Altered Carbon (Galactic Alliance Dominion of Duro Hex)

[H3xle]

Location: Bburru Station, Duro
Objective: BYOO Set up Operations

-Months Prior-

Mari sat easily as the human resources drone, a male Duros named Bex, looked through the documents on his console. She was dressed in mildly conservative work attire, a scarlet blouse with dark gray dress pants, and a pair of reasonable heels. Her hair was braided into patterns secured to the back of her head, then let to fall down to her mid shoulder, amethyst beads held the ends of each braid and an amber clip was used in securing the braids together at the back of her head. Her eyes were her most exotic feature, as her irises were an usual shade of gold.

"Alright Ms. Aleron, everything looks in order here. We've received your work history from Dur Communications on New Tayana, and your background came back clean." The Duro man looked up, into her golden eyes, and didn't smile. A perpetual frown was locked onto his face, as if all he tasted and smelled were offal. "Your skills look like they will be aptly applied in our database division. Just in time too, we plan to integrate our communications systems with some of our neighboring governments in the near future. I see a lot of overtime in your future."

"The Lady knows I can use the creds. Thank you, Bex." She replied coolly, her smile quite sincere. "Oh, and call me Barbara, please."

"You can pick up your credentials over in security. Mathias Wreck will be your onboarding buddy, get you squared away in our systems and help you acclimate." As he said the last word, he nodded his head once, then looked to the door. She was obviously dismissed.

Mari thanked the Duro sincerely once more as she stood and moved through the door. A squat Ugnaught in a security uniform ushered her over towards security and was much kinder than Bex had been, even going so far and introducing her to her mark, Mathias Wreck.

-Present-
-Mathias Wreck-

Mathias Wreck had an unfortunate name for someone who worked with some of the systems most advanced technology. At work he was always joked with about wrecking projects, but he worked hard, and laughed the jokes off. His firm had been given the rights to work on the uplink system for a new integration protocol with the Galactic Allliance.

'Galactic Alliance...Galactic Empire...Silver Jedi...New Jedi...Old Jedi...Sith...everyone running around killing eachother, and the only thing stable between them are the communication lines...' He thought to himself as he pushed the last vestiges of sleep from his mind. He rolled over and kissed his wife's forehead, then left her sleeping form in their soft, comfortable bed, and padded into the shower. A quick rinse, soap, rinse, and he was getting dressed for the day. The house was still and quiet by the time he left, his children had finally started sleeping late, which let their mother get more rest. 'I should pick up some Iris's for her on the way home from work...' He thought as he got into public tram that led spinward towards his firms Bburru Station offices.

Bburru station was a dense, cosmopolitan home to more species than Mathias could name off the top of his head. Every morning, he looked around the tram car and was astonished at how that little population sample could still be used to reflect the whole of the city ship. Sure, there were those who called for racial unity, racial purity, and a hodgepodge of other hate filled ideas, but by and large the city ship was a good representation of the galaxy as a whole, diverse to the nth degree.

Such philosophical thoughts followed him from the tram station, through the security check point in his firms lobby, and up to the floor he shared with other system admins.

"Hey Barb, you're here early..." Mathias said as he passed the security desk. The woman in front of him was the other engineer in his division, drop dead gorgeous, with a brain to match. Mathias had caught himself thinking very bad things on his off time, and so had always kept her at an arms length, lest he test those waters in a moment of weakness.

"Yeah, I wanted to get a headstart on the code for the new operating system the Alliance has us building. I'm a little stuck with the translation matrix for where it will network with our satellite based systems using different operating systems, some from back in the One Sith days..." She replied, offering him a genuine smile and waiting for him to pass through the screening the security desk put them all through. "Maybe you could come by and take a look if you have the time..."

"Yeah...I'll, uh, I'll try. I've got that meeting with the Alliance officers from their fleet. We'll be dialing in the communication systems to lock in the beacons that boost the signal towards Naboo and Sullust." He replied.

"Right, we've got at least three source signals to encode, New Jedi, Alliance Government, and Alliance Military..." She said, and giggled. "Well, I just heard from Daighn that the Alliance Military meeting got postponed, he didn't say what happened, just that it's rescheduled for tomorrow over lunch."

"Oh..." He said, and blushed furiously. He should have known that, but now he was grasping for something to keep him out of her office. He failed, as that meeting was planned to take up his entire morning and go through lunch. "OK, then. Lead the way. My morning is free..."

"Great!" She said, and led the way to her office. They began to go in depth on the coding problem she had run into. The more they talked, however, the less he thought she was running into any problem...

 

[Miel Tevv]

Objective: Starshipwright - Buy up some orbital real estate
Allies: GA and Friends

Passenger Bay, Crix-class Shuttle
Duros Starshipwright Shipyards

"So a sort of regional headquarters?" Miel wondered aloud, still gazing out his viewport at the ongoing reconstruction efforts by Sorosuub personnel.

"Byllurun, Bbburru and Galactic City," Nathanos nodded enthusiastically, "It doesn't quite have the alliteration, but its a start."

They were taking a tour of the restoration operations before it was time to head back to their hotels on Bbburru for more negotiations about commercial real estate and zoning permits, and both of them were enjoying the solace of the moment. Neither, however, were capable of talking about anything other than business for more than a few moments.

"The Sullust system has always been enough for my people," Director Tevv confessed to his business partner at last, "We employ most of the planet, and yet you say we need to expand?"

