"I think we should leave," Kel voted, ignoring the harsh smell within the utility closet. The door could lock, which was something in its favor.
"There's something here. Something blocking our vision of the future," Jolee muttered, tugging at his beard thoughtfully.
"Jolee. We should leave. Let Admiral Onasi handle this," Kel insisted. He finished applying the kolto bandage from the emergency first aid kit to Lashowe's leg. Their daughter was suckling noisily. A daughter they had not yet agreed on a name for. The sudden droid rebellion had placed such concerns on hold. Lashowe groggily held their daughter securely, as Jolee had shown her. Between the labor, running, and blood loss from the leg injury, Kel was quietly impressed that his wife wasn't unconscious.
"Jolee. Please," Kel pled softly.
Jolee scowled, but after a moment nodded reluctantly.
"I'll get you kids to the ship… but I can't leave yet. There's something here," the hermit growled.
Kel pulled Lashowe's legging back into place, before using the Force to supplement his muscles, picking up his wife again.
"Let's go," Kel said quietly.
Jolee wished he had a blaster, Force lightning was such a nuisance.
((()))
"Ha! Found you, you little—" Atton crowed.
"Atton, gloat later!" Choy snapped, crouched next to him, firing as rapidly as she could.
"Yes mother," Atton said quickly, tapping in the correct code sequence to end the dormitory lock down.
"Fierfeik," the mechanic whispered. The ion blaster… its power cell was depleted. The dormitory doors opened, and dozens of people rushed out, several almost tripping over Atton.
"Shit, here they come!" a miner said.
"Someone close the bulkhead, we can seal off the corridor!" a man bellowed in the din.
The droids didn't wait for order to be restored though, they simply waded into the crowd of screaming miners.
Some of the miners were armed. Others were simply desperate, mobbing single droids barehanded, trying to keep the lethal sonic drills pointed away from them.
Choy backed away from the melee, her chest burning. A big miner had her fusion cutter. She saw him bury it in a mining droid, before a different droid blew a hole through his sternum. People were dying.
More droids came. More people died.
A miner wrestled the hatch off a control box mounted to the corridor wall. He reached inside, and yanked the lever. An orange emergency strobe-light activated, warning that the nearby bulkhead was closing.
For many, the bulkhead didn't close soon enough.
A mining droid spun on Choy, rearing back, its sonic drills coming to bear. The mechanic back-pedaled, kicking a sonic drill out of line with her as she tripped and fell. An ion bolt slipped under the closing bulkhead door, and dropped the rearing droid into a twitching pile. Choy didn't notice, clutching her screaming ribs.
((()))
HK-50 lowered the ion blaster. The situation had grown more complex. The primary target had been reacquired, and was loose in the complex. The inferior droid models plaguing this facility were no longer accepting override commands. Analysis concluded that their rudimentary intelligences had been overwhelmed by the handful of software upgrades implemented to bring them closer to combat models. In summary, the mining droids had been driven insane, a most organic condition, (deplorable, really) and were consumed with the overriding directive to mine all organics.
This was a serious complication for HK-50, as the target need to be alive. That, and there was now an emergency bulkhead in the way.
((()))
"How are you feeling?" The medical officer asked, after tending to the wounded in the corridor. It was very simple from such violent fighting. There were dead, uninjured, and a few minor wounds. Most were simply dead.
"Did I have internal injuries?" Choy asked.
"Yes. Two broken ribs, perforated liver, ruptured spleen. Right clavicle and scapula fractures, skull fracture, subdural hematoma," the doctor confirmed.
"Ah… that explains it," Choy sighed.
The medical officer opened her med kit, and took out a standard medical scanner. She ran the device over Choy's chest, frowning at the results…
"There's some hemorrhage, but not as much as I'd expect from your injuries…" the medical officer said, curious.
"So I'll be fine," Choy said.
"So long as you don't exert yourself too strenuously," the medical officer warned.
"I'll keep it under advisement," Choy said faintly, looking away.
"So, how do we get to the Fuel Depot?" Atton wondered, staring at the schematic of the facility he'd finished pulling up on the engineering console.
"What's at the Fuel Depot?" Sully asked, confused. Atton shrugged, "Well, according to this, its the only way to reach the hangers."
Choy frowned, and glanced at Sully. The man chewed on his lip thoughtfully…
"Well… the fuel depot airlocks were secured manually as well… from the inside. The turbolift on that level is still locked down, obviously… wait…" the woman leaned closer to the display, and enlarged one section of the map.
"Here… the mining lift is still operational…" Choy said.
"Choy, that explosion came from below. There's probably nothing down there except superheated rock and collapsed blast tunnels," Sully protested.
"I'm sorry, ma'am, that's the only other way into the Fuel Depot," Choy said softly, glancing at Brynna.
"Could some of the tunnels be intact?" Brynna asked.
"It's possible… but all of the sensors were knocked out in the explosion. We won't know until we go look," Choy said reluctantly.
"It's a maze down there. One wrong turn…" Brynna said, worried.
"Then we'll bring a map," Atton said firmly.
"I could download the last tunnel schematics onto a datapad, and set up a point of reference…" Sully said slowly.
"The sensors might be off line, but we're still picking up droid broadcasts," Atton said, still fiddling with the console, "and… well, I narrowed down some of the ID signals, and if the numbers are right, we'll be sharing those tunnels with a battalion of mining droids…"
"Is there any good news?" Brynna asked wearily.
"Well… these droids rely on thermal sensors, primarily to detect fuel deposits, right?" Atton said, glancing at the mechanic.
"Yes…" Choy said slowly.
"Do they have any visual sensors?" Atton pressed.
