Star Wars - DRK-1X and its Mistress

[shadowbloodmoon]

"You honestly think I'd try to sell something traceable? I'd be out of business in a day. That's all been taken care of, my friend. Your droid can examine them and you can see for yourself." He snaps his fingers and two men open a door in the back as he stands. "Please, if you'll follow me."

[sblock=OOC]
As far as all the dealings and stuff, I figured you'd be wanting to do that, just wanted to double check. Between DRK-1X's and Derek's skills, it isn't too difficult to set such a thing up.

Dofina's new credchip comes with her new accounts. It's a perq.

Ion Cannons are limited to licensed vessels, but you're welcome to try for those. Black Market is about 2000 each. The Blaster Cannons for the hard points would run about 750 each. They skirt the limit of firepower allowed on a civilian ship, but a loophole in the law allows them.

Docking fees and renting of drop points runs you about 2500 for just the week. Usually docking is more expensive (around 1k per day), but since you've indicated you're not staying long, and they are aware of your refugee status (wink wink), CorSec is giving you a break.

Any explosive weapon is illegal to carry. Unless you have a special license for them, other explosives are even more so illegal. You'll have to worry about that more here on Corellia and other Core worlds more than in the outer rim, but still.

At the moment, with the new regime in place, the Empire is cracking down on anything that could pose a threat, that includes civilians with guns...

Oh and yes, X is becoming quite the business droid. I see Fortune 5k in its future....
[/sblock]

 

[Ambrus]

The diminutive probot turns to keep it's primary sensor array trained on the man as he stands. "Corporations have many ways to track their components; their livelyhood often depends on it." Back in the Venerable's computer room Derek tries to disguise his contempt for the fence's limited skills. If he was as clever and careful as he claimed to be he certainly wouldn't allow himself to be holorecorded while expounding on his own criminal activities. DRK-1X begins to follow the man into the second room, moving cautiously while using its myriad sensor systems to detect any hint of duplicity or danger.[sblock=OOC]Could the ion & blaster cannons be made retractable and be shielded against sensors? Would thermal detonators cost the listed amounts or are they more expensive on the black market? Is there anything else on the Venerable which would prove risky to have aboard? Are the B1s and DRK-1X considered illegal to own?[/sblock]

 

[shadowbloodmoon]

The man only grunts in response to X's remark, instead pointing to a case that has already been partially opened. Inside of it are two emitter systems, both of them appear to able to be worn as belts by Humanoids. A large rectangular device is part of each system. X determines that this is possibly a recording device used to store images.

Going over what it knows about Republic equipment, X can see that all the normal serial numbers, RFIDs and other such tags have indeed been removed. However, X also knows that sometimes these numbers are found in the least likely of places, such as on the circuit boards of any electronics that the device may have. It would be difficult to tell if they were still there without taking the device apart.

The man sits back, lighting a cigarra and waiting for X to finish.

[sblock=OOC]Retractable yes, quite easily in fact. Shielded would be a bit more difficult, but yes it can be done. The fine for having them would be enormous if caught though...

As far as the B1s go, they are technically not illegal as they are no longer Trade Federation or Sep property. Them carrying blaster rifles would be frowned on though. Certain members of society would have difficulty differentiating them from Sep models though and there could be repercussions there.

DRK-1X is technically a spy droid. For civilians to have one is questionable, but not illegal as of yet. The Dark Eye models are specifically going to end up restricted to Imperial personnel in the very near future however.

As far as you've been able to determine, the shields that are on the vessel are the most likely to be trouble, but since they are so well integrated, the licensing scan was unable to detect them. Anything elsewould only be anything illegal you bring on yourself. That and if Derek's true nature is discovered... He could set the precedence for the droids impersonating Imperial citizens ruling...[/sblock]

 

[Ambrus]