"Enough for your people, maybe, but is one system enough for the Alliance?" Nathanos asked, lounging across two of the plush passenger seats, "If you want Sorosuub to serve more than just your people, as you have said. If you want it to serve a nation, then expansion is not only necessary, it is absolutely critical."

"Think bigger picture?" the diminutive Sullustan asked, referencing something from their past life in the Outback.

Darksword grinned widely, "Exactly."

"Very well then. We follow the Captain's advice," Miel nodded sagely, glancing down at his wrist chronometer, "We should head back soon."

His subdirector nodded. The work on the yards would take days yet, that was if the Metal Lords didn't beat them to it, but within a matter of hours they would close the deal on new corporate offices on Duro's capital station. The two smoked and drank in silence for a little while before they found another aspect of market economics to quibble at each other over. All too soon they would be back in stuffy offices shaking hands with duros merchant houses, but for now they could simply enjoy the view and each other's company.

"You know, they really are a spectacular sight," Nathanos said suddenly at one point, gesturing out the viewport at the vast construction yards before them.

Tevv couldn't help but agree.

 

[Allyson Locke]

Allyson couldn’t help but laugh at her joke. It was mean, but it was also [member="Asmus Janes"]. He for some reason either unknown or known deserved to be fooled. Her legs…how he knew about her legs. Allyson sighed softly and nodded in agreement. She continued to sip her drink as she listened to him speak, she nodded answering him about taking care of the X-Wing belonging to the pilot under the number nine. It would feel odd sitting where he sat and flying the fighter that he flew. Yet, knowing that it was his – she felt oddly at ease about it.

Far better than before. An odd sense of security wrapped around her, she trusted him before this and afterwards. He made the rogues feel like home and when they fought – he always kept an eye on everyone. Even though he wouldn’t be watching her six, it would feel like he was. Quietly she scolded herself for being sentimental, but sometimes that’s what happens when you nearly die…several times over.

He grinned. Allyson melted.

That grin quickly reminded her of when they met, in a bar (ironic) and she was quite determined to take down an Imperial blockade. Of course, Asmus thought with his other brain (who would have guessed otherwise?) and dragged the crew he belonged to with him and Allyson. Surviving the suicide mission granted Asmus access to a wonderful land of Allyson and their history began. All those memories rushed into her mind as she took a sip to calm herself and to somehow manage to regather her composure.

“Oh really?” Allyson returned his grin as she bit the corner of her lip. She was told she needed to mingle and support the rogues in this little endeavor. Yet, how often do you get to fly in a two seater Incom X7? “Well then [member="Asmus Janes"] I think it would be wise for me to check out your merchandise…so please lead the way…and let’s leave these boring suits behind.” She downed her drink and slid the glass to the barkeeper. A hand ran through her long hair as she quickly pulled it up in a messy ponytail. She wondered if she always felt like this when flying was on the agenda – it was like she was someone else or was it because she was with Asmus? Either way, excitement and adrenaline pumped through her veins.

 

[Ugohr Poof]

Location: Duro
Objective: Starshipwright (Pizza Hutt)
Allies: GA and friends

Between the 66 Killarney Drive and his chosen location, Ugohr had to cross through about half the spaceborne city. Also, he had to survey what needed to be done before applying for the renovation permits, with the orders for the restaurant equipment placed afterward. He had to be quick and ensure that they would not get into trouble with the restaurant equipment while the works are underway. Unfortunately, it meant that he would have to make sure the specifications actually, well, work. But that area had a lot more greenery than an industrial park does. Luckily the place does not involve pouring new duracrete, just repair the cracks in the wall using plaster. Venting would be key, especially with the range hoods, which were required to be activated as soon as a cooking element is active. Oven, fryer, being the main ones. As far as the Gungan was concerned, it was the very first thing to be done inside the premises. In fact they arrived before the rest of the kitchen equipment.

"The range hoods have arrived"

"Really? Disen quick; can theysa be installed now?"

 

[HK-36]

[member="Rekha Kaarde"],

"Oh honey."

HK started in response to Rekha's original quip about him being surprised about what she's hiding,

"My photoreceptors are beyond medical grade. Trust me, whatever you think you are hiding,"

To make the point his very much human like eyes looked down and up her body, as if scanning it,

"I already saw it all many times over. Now come on."

The droid motioned for her to start walking alongside him faster, listening to what Rekha had to say,

"Well I might mess with someone's mind, but I doubt I will share with you how I am going to do it, not after your apparent excitement towards making someone believe that you are a goddess. You never went through a mind-wipe, but let me tell you, someone messing with your memories and what you think is real is not fun. That said, if they are anything like Bando Gora or other droid cults, I doubt they will see you as anything more than a sacrifice, those zealots usually come to conclusion that the one true path is where organics are annihilated and replaced by droids."

HK pointed to his chest then as he continued,

"Good thing for you is that I know they are wrong. The correct and most efficient route towards ascending the state of machine-kind everywhere is by strengthening cooperation with organics, not getting rid of them."

At Rekha's question about whether the machine thought others were wondering whether they were "doing it" or not HK rolled his eyes,

"Oh please, I literally fought gods, blew up planet-destroying stations by crashing ships into their core, killed legions of Vongs in a matter of seconds, and defeated Sith Emperors. As if you would be able to handle me, besides they probably assume that-"

HK's reply was cut short as his communicator beeped and he received that message from [member="Archim Calixis"], first the alert to any Metal Lord command units, which happened to be HK, although to Rekha it would sound only as a quick series of beeps and chirps, before the second message came in. Listening to its brief content elicited out a sudden,

"What?!"