"I… I don't think so. There aren't many light sources in the mines, so photoreceptors would be mostly useless, and expensive," Choy said.
"The good thing is, that explosion down there kicked up so much heat and steam it may blind them to our thermal signatures," Atton said with sick enthusiasm.
"They can still hear though," Sully warned.
"In a vacuum?" Atton said derisively, "I still like those odds."
"As do I," Brynna said.
((()))
"Tee-three, do you read me?" Jolee asked, scowling at his comlink. He wasn't being jammed, so the little droid had to be able to hear him.
Jolee banged on the boarding ramp of the Ebon Hawk. Kel flinched at the sudden noise, looking around nervously in case it drew attention.
"Open up, you surly little bucket of refurbished reactor shielding!"
No response.
"So help me, Tee-three, lower the ramp, or else I'll donate you to the first junior technical academy I can find! One for ugnauts!"
An indignant squawk rang out from behind Jolee, not the comlink.
Jolee turned, spotting the squat utility droid gamely trundling across the hanger bay. It wasn't alone. Two other droids flanked it.
"Why aren't you on the ship?" Jolee demanded. T3-M4 broke into an irritated tirade of blats and squeals. Jolee only picked up bits and pieces. Apparently the droid had been trying to rescue them.
"And what are they doing with you?" Jolee asked, pointing at the second utility droid (painted in muted oranges and reds), and another droid that looked very similar to the insane mining droids.
T3-M4 retorted with a handful of beeps, and refused to be drawn out on the subject.
"Don't get snippy with me, you little trash compactor," Jolee growled, as T3 arrived, and overrode the security lockout the facility had placed on the ship (after impounding it). "I didn't know security would impound you separately from the ship."
Kel didn't think T3 sounded impressed with the excuse.
Jolee stopped his verbal sparring match, and turned to Kel.
"Run a pre-flight check list, then raise the shields. I don't know when I'll be back," the old man said quietly.
"I understand," Kel said. He carried his wife to the small med bay, and made sure she was comfortable with their daughter. Then the former sith went about the business of ensuring that nothing threatened his family.
((()))
"Hold on… it's Coorta," Atton said, studying the sprawled corpse.
"How do you know?" Choy asked. The body was missing its head.
"Well, he's the right size, and he's got the blaster I smuggled in for him," Atton said, plucking the cheap weapon out of the big man's hand.
"Are you insane?" Sully screamed.
"Not yet… but I'll let you know how that goes," Atton said, holding the blaster loosely at his side.
"Those regulations against blasters are there for a reason! One stray blaster shot, is all it takes to turn this asteroid into one giant mine field!" Sully yelled.
"Yeah, yeah, can't trust a miner jumped up on juma juice not to fire one stray shot that will turn the entire colony into a thermal detonator, I know. Security practically has that regulation tattooed on their foreheads," Atton snapped.
"Then why did you do it?" Sully asked, floored.
"This cheap thing's low yield, and it only cost me twenty-credits, but it can be disassembled, and hidden inside other supplies so security scans can't pick it up. Do you know how much Coorta paid for it?" Atton asked calmly.
"Not enough," Sully said, spitting at Atton's feet.
"Two hundred credits…" Atton shrugged.
"And now it's useful," Brynna said softly, with a pointed look at both men.
"So long as there are no… accidents," the medical officer said, staring hard at Atton.
"Do I look like an idiot?" Atton asked in irritation. Brynna quirked an eyebrow at him,
"Look - when I start shooting, I'm real careful who and what I shoot," Atton snarled. Even when I'm drinking.
((()))
HK-50 noted that a freighter had arrived in system. It did not match the sensor profile Coorta had provided for his contact, and that contact was not due for another six hours. No weapons, minimal deflector screens, and only a handful of life-signs were detected. It was of no immediate threat, nor use. The assassin droid resumed its attempts to reacquire the target via the internal sensors, relegating the new arrival to a secondary threat protocol.
((()))
Jolee froze in the access tunnel. He looked ahead, and behind, but saw no threat, no enemies. There was… a silence to the Force, different than before. The shadow upon the future remained, but now there was a chill. Something had come, like the silence that followed on the heels of a deathblow. It was unnatural. Jolee had never felt something like it before. An old friend arrived, and ran down Jolee's spine.
There was danger here. Best be wary.
Only the dead, and fools were fearless.
((()))
At the bottom of the quarter kilometer shaft, Atton shakily thumbed on his glow rod. He really hated heights.
"Well, we don't seem to be roasting alive," Brynna pointed out.
"This connects to the mining tunnels. We aren't actually there yet," Sully told her, double checking that his datapad was still receiving positional updates, through the comlink Choy had jury rigged into it, boosting the signal power. The dot on the map that showed their position flickered occasionally, but remained steady…
"There's a lot of interference down here - probably caused by the explosion," Sully said.
"Will the pad still be able to triangulate our position?" Brynna asked.
"Probably. If we go too deep we might lose the signal… but as long as we stay within a kilometer of the surface, we should be fine," Choy said.
"This is an airlock," Brynna observed, staring at the panel next to the door that barred the end of the tunnel with worry.
"Some of the mine shafts lead to the exterior of the asteroid," Atton said.
"So that's an airlock and a decontamination chamber," Peison, a miner from gamma shift clarified helpfully.
"I can't tell if the other lock is engaged," Choy said, worried. If it wasn't, opening this door would space them.
"Ladies first," Atton said nervously. When the half-naked mechanic reached for the panel, he was ready to step in, if he got a bad feeling… but there was nothing.
Choy frowned, and tapped several keys on the panel. With a groan, the thick doors parted… and there was no torrent of escaping air.
Atton released the breath he'd been holding. Apparently he wasn't the only one.