The diminutive black probot slowly circles around the open container, focusing its large central photoreceptor microscopically through the devices' outer-casings to study its fine circuitry. Both DRK-1X itself and Derek back aboard the Venerable pause to admire the twin devices; each a marvel of modern data-processing and holo-projection technology. The two belt mounted devices are worth more than the Venerable itself, including its recent upgrades. Only Four's nanobot colony or Derek's own exquisitely designed bio-systems approached their level of sophistication. Concluding its examination the black spherical probot returns to facing the man who had busied himself with inhaling toxic fumes. "My offer stands; seventy-five thousand credits for the pair..." DRK-1X pauses to deploy one of its mechanical limbs from within its chassis. The limb's tiny four fingered manipulator holds a cred chip. "All up front."[sblock=OOC]Perhaps a fresh paint job would help divorce the B1s from their thin-beige-line militaristic appearance. For that matter, the Venerable could likely benefit from the same treatment; the past two thousand years couldn't have been all smiles and sunshine for the old lady. They wouldn't have to be flashy with racing stripes, but a nice clean new nondescript design is worth considering.

It's rather funny that I've already destroyed a massive imperial military installation and yet I remain worried about getting caught with some illegal upgrades. We've already got an illegal shielding system... Time to find a pair. Torpedoes might be nice, but they'd require periodic replacement which might end up proving troublesome. The droids will aim for a retractable shielded ion cannon as a backup weapon for the venerable. Is it possible to have it mounted on a partial turret of some sort? A retractable blaster cannon will be sufficient for the other hard-point. Also is it feasible to acquire fire control computers for the vessel?

Speaking of sensor shielding, is it possible to add some for the shield emitters, or would that be redundant? BTW, why are shields illegal on a vessel? Is there some type of list somewhere that details what equipment is illegal and what isn't?

Also, it might be good to have a small sensor-shielded compartment for stowing contraband aboard the Venerable. The addition of a bulkhead to create the extra rooms in the cargo-hold might be a good opportunity to create such a compartment. Say the bulkhead was created a bit thicker than necessary; enough to create a long but very narrow gap between the rooms in which sensor-shielding could be installed. A small group of people could fit inside if they were friendly and willing to stand shoulder to shoulder. It wouldn't have to be much more than a foot wide; not enough to suggest a hidden room to a cursory inspection. If necessary we could hide our para-military equipment in there; including our extra weapons, 1X along with the the B1s. Naturally the compartment would need a computer access port so that 1X could monitor activity aboard while hidden.

In for a penny, in for a pound. DRK-1X might as well try to acquire some explosives since they proved so useful on its last mission. Thermal detonators could do in a pinch, though I have grown rather fond of those nifty permacrete detonators. Nothing says "problem solved" quite like a really big explosion in the background.

And lastly, I hope, DRK-1X will look into securing a small supply of Rhyll spice for its Mistress' needs.[/sblock]

 

[shadowbloodmoon]

Perhaps I may have been a bit hasty in liking you, friend. Nonetheless, a proffered credchip speaks volumes." He points to one of the other men nearby. "Check it."

After placing the credchip in a reader, a nod from the mook seems to satisfy the dealer. "I don't know what you're planning to do with these, but let me make this perfectly clear. If any word of these comes back to me, there won't be a hunter in the galaxy not looking for you." He says nothing more as he steps out of the room, leaving X with an Aqualish man apparently there to discuss delivery options.

[sblock=OOC]It's Solo X everybody! Okay...

Paint job for the B1s, 100 credits for all of them.
Paint job for the Venerable, 1000 credits

Retractable, scan-shielded ion cannon: 4000 credits
Retractable blaster cannon: 2000 credits

Best arc you could get with these is fore arc. That's a 90 degree coverage to the front of the ship, the blaster cannon has the same arc if you want it. The turrets both already cover 360 degrees.

The guns come with a basic fire control programs, but yes you can upgrade them. I'll be statting up the ship for you when I get a chance after all the upgrades are made.

It's pretty difficult to hide the shielding more than has already been done. So redundant would probably be the right word. Also, shields are not illegal, but these shields are...

As far as a list of what's illegal and such, I'm extrapolating from the main book, Galaxy Guide, Ship Book and my knowledge of the Galaxy as it is.

The hidden compartment is a cool idea, but it will not be able to be installed where you are located now, same for the ion cannon. X learns about a guy named Nokla that lives on Talus, the smaller planet in the Corellia system that could provide what the trio needs. The contact tells X that it his place is located a few hundred kilometers away from Pereria, a city on Talus.

X is able to 'manufacture' a license for the permacrete detonators itself, without having to resort to contacts and such. Thus, the ones purchased would technically be legal. Technically. Just tell me how much you want and I'll give you a price. Depending on how much they average 500 credits a block.

