The Winds Shape
Chapter 17: Programming Problems
I own not those situations I borrow from Disney Properties, Lucas, Mechalich or Thomas Benjamin DeMayo. This is a dramatization from my mind on a character created from the meld of table gaming and so on. Special thanks to ideas Drew Karpyshyn and Tim Lebbon fermented. Special thanks to Morihei Ushiba who formed Petre with his wisdom. Like any mind construct this is an exercise and my own work building on other ideas from the past.
This is a Zeison Sha story, set in what is known as the Star Wars EU.
Serreno, Dooku Palace
2.8 BBA
Kua Wan's comlink went off as he slept in his armor in a room to the side of the two celebrities. Since he was a light sleeper he got up ready for anything before activating it.
"Kua." He responded.
"Partner, this is Dunc, I have a pissed Pantoran out in the hall and he wants a meeting with all of us. Bring your datapad if you have one."
When he reached the three other guards he stood at ease once he closed his door.
When the four protectors had gathered "Jedidiah" handed them data sticks and kicked a lunchbox with wheels at his feet "Just jump around and act like you are stretching for calisthenics. I have a recorded session for us as white noise." He handed them bandanas "Tie over your faces so we can talk." He started jumping jacks "I keep my programming for the droids separate so I can do a line by line after a scan, well dropkick does." Then he plugged into the two droids some datapads. "There are 191 extra routine lines and 112 fewer comment lines in my droids and on my ship! And it is "remote command language" so someone is trying to gain some sort of command over our droids!"
"And what do you want to do about it?" Dunc asked.
"You're the slicer, what would you do?"
"Baseline the code."
"How long will that take?"
"Only one hour with the sticks, twelve minutes" Jahn switched to high knee jogging in place "with dropkick because he has more bandwidth, unless you do not trust me." With that Jahn did something he ALMOST never did, he used his greatest weapon, his slaps on the knees released a pheromone to manipulate "compliance" subtly, so they would not notice. He felt he had no hope with the Mandalorean, but the two girls were another thing. Then Kua Wan surprised him.
"Go for it with dropkick."
Dunc and Karolly thought for a minute before they agreed and with a kick dropkick did its thing, giving the area a dance hall music feel as a cover. Eighteen minutes later the droids were rebooted and operational.
"Guys just for the record between us" Jahn said using cooldown stretching exercises. "We hard commented the lines out and with a cursory search the code will be as expected by the modifiers but they can not see the hardline activation dropkick suggested. They did not suspect I had hard bias coding or source to recompile in such a short time in there to catch them."
"What does that mean for us?" Dunc asked.
"Keep your eyes open, someone is trying to make us fail." Kua answered.
At an early hour, Contessa Adrianna Dooku and Leo Organa were awoken by a chime at their door and on their comlinks at what would be considered for the socialites an obscene hour.
"Your Grace, Lord, we are reporting your entire security detail is outside your door right now." Palace security said.
Lady Dooku immediately rose snapping her hand out getting her and Leo's lightsabers flying to their hands. They reached out with the Force and other than the feelings one would expect after a hard day of testing, and early morning exercise, she sensed no warnings, indeed the Force told her they were safer now, than they must have been previously.
"Should we call them in to ask them what is going on?" Leo asked in a ready stance.
"We might want to dress lover." Adrianna added as her robe flew to her.
Leo blushed and quickly dressed as she did in her best sparring gear attaching her lightsaber at her hip as Leo did the same.
"Spar or talk to our detail?" Leo offered looking around the lavishly appointed but open room layout.
"If it was because of that asshole…" Adrianna growled flipping her wrist showing off and the door swung wide open.
Outside she saw their team exercising while a droid with speakers played upbeat workout music with a dance beat. The asshole stopped as he was facing them and she imagined his smile under the cloth mask he wore.
"Care to join us?" he asked.
"Care to tell us just what you are doing?"
"The droids arrived, and could not sleep any further so, we started workouts hoping to not bother you." Dunc added.
"Is our security detail now going to be masked?"
"This bandana could be substituted with a breath mask and I have an enviro suit that matches my weaver suit." Jahn answered.
"Excuse me?" Adrianna demanded her hand slipping toward her lightsaber.
"The re-inventor was named Weaver, some what… 30 years ago? My parents and friends have made some startling changes and the latest mods were made by a hot 19 year old Zelt named Weaver, so that is how I think of the suit." Jahn shrugged as Adrianna sniffed and softened.
"So, our droids are back." Leo said breaking the rest of the tension "What can you teach us about them?"
"Other than the fact there are hideout compartments and special mods which are useful in a "hostile native environment". I do not know what report, if any was sent to you." Jahn added.
"What is useful about the two protocol droids?" Leo asked.
"Piloting, manners routines, slicing, better sensors and hideaway capabilities are not enough?" he shrugged "They have some combat protocols, better servo synchro reactions and extra balancers. Like I said, they work as a "get out of trouble key" in hostile environs."
Then Adrianna did something, a hair flip revealing an earing that caused a black dot in his vision, rushing to consume him and he activated the "vision protocol" having the droids record the conversation as he locked his body in place.
An assassination attempt, foiled by the protection crew shows imperial and Serreno ties. Alon…
We are going to leave for Coruscant for some answers, ladies you pilot us off planet and activate the coordinates given…
The coordinates are corrupted, the yacht flies into an asteroid field just off the hyperlane. But they were programmed by his droids….remotely controlled…
All pointing to a push over the edge of the dark side….
And she is wearing Sith earrings, once worn by Sorzus Syn, and still visible in her holocron visage he had studied at the Jedi temple of Ossus
Fake people, use the worms in cadavers and canine mammals… blow the budget….buy drones… quick program link with dropkick…. Moving jewels…. Sha soresu technique drones intercepting incoming fire… the escape hatch over the service door… steam... the droids flying her yacht… the steam vent… service tunnel to the phoenix hawk over another …Kua Wan comfortable leading in tunnels…into the phoenix hawk… combat… flying… Commenor bound…. The tranquilizer darts on the Mystrals…
Jahn came back to hissenses after seeing the multi layered attack and the droids picked up on the cues. "We have a formation run in one hour after breakfast" was the digested version, and we are going to the breakfast now. With that he fully returned to the present.
"You ok Jedidiah?" Leo asked.
"If we are going jogging, lose the earrings and pendants for now, adds an extra flashy thing for someone to shoot at." Jahn said surprising the entire group. Adrianna, still under the effect of the pheromone control that one Sorzus Syn had developed taking the lesson of his and her own ancestor Lanoree Brock, took off her favorite earrings for the first time in years.