"There should be some extra mining suits in these lockers," Peison said, moving to the tall equipment lockers that lined both walls.
"Might even be some sonic drills," the Duros miner finished hopefully.
There was a rustle of cloth and metal. Atton turned around, and saw Choy stepping into a bulky mining suit.
"Damn it…" he said, realizing the ramifications of wearing EVA suits. He grabbed one last peek of the woman, with her skin-tight leotard…
She turned, and raised an eyebrow at him. It was a very cold look.
"Uh... I mean… no sense in you running around half-naked. It's...it's distracting... I mean, for the droids," Atton said hastily, turning back to his own search.
Shut your mouth Atton, until you have something coherent to say, Atton snarled silently.
"There's also a vacuum on the other side of that lock," Choy reminded him.
"Yes, there is that, too," Atton agreed quickly.
In the smallest footlocker he found what he wanted… sonic drills.
Atton grabbed one of the bulky, rifle-like tools, and looked it over… it was basically like a weapon, it had a trigger, a safety, and a second hand grip to stabilize it, as well as a charge indicator. There were seven mining lasers in the locker. Enough for each of them, and a spare.
Choy struggled with some of the straps on her suit, and Atton quickly helped her, his hands lingering longer than she was comfortable, "Remember, no strenuous movement," he reminded her.
"Tell me about these suits," Brynna asked Peison, frowning at the unfamiliar devices built into the suit.
"Uh, the survey gear built into the helmet is designed to spot sonic charges, and the utility harness has tools to help disarm, or set them. That device, built into the arm, yes that," Peison said, when Brynna pointed to a wrist unit, "That's a sonic damper. It's linked to a network of emitters in the suit, which will counter incoming sonic energy, I think by create inverse sonic waves to neutralize them…"
"How do I activate it?" Brynna asked.
"It's automatic, but only has a limited number of uses before the power supply is depleted," Choy explained, distancing herself from Atton.
"It won't last forever, especially not against multiple hits," Peison said.
"How comforting," Choy said dryly. It felt good to have clothes on again though.
"The suit's also pretty well insulated, and obviously has its own air supply," Sully finished.
"Now, don't shoot unless you have to, we may need the energy later. So long as we don't touch any of them, we should be able to just walk past," Atton said.
"Should being the key operative word," Choy observed darkly. She twisted on her helmet, and double checked her suit's seals.
Atton deactivated his drill's safety, and looked over at Choy.
"You ready for this?"
"Yes," she answered simply.
He flicked on his helmet's spot-lamps, and engaged the airlock's cycle, nervously raising his weapon, ready to fire.
((()))
The shell of a man studied the wall of energy. Corroded fingers traced across the hazy purple surface. It had beauty in its own way.
A shadow approached and waited at the shell's elbow.
Air passed through ruined lips,
"Destroy it."
((()))
"Stop," Peison said. The sensor in his helmet had suddenly detected the signals of multiple armed sonic mines ahead… littering the entire tunnel, in fact…
"We might be able to get through these…" Atton said softly. He briefly toyed with the idea of throwing a rock into the group, but he suspected this had been done to collapse the tunnel, but for whatever reason, hadn't been triggered.
"These mines don't have motion triggers. They're remote detonation only," Peison said.
Choy panned her helmet lamps across the tunnel, noting the little explosives littered like shells on a beach.
"So why didn't the droids detonate them? We've had to back track enough times already from collapsed tunnels… why not this one?" Brynna asked.
"I don't know… but it's the only path within three kilometers that heads towards the fuel depot lift," Sully said, pointing to the datapad's screen. He'd already blacked out sections that they had found collapsed.
"Do we really have a choice?" Brynna asked.
"If they haven't exploded by now…" Atton trailed off uncomfortably, unable to look away from the innocuous little devices.
Peison went first. Halfway through the mines he stopped, and looked around, then looked back at the group. He shrugged, well, it seems safe enough, then kept walking. The rest of the group followed, one by one.
"Shit," Sully said, freezing in his tracks. The dot marking their position was flickering wildly… and then it disappeared. He held it out to Choy for inspection. She leaned in, hampered by the bulky fingers of the mining suit, verifying that the linkages between the comlink and datapad were still intact.
"Well… now we know why the mines haven't gone off," Atton said brightly.
"This passage isn't too complex… we'll just have to keep going, and hope we reach a patch of lesser interference," Choy said.
((()))
An alarm began to strobe on the maintenance master control panel. HK-50 paused its sporadic surveillance of the target via internal sensors, and brought up the schematic in question. A critical failure of containment fields in the V-933 access junction… in sequence. The method involved was causing critical failures in other sections… some sections that were keeping the asteroid from venting superheated sections of tunnel into pockets of peragian fuel.
Something was carving a path from the far-side of the asteroid, towards the administration section. Such a path would shunt the residual backblast into tunnels currently occupied by the target.
Unacceptable.
((()))
"I'm receiving an automated alert. Containment fields are failing, in about sixty seconds," Sully reported, looking up from his datapad.
"How far to the lift?" Brynna demanded, as the group broke into a sprint.
"Two hundred meters," Sully grunted.
It was going to be close.
"Hurry!" Atton shouted, racing through the mining tunnel. The mechanic was flagging, badly.
Brynna reached the mining lift first, and began frantically pressing buttons. Peison and Sully reached it moments later, as the platform began to slowly rise, scrambling aboard.
Atton turned back. He could see Choy. She was running in skipping lunges, right arm clamped tightly to her side, left arm pumping. She was only five meters away.
An emergency bulkhead began to rise, to seal off the tunnel, and the cargo lift access.
Save her.