The Rhyll spice is very easy to comeby, since about ten percent of the entire population of Corellia are on it, including some of the government agents. A week's supply would run about 2000 credits.
[/sblock]

 

[Ambrus]

Perhaps I may have been a bit hasty in liking you, friend. Nonetheless, a proffered credchip speaks volumes."

The probot vocabulator delivers Derek's dry tone answer. "I assure you I'm much more charming in person."

"I don't know what you're planning to do with these, but let me make this perfectly clear. If any word of these comes back to me, there won't be a hunter in the galaxy not looking for you."

DRK-1X rotates in place to follow the man as he makes to leave. "I could offer you a similar threat, but I trust we understand each other without needing to resort to such posturing."

Unless the case weighs more than a half-dozen kilos, DRK-1X will deploy its second manipulator arm, reclaim its cred-chip from the bug-eyed alien, simply pick up the case and float out with it in hand.[sblock=OOC]The subject of legality is still rather nebulous in my mind. What makes this shield system illegal exactly?

Is there any reason the droids can't simply acquire the necessary materials and construct the shielding for the ion cannon and secret compartment themselves? They've just assembled a state-of-the-art machine shop in the Venerable; as long as Derek or the astromech are properly reprogrammed, couldn't they do the work during the week? It'd certainly make the proposed illegal modifications more secure than having the work contracted out...

Likewise, Derek can purchase the paint and have the astromech take care of painting the combat automata. Even if they've got laborers contracted to deliver purchased goods to the hangar bay, Derek won't be letting strangers aboard the Venerable to poke around. I imagine the HRD should be able to direct the ship's droid pool to carry the materials, tools and equipment aboard and to set up the lab, workshop and weapon systems as well.

As for the explosives, five permacrete detonators along with five thermal detonators should be sufficient. DRK-1X will eventually be getting around to combining the permacrete detonators with remote systems as it did previously.

The droids are naturally interested in upgrading the weapon systems' fire control computers, just as they're interested in all opportunities to upgrade their own systems alongside those of the Venerable. For instance, is it possible to upgrade the ship's hyperdrive? Does Dofina believe a hyperspace comm system upgrade it worthwhile?

So far Dofina only seems to require Rhyll spice about once a month. How long would a week's supply last her at her current consumption rate?[/sblock]

 

[shadowbloodmoon]

DRK-1X carries the case out of the establishment without difficulty, only seeing that it was being watched as it left, but then once X was out of sight of the place, everything seemed to return to normal.

[sblock=OOC]Hmm.. if you remember, I mentioned that the shields on the Venerable were capital class material, as in enough to protect a Corellian Corvette. This of course is seen as unnecessary in the eyes of the current laws. In game terms anything above 60 shield points is bad. This one is definitely above that.

No, there is nothing stopping the droids from gaining the materials they might need to hide items and perhaps even build the hidden storage unit in the ship other than time and programming. I'd venture to say that it could be done in a week's time. Droids have no reason to take breaks other than every 100 hours or so.

Now for what's going to kill you.... the cost. For the most part I've been giving you a break on prices and I will continue to do so to a point. Just to add in the hidden compartment and the weapons shielding: 20000 in materials. Upgrading the hyperdrive depends on how high you want it to go. It's an x2 now. Going to x1 would cost 30000.

The explosives you want altogether come to 25000.

Upgrading the fire control won't cost you a dime though, as your droids can program them easily enough. Maximum is twice the current bonus, so I'll add that on when I give you stats for the Venerable.

As far as Dofina's spice goes, the supply should last her at least three months, provided she can keep resisting the effects of addiction.

Hyperspace Comm system would be nice, but it directly connects you to the HoloNet, which is obviously monitored by the Empire. You could probably have X scramble the signal to a point, but the risk is still there. Dofina will echo these thoughts.

I think that's everything. Hopefully by this weekend I'll have everything statted out with all the changes you've made. [/sblock]

 

[Ambrus]

Landing bay #429 of the Coronet Center Spaceport becomes a hive of activity during the week following the Venerable's arrival in the Corellia system. Within hours of its arrival negotiations are underway with both legitimate and illicit merchants for the buying and selling of cargo and new equipment. In less than a day the spaceport's personnel have been contracted to unload and transport the outgoing bacta tanks to their buyers while in-turn delivering purchased materials and equipment from suppliers and rented storage bays. The bulk of these materials disappear into vessel's interior, moved aboard on the cargo racks of a team of treaded medical droids.