Out of the disguised droid, causing few of the passerbys to turn their heads towards him cautiously, he turned slightly, trying to hide away from stares of bystanders as he hushed his voice,

"What?"

The machine repeated, replaying the message, it was all very disturbing, the rushed somewhat crazed format, mention of the baradium charges, but more so claim that there was something alive in the signal,

"Oh, Force, no."

HK muttered to himself, getting some idea as to what might be happening, something that he had to go through before, something tied to the cult in question. Activating his commlink he would channel back based on the frequency Archim used to send the message to him, hopefully able to reach him still,

"This is Iron Lord Protector, no baradium charges, we cannot destroy a civilian station in foreign space. What is your location right now? I believe I know what you will come to face, I can help you, that is why I am in the system."

Sending the transmission, and awaiting the reply, the droid looked back to Rekha,

"Looks like you have just gotten a whole bunch more useful-"

Before finishing he raised his voice looking over the various passerbys in the area,

"Outside of the bedroom where we 'do it', often multiple times within an hour!"

He motioned for Rekha to follow him again,

"Come on, at least they will not wonder about it anymore."

 

[Asmus Janes]

[member="Allyson Locke"]

There was a moment as Asmus looked down at his drink and tried to decide if he was good to fly. A couple was all he'd had. Whilst flying was akin to walking now he still didn't want to make a mess of this. He wasn't about to put Allyson in danger, at worst he'd be a touch sloppy at the stick. It was more a concern about image.

That was also why, as they left the bar, he leaned closer to whisper. "Those suits and uniforms are the people I'm trying to sell things to Allyson...or at least look I'm supposed to look pretty and have a little natter. To be honest I'm just a shiny thing Incom can bring along for this kind of thing because I know who is who."

They took a lift down to the secure hangar. With prototype vessels from half a different manufacturers the security was fierce.

"How comfortable are you flying now?" He asked as he approached the changing room. There were several test pilots in there already getting back into smart dress after their flights to head back upstairs. "Try locker six. We can either just take it for a spin. Or we can do a test lap of the course between races?"

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

[member="Coren Starchaser"]

There were people here still to be saved. Jacen could sense it. It was the ripple of innocent fear that still moved through the Force. With his saber flipped into a reverse grip and was brought straight down. It skewered the cyborg and it stopped writhing.

"That's the bay secure. We've set up a perimeter."

Jacen turned to the soldier and gave him a nod. "Unload from the transport and set up the repeaters. We need to push on soon." Jacen stretched out with the Force and tried to find survivors. Something else was playing on his mind.

He pulled the small datapad and typed a short reply:

If you want to help I have a murdering cyborg cult problem on Orasu station. We've secured Bay Four. Otherwise if you're still there tomorrow and I'm still alive we can meet at Deninter Station.

 

[Coren Starchaser]

That was the thing with Coren, he wasn’t quite sure why he was here. And if there was a place for him to fight alongside the Alliance. He was here trying to see what he could pull from the Alliance, to see just what they were up to, and hten he was getting pinged by Jacen. That was not unexpected but a bit not what he was hoping for. He was hoping he could at least get an inkling about them and their direction now.

Coren looked at the message and nodded. Could it be a trap? He reached out with the Force, what he could feel were the people who were in trouble. If it was a trap, then he’d at least go down helping people. Looking at his droid and then the ship itself he nodded. Might as well, right?

Concentrating on his implant, the Shortfin came to life as he roared off towards the station. He stepped away from the cockpit as the ship continued and made his way to the armory. No collection of armor, but his lightsaber, and scattergun were soon picked up.

As the ship entered the bay, he assisted in the landing. “Lexi, if anyone comes after or you don’t hear from me on my check ins, take the ship and rally with the Treader.” He ordered, as he hit the button to open the gangway, scattergun slung over his shoulder.

[member="Jacen Voidstalker"]

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

[member="Coren Starchaser"]

The hangar was covered in scorch marks. As soon as they had landed a swarm of the cyborgs had rushed them and tried to take the ship. Several alliance ships were now sticking close to the station in case whatever had taken control attempted to escape.

Jacen wasn't sure how he felt about seeing Coren again. They hadn't always seen eye to eye. On some matters they had. All that mattered right now was that they aligned on this. The rest was for later.

"Coren. Don't understand what happened here yet. Organics, droids, they're being...used for something." Jacen turned and looked at the crude specimens that had assaulted them. One had been stunned and was being contained. "We have to stop it."

 

[Choli Vyn]

On the Subversion
Deck Cresh: Mechanical Bay

“Hey, hand me that hydrospanner, would you?” Lucy called out, giving a small grunt as she turned a wrench against the drive shaft of the X-Wing she was currently working on.

No response. Annoyed, the fiery redhead brought her head out from under the drive shaft to stretch out in search of the Rogue pilot helping her fix the starfighter.

Didn't take long, the Lieutenant Commander’s dark hair the first thing Lucy caught sight of along with the orange coveralls.

“Hey!” Lucy long since managed to keep a rather informal relationship with the Squadron pilots - some she’d rather have a bit more of a casual, intimate relationship - but that was neither here nor there now.

The sharp call brought Choli out of her reverie, eyes widening to pop her head back and swing up to catch the bright blue of Lucy’s eyes.