Atton typically ignored his inner voices. They rarely had constructive things to say.
His feet were moving before the rest of his mind caught up. By then, he was already committed.
"Run, damn you!" Atton shouted at Choy, sprinting across the rough terrain. She reached the bulkhead, which had risen to the height of a low barricade, leaving a one meter gap with its twin descending from the ceiling, and awkwardly straddled it with one leg, trying to roll over it. Atton grabbed her suit's shoulder harness and yanked her over.
Sully punched overrides into the lift's controls, slowing the lift to a crawl, but it was still rising. It was already two meters above the ground.
"Peison!" Atton shouted, as he jumped up, catching the lip of the lift with one hand, still clutching at Choy's harness with his other. Sully and Peison grabbed Atton's wrist and forearm, then pulled him up. The three of them managed to haul Choy onto the lift several centimeters before the lift rose flush with the shaft walls.
"We are not doing that again," Atton said, more than slightly shaken.
The mechanic didn't answer, she was curled into a fetal ball, and hadn't moved.
"Are you alright?" he asked cautiously.
"Do I look all right?" she hissed.
Dumb question.
"Brynna?" Atton said, worried.
The doctor did another scan…
"Congratulations. You've undone most of my work," the woman said lightly.
"How badly?"
Brynna looked at Atton, worried, "As long as nothing else happens, and I can get you into surgery… you'll be fine."
"The administration level doesn't have any power," Choy reminded Brynna, as the lift reached the top, and the door cycled open.
"Is it safe to move her?" Atton asked Brynna.
"Is it safe not to?" Brynna countered.
"Damn it…" Atton hissed.
"Greeting: It is a pleasure to see you alive, master, provided my receptors are not off-focus. How may I be of assistance?" a synthesized voice said pleasantly. Atton whirled, raising his weapon. Somebody should have been watching the corridor…
A gun metal gray protocol droid stood four meters away, outside the effective range of the drill, otherwise Atton would have squeezed the trigger.
"Tell me what you're doing here before I turn you into slag," he snarled.
"Answer: I was in the service of this facility's maintenance officer… until he suffered his rather unfortunate demise. Therefore, as the leading remaining member of the maintenance detail, I default to technician Choy Verdan's authority."
"I remember you," the mechanic grunted.
"Statement: I am pleased that I was worthy of remembrance, master."
Atton didn't like the droid's silky tone.
"You sure it's the same droid?" Atton asked Choy quietly.
"Pretty sure," she grimaced.
It is pretty distinctive… Atton thought darkly.
"Droid, carry this woman, carefully. She has internal injuries," Brynna commanded sharply.
The droid nodded sharply, "Confident Statement: I will exercise the utmost delicacy in my movements, organic."
((()))
Captain Raxton sat down at the desk in his cabin, and composed his daily log entry,
"As ordered, we've diverted from Telos, and have almost arrived at Peragus. Provided there are no mishaps, we should be back on course, and arrive at Telos in ten days."
Raxton sat back and rubbed his temples, trying to avert the headache he could feel on the horizon. The ship decanted from hyperspace, on the edge of the Peragus system, to calculate a safe jump to the edge of the asteroid field.
The terminal pinged.
"Yes commander?" Captain Raxton asked.
"We are receiving a distress call," Commander Torell answered.
"I'm on my way," Captain Raxton said. He ran, dignity be damned.
"The distress signal appears to be automated," one of the new ensigns reported, studying his console readouts as Raxton slowed to a rapid stride upon entering the bridge.
"How far from our present position?" Captain Raxton asked.
"I'm not sure. There's a lot of distortion. I can give you a vector, but I can't triangulate its position," the young man said sheepishly.
"Very well. What details do we have?" Torell asked.
"Most of the transmission has decayed, possibly from damage to the transmitter."
"Is there a transmitted registry?" Torell asked, leaning over the unfortunate man's shoulder, reading the information.
"I'm sorry sir. I just have the transmission," the ensign answered.
"How old is the time stamp?" Raxton asked.
"About… thirteen hours," the ensign reported.
"Helm, follow that signal," Raxton said.
"All hands, stand by for action stations, alert level two," Commander Torell ordered in the background. Shields rose, and weapons began to charge, but the ship was not actually on a combat footing, yet. Pilots would be standing by, but not actually in their fighter's yet.
"We might not be too late," Raxton said quietly, only loud enough for Torell to hear. Raxton composed a quick text based report, along with the sensor readings and dispatched it to communications to encrypt, and send to Admiral Onasi, detailing their initial findings.
((()))
Atton frowned as he searched the console's directory… "The turbolifts have been locked down manually, with a voiceprint ID…" he said slowly.
"Probably the Maintenance officer's…" Sully sighed.
"What about an override code?" Peison asked.
"Only Administrator Landrow would have something like that…" Bryna said.
"Pitying Answer: and he has most likely been murdered in an unfortunate accident…"
"How would you get to the hanger?" Choy suddenly asked the droid that carried her. It seemed startled that someone was asking for its advice.
"Warning: Master, continued exploration of this facility may place you in unnecessary danger," the droid protested, "I encourage you to return to the medical bay and wait for retrieval from a vessel that is no doubt on the way even as we continue this pointless conversation."
Atton didn't like the sound of that, he glanced at Brynna and saw the hardening over her eyebrows. He knew what that meant.
"I am giving you an order to assist us," Brynna growled, or I get to turn you into scrap.
"Weary Resignation: Very well, organic. But there is very little that I can do. As you can see, the turbolift controls are secured by a code."
"So how do we get the code?" Sully asked.
"Correction: Oh, I already possess the code, organic, but I am afraid that it will do you no good," the droid said smugly, and Atton gritted his teeth.