All the while, a small matte-black droid covertly flits in and out of the facility as it personally delivers small contraband items; explosives, drugs and military hardware to its companions aboard the Venerable. The following day sees the arrival of two newly purchased droids: an Industrial Automaton R4 astromech and a Veril Line Systems EG-6 Power droid. Both are soon put to work on the vessel itself; beginning with removing hull panels to prep the ship for the addition of a full weapon's suite.

A few days later, after the delivery of a newly purchased hyperdrive and a pair of quad laser turrets, a request goes out for contracted spaceport technicians to perform the necessary retrofitting to the transport's exterior. During late-night hours, long after the technicians have ended their shifts and gone home, the astromech, along with a pair of tiny hovering repair remote droids continue the retrofitting process with the addition of shielded weapon compartments at the vessel's fore. All evidence of their work remains concealed during daytime hours when the technicians return to complete their contracted work by applying a fresh coat of ash grey paint along with dark red highlights to the vessel's exterior.

All the while, the ship's droid pool along with its single organic occupant are likewise hard at work deep inside the transport. As soon as some of the bacta tanks are cleared from the cargo bay a pair of medical droids busy themselves by permanently installing and powering up a pair of tanks. Over the next few days a fully-stocked bio-lab begins to take shape in the corner of the cargo bay as the droids install newly arrived medical equipment. Even as they and their nemoidian mistress begin to make use of the lab, a quartet of retasked battledroids busily begin installing new bulkheads, environmental and lighting systems around them. The battledroids then continue their work, under the close supervision of a dark-skinned human replica droid, as they begin installing sensor-dampening plating on the opposite side of the new bulkhead. Once ready they then raise an identically shielded bulkhead parralel to the first while leaving a narrow half-meter gap between the two walls. The battledroids then begin assembling a fully-equipped machine shop in another walled off section of the cargo bay.

When not dealing with buyers or sellers or directly overseeing the efforts of their fellow droids, the spherical black probe droid along with its dark-skinned humanoid counterpart spend much of their time performing the most delicate and important retrofitting and computer reprogramming work themselves.

[sblock=OOC]Phew. These shopping trips are so involved. I hope you don't mind my narrating the shipboard activities as I imagine they unrolled; I figured it might save you time while being an interesting read.

The droids will proceed with the purchases as you've described. A x1 hyperdrive sounds good. I'd like the droids to try tweaking it to x.75 later if they can manage the modifications themselves. They'll try to recoup some of the cost of the new engine by selling the old hyperdrive; that is unless the Venerable doesn't yet have a backup hyperdrive, in which case I suppose they'll keep the old one as a spare.

How much might a Hypertranceiver cost? I imagine having it aboard won't be a security risk when it isn't powered up. Since we're pimping the ship, I figure it'd be good to have aboard if we ever need it.

The compartment shielding sounds expensive to me, but I'll defer to your better judgement on the issue. I'm not certain where the new bulkheads will fall in relationship to the layout of the vessel's interior so I don't know whereabouts would be the best spot to place the compartment's access point. Suffice it to say that it will be as well concealed as they can make it. The plan is to have the secret hatch only openable via a transmitted key-code; easily managed with a comlink I'd imagine. In that sense it might also be able to double as a secure safe-room of sorts. Lastly, I'd like the compartment to have a few simple additions. The first is a computer access port so that the droids can continue to communicate with the Venerable's computer core and thereby monitor and direct activity on the ship from within the compartment should it ever become neccesary. The second is the addition of a small secret storage compartment within the secret room itself. It only has to be large enough to hide a few small items; perhaps a cubic foot or two in size. The droids don't intend to tell Dofina about the latter secret space. They'll be using it to hide the various detonators, the collection of lightsaber crystals and Dofina's supply of rhyll spice. They'll also use the larger space to stash the ship's arsenal of weapons and armors.