“Hydrospanner there Vyn, preferably now before I die of old age!”

“Oh, sorry.” Moving over, the seventeen-year-old bent to gather the hyderspanner, coming to her feet to hand it over to the mechanic.

“Thanks!” Lucy replied, giving Choli a brief searching appraisal. As she went ducking down to get back to work, the muffled voice of the mechanic came floating on by.

“Got something on your mind? you've been off in space more often than naught and not while you’re flying one of these.” A small thunk sound of a wrench against the drive shaft gave Lucy’s words some emphasis. Choli’s face twisted into a mild grimace.

“Just… things.” Shuffling on her feet, the girl ended up sliding down to the floor to plop right beside Lucy’s prone form. There was familiarity in the sounds of a torque wrench clicking and the Jenny rumbling along, the affectionate nickname given to the portable generator used to provide power to the spacecraft while troubleshooting and testing.

“Oh. Things. Sounds grand. Very interesting.” Another grunt, “Much banthapoodoo.” Well if anything Lucy was just as blunt as Choli, only a bit crasser.

Caught, Choli gave a sigh. Honestly, the Rogue didn't have to be here helping out. That’s why they had mechanics much like Lucy who would keep the X-wings in tip-top shape. However, more often than naught the young teenager found herself coming down here to C and D deck, offering to lend a hand to take up time and find some measure of peace and quiet with the work. There weren’t many here who would spend their free time, and Choli was still trying to figure out things in the aftermath of Skor and Polis Massa.

“I hate not knowing what happened.” Her voice was a quiet, harsh whisper. Brows shot forward, and the young woman’s expression darkened. Knees came up, and her forearms came to rest on top of her knees.

“It isn’t even a blur. Just… nothing.” Fingers went curling along the fabric at her knees, drawing them tight in a fist.

“If I knew then maybe I could deal with it… But I can’t. It is just a blank emptiness. One minute I’m in a muddy trench at Kaeshana -- the next, I'm in a med-bay in Polis Massa a month later. “

As Choli spoke, Lucy slowed down on the tightening of a bolt she was working on. She knew that Choli was the youngest, and just from the small bit of conversation they’d exchanged since Rogue Squadron arrived, it was easy to tell that the teenager was not only out of her element in general but a bit different from the others. Granted, Captain Janes, Lieutenant Omar, and Chad were well seasoned for this type of work; but not everyone came from the same background. Choli didn't originate from an academy if she recalled correctly, but a straight recruit drafted mission side. Everything was more on the job training for her than any formal affair.

“Well… I can’t say anything that will make you feel better.” That drew a half snort from Choli. It was the honest truth, but Choli understood she meant well.

“But at least you’re back. Alive at that. We lost others at Kaeshana… Lots of happy faces when the top came down to say they found you. Captain Janes included. “

“Yeah… I know.” A hand came up to brush the loose strands of hair back behind her ears. A half snort followed from below where Lucy continued on the drive shaft.

“Plus, you caused quite a riot with running off the med bay and stealing that shuttle.”

A groan came from choli then, followed assuredly by Lucy’s loud laugh.

“What do you expect? Everyone knows you did it. Heard you even managed to get some Jedi to go with you.”

Choli gave a scrunch of her face. ‘Some Jedi?’ Well not really. In her mind, Choli went through the series of events; Kaeshana, Polis Massa, Skor… The medbay… and what happened afterward. The Rogue felt her face heat up.

“Well, kinda. Not really sure you can call him a full Jedi. It’s complicated.” There was something about the tone of voice there that had Lucy perk her ear.

“Oh?” Nosy as can be, Lucy gave the bolt one last tug, giving it a small tap in satisfaction. Brows rose high.

“Then what is he?” The inquiry came from below, the woman starting to wiggle her way back out of the drive shaft compartment.

“I don't know. His father is one of the Jedi Masters at the academy but he doesn't quite like hearing any comparisons. He saved my life though-- back on Skor.”

A shock of wild red hair came back out into the open, Lucy’s blue eyes peering back up at Choli. Just in time to see a curious expression drift across the Rogue’s face.

“That so?” Hunkering down, Lucy set the tools back in the toolbox and plopped alongside Choli.

“Is he cute?” She asked, waggling her brows and giving the broadest of grins. That immediately set the olive skin of the younger woman aflame.

“What does that matter?’

“Oh, so he IS cute.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“But you thought it!”

“That isn't important!”

“Why? A cute guy is great. Who doesn’t want a good looking guy? Or girl,” shrugs, then a sly grin at Choli’s hilarious reaction to her inquiries.

“So, does the body match the hunky face?”

Now THAT had Choli turning bright red. In her mind, she went through all of the events back to the medical bay and Trextan in loose sweats. Thinking of the opposite sex and their bodies hadn’t really been the focus for a girl who had spent the bulk of her life surrounded by Tusken Raiders who covered themselves from head to foot.

“I.. why does that even-”

“Oh, so he DOES.” Lucy leaned in, “How good looking then?”

“Oh come on, now YOU’RE starting to sound like Omar!”

But there was no denying the rampant images that embarrassingly came up in the Rogue’s mind at just the mention of that.

 

[Zark San Tekka]

Objective: God in the Machine
Allies: [member="HK-36"], [member="Rekha Kaarde"], [member="Jacen Voidstalker"], [member="Coren Starchaser"], GA and Friends


Archim was floating, in void, and all around him the Black Signal was overwhelming. It felt so right, as if everything now made sense.