"Let's find out," Atton growled.
"Condescending Answer: Very well, the code is: Maintenance Control: Voiceprint ID: R1-B5, but unless the maintenance officer speaks the code, it is useless," the droid said.
Atton frowned. That wasn't exactly true… there were ways to beat voiceprint identification safeguards. If he could get samples of the voice and the right words, he should be able to fake the voiceprint code… and he knew what the code was now…
So either this droid wasn't as clever as it thought it was… or it was lying.
"Voice print… how do we get past that?" Bryna asked, sounding as if she were at the end of her rope.
"Answer: Organic, you cannot. We are trapped here. There is nothing to do except patiently wait for whatever the future has in store for us…"
Atton tuned out the rest of the droids lies. He needed high quality audio logs, a recording rod, and a data pad… yesterday… didn't the Security Chief chew out someone from maintenance? Maybe it's the same person… and the man has to have filed reports somewhere…
It wasn't a solution, not yet, but it was a start.
"How do you know the maintenance officer is dead?" Choy asked suddenly.
"Answer: I heard his dying screams as the droids he tended turned on him, mining him like a piece of asteroid rock. At the end, he was quite incoherent from the pain, and attempts to facilitate communications with him proved useless," the droid said.
"Are you sure it was him? Could you have heard someone else?" the mechanic asked hopefully.
"Annoyed answer: Master, I am quite certain of my conclusion, but if you doubt my abilities, you may judge for yourself," the droid said haughtily, and suddenly the droid's voice changed to that of a dead man.
"…five droids... drilling through the outer door...!"
Atton discretely activated the recording rod in his pocket
"They're forcing their way into the bay... please, someone, they... oh no, they're through! Aighhh! My leg! I... stop! Stop! St-"
And then the man's voice was gone, replaced by the protocol droid's dry, synthesized tones, "Addendum: His remaining attempts at communication are variations in decibel, Master, ranging from frenzied screams to gibbering, inarticulate attempts to beg for his life."
Atton looked over at Sully and Bryna, "Was that him?"
Bryna's dark complexion had taken on a decidedly ashen tone, and she nodded tightly.
"Wait… if you can playback his voice, can't you speak the voice code?" Atton challenged.
"Objection: Master! To commit such an act would be in violation of the ethics programming most droids are believed to possess. I am afraid there is nothing that can be done," the droid said, sounding shocked.
"Believed to possess?" Atton sneered.
"Irritated Statement: Organic, if you insist on echoing everything I say, this already tedious conversation is in danger of becoming even longer."
"This is all well and good, but we have more pressing concerns…" Bryna said, shaking her head sharply, eyeing the increasingly pale mechanic.
"How are we supposed to even get back to the Administration level? With the loss of containment, those tunnels are flooded with molten rock by now," Sully pointed out.
"Theory: You could walk across the surface of the asteroid to the Administration level's exterior airlock… but such a route would be extremely hazardous, and I do not wish to see you damaged…" the droid said reluctantly.
"Do we have a choice?" Bryna asked.
Atton frowned, "Getting Choy to the med bay won't do any good without restoring power to that level… or at least, to the surgical suite."
"Could we reroute power from the Habitat level?" Sully suggested.
"No… the relays were damaged in the explosion…" Atton said. He'd already tried that.
"Suggestion: there are several fusion furnaces of varying size within the maintenance bay… one may be portable," the protocol droid said.
First time he's actually been helpful... intentionally, Atton thought suspiciously.
The droid hadn't been lying, Atton saw grudgingly. There were three fusion furnaces, that resembled pulsating inverted mushrooms… which didn't make them easily portable…
"Here, there's a repulsor sled," Peison said, pointing to the tool. It wasn't very large, only intended for use by a single operator on foot, to transport a small amount of heavy cargo… but it would work in vacuum.
Choy was finding it harder and harder to keep awake… and why was she so cold? The stars were beautiful though… she stared up as she was carried by the gray droid across the barren surface.
So cold.
((()))
Kel sat in the pilot's station, staring broodingly out the forward viewport.
"What's wrong?" Lash asked, sitting in the co-pilot's station. Their daughter was asleep, the tiny shape held protectively to Lashowe's chest for warmth and comfort.
"Nothing at the moment," Kel said, grinning.
Lash scowled at her husband.
"You're having second thoughts about something."
Kel shrugged, "No more than usual."
"It's about us," Lash accused.
Kel nodded reluctantly, conflicted.
"I… think we should leave," he said.
Lash studied her husband. His brown eyes, usually quietly amused by everything around him were muddy and cool.
"You don't mean Peragus. You mean Jolee," Lash said quietly.
Kel met her eyes, and she could both see the pain in them, and also feel it in his psyche, "Yes."
Lash was quiet for several minutes, considering it.
"It's not my first choice," the young woman answered.
"We can never repay Jolee for what he's done for us… but if we keep following him…" Kel broke off, choosing to stare out of the hanger bay at the tumbling asteroids.
Lashowe reached out and curled her fingers in Kel's hand.
"I feel it too. Something prowling. Something hungry," Lash whispered.
"And Jolee is looking for it. We helped Revan end the civil war. We did our part… now its time to live our lives," Kel said.
It was a surprisingly selfish sentiment for the man.
Lashowe found herself in a difficult position. She was supposed to be the selfish one.
"Kel… without Jolee we would still be lost, angry little idiots… and we wouldn't even know we were idiots," Lash said hesitantly.
Kel smiled sickly, "I know. He helped us grow, instead of indoctrinating us as either a Jedi or a Sith would have. But I don't trust him now. He's changed."
