Star Wars - DRK-1X and its Mistress

[shadowbloodmoon]

[sblock=OOC]In a way, you are on their team. Enemy of my enemy... and all that. Assuming that is what happened. Besides, you should be very proud. Can you imagine what would have happened if they did detect Derek in the middle of that fight?

These Death Stars are all protoype models. In the movies and book history, there are at least six in existence, if not more. The most well known are the two in the movies, obviously. Three if you count the one that the Seps were planning to build, but saying any more would give away the rest of the story that I intend to show through the game. Darksaber, from the book of the same name, was a model that was found and almost completed by a Hutt. You can only imagine what he planned to do with it. There will also be plans to create two around Coruscant as defense platforms, but since we probably won't be playing that far in the future, I can tell you about it.

Even farther in the future, about 30 or so years from the current timeline, the Imperial Remnant gets a hold of the plans to build more of them, of course. The resurrected Emperor has better plans and cooler toys, so instead they use World Devastators, Galaxy Guns and Soveriegn class Star Destroyers, each with their own Superlaser. Oh and let's not forget the Sun Crusher. But anyway, that's probably more than you wanted to know at the moment...[/sblock]

Derek floats away with the rest of the debris, like so much flotsam on a planet's ocean. The communications in the area is chaotic, unfocused and extremely difficult to filter. Most of it is taken up by security channels ordering teams and crews to different parts of the complex to perform sweeps and checks. Many of the work crews are being told to stop working until they are sure that whatever caused this mess has been taken care of. Derek knows that X will have a difficult time.

***
The complex is immense. If the three partial spheres weren't big enough, this station, connected to all three constructs by various access tubes and impossibly large scaffolding, is immeasurably huge. If DRK-1X were to hazard an estimate, as droids do not guess, it would calculate the entire setup as being near 500km in diameter. Near the size of a moon or planetoid.

At first, it appears only guarded by the sensor nets and their control ships, but as the freighter gets closer, X can see that, hidden in the scaffolding and support beams, are numerous larger ships, mostly Star Destroyers. A rough count gives X approximately fifty of these ships, altogether a mixture of Aggressor, Verdant and the new Victory classes. One in particular stands out to the small probot though. A Victory- class ship that has similar markings to one that it has seen footage of before.

The initial scans of the docking bay where the freighter is ordered to port at show that it is an open space facility. There seem to be smaller tug-type ships ready to disengage the freighter's main cargo hold from the ship itself, once the sweep is complete.

A transfer tube has already started extending from the complex. It leads into one of the various receiving bays that dot the facility. Deciding that the only way to get into that facility was the hard way, DRK-1X grabs a couple of extra pieces of equipment before finishing its task of removing all traces of its work on board. X notes that Four does not reply to its message.

Two small magnetic clamps will allow the droid to traverse the hull of the ship and then the underside of the transfer tube. X's black stealth shell will make it easily missed against the blackness of space. Soon, the probot reaches the facility structure itself.

Humans, and most other sentient aliens, require oxygen to breathe. On order to alleviate this problem in airless space, they have invented air recyclers to allow them to breathe in such a hostile environment. One side effect of this technology is that every so often, they have to vent poisonous fumes out into open space so that they do not get recycled into the facility's atmosphere. This process would require vents that lead to the outside of the enclosed complex. Anyone attempting to enter through them would die of poisoning. X has no such problems.

While the droid has its own universal cutting tool installed, using it would definately draw attention that it does not want. Instead, X brought along something a lot less conspicuous, a hydrospanner. It does wonders for removing bolts holding down unwanted vent filters.

With this in mind, X makes its way into the main facility. In time, the vent tubes lead the probot to the air scrubbers. X's small chassis is difficult to maneuver through all the machinery, but eventually, a few close calls later, X has managed to be inside the structure of the complex and is now in a huge room filled with giant machines that control the air recycling system of at least one large part of this facility. There are tiered walkways, at least five stories in both directions, with intervals every few meters. On these walkways are technicians and patrolling soldiers. The soldiers are wearing bone white clone armor.

X is in the center of this place, hiding underneath a large extension of one of these machines. There is a walkway that allows it use its repulsor engines to move, but at the moment, it is occupied by four technicians, all huddled around a monitor of sorts.

[sblock=OOC]I'm hoping I gave enough of a description to capture the enormity of the room that X is in. Think of the Ep. IV when ObiWan is taking the tractor beams offline in the Death Star. Something like that, but bigger. Much bigger. [/sblock]

 

[Ambrus]

[sblock=OOC]I'm so happy 1X is finally here; I've been anticipating being inside the cluster for months now.