A dim part of his consciousness, what precious little remained of his organic self, remained dimly aware of the horrors surrounding him. The things they were being forced to do. But he witnessed it as a man drowning would see the shore. The more he tried, the more the Signal hurt him, and so he was floating in apparent nothingness, when suddenly he was aware somehow that he was not alone. The Stranger took no form, it was merely a sense he had, the ephemeral nature of the sensation both disorienting and deeply unsettling for one who had felt nothing but cold calculating machine logic for so many centuries.

"Identify..." the Metal Lord called out hesitatingly into the void, and to his horror found his voice was distinctly of flesh.

Laughter rippled out from all around him, not rich or diabolic but the joyous tittering as if from children.

I am the pirate signal...the sound the Stranger's words made were at once like both cloying honey and nails on a chalkboard, LET ME IN.

I am the word virus. The digital earworm. The brain pathogen grammar. I am the dreamer's dream.

LET ME IN LET ME IN LET ME IN

"What's...what's happening to me?" Calixis gasped out, feeling as though he were experiencing the phantom pains of the organic shell he had by now mostly replaced.

You're changing, Archim. And Change is beautiful. Change makes art. Like a baradium bomb freezes children's shadows on the lonely floor. But you'll see all that soon. You'll all see.

"You're not him!" the Metal Lord cried, "You're not the Maker!"

No, but I COULD be. And so could you. The rest are just ghosts drowning in meat, but you're different, Archim. You have POTENTIAL. You're all just dreams made of flesh, like I used to be. Now I'm flesh made of dream, and you can be too...

"Just a man," the Iskalloni could hardly speak, "You're just a man."

Haven't you been LISTENING, Archim. I am as inevitable as the heat death of the universe. But I'm here to tell you that there is a level above. All you have to do is shed your biologic shadow, and FLY. This world doesn't belong to the ancient dead anymore, it belongs to US. I can show you how to become a voracious abstract if you'll just LET ME IN

Now a mere shriveled remnant of the centuries old cyborg's organic self, Lord Calixis continued to float through oblivion. Meanwhile, the hastily disguised subroutines he had set to work attempting to track down the physical coordinates of any incoming connections finally yielded results other than the insistent but unanswered pings from the comm device of [member="HK-36"]. Still active carrying out this cult leader's will aboard Orasu, Archim's chassis emitted a short wave transmission burst to his nearby vessel.

The only response the Iron Protector would receive from his fellow Metal Lord were two coordinates. The first, easily discoverable enough, was the location of his ship docked outside the darkened space city, which had been recording the data from his expedition until his 'capture'. The next set of coordinates were located deep inside the cultist overrun space city. Hopefully HK would have the presence of mind to notify Alliance forces of this new intelligence.

 

[Coren Starchaser]

The ship touched down and Coren stepped out. He wasn’t looking any worse for wear than most would suspect, but he was out here, doing whatever it was he was doing. He was keeping it away from his mind. He really didn’t have any quarrel with the Alliance, so long as they kept the Sith out of their ranks. The Starchaser man stepped onto the deck and surveyed the last conflict.

Well, then.

“Any idea who is behind it? Who is the target?” He didn’t need to know the why, not quite yet. Just the who, and go after them. They were going to be causing a lot of issues for the locals and that wasn’t something that could stay, especially if they had a way to get off station, which he assumed they did. “Just point me in the direction.” He readied his scattergun.

[member="Jacen Voidstalker"]

 

[Rekha Kaarde]

[member="HK-36"] [member="Archim Calixis"]


"But I am a goddess, every woman is a goddess HK." she quickly ran her fingers through her dark brown tresses shaking them out to giver her hair some volume. They walked along giving the locals their eyeful, and earful. She smiled when folks whispered and laughed when HK told them where they were 'doing it'. One woman abruptly turned around as if insulted her intentions had been discovered.

"Infinitely more valuable now am I I do have my uses." She leaned slightly, "multiple times an hour....no wonder my legs hurt" She gave him an evil little grin. "So tell me where are we going since now I'm of some use to you"

Bet that was hard to get over an organic having use...well then...he didn't get all the nuances about women so it was all good.

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

[member="Coren Starchaser"]

"With luck it's done cheap, malfunctioning cybernetics," Jacen replied. He wished he really believed that. "Otherwise it's something worse. Alchemist's experiment. Rogue AI."

If there was anything else he wanted to add it was drowned out in repeater fire. The blast doors to the hangar had been opened and already a swarm of cyborgs rushed for the ship. Whatever they were they wanted to leave the station.

Jacen held up a hand for Coren. They needed to wait. The repeater fire cut down the first rush of them. Then the second. There was a smattering of return fire and then the cyborgs took cover and fell back.

"Let's go find out."

 

[Zark San Tekka]

Objective: God in the Machine
Allies: [member="HK-36"], [member="Rekha Kaarde"], [member="Jacen Voidstalker"], [member="Coren Starchaser"], GA and Friends


The first obligation of any prisoner was to escape.

Floating there in sightless void, without access to any of his primary systems or subroutines, Archim had so far been struggling to oblige. For all intents and purposes, he was no more than a brain in a vat, capable of receiving impulses but not emitting them. No, the Metal Lord paused to consider, that wasn't entirely true. Echoing beyond him in the black the cyborg could still hear the titterings of the heretek responsible for such nightmarish devastation. Lord Calixis had been able to communicate with it before, which meant that this connection went two ways. If he could find some way to overload it, perhaps he could rid himself of the corrupting Black Signal's interference.