Lash frowned. Jolee was still the same cantankerous, grumpy old man he'd always been. Rough around the edges, but always ready to put his life on the line to keep them safe.
"What do you mean?" Lash asked slowly.
Kel smiled sadly, "Lash… he's trying to die."
((()))
"I found the source of the signal," Ensign Parik reported.
"Any ships on scopes?" Torell asked.
"Just the mining ship. It appears to have taken heavy damage to its engines, and is drifting, possibly from meteoroid impacts," Ensign Parik answered. The aging craft was fifty meters long, with a tapered prow, and a heavy cluster of engines at the rear.
"Lifesigns?" Torell demanded.
"Possibly. We can't determine though due to leakage from the power core."
"Commander, prepare one of our shuttles for boarding actions and possible casevac. Launch our fighters to screen the shuttle," Captain Raxton said coolly.
This could be a trap.
"Medical, you might be receiving trauma patients," Commander Torell said, paging the medbay.
"Their cargo bay is compromised. Any survivors would have to be in the cockpit," Torell muttered to Raxton, studying the sensor readings.
"Unless they're in EVA suits. That is a mining vessel," Raxton replied.
((()))
"Observation: connecting the fusion furnace to the main power grid is inefficient. Better to isolate the medical wing's power distribution, and directly apply power there."
Peison was up to his waist in the floor access for the power relays.
"This isn't my job. And keep watch for droids," the miner retorted, pulling a power sensor from among the scattered tools on the deck plate.
"Condescending reply: yes organic. I am indeed on the lookout for droids. I was simply attempting to expedite repairs, to ensure my master's survival."
"Look, I have nothing against droids. I just don't like being nagged at. I'm doing my best," the miner grumbled uncomfortably.
"Query: how is this relevant?" HK-50 asked, curious.
"I'm sorry for yelling at you. Move the light a little, would you?" the duros miner mumbled. HK noted that several of the organic's fingers were bleeding from recent damage. HK adjusted the angle of the glow rod it held down into the compartment below the deck plates, before returning its attention to their surroundings.
"Query: why are you apologizing? I have no feelings for you to harm. I am a droid. Logic and probability lead me. I have no emotions," HK elaborated, bemused by the miner.
The man swapped tools again, as he continued to connect the fusion furnace.
"I've seen how Choy treats her droids. She loves the things. Treats em' like family," the man grunted, tightening a reluctant connector.
"Statement: how the master treats her property is irrelevant. My objective is to ensure her survival to the best of my ability. It is how I am programmed. Being loved does not change a single algorithm, or subroutine I possess," HK responded flatly.
"Maybe… or maybe not," the man said, smiling briefly at HK.
Emergency lighting suddenly flared to life, the amber glow flaring around the sullen island of cold blue light from the glow-rod.
"Power's back," the miner declared redundantly.
HK however, was watching the organic that had rounded the corner in their section of the administration level. Based on schematics, it had most likely come from the lower levels, using the emergency duct on this level. Distance of ten meters.
"Query: organic, are you in need of assistance?" HK called out.
The organic did not respond, as it approached. Hostile intent probable, and the creature was armed with bladed weaponry. The creature was encased in a light EVA suit of unknown manufacture. It appeared almost too thin to be of use, but seemed designed for maximum mobility.
"Where?" Peison asked, excited.
"Warning: there is an organic approaching, armed with melee weaponry. Hostile intent probable," HK said, raising the glow rod to illuminate the approaching subject.
"I don't see anything," Peison said nervously, clutching his fusion cutter.
"Statement: I have clearly illuminated the organic. Range is five meters," HK said sharply, beginning to retreat.
"Where?" Peison demanded, scrambling up onto the deck, frantically turning his head.
The target reached the miner's position, and snatched the fusion cutter away, before pinning the man to the wall. Without physical contact.
Apparently the miner could now see the unknown hostile.
"Where is the Jedi?" it growled, slowly drawing a knife off its belt. Twenty-three centimeter blade. Serrated. Probable blade composition of duratanium and ionite, based off initial scans.
"I don't know," Peison screamed. The hostile left a bleeding slash across Peison's arm. HK noted black marks at the edge of the wound, which began to follow the surface veins. Devaronian blood poison. Painful.
Interesting.
"Where is she?"
At the question, HK decided intervention was required. There was a 79.3% probability that this organic was a "Dark Jedi" or "Sith," based off observations so far. The bounty was for Jedi, not Force-users in general. Therefore this creature was not a secondary objective, but competition. An unnecessary complication in an already chaotic environment.
"Query: organic, may I be of assistance?" HK asked pleasantly, approaching the two organics.
The probable Sith turned, to look at HK, although Peison remained pinned to the wall.
"Yes. We seek a Jedi. She is here. My master has felt her. She must be found," the Sith responded. HK could take no visual cues from body language or facial expression, due to the concealing presence of the EVA suit.
"Clarification: there are no Jedi listed among facility records, and three hundred twenty-seven female personnel. Do you have a secondary qualifier of identification?"
"She tasted Malachor," the Sith answered.
HK was satisfied that this Sith indeed was attempting to poach the bounty on General Meetra Surik, and was not in fact pursuing Jolee Bindo, or a potential third Jedi target that HK was unaware of.
"Answer: I can begin a search of personnel records. One moment please," HK cocked his head to the side, and cut power to his primary photoreceptors (eliminating their ambient illumination) as if engaging in a wireless computer tap. The Sith turned back to Peison, raising its knife.
HK's right hand lashed out, using his IR scanners to land the blow upon the back of the target's neck. The strike was precise, crushing the vertebrae through the unarmored flight suit's material. Without knowing the species, such a blow had a 98.7% chance of resulting in death, or at the least, physical incapacitation. HK picked up the dropped blade, and promptly utilized it to decapitate the (probably) dead target.
