Star Wars - DRK-1X and its Mistress

[shadowbloodmoon]

For all intents and purposes, the area around here is empty. The station does read as having lifeforms though, so there is definitely someone in there.

As the ship settles down to the hangar floor, Dofina nods in agreement. "Probably a good idea. Would you mind picking me up something other than survival food to eat though? I haven't had a kimo melt or even coffeine for some time."

After checking the comlink connection between him and DRK-1X, Derek opens the door to the hatch that will lead him out of the ship. Surveying his surroundings, he notices that the hangar is devoid of personnel, refueling probes or anything of that nature. Not even any maintenance droids are there to meet him. Except for the ship and an access tube to the rest of the station, the hangar is empty.

As Derek moves deeper into the station, he notices that there is no sign of any of the lifeforms that the scanners showed were present here. The access tube goes on for a while until Derek comes to a blast door and its control panel. Attempting to open it meets in failure and a message: "Go Away."

 

[Ambrus]

Derek activates his integrated encrypted comlink as he strides across the deserted hangar bay, allowing his allies in the Ari's Sorrow to listen in through his own audio sensors. He in turn begins silently relaying his impressions of the odd scene. "Nobody here. No service or maintenance personnel or droids anywhere to be seen. Even the refueling and repair equipment appears to have been cleared out of the bay. I'm going to try the service corridor."

The lone human replica droid continues down the empty corridor, his boot heels clicking softly on of the deck plating underfoot. At the halfway point Derek's heuristic processor notes idly that he'd just taken more steps since leaving the fighter back in the hangar bay than he'd ever previously taken since having been first activated. The droid had had few opportunities to test its motor-control programming in the last few weeks aboard the Ari's Sorrow. "Still no sign of anybody or anything. Hm. The corridor's rear blast door is closed." Derek reaches out a dark-skinned finger and taps the control panel's door release switch. Suddenly the intercom on the door panel spits out the curt order. Addressing the disembodied voice Derek finally speaks aloud. "We're just here to resupply and perhaps trade a bit. What's going on here? Why's the station locked down and empty of personnel?"[sblock=OOC]BTW, has Dofina ever voiced any curiosity about Derek during the trip?[/sblock]

 

[shadowbloodmoon]

No, Dofina has not yet asked about Derek. This could be for a number of reasons....

Derek's voice is echoed back to him before a response comes through the speaker on the console. "Why didn't you say so? Don't get many visitors these days. Especially with those Trandos nesting in the asteroid field nearby. That's why I usually keep the place locked up."

A viewport opens in the blast door and Derek can see a short Rodian on the other side, looking at him curiously. The Rodian seems to be fairly aged, having spots of scales that have festered off of him.

The door latches disengage and the blast door moves aside to show the rest of the green man. He is wearing what could pass as a mechanics outfit, though the stains on it could indicate that it is quite possibly this man's only outfit.

"So what can I get for ya? I noticed you came in on an old Kimogila class. Don't see much of those now that they make Imrehsas and CloakShapes. I have some refit parts if that's what you need. Lots of that stuff."

Though seemingly pleasant, the Rodian seems somewhat hurried.

 

[Ambrus]

Derek sizes up the old rodian while glancing past him to the room beyond out of curiosity. "Big place to have such a small staff out here. Is there anybody here to trade with or are we the only visitors you have right now?

She may be a bit older but she's a fine little ship; doesn't really need anything right now except for fuel and expendables. We're looking to trade her in for another ship actually; she's a bit tight for the lot of us. Know anyone around here with a larger transport who'd be interested?"[sblock=OOC]Does 1X have any ideas why she wouldn't want to ask about him? I could understand that she wouldn't have much interest in a mercenary, but it still seems odd that she wouldn't even inquire about him at all.[/sblock]

 

[shadowbloodmoon]

[sblock=OOC]X figures that it is possible Dofina thinks that since X hasn't killed the man yet, that X trusts him, so at the moment, until she decides otherwise, Dofina will trust in that.[/sblock]

The older man smiles. "Actually, it is just me. I run the whole place. Have been ever since my uncle passed. What you picked up on your scanners was just my heat bloomers. They do real good at making themselves be read as lifeforms. Makes the Trandos think there's more of me than there is. So as of now, it's just you and me and whoever you brought in your ship there." He pauses for a moment as he accesses a console, opening a door that seems to lead into a giant container room of junk.

"I'm sure I got some extra hulls around here somewheres. How many you looking to fit?"

 

[Ambrus]

Derek follows the man into the junk-filled room, swiveling his head back and forth as he begins compiling a mental list of the room's inventory. "Just three of us for the moment along with a few hundred kilos of cargo; though we're also hauling a cargo pod.

Big place for one person; you must have had a staff at some point here just to man all of these hangar bays. What happened to em all? Don't you even have a few droids to keep you company?"

The human replica droid nods in response to the old rodian before stopping him to ask a serious question. "So should I be worried about these trandoshans?"