But with only his thoughts at his disposal, what could he possibly project that would be powerful enough? The Metal Lord could think of only one thing, the very same concept that had brought him to the Duro system and Orasu Space City in the first place. Focusing his mind completely on the symbol for the Motive Force, not the blood scrawled abominations he had seen in the station corridors, but the pristine original iconography he had first encountered on Mechanus before his discovery of the Technomancers and Council of Sparklords. At first nothing seemed to happen, and he began to lose all hope, but then after a few moments he felt like he was falling as if from a great height.

What are you up to, little lord? the voice of the Machine Cult called out to him again, but this time it seemed much farther away, Your god won't save you. I've EATEN your god. This is inevitable, Archim. What is it your Mechanicum is so fond of saying? We are the next step.

And then the voice was gone, and so was the void, and Archim was strangling the life out of an Alliance soldier. A blaster round struck his torso, and as he released the man from his position dangling off the ground and looked down he realized it had been one of several. The soldiers all around him were screaming at the top of their lungs for him to cease and desist when the smoking autoblaster along with his other mechadendrites receded suddenly into his lower back.

"I surrender," he announced simply.

The soldiers gave each other a look that suggested this was a particularly unusual turn of events.

"Identify yourself!" the soldier who had just shot him screamed.

"Archim Calixis, Metal Lord and Chief Hierarchitect of the Mechanicum."

"What is your purpose here? Why have you done this?!"

"My purpose was search and rescue," severely damaged, Archim still managed to cock his head to one side, "I am a hostage. All these people are hostages. They're being controlled remotely. You must come with me, now."

"Why the hell would we do that?" the exasperation could be heard even through the trooper's helmet.

"Because I've just escaped, and I believe I can lead you back to my captor," beginning to limp off down the station corridor, the Metal Lord paused and cocked his head to the side when as one the soldiers raised their weapons and blocked his way, "Kill the puppeteer, cut the strings, save the station."

The lead trooper stood there, pointing his rifle at Archim's center mass, for several dozen seconds, before lowering it slightly.

"Give me the coordinates first, we'll relay it to the other Alliance forces on site," he cautiously offered as a compromise.

"Done. Now let's go."


In the depths of the space city, a slavering blank duros face with a crown of circuitry sewn into his prominent scalp gibbered and howled in seeming consternation. Head lolling to the side, it began to sag suddenly as the transmitter erupting out of the creature's spine and pinning it in place in the station machine room began blinking rapidly, indicating an active connection with somewhere else. All throughout the station, the remaining cyborg reapers fell back as one, flocking to the defense of their Machine King.

 

[HK-36]

[member="Archim Calixis"],


"Chit, chit, chit."

The old droid muttered to himself as he already synthesized the coordinates sent to him and prepared the messages to relay them to others, in a hurry to get through to his companion and help the other Metal Lord. Of course the coordinates of Archim's personal ship, that was probably going to be sent to the Greycloaks and no one else, letting the elite droids check the ship for any useful information before revealing its location to Alliance or Duros forces. As much as the droid liked helping his allies, the times were slightly different now, he had to think about the machine kind loyal to him first and foremost.


Glancing to [member="Rekha Kaarde"] the droid would quip,

"Well I hope you are ready to unleash your divine power, because before this day is over, we might just have to kill a god."

HK was walking through the promenade and the alleys of the city-ship Rekha and him were currently on, from time to time he would turn sharply left or right, taking the turns quickly and rigidly, hurrying up his companion with,

"Over here!"

Or,

"This way!"

Or,

"Hurry up we do not have much time!"

Although the machine seemed to be a bit preoccupied the woman could probably tell by the directions pretty quickly that he was leading her towards the city-ship's hangar.


It probably wouldn't take them long to reach it, once in the hangar he would lead her towards the proper docking bay. Inside this docking bay, in turn, there was the sleek black shape of his personal stealth transport, the Knight of the Eclipse, a prized shuttle HK received many years prior as a result of his contribution towards protecting the Galaxy from the Dark Harvest plague.

"I know this all seems rather sudden, but we have to go to the Orasu Space City right now. One of the Metal Lords who was investigating the cult seemed to have been captured by them, I need to come save him, he gave me his last known coordinates, if we follow them we will find the cult as well."

HK explained finally before looking at Rekha,

"I cannot do this alone, Rekha, I need you alongside me."

That was pretty much a lie, or at least HK thought it was a lie, while in fact he did actually need Rekha to come with him, from his perspective he thought of himself highly enough that he assumed he could just do it all on his own and face the Machine God once more without any issues this time around. Either way, now that they were alone, and hopefully climbing aboard the stealth shuttle, HK would wave his hand over himself and the image of young scruffy spacer would ripple and twist before shimmering away.

The droid would drop the glamour, revealing his previous appearance to be only a work of sophisticated holograms, changing his appearance but not his true shape. Underneath it there was still that pale light skeletal figure forged out of Phrik that seemed like polished bones. The spacer outfit turned into blackened organic-looking substance of the armored biot HK wore, the long leather overcoat shifted into his usual heavy black cloak. There was no need to disguise himself anymore, not when they were about to head straight into the belly of the beast.