The enemies of my enemies planted explosives on my ship... If it's all the same to you, for the moment at least, DRK-1X is going to stick with those people it knows it can trust; itself and its other self. Speaking of the explosives aboard the freighter; did 1X ever intercept the signal which would have remotely detonated the planted explosives, perhaps during the fight?

Don't worry, I'm getting an adequate mental image of the sheer immensity of the complex let alone this room. I'm used to the Star Wars universe in which everything is built on a titanic scale. I feel sort of like R2-D2 heading off by itself into the planet spanning desert of Tatooine in search a single old man. I'm not sure which is worse though; a planet sized desert with jawas or a giant three dimensional maze the size of Great Britain swarming with stormtroopers. You've got to hand it to us small droids with heuristic processors though; we never despair or give up no matter how seemingly impossible the task may be! I am a little unclear however on the general shape of the facility though. Are the three spheres arranged in a straight line with two connecting stations or clustered in a triangle with a massive central hub?

BTW, my intention for Derek is to have him monitor the comings and goings of the various ships moving throughout the cluster. He'll be trying to record and analyze the various imperial identification transponder signals each ship is transmitting. I assume the facility incorporates some form of space traffic control to direct all the ships moving around it. My idea was that Derek could reprogram the Ari's Sorrow's transponder to transmit various copied signals when it eventually powers up and starts fliying around the place. By picking appropriate ships, say a handful of small personnel transport shuttles, and tracking their movements he'd know which were currently flying about and which were off the grid because they were currently docked inside a larger ship or landing bay. He'd particularly take note of any small ships he detects that are similar in configuration to a Kimogila Hutt heavy fighter, if there happen to be any in the cluster. He could then fake an absent ship's transponder signal to appear as that ship in case the Sorrow were picked up on flight controls' sensors. Sound feasible?

Similarly Derek also intends to monitor and learn some of the various protocols and codes that pilots and flight control officers use with each other in case someone tries to contact him. He's got little else to do for awhile. Hell, if he has enough time to analyze and learn all this stuff he might even get confidant enough to try and file an official flight plan before heading off to rendez-vous with 1X and Dofina. That'd be sweet! [/sblock]Crawling hand-span by hand-span along the exterior of the freighter, transfer tube and then docking facility hull all in the cold vacuum of space had been a slow time-consuming endeavour. DRK-1X wasn't built for zero-g environments; its repulsorlift engine needed a gravity field against which to repulse. No, this trip was accomplished with far simpler technology; a pair of small hand held magnets used to cling precariously to the metallic hulls of the freighter and docking station. Mindful of the amount of extra mass it was hauling and have to support once it was safely back inside a gravity field, the diminutive probe droid had jettisoned the saboteurs' various troublesome data slicing modules into open space after shutting them off. The magnets, hydrospanner and bombs it kept in its pack, ready for later. DRK-1X's goal was to avoid leaving a trail behind it that imperial investigators could follow. Hopefully its stay inside the freighter had been sufficiently obfuscated before it had left.

Having made its way through the air purification machinery from the inside DRK-1X's emotive node was now registering both pleasure and relief but also trepidation at the sight of armed stormtroopers. The probot knew first hand that their helmets contained sensor systems which made each of them more difficult to sneak past. Still, its chassis plating had been designed to absorb the sensor signals emitted by such sensors. Its Code is what would make the difference and keep it safe from detection while it searched for Dofina. Luckily the technicians seemed rather oblivious as they were all focused on their work. Trusting in its abilities, DRK-1X sets out across the walkway, moving cautiously through the shadows of whatever consoles and jutting machinery or conduits available (Hide +24, Move Silently +18, taking 10).[sblock=OOC]I assume the other end of the walkway leads to a doorway of some sort? Depending on available cover, DRK-1X will either hide and wait for someone else to open the door and then slip through behind them, or try opening it itself if it is in an exposed position. 1X doesn't have much of a clue where it is going, except in the general sense of 'away' from any large rooms full of personnel. In general it wants to try and find a relatively isolated computer access port in a low traffic area. If it finds any it might move out of the main corridors and enter a maintenance crawlspace or ventilation shaft to avoid the station's personnel altogether. It'd first scan it (Search +10, taking 20) to try and identify and circumvent any security measures in place though. If such a crawlspace led to a computer access port or data conduit which it could jury rig to its scomplink probe that'd be ideal.[/sblock]

 

[shadowbloodmoon]

[sblock=OOC]In a manner of speaking yes, you did intercept the signal. Long before it was even sent. After you jammed and removed the transmitters, no other signals came through that matched them.