 

[shadowbloodmoon]

There is everything from ship parts and ground transport hulls to droid parts and farming tools in this giant room. Most of the parts look used or at least somewhat worn. Very few look new.

The older Rodian grins, obviously smelling a sale. "Heh. Sounds like you need a freighter, not that tiny fighter. I might have just the thing. One of the unused hangars has an old Corellian model in it. She doesn't look like much, but she still flies. Only a hundred thousand lightyears on her too."

A sadness seems to come to his eyes. "Used to have quite a few folk that worked around here. Between the Trandos and the money running out, I don't know which scared 'em off first. Then the droids started falling apart and I didn't know how to fix 'em up much. Eventually sold most of 'em off. Kept the rest for repairs. This place has a few droid brains built right in. Does most of the work itself. I guess I just keep an eye on things."

"I wouldn't worry about the lizards too much. A recent run-in with some Wookiee refugees sent them packing. Even if they do come back, which they will once they've got the shivers out of 'em, this place has more than a few defenses of its own."

 

[Ambrus]

The human replica droid turns his attention away from the room's contents back towards his host. "I wouldn't call her tiny; she's quite the bantha for a fighter. Wasn't really looking for something as big a freighter, though I suppose we could move our cargo from our pod into the Corellian and offer you the pod along with the fighter in trade." Derek lifts an arm to cordially motion the old rodian back towards the door. "Alright. Show me this old freighter of yours. We'll see what kind of shape she's in."

 

[shadowbloodmoon]

The Rodian salesman just smiles and nods as he leads Derek to another hangar in this radial space station. As they arrive and the old man opens the entry hatch, the ship comes into view.

It is definitely an older model, you can tell by the telltale painting and repainting of various markings and identification numbers all over the silver and gray hull. He gives you the rest of the description himself. "Corellian Model YG-300. Twenty four meters in length, about the same in breadth. Sort of a flat sphere with a bump in the front for a cockpit. The engines are retooled HK-1100 Ion Chasers. Not top of the line, but I'm guessing you are not too worried about speed. She has a MandalMotors Hyperdrive Motivator, not something you'd get just anywhere you know. The SoroSuub SkyEye external sensor suite isn't too shabby. Carries about a hundred thousand kilos of cargo. Has two crew suites and room for either four more passengers or more cargo. Usually a two-seat piloting operation, but she can fly fine with just one. One of her escape pods has been removed to make room for the extra equipment for the sensors, but the other one is still intact. What do you think?"

 

[Ambrus]

Derek walks up to the freighter to lay a hand on its hull while peering underneath at the entry ramp and landing gear. "Hmm. A little bit more than a hundred thousand kilometers I'd say." The human replica droid begins to walk a circuitous route around the ship while keeping an outstretched hand on the hull, stopping occasionally to inspect various body panels, markings and the inside of maintenance hatches; searching for any signs of damage or disrepair. At the rear of the freighter Derek pauses to closely inspect the thruster array and ion drive. "Not the latest, but still serviceable for an older model like this. Mind if I take a look top-side?" Without really waiting for a response, Derek grips the projecting thruster exhaust ports and uses them to pull himself up onto the top of the ship.

Walking along the beam of the ship, Derek continues his inspection of the vessel's outer hull before climbing back down to join the eager rodian. "Not too bad. Why don't we take a look inside; maybe fire up the engines and computer core to see in what shape they are." The droid waits for the venerable organic to lead the way inside. Once there Derek continues his inspection, moving from section to section, verifying each of the freighter's systems in turn while familiarizing himself with the internal layout of the ship.

Although the human replica droid's advanced sensors paired with his extensive technological database and personal flight experience allowed him to evaluate the condition of the vessel, the true test was yet to come. When the pair finally arrives at the cockpit Derek seats himself and quickly begins taping buttons on the various control panels around him. Making good use of his considerable computer skills, the droid deftly leads the freighter's onboard systems through a thorough series of diagnostic routines; testing and calibrating each one in turn to gain a better idea of the ship's operational past and current condition. "Ion drive at 83% of benchmark standards. Hyperdrive online. Hm... fuel efficiency at... 76.4%? Navigational computer processor efficiency at 92.6%..." With his hands flying across the controls, Derek confirms each readout with a follow-up diagnostic routine.

[sblock=OOC]Derek's currently got good spot and search scores as well as some Knowledge (technology), astrogation and piloting skills. Add to that his illicit barter ability, sense motive and diplomacy scores and I would hope he'd be able to come up with a decent idea of what he's looking at. He's not necessarily looking for the perfect ship at the moment, but he'd certainly like something serviceable with which to replace the Ari's Sorrow along with its cargo pod. Can you give me an idea whether this YT-300 is in good shape and would be a reasonable trade? A little objective GM guidance would be appreciated in this case.

Assuming it is, then Derek will silently transmit his conclusion to 1X and Dofina back aboard the Sorrow and ask his Mistress whether she agrees to the arrangement or not.[/sblock]