the freighter then much of the probot's preparations could be discarded as Derek could be expected to abort his part of the mission. Without the Ari's Sorrow following them, 1X would be required to find and secure an alternate means of escape from the cluster for itself, Dofina and Four.

 

[shadowbloodmoon]

[sblock=OOC]

If the permacrete detonators are so powerful why did the saboteurs bother installing more than one, or placing them on the various sub-systems, or even bother installing them behind the panels?

That's a very good question isn't it?

A single block would be more than enough to blow apart this part of the ship. If detonated in flat open ground, you're talking a minimum safe distance of 100 meters. I'm not sure how familiar you are with modern weaponry, but if you can get a picture of a US Mk 84 2000 lb GPHE bomb going off, you'll get the idea.

From the way the hub is built, X can determine a general layout. Back the way you came, there are two vents that lead to either side of the ship, both that exit to the outside. Past that, working your way forward, would be the hatch that leads to the spine of the ship, the part that does not have atmosphere, but does contain the manual (as opposed to the automatic ones that are in the ship) controls for each locking clamp that holds the storage tank in place. Going back towards the hub, past that leads to the computer core of the ship and then the main engineering section and hyperdrive systems. Then there are the engines themselves.

There are, according to the simple layout stored in the computer, more access points that lead both from the computer core and engineering section to exits towards the bottom of the ship.

As far as hiding the large body, you would have to cut it up to hide it in the immediate vicinity, however a quick search might turn up a storage closet somewhere....

All external access ports will close when the ship is finally prepared for lift off. Gravity only exists in two places, from the hub to the engines and the bridge section. The spine is zero-G and has no atmosphere. This of course will not hinder X.
[/sblock]

X navigates the computer's simple architecture and notes that many of the minor subsystems haven't been activated as of yet, including visual recording of the ship's interior. Activating it may alert the other users that are currently running tests on the systems before liftoff. So far, X has eluded their notice.

However, audial sensors are active as well as intraship communications. Extrapolating from available data, X determines that Four is on the bridge. Judging from *his* conversation, *he* is in the communications and sensors control console. This position would allow Four to view messages in relative discreetness.

It takes her a moment, but she does eventually respond in type. "All clear, systems nominal."

It isn't difficult for X to slave control to and set for itself an access node that only X can use for its needs in the system. A back door key, if you will. It seems to X that this system is definately not state of the art. It appears almost... obsolete.

While X is working, its monitoring of the ship's communications confirms that the two Star Destroyers are indeed a part of this flight. They are to provide overwatch as the ship makes its jumps into the cluster. The apparent captain of the freighter has other ideas however.

"Perhaps you didn't hear me. I don't think it necessary for a civilian freighter to be escorted by military ships. I'm just making another drop, nothing more, nothing less."

"I heard you fine. This is an order from the Emperor himself. You will obey it."

"He is not my Emperor. I didn't vote him in."

"In time, you will understand otherwise."

"Whatever you say. I thought you were just here to check the merchandise, not babysit."

"We are here under order of the Emperor. You need know nothing further."

"Fine. Nerevar out."

You hear the captain mutter something about 'fascist nerfherders' before he disconnects.

Then X hears something in its audial sensors. Someone is coming from the direction of the computer core.

 

[Ambrus]

[sblock=OOC]I can't say I'm very familiar with modern weaponry beyond being able to name a few kinds of explosives.

Does the ship layout in the freighter's computer show the location of any appropriately sized storage compartment in the aft section? If not, could 1X avoid spilling blood by cauterizing the cuts as it makes them with its lightsaber blade? Are all lightsaber cuts automatically clean ones?

I'm not clear on whether the Destroyers are intending to only escort the freighter to its jump point or whether they'll follow it through hyperspace as well. If it's the former would it be possible for Derek, if he were made aware of the freighter's intended flight plan through hyperspace, to execute his own jump from a different starting location so that the Ari's Sorrow could intercept the freighter in hyperspace once it was en-route to the cluster?[/sblock]Hearing the sounds of approach, DRK-1X quickly withdraws its Code out of the computer network while leaving its virtual access node in place. The probot then withdraws, folds and retracts its scomplink probe into its chassis while simultaneously extending its mini blaster cannon and a single manipulator arm. Wheeling about, 1X traces a quick arc through the air to hide itself close by the aft hatchway near where the person would emerge.

While it waits for the unknown individual to enter the hub, the spherical black probe droid prepares to emit a small electromagnetic field through its integrated comlink to jam any transmissions the individual may attempt to make once he, she or it enters the room and spots the body lying on the floor and the wall panels in disarray.