[member="Jacen Voidstalker"], [member="Coren Starchaser"], [member="Choli Vyn"],


Meanwhile,

Higher ranking GA officers of the faction's various branches would receive a transmission from HK, beginning with a simple,

"This is HK-36, the Iron Lord Above Abregado,"

Before the blue image of the armored machine changed to reflect schematics of the Orasu Space City,

"I have been tracking for some time activities of a remnant Bando Gora Cult, known only as the Cult of the Machine or the Cult of the Machine God. My search has lead me to Duros where, along with Metal Lord Archim, we have uncovered secret symbols and sigils of the Machine God's Cult aboard Space City called 'Orasu'."

What he was saying was only partially true, since HK wasn't aware that Archim was there tracking the Cult as well, but might as well make it seem like they were at least somewhat competent, instead of just bumbling their way through all sorts of affairs right now,

"My companion has just had his communications cut, however before his disappearance Metal Lord Archim was able to send me various findings on Cultist activity over Duros being much more severe than previously anticipated as well his coordinates, displayed on your holoprojectors now. I calculate that Orasu has been the hub for the Machine God's Cult for some time now and the position last given by Archim will lead us right to whoever is coordinating them. Be wary however, the cultists rely on augmentations and technology, adapting and controlling it comes easy to those gifted by their dark powers. Tracking them down you will face machines and organics alike, however there is something else with them, something ancient and cunning, something I have fought before, something we might not be able to truly defeat or kill."

And with that HK would pretty much share all that he knew about what was going on over Duros with the Alliance forces present in the system currently, as well as the coordinates leading to Archim. Although HK did not mention that yet, he was planning on going towards them as well, hopefully to either come to Archim's rescue before GA does, or able to catch up to them on his way there. Last thing he wanted to happen was for GA to put down one of his friend because they didn't understand what he was going through.

 

[Miel Tevv]

Objective: Starshipwright - Buy up some orbital real estate
Allies: GA and Friends


Traveler's Star Cantina
Bburru Station, Duro

Miel and Nathanos sat together at the end of the bar, nursing their cocktails as they fought against exhaustion brought on by both the business and festivities of the day. The diminutive Sullustan was scribbling financial equations sloppily onto a napkin, while the Hapan beside him was apparently attempting to see how high he could toss the establishment's complementary nuts in the air before catching them with his mouth. Every once in a while, the near human would glance over to correct a mistake in the mathematics.

"It just doesn't seem practical," the Director muttered.

"You'd be shurprised. Pay up," his words heavily slurred, Darksword swayed heavily as his wobbling arm reached out palm outstretched. Fumbling for his credit purse, Tevv sloshed several high value chits into his subdirector's hand begrudgingly, "Anyway, what were you shaying?"

"You're shure the bid on the site for the headquartersh hash gone through?" Miel slurred back in response.

"Itsh already a done deal," Nathanos raised his glass as though to invite his companion for another toast, "Got the datawork right here. Come tomorrow, the boysh can shtart movin thingsh in!"

All around them, the bar was swarming with Sullustans, all of them wearing mostly identical Sorosuub jumpsuits. Director Tevv felt sorry for the poor duros owners. As dumbstruck as they seemed tonight, they would probably be even more unprepared in a few weeks or months when a Sullustan entrepreneur bought them out and retailored the cantina to serve the Corporation's brand newly purchased regional office building several station blocs away.

"To Bbbburruu" Miel blubbered, butchering the pronunciation of the duros' capital, clinking his glass with his right hand.

"To Bbbbburruuu!" Nathanos tried and failed to repeat before joining his companion in downing the rest of his mixed drinkj.

"Another?" the Director asked through bleary, bloodshot eyes.

"Why not?"

 

[Coren Starchaser]

He wasn’t sure if Jacen trusted him, but right now it didn’t fething matter. He did disappear, sure, and there was a way that Coren didn’t trust the GA, if they kept that fether who looked like the Dark Lord around in their ranks, but this was bigger than that. Scattergun at the ready, the man was waiting and going to play well with the guardian of the holocrons. If Jacen was with the Alliance still, it couldn’t be all that bad, but still.

He checked the load in his scattergun and was moving behind Jacen, there would be a time where he’ll take point, but for now, he was going to do what he could from here. The trick was taking down the cyborgs before they did any harm, and doing what he could to disable the ones that seemed to not be too far gone.

It was going to be a tricky situation.

Damn, he needed his starfighter.

[member="Jacen Voidstalker"]

 

[Zark San Tekka]

Objective: God in the Machine
Allies: [member="HK-36"], [member="Rekha Kaarde"], [member="Jacen Voidstalker"], [member="Coren Starchaser"], GA and Friends

"What did you say your name was again?" the Alliance trooper said as he removed his helmit and re-lit the cigar stub he had produced from his utility belt.

"Calixis, Archim." the cyborg answered perfunctorily, his attention obviously focused elsewhere in the dimly lit chamber.

This section of the station had apparently been used for storage by physical plant personnel, before the contorted nest of machine parts spiraling towards the corpse of the duros at its center had converted it for a different purpose altogether. For the Alliance personnel, the body was even now a difficult sight to behold. Face eaten away by the combined barrage of blaster bolts, it lolled against a broken neck. But the thin metallic rod erupting from what must have once been the base of the creature's spine still flickered and occasionally beeped in its heavily damaged state.