Speaking of storage... the R4 is listed as having 8 kg of internal storage space. I was thinking of having it store the three tactical and two repair remotes. If fitted with a signaler it could deploy and direct the repair remotes as necessary to assist it in its repair work. Likewise, it could deploy the tactical remotes if needed; granting it an indirect ability to help defend the ship. Remotes don't have a listed weight but I figure that, being the size of floating softballs, they can't weigh all that much. Also, might as well put some of those spare tool mounts to use by outfitting the droid with a fire-extinguisher (50 credits) and welding laser (300 credits) as well as with magnetic wheels (80 credits) for work on the ship's exterior. While I'm at it I'd like to add locked accesses to the four B1s along with a rust inhibitor treatment for the four along with the R4 and EG-6 droids (all 4º droids shouldn't have convenient off switches IMHO). I believe in all that'd cost just short of a 1,000 credits.

Lessee... New expenses.

• Droid upgrades & paint jobs = 1,000 credits
• Docking fees = 2,500 credits
• Paint job for the Venerable = 1,000 credits
• Rhyll spice = 2,000 credits
• Retractable blaster cannon: 2,000 credits
• Retractable scan-shielded ion cannon = 4,000 credits
• Hidden compartment shielding: 20,000 credits
• 5 permacrete & 5 thermal detonators = 25,000 credits
• Hyperdrive upgrade 30,000 credits
• 2 Corellidyne CQ-3.9x Holographic Image Disguisers = 75,000 credits

So, subtracting those from the running total while adding in the extra credits both Derek and DRK-1X previously had on their credit chips, I believe we're left with 1,708,610 credits. Pending the cost of a hypertranceiver, the droids will follow Dofina's suggestion and divide up the money as follows:

Dofina's personal account: 900,000
Dofina's Imperial public account: 200,000
Derek's Imperial Public Account: 100,000
Dofina's credit chip: 100,000
Derek Onyx's credit chip: 100,000
DRK-1X's credit chip account: 100,000
Crates of Precious Metals: 208,610 (10 tons worth)

1X's credit chip amount is largely made up of the credits the two droids had previously shared.

BTW, when the droids first finish up installing their new translator units the first thing they'll do is try to translate that mysterious script enscribed behind one of the ship's panels.

So, does Dofina have a better idea of where she'd like to head to next?[/sblock]

 

[shadowbloodmoon]

As the droids work and Mistress Dofina's lab takes form, the majority of her task begins. Starting with smaller chains of growth matter and continuing from there when the rest of her equipment arrives, Dofina formulates a way for the HRD to have a new look and skin. Even with the distraction of all of the work on the Venerable, she remains focused and determined to finish her work on time.

During this time, Mistress Dofina remains silent concerning where she might want to go next, perhaps because she is more worried about the current task set before her. Perhaps it is also because the trio had discussed returning to Dantooine to finish the job of destroying the data.

[sblock=OOC]That's cool that you typed all that out, it definitely makes for a Star Wars feel as filler for shopping. Leave it to us to make PC shopping interesting...

As far as the hyperdrive goes, you are upgrading the one you have, not so much replacing it. If you want to put a backup in, the maximum multiplier us x4 and that runs 20000. Hell, even the Millenium Falcon doesn't have that cool a backup hyperdrive!

A decent Hypertransceiver will run you 10000. Remember that it won't be able to access the HoloNet though, unless you want to pay 250000 and risk bad illegal juju. It already comes with subspace transceiver and standard comms though.

I don't see the remotes as weighing any more than 0.5kg, so I'll allow them to be stored in the R4 unit.

As far as where the bulkhead will be, I figure hiding it in plain sight would be fine. There is a bulkhead separating the engine room from the rest of the ship and due to the normal shielding there, a slightly thicker bulkhead wouldn't cause much alarm. installing the control port and the secret secret compartment in there is a simple matter as well.