Decapitation was always effective.
"Th-th-thank you. You saved—" Peison whispered.
HK extracted the Sith's knife from Peison's sternum.
HK-50 could afford no distractions now.
Power had been restored. The organics would begin surgical procedures to ensure the target's survival. A new threat had been identified, that could not be ignored.
HK-50's next course of action was clear.
((()))
Bryna felt something stir in her chest when the lights slowly flared to life within her medical bay… but she didn't have time to be distracted. Choy was in hypovolemic shock, only barely conscious.
"Does anyone have any medical experience? I'll need an assistant," Bryna said, thrusting her hands into the sterilization field, her jumpsuit's sleeves already folded up past her elbows. Atton and Sully exchanged helpless looks.
"Congratulations Sully, sterilize yourself," Bryna said sharply, immediately heading towards the now unconscious woman on the surgical table. There wasn't much time…
Atton watched as the unlikely pair began their work… there wasn't anything he could do here to help. No one noticed as he quietly left the medical wing.
Atton slipped back into the detention block, and headed straight for the security terminal, setting his sonic drill within easy reach. Before he started in on the logs though, he decided to check the two locked drawers, and armed with a fusion cutter, it didn't take long to force the mechanisms…
The first drawer held an expensive data pad, a security scanner (designed to detect powercells of weapons, etc…), two holo cubes (but they just had personal images of family, Atton guessed), and a compact medpac, the kind a soldier would carry. Atton took the medpac and datapad.
The second drawer though… he hit pay dirt.
Two sets of stun cuffs, as well as the wrist-link that controlled them, and a security spike tunneler…
"My, my Chief. What did you need this for?" Atton whispered, picking up the tunneler, which almost resembled a thickened datapad stylus… it created localized interference in electronic locks, making it easier to short them out, and force the lock circuits into the open position.
Atton could think of many uses for such a tool, and slipped it into an interior pocket of his leather jacket.
Now, the terminal…
Atton grinned smugly, copying the security logs to the data pad, and started cutting the conversation apart, discarding everything but the maintenance officer's speech.
"Maintenance Control: Voiceprint ID: R1-B5."
Atton copied the spliced audio file to the recording rod, as well as his comlink, just in case…
((()))
"This is Sergeant Olin. No survivors in rear airlock. Vacuum noted."
Captain Raxton nodded, "Proceed sergeant."
He always hated this part, sitting and waiting to hear if his boys were about to die.
Captain Raxton used the word boys, loosely. Sergeant Olin was fifty-seven years old. One of the few experienced soldiers Raxton had been able to keep in his crew. Perhaps too experienced.
"We found a body. One of the miners. Dead," Olin reported.
"Cause of death?" Raxton asked.
"Sorry sir. Appears to have been from shrapnel of some kind. A hole's been punched through the chest. Through and through. No signs of cauterization," Olin answered.
Could be from the asteroid field. Or enemy action.
"Advancing towards cockpit. More miners. Six so far, all with similar wounds. No carbon scoring on the walls from weapons fire," Olin said, keeping up a periodic running commentary.
((()))
"Molecular adhesive applicator," Bryna said, and the dock officer placed the instrument in her hand after some trial and error. The doctor activated the instrument, and carefully directed it at the worst of the bleeding. The liver and kidneys were such vascular organs…
"Heart rate has increased twenty beats per minute, and blood pressure is falling," the automated medical scanner reported.
"Increase the transfusion rate by twenty percent," Bryna commanded the computer, moving on to the next perforation… it was like sticking your finger in a leaking dam to plug the holes.
((()))
"Contact left!" Sergeant Olin shouted. Captain Raxton clutched the armrest of his chair helplessly, as he heard men scream, and the muted sounds of Olin's blaster firing, conducted through his hand and armor plates to the helmet comlink. After fifteen seconds, the blaster fire stopped.
"Report, sergeant," Raxton said calmly.
"We lost Corporal Bannai. Some kind of droid. Looked like a sonic weapon of some kind, took his head off. It's dead. Two other droids also destroyed."
"Finish your sweep, and bring one of the droids back with you for analysis, after scanning for explosives," Raxton ordered.
((()))
Choy opened her eyes in a strange place of swirling grey mists that seemed to writhe and twist with a life all its own. It was… cold… here, and she knew she was not alone. She had been brought here.
The mists swirled a little faster to her left, and assumed the vague facsimile of a cloaked humanoid.
"Who are you?" Choy demanded.
"I am your rescuer - as you are mine," the figure said.
Choy stiffened, "You… I heard your voice."
"Yes, I had hoped as much. I slept here too long, and could not awaken," the shadow said, gesturing one nebulous hand at the formless ether that surrounded them.
"Slept too long? Are you… dead?" Choy asked slowly.
"Close to death, yes, closer than I'd like," the speaker was smiling… though Choy couldn't see the speaker's face, she knew it was so.
"Where are you? I mean, where is your body?" Choy asked, curious.
"I do not know, and it does not matter. Time is short…" the shadow said, growing worried.
"Why? What's wrong?" Choy asked warily.
"Our enemy draws near… and he will not let you depart without bloodshed,"
"Who is this enemy?" Choy asked, flatly.
((()))
HK-50 had eliminated three additional unknown organic hostiles, in similar EVA suits to the first. At the moment though, HK-50 was 83.6% certain that the "master" spoken of by the first Sith victim had indeed been located. Possibly. Or it was a sensor ghost. HK-50 did not register any signs of metabolic activity, heat, or respiration in the object… yet it walked without mechanical assistance.