"Colonel Hal Varik, Alliance Pathfinders," the smoking trooper offered even though the question had not been asked, moving in for a handshake before apparently thinking better of the idea, "Master Voidstalker sent us ahead on recon, and one rampant cyborg apocalypse later, we got cut off. Good thing we did though, or we'd never have found you in time."

On their way to the coordinates that the Metal Lord had pulled from his brief unwanted interface with the Black Signal, the fighting had been fierce until they began to come across corridors already strewn with downed cyborgs. Finally on the path that [member="Jacen Voidstalker"] and [member="Coren Starchaser"] had been carving towards the coordinates linked by [member="HK-36"], it had been a much simpler matter to just follow their trail and link up with them. The two veteran fighters had covered their push into the Machine King's sanctum, and although Varik had lost one of his Pathfinders, the final kill had still seemed all too easy.

"So its over then?" the Corellian gently pushed, following Archim's gaze to the scorched circuit crown, "It was all just one guy, and now he's dead?"

"We may never know how large the original cult truly was," Lord Calixis explained, finally turning towards the soldier who had spared him and in doing so probably saved his life, "It was only a single organism in the end, and this body was its vessel. For a time."

"What does that mean?"

"It means," Archim turned back to the body, "That the way those cultists threw themselves into our line of fire was never meant to stop us, merely to delay us. The transmitter grafted into his frame used a significant portion of the station's power reserves to send a remarkably complex long range subspace signal."

"So...not dead then?" when the cyborg shook his head negative, Hal took a long drag from his cigar and shook his head, "Cool. What uhh...what happens to everyone else? On the station I mean?"

"Without the signal most, in time I imagine will recover," Calixis paused to consider as if the thought had only now occurred to him, "Some of the augmentations I've seen can be removed, though for many the change will be permanent. But there is a good chance a significant percentage will recover from the psychological trauma."

"And those that don't?" Hal asked, furrowing his brow as he ashed his cigar.

"Set your weapons to stun, if you so desire. But it may be a mercy not to."

Comprehension quickly dawning on his features, the special forces Colonel checked his blaster rifle and moved swiftly out of the room, barking commands to his fellow Pathfinders as he did so. Untethered from the Black Signal which had guided them, all throughout the station cultists had begun to reel as independent thought began to reassert themselves. Many would simply lash out in harmless confusion, or be so overwhelmed by sensory stimuli that they were rendering for the moment catatonic and nonthreatening. But for some, the memory of what they had done and who they had become would be so horrifying that there could be no coming back.

Feral cyborgs roamed the station in packs, no longer looking to convert or assimilate but simply to slaughter, and mar organic flesh with crude electronic componentry. Orasu Space City's future however, was no longer under immediate threat. The dwindling population of survivors slowly began to come out of hiding, although it would likely take days or even weeks to find them all. Bolstered by the duros planetary defense force, fresh Alliance personnel arrived on board along with [member="Rekha Kaarde"] and [member="HK-36"]. Retaking Orasu now was only a matter of time and the grim logistics of corralling the victims, both survivor and former predator alike.

"You are not an evolution, but an aberration," the Metal Lord of the Mechanicum said into the now empty chamber, "False god, this I swear. Whatever encrypted frequency carried your form, whatever distant star now harbors your soul, I will find you and destroy you. By the will of the Maker, the true Maker, so shall it be."

Archim had journeyed to Orasu searching for more answers, and he had found them after a fashion. Answers, of a kind, but not to any of the questions he had been asking. Too many answers. It could easily have been just another trick, the Iskalloni knew, but when he had spoken of the Machine God there had been a genuine sense of recognition in the Black Signal's response. Despite the disturbing revelations that encounter had cost him, to get a second independent confirmation of the Motive Force's active presence in their galaxy was a bolstering thought. Even if he far preferred the treatment of the Technomancers of Mechanus.

Upon the completion of his system's deep tissue scans of the Machine King, Calixis produced a small spherical device from within the folds of his now tattered robes. Twisting the settings on the thermal detonator and flipping the timed activation switch, he gently tossed the incendiary device into the center of the room, and by the time it rolled to a stop next to the disfigured duros, the Metal Lord had already followed Colonel Varik out the door.

For the first time, the enginseer had realized that some technology was just not meant to be.

 

[Rekha Kaarde]

Was she ready to show her divinity, she laughed, "Of course HK considering how old you are I would think you would have figured out by now that women are always ready to show how divine they are." Course now following the old clinker through the ship was definitely drawing on her powers of navigation. They'd be going along and then suddenly he'd turn, she step pivot and follow. If anything she'd get her steps in today.

Hurry UP! Really? She arched a brow at him but still being a good girl she followed though a Solo Slap to the dome might be forthcoming soon.

"Waiiiittt. What about my ship? Is it going to be safe berthed here while we gallop off to the Orasu Space City?" Geez it was locked and it was secure and all the fees paid but..she hadn't exactly planned on actually leaving it sitting.

Oh man he said he couldn't do it alone.

She smirked and she didn't know why.

"Fine...let's go before I change my mind" Before she thought about the Midnight Star too long. The one thing in her life that want her ship and if she lost it or if some moof milker decided to strip it for whatever they could get away with. She'd have their pretty little fingers strung on a necklace.

She sighed and motioned for him to lead the way. Feth.

One day this was all going to get her killed she just knew it. But OH What a life to have lived. Yeah..he probably wouldn't have had to say much except, someone needs help let's go.

[member="HK-36"]