The facility is placed in the middle so that the three spheres are on the end of spokes:

  O-----O
  |\   /|
  | [ ] |
  |/   \|
  O-----

The lines represent the various tunnels and other infrastructure that make up the construction scaffolding. Incidentally, the freighter is parked nearest the one on the lower left. The most completed is on the upper right.

[/sblock]

Derek waits in silence as he goes through the various communications channels, attempting to figure out the protocol of the Imperial flight control system. From what he gathers, most of it is automated, as the sheer amount of personnel needed to keep this vast number of ships under control is staggering. There appears to be some personnel monitoring for discrepencies though, especially during the current security alert.

For the most part, they are following standard Imperial Military protocol which, not surprisingly, is similar to the Republic's way of doing things, something which Derek is quite familiar with, due to X's memories.

As Derek is monitoring the channels, he notices that there seems to be a block of time between ships coming into the sensor net, which is currently undergoing emergency repair, and being picked up by the complex's control system. Though the time difference is less than a few seconds, by simple calculation, that means a distance of nearly five kilometers. Plenty of space to hide things in, a sort of dead zone surrounding the place. The question is, do the Imperials know about it?

Of all the ships coming and going, Derek has yet to find one that matches the Ari. All the fighters are Imperial military V-Wings and ARC-170s, neither of which look anywhere near Derek's ship. Except maybe really far away. All the other ships are far too large to match. Some of the smaller crew shuttles compare in size, but not in look or, most importantly, sensor signature.

For the moment, Derek will have to keep looking.

***

X glides slowly along the platformed walkway, attempting to remain under cover of machinery and consoles. It is an extremely difficult task, made so by the lighting and the sheer amount of personnel in the area.

As X nears the four technicians around the console, its sensors overhear them talking quietly amongst themselves.

"Do you think they know?"
"Know what?"
"You know, about our people?"
"I doubt it. Besides, any minute now, they'll be busting down this place and we'll be home free. All we have to do is wait for our moment..."
"Shhh. One of them is coming."


The technician points to a trooper that has come down a ramp onto this walkway. X manages to hide itself behind a ventilation tube as he passes. X doesn't get to hear the rest of the conversation as it has more important matters to attend to.

After cautiously making its way across the catwalk, the small droid sees that the only way to get to the access door on the other side is to make itself visible for the short moment it will take to get to the door and order it open. Even after watching as it made progress, no one has come through the door. Its telescopic sensors see that it is marked Maintenance, but it also has High Voltage and Poisonous Fumes warnings as well.

As perfect as the place to be for hiding a spy droid, getting there was a problem. Unfortunately for X, sometimes even its near perfect calculation abilities can not estimate every possibility.

As X gets up to the door, a humanoid in HazMat armor comes out. "You there! What are doing out here? You're supposed to be upstairs with the rest of your unit. Get moving!"

 

[Ambrus]

[sblock=OOC]Thanks for the simple diagram Shadow; a picture is indeed worth a thousand words. Could you possibly repost it with the segment containing docking station 27 highlighted so I have a better idea where 1X is?

Heh. I was curious to see what type of droids they had aboard this place. I'd barely dared to hope they might have probe droids that 1X could impersonate though. I'm guessing that they're used for surveillance and security. Still, until it's got a better idea of how to convincingly impersonate one 1X will try to keep hidden while moving about, assuming it can get away from this guy and any other personnel without arousing suspicion. Since there's no "stairs" to go up on the walkway I'm assuming that the hazmat trooper was indicating the doorway he came out of as 1X's supposed path.[/sblock]Assuming that the hazmat trooper had mistaken him for one of the station's probe droids, and being aware that most such droids aren't equipped with vocabulators, DRK-1X chirps a simple affirmative response in binary. The small spherical droid then quickly floats past the trooper through the doorway while scanning the space beyond for an obvious means to go "upstairs". As it does so 1X rotates one of its sensors pods to watch behind it to see if the door closes with the trooper safely out of sight before resuming its covert mission. Otherwise it continues its charade and continues to follow the man's last order as it continues "upstairs".

 

[shadowbloodmoon]

[sblock=ooc] Docking Bay 27 is denoted by the asterisk:

 O-----O
 |\   /|
 | [ ] |
*|/   \|
 O-----

Actually he was referring to the ramp that the first soldier came down.... There are ramps that lead up to other levels of the walkway. I apologize if I didn't spell that part out clearly enough. Last couple of days have been... difficult.