Now for the fun part, the Venerable:

CEC YG-300 Cargo Transport
Class: Space Transport
Size: Small (24.7m long)
Hyperdrive: x1 (backup x2)
Passengers: 4
Cargo Capacity: 100 tons
Consumables: 2 months
Cost: Not for sale, but base model is 130,000
Maximum Speed in Space: Attack
Atmospheric Speed: 900km/h (15 squares per action)
Crew: 1 or 2 (Unique +10)
Initiative: +7 (+1 Size, +6 Crew)
Maneuver: +11 (Size +1, Crew +10)
Defense: 21 (Size +1, Armor +10)
Shield Points: 120 (DR 20)
Hull Points: 120 (DR 20)
Weapons: Quad Laser Cannons (2) Fire Arc: Turret Attack: +10 (Fire Control +4, Crew +5, Size +1) Damage: 6d10x2
Weapon: Retractable Blaster Cannon Fire Arc: Forward Attack: +10 (FC+4, Crew+5, Size+1) Damage: 4d10x2
Weapon: Retractable Shielded Ion Cannon Fire Arc: Forward Attack: +10 (FC+4, Crew+5, Size+1) Damage: Special

CP: 60 EP: 30

I think that covers everything on there except for all the niceties you've added....
[/sblock]

 

[Ambrus]

[Sblock=OOC]The stats for the vessel seem fairly impressive so far, especially the shield-system. Wow! She's turning into a nice little ship. I'd be curious to know more about her operational history. Did the droids have any luck translating the inscription? I suppose DRK-1X should also spend some time to read through that hand-written journal we found aboard ship; it might present some interesting clues. Aside from being exceptionally helpful and eager, does the ship's computer have any other discernible personality traits? Roughly how sentient and intelligent is it anyway?

You've already listed a x2 backup hyperdrive; a very effective backup. Is the price you listed for a x4 hyperdrive meant to be a triple redundancy? If so I think a single backup would be adequate for safety concerns.

I'm not certain what you mean by "It already comes with subspace transceiver and standard comms though". Are you talking about the Venerable's current comm or the new proposed hypertransceiver? As long as the ship isn't already capable of real-time hyperspace communication then the droids will indeed purchase and install a new 10k unit.

The engine room secret bulkhead sounds good, as long as it doesn't make the room too cramped. We'll likely park EG-6C in the engine room most of the time so that we can plug it directly into the ship's power grid for added power should we need it. It's also been programmed with added repair skill so it can help with maintenance back there as well.

We still have a couple of spare encrypted comlinks; I think we'll hookup one of them to R4-M6 and hook up his old one to the power droid so that we can keep it in the loop. The astromech has also been programmed to understand nemoidian as well as with ranks in Astrogation (isn't it weird that a stock astromech doesn't come equipped with Astrogation?) and Profession (cook). It'll be in charge of the engine room and galley.

The four battle droids will normally remain stationed at the vessel's four weapon consoles. If possible, I'd also like the weapon's fire control computers to be married to the ship's central computer so that the other droids can directly assume control of them from anywhere in the vessel; bypassing the battle droids for extra accuracy if desired.

Can Derek's image disguiser somehow be incorporated into his chassis? Since the device has power-consumption issues, can it be made to draw power directly from his secondary battery?

So how did installing a machine-shop and laboratory (with its twin bacta tanks) in the cargo bay impact our available cargo space? Does the 100 ton listing take that into account? So how difficult/time consuming/expensive will it be to attempt to tweak the hyperdrive up to x0.75?

I believed that Dofina agreed to go into hiding somewhere safe before the droids returned to Dantooine. After she's done with Derek's new sythskin how would she feel about trying to tackle the issue of devising and fabricating a new remote control unit for the mysterious phase-creatures? Our new facilities coupled with her expertise should hopefully make it within our reach. It'd be a good thing to have before we try going back to Dantooine.[/sblock]With all of the spare cargo gone and the new equipment and materials delivered, most of the activity in landing bay #429 occurs within the newly erected facilities aboard the Venerable. DRK-1X first carefully removes Derek's current sythskin shroud before installing his new state-of-the-art translation module and image disguiser. The probot, temporarily reprogrammed with mechanical ability, also executes minor cosmetic changes to the configuration of the HRD's sub-dermal facial features. Once ready Derek, resembling little more than a sleek metallic skeleton covered in supple actuator muscles, makes his way into Dofina's laboratory for her finishing touch while out of sight of the vessel's other droids.

As Derek and Dofina are thus occupied, DRK-1X completes a few modifications to itself and to R4-M6 and EG-6C. It then charges the astromech with treating itself and the other droids with rust inhibitor treatments and with repainting the four battle droids in soft russet and green tones.