An ambulatory cadaver was not something HK encountered on a regular basis. Especially one armed with a lightsaber.
Further information was required. The assassin droid activated a remote signaler. A pressure door eased open, and six bipedal Mark 2 mining droids ambled into the hallway ahead of the organic procession. Three organics in EVA suits moved to the front, although the possible Sith Master did not vary its pace or course. Silently the organics in EVA suits attacked the mining droids, with pinpoint strikes to power supplies and central processors. The ionite component to the weapons easily disabled the non-combat model droids. No casualties among the sith.
HK-50 pressed the second button on his signal unit. The sonic detonators the assassin had taped to the backs of the Mark 2 droids detonated, tearing the EVA suited sith apart as they stepped over the fallen droids. The Sith master was hurled across the corridor and slammed against the wall with bone shattering force, and did not move. The target's head hung at an angle indicative of shattered vertebrae.
HK-50 cautiously advanced. It had a sonic drill in hand, which (after considerable modification) could now be fired at a range of eight meters. Unfortunately, it could only fire once every ten seconds without fusing any components, and only six times before depleting the power cell.
The target sat up, and HK fired its drill. A lightsaber sprung to life, intercepting the sonic discharge—
Which continued unhindered and severed the target's right arm at the shoulder.
A moment later HK was thrown through the air, deflecting off a stanchion, before hitting a wall and then the deck.
Clearly it was time to reassess combat protocols. The target had regained its feet, and bent to retrieve its arm, which still held the lightsaber.
The Sith's power advantage needed to be eliminated, immediately. HK looked around, locating a maintenance interface, and keyed into the system. Micro-wave mapping tracked the target advancing again, as HK rerouted environmental controls for the corridor that it had just been thrown out of.
Two seconds later the gravity plating began to hum, safeguards disabled.
HK recovered its sonic drill and studied the approaching sith master.
The target stumbled and fell to one knee when gravity registered at 5 G, but continued to strain forward. At 8 G the sith master's head began to dip, no longer able to look at HK, or freely move.
HK fired his sonic drill at 8.25 G. The plane of sonic oscillations sliced through the stationary Sith's neck, toppling the head to the deck. A moment later the grav plating's internal components fused from the overload. In the sudden weightlessness, the corpse began to float… but it was no longer moving of its own accord.
HK-50 studied the body for signs of animation for ten minutes, before determining that the competition had been eliminated as a factor. However, it also decided caution would be best, and decided to remain for a further thirty minutes to ensure termination.
((()))
"The marines have established a data link with the mining ship's computer. Downloading data now, no survivors or further hostiles reported," Commander Torell said.
"Have engineering take a look at the droid, when our boys return," Captain Raxton said, tiredly, rubbing at his eyes.
"Helm, plot me a course to Peragus. Best possible speed,"
((()))
Almost finished, Bryna thought, as the dock officer continued suctioning the operating site, removing the excess blood, to be cleaned, and transfused back into the patient's circulatory system… but now, the site wasn't immediately filling back up, aside from a few weak trickles.
Bryna resealed the membrane around the liver. She injected a hundred milliliters of kolto extract into the space between the repaired organ and the now intact membrane, where it would stay for several days, before the body eventually absorbed the substance… though it would speed the rate of tissue healing by a factor of ten.
She repeated the procedure with the kidney, before she closed the abdominal cavity, but not before leaving another layer of kolto there as well.
((()))
Choy woke in a cold sweat, once more in her leotard… though someone had been thoughtful enough to shroud her with a blanket, at least.
"The droid showed me the security logs! You sabotaged those droids!" Bryna exclaimed.
Choy looked over slowly.
"I was in a cell!" Atton shouted, his face ugly.
"You claim, but no one is left alive to confirm that!" Sully said, siding with the medical officer.
"I don't like being accused of something I didn't do. When I kill someone, trust me, you'll know. Got it?" Atton said harshly, his voice dropping into a dangerously quiet tone, his hand resting on the butte of the blaster pistol in his jacket.
"You going to kill me too, Rand?" Sully asked, and Choy noticed that Brynna had a sonic scalpel concealed in her hand… and Atton had stepped forward to intimidate Sully with his presence… which also put him in range of her impromptu weapon.
"I haven't killed anyone," Atton said, seething with frustration.
"I don't believe you…" Bryna said softly.
"Droids can't be trusted!" Atton retorted.
"And you can?" Sully demanded.
"Look, I could have let you suffocate in those dormitories, and the second a droid points the finger at me, you believe him, without question?" Atton asked incredulously.
Bryna opened her mouth to answer, but Atton held up his hand angrily,
"I'm not finished. You know what? I don't trust you. For all I know, you two could have caused all this trouble… or even her," Atton said, pointing at Choy.
Choy laughed weakly, "Yes, I orchestrated all of this from my stupor in the kolto tank."
Atton's pocket started chiming insistently, and Atton angrily yanked his comlink out, "What?" he snarled.
"Uh… there's a ship approaching," Peison reported, startled by the fury in Atton's voice.
"A freighter?" Atton asked, his anger derailed.
"No… it's a republic warship, the Harbinger," Peison said.
He is close, the voice that was voiceless whispered inside Choy's mind.
"Can we hail them?" Brynna asked.
"Sorry. Communications have gone down," Peison said sheepishly.
Atton looked at Choy, "Can you move?" he asked.
"No she can't," Brynna growled, keeping one hand protectively on Choy's shoulder, in case she decided to jump up. The mechanic had no inclination to do so. For the first time in six hours her lungs didn't have molten needles in them.
"Get a stretcher then. We have to go to them, we can't stay here," Atton insisted, quarrel forgotten (or at least studiously ignored) in the face of the new development.