[/sblock]

The man shakes his enshelled head as he watches DRK-1X depart. He didn't watch long, as it appeared he had something more important to take care of. Past the door where he had come out, X saw that it led to a long passageway full of conduits and tubing. As the door closes, another door farther down opens and X's sensors can detect a slight change in the atmosphere of the chamber. It would appear that this is some sort of cleansing area that acts as a filter between whatever lies beyond the next door and the rest of the station.

As you near the newly opened door, you can hear the telltale hum of a tiny repulsordrive, and it is not your own.

 

[Ambrus]

[sblock=OOC]I had noted your mention of the ramp but since there didn't appear to be a unit of probe droids in sight anywhere near the top of the room I assumed the trooper was referring to some other "upstairs". Still, he didn't appear bothered by 1X moving past him into the service corridor. *shrug* DRK-1X is improvising until it can find a computer port to learn something about the layout of the place.

Sorry to hear you've been having some trouble again lately. Hope it clears up soon. [/sblock]DRK-1X, fearing that someone or something not as easily duped as the trooper was about to come through the open door, quickly ducks behind one of the conduits jutting from the wall to hide (Hide +24, Move Silently +18, taking 10). The diminutive probe droid focuses its audio sensors in an attempt to try and discern what's going on in the room beyond (Listen +9).

After a few moments, if nothing emerges from the doorway, DRK-1X will slowly move up to float over the doorway and carefully turn and lower its chassis momentarily so as to take a quick peek inside the room while only exposing a single of its tiny external sensor pods for a moment; the purpose for which they were originally designed (Spot +13).

 

[shadowbloodmoon]

[sblock=OOC]Well, he didn't mind more from the fact that he had better things to do. I just wanted to scare you a little... I must admit, I had to laugh at the visual of the little periscope peering around the corner of this doorway. [/sblock]

X hides under one of the conduits and, as the sound goes past the doorway, it spots its twin. Another droid just like X hovers past and continues on. If it had detected DRK-1X, it made no indication of it. A short while later, it is gone.

X peers around the corner with its extended visual pod, scanning for what lies ahead of it. You first see your carbon copy enter a turbolift with two technicians, as you turn to scan the rest of the room, you see that you are near another catwalk, but this room only appears to have two floors: the one you are on and the one below. In the center of the room below is what appears to be some sort of generator, judging from the amount of heat energy coming off of it.

Around the generator are numerous technicians, all wearing a suit similar to the man you saw before. They are each monitoring one console or another. There are also a couple of power droids on that level too.

You see no one else on the catwalk level, however there are two ramps that lead down to the center room, one on this side and one on the other. You also see two exits at that level, plus the turbolifts on this level.

 

[Ambrus]

OOC: Comparing a sensor pod with a periscope may seem funny but it is an apt comparison since both serve the same purpose; the means to observe something while remaining safely concealed.

I'll need some clarifications to continue I'm afraid. What, if anything, visually distinguishes 1X from the other probe droid it saw? Were there any signs that the other probot had been modified? Was it wearing a restraining bolt?

Does the corridor 1X is in continue past or dead end at the doorway? If it goes elsewhere 1X will continue on with its search for an isolated computer access port as previously described; feel free to narrate it if that's the case. Slicing in and learning something useful about this place is all that really matters to 1X at this point. Wandering around and exploring won't really accomplish much I imagine. The station is hundreds of kilometers across AND three dimensional; stumbling across Dofina would have to be a miracle.

If the doorway is the only path open to it then 1X will be forced to head inside. Why did the doorway open while 1X and the trooper were at the other end of the hall if no one came through it? Is there any clue why it's remained open all this time? Does the door-frame have a computer access port on either side of it? Is there any indication of whether the turbolifts (how many are there up here?) require a pass code to operate or what the other floors they lead to might house? Are there any ventilation or maintenance shafts grates within the corridor or in the room?

I hope navigating through the station won't be this touch and go the whole way; Dofina could be hundreds of kilometers of corridors away. Reaching her could take weeks at this rate!

 

[shadowbloodmoon]

[sblock=OOC]Firstly, let me apologize for the timing. This last week has been trying. I'm not sure if you own your own home, but I do. And I've discovered that even with all the luxuries thereof (no landlord, etc.), when something goes wrong with it, it's all on you. And when one thing goes wrong, so does everything else. I'm sure you don't want to hear the whole story, but it amounts to me having to spend nearly $5000 just to get the electricity working right in this place. Unfortunately, I don't have that just laying around. That combined with other stresses relating to it have caused me to have not much time, or, to be honest, the desire to do much of anything else. I'm hoping that when this week ends, it will all be fixed, but you know what they say about hope.

Anyway, my Internet access may continue to be erratic for the next week, so I'll apologize for that as well.

As far as the door goes, It stays open normally until someone enters and starts the cleansing process to leave the area through the first door. After X entered, the door closed and the hallway cycled to its normal operating status, leaving the inner door open.

The room you are in is basically two stories tall, with only a catwalk around the perimeter (balcony?) that overlooks the actual floor. The only thing on the catwalk level is the two turbolifts shafts and the access door X is hiding near.

The droid looks like a stock model of the DRK series. It doesn't have a restraining bolt on it. While it looks different from X, it isn't so much that a casual glance would detect the differences, as seen with the man in the bunny suit.
[/sblock]

The door that DRK-1X is near has a control port, but just looking at it tells X that it is only for controlling the air changing when exiting the room. X scans the room more closely. There are two turbolifts shafts that lead to other levels of this part of the facility. It is uncertain whether they require any sort of code, but the two technicians didn't do anything other than enter the shaft with the droid, it would appear that they do not.

On this floor, other than the lifts, the only exits appear to be at the bottom level. These would be difficult to access. However, the air-control system definitely has shafts that are only blocked by grates.

X removes one of the grates in the access hallway when it is certain no one is going to interrupt its work. After replacing the grating, the droid then follows the maze of vents towards another unknown destination.

Eventually, X emerges in another area. This time, it has seemed to hit the proverbial jackpot. While it is not the facility's core computer system, the access that the air purifying systems will give X would suffice. Mastery of the Code provides certain droids with the ability to create pathways where there were none before.

Currently, there are no technicians in this room. Or droids, or much of anything is this room other than giant fans and the much needed access port...

 

[Ambrus]

[sblock=OOC]Actually I appreciate your taking the time to tell me what's been going on in your life recently. I'm so used to your regular posts that when I don't see you online for more than a few days I can't help but worry about what's going on. You mentioned recently that you were having problems but without being more specific I can't figure out what to say in response. I mean, having a gold-fish die is troublesome as is having your house burn down to the ground. Although I'm sorry to hear about your house's electrical problems (and no I don't own my own house, I wish!) I'm relieved to hear that's it's not something more tragic. I hope your situation is resolved this week like you said; you and your wife certainly deserve a break. And don't worry about the game; I'll be here whenever you get back.

That being said, I am anxious to discover what 1X can slice about Dofina's fate.

FYI, DRK-1X would have carefully scanned the ductwork ahead of it as it made its way through the ventilation system to avoid tripping any alarms (Search +10, taking 20). Although it doesn't seem necessary considering the state of imperial security measures in the movies, 1X isn't the type to take chances. [/sblock]DRK-1X carefully scans the ventilation junction room (Listen +9, Spot +13) before deploying a manipulator arm and using its hydrospanner to remove the grate to gain access. After replacing the grate the probot floats inside and completes a slow spin to scan the wall it's emerged from before tracing an arc over to the computer access port. 1X first replaces the hydrospanner into the satchel affixed to its rounded rear body-panel and then folds and retracts its arm inside its chassis. The diminutive probot subsequently opens its scomplink compartment and telescopes the probe to marry it with the port on the wall. 1X tentatively begins uploading its Code into the imperial computer network as the scomplink probe slowly spins clockwise with a soft whirring sound.

Thanks to its recent slicing experience coupled with its subsequent Code refinements, DRK-1X had tailored many of its electronic security countermeasures to deal specifically with the Empire's computers (Computer Use +20, taking 10).[sblock=OOC]DRK-1X's first priority, naturally, is trying to locate Dofina. It'll use the computer's data files concerning the station's environmental subsystems to begin constructing a virtual map of the facility's layout. Ideally it can use those data files as a means to locate probable areas of investigation such a the support systems for a biological research lab or prison cell-block; places were Dofina is likely being kept. Once it locates such areas 1X will try to gain indirect access to those areas' computers to search them for files that may relate to Dofina.

If that doesn't bear fruit then 1X will branch out into other sub-systems in an attempt to locate where in this planetoid sized complex Dofina might be. It could be time consuming and difficult or it might be easy; who knows. It's possible she still aboard one of the Star Destroyers floating around outside. If 1X can't find any sign of its mistress within the facility's computer core it'll have to try remotely accessing the various ships' computers.

While conducting its search, DRK-1X is remaining alert for other subjects of interest to it and its mission. Those include floor-plans of the facility, data pertaining to security measures, information pertaining to the droid labor pool and specifically the Dark Eye droids (especially their design specifications and assigned tasks), the various docking and landing facilities accessible throughout the complex, science labs, etc.[/sblock]