Faction Angel of a Different Mind

[Bishop Turner]

Sprocket was....quite frankly, had more than a few screws loose. At times it was embarrassing and yet Bishop never asked to have it reassigned. Perhaps it was just to toy with everyone else, or maybe it was something more. He'd never tell.

" Doot doot doot doot! Oh look I'm flyyyyyying! Zipping through the broken caaaaaables! Bouncing my voice off the waaaaaalls!"

Bishop turned his attention to Daro Roz’yrn . "Understood. Sprocket has a good eye. Ironheart is sweeping for us as well." He tapped the charge meter on his blaster rifle and kept an eye on their six while Kalic Daws and Jee worked on opening the door. It was creepy in this place. Even moreso with Sprocket's voice echoing like some holo-horror movie. At least it didn't start cackling.

Upon hearing the door slide a bit, Sprocket came zipping back to them. "Oooo...what did you find? A door? Can I see?! I wonder what we'll find in here?!" It quickly floated inside. "Come out, come out, wherever you aaaaaare!"

Ira Sarrin

 

[Daro Roz’yrn]

Spoiler: Daro’s gear

• Holy Communion Neural Implant
  • Set to level 5, bonded to the Nephilim Marine Armour
• Nomadic Under-Uniform Skinsuit
• Nephilim Marine Armour
  • Spinal hard-point:
    • Nomad Marine Jetpack
      • LPD-66 Flashfire Blaster Rifle magnetic "holster" on jetpack's hard-point
      • Computerized Interface Scope added to Rifle
  • Thigh hard-points:
    • SV-5 "Phanes" class survival kit
    • A custom-made double holster for holding Haon Hafey’s Twin Heavy Mandalorian Blasters (acquired here)
      • Computerized Interface Scopes are added
      • Mk XIII Smartgunner Chips have been re-keyed to Daro’s space armour AI.
  • Forearm hard-points:
    • x2 Fallen Angel Energy Shield(one per forearm)
  • Waist hard-points:
    • x1 EMP Grenade
    • x1 pouch with x10 concentrated vials of Stim Tea and x10 concentrated vials of Root Tea
    • x1 Fusioncutter
    • x2 pouches with spare blaster gas magazines for the rifle, 6 magazines per pouch
    • x1 pouch with spare blaster gas magazines for sidearm, 6 magazines in pouch.
• Modified Garmr Battle Dog companion named Hal
  • Linked to the Operating System in the Nephilim Marine Armour
  • Now wears a fancy leather smuglger’s hat that Daro recovered from the corpse of Haon Hafey

It was a bit unsettling, not being able to talk to Tin-Can while he was wearing his armour. It wasn’t like he and his Angel talked all the time, but always having the option to do so was something that Daro tended to take for granted sometimes. He wondered how the conversation with the station control was going…

Kalic Daws worked in concert with his droids and his Angel to open the first malfunctioning door, chattering with them all the way. Daro supposed that the chatter was ok in this scenario, since they weren’t really surrounded by armed enemies. Hell, even Daro was bad for making a scene at inappropriate moments during combat, but in this case, it lightened the mood as the station seemed to have a desolate, depressing feeling behind it.

The door eventually slid partially open and Daro caught Jee’s look in the aftermath. Daro looked back at her, deadpan and annoyed. He was probably the… bulkiest guy in the group, plus he was wearing armour. Without taking his eyes off the droid, he said to Kalic Daws , “your astromech is gonna make me take off my jetpack, isn’t she?”

Before he could start taking off his gear to get through the door, Sprocket whipped right past Daro’s head, singing loudly and startling him rather dramatically! “SON OF THE SITH!” Without any warning, a blaster came out with rage-enhanced lightning speed. Daro had the damn droid targeted and was about to squeeze the trigger…

Just then the station jolted and quaked! He lost his footing and fell into a wall, trying to brace himself! A moment later, the shaking stopped and Daro looked to Bishop Turner for answers, “What the hell was that!? Can you get Ironheart to run a scan of the facility? I need to know how much time we have to get the Angel and get out of here!”

Inside Daro’s inner mind​

Ira Sarrin

"Greetings Tin-can my name is Ira" Ira replied while taking a seat "I figured as much otherwise you wouldn't want to talk. So how can I help you"?

The man, now in uniform, sat down beside Daro’s catatonic form, and Tin-Can set some kind of drink in front of the man. There wasn’t much sense in handing someone a drink, as this was a cerebral realm, but there seemed to be a need for continuity, and Tin-Can was a bartender, after all.

“That’s good to hear,” the Mon-Calamari bartender replied, “That’s on the house, by the way. Daro is buying. The whole place belongs to him. When we Angels are given a master, we create a place where we can meet them inside of their mind, based on aspects of their personality. In Daro’s case, a huge part of him was lost in cantinas and drinks when his friend Halleed died. When I bonded with him, this realm was created so I could help him cope with that part of himself that he lost. Sadly, I have my work cut out for me!” The man laughed, “That being said, now that I have you in here, I have to say, you’re not what I expected. When the Holy Prophets Willow & Ivy sent us to find an Angel, I’ll admit, I was expecting something a little closer to what me, Starcrest and Ironheart are. You still seem… random. Analog. Inhibited. Perhaps… organic?

“Forgive my forwardness, but I must ask. Are you still connected to your organic body, and if so, how are you alive after all this time?”

 

[Ira Sarrin]

“That’s good to hear,” the Mon-Calamari bartender replied, “That’s on the house, by the way. Daro is buying. The whole place belongs to him. When we Angels are given a master, we create a place where we can meet them inside of their mind, based on aspects of their personality. In Daro’s case, a huge part of him was lost in cantinas and drinks when his friend Halleed died. When I bonded with him, this realm was created so I could help him cope with that part of himself that he lost. Sadly, I have my work cut out for me!” The man laughed, “That being said, now that I have you in here, I have to say, you’re not what I expected. When the Holy Prophets Willow & Ivy sent us to find an Angel, I’ll admit, I was expecting something a little closer to what me, Starcrest and Ironheart are. You still seem… random. Analog. Inhibited. Perhaps… organic?

“Forgive my forwardness, but I must ask. Are you still connected to your organic body, and if so, how are you alive after all this time?”

"I've been called many things but I believe Angel is a first" chuckled Ira "And to answer your question yes I am connected to my organic body and at the same time I'm not. Hang on It'll be easier to show you" with a snap of his fingers a large screen descended towards the back of the bar, on the screen showed a live feed of Ira in the rancid bacta tank with a mess wires emerging from his body, a large clump of wires outside the tank roughly in the shape of a hand gave a wave to the camera and also on the screen was all of project Ironsides scrolling fast.

"Well as you can see I was made with a bit of Sith alchemy and science in order to make a better captain for their ships and to cut down on man power" Ira said while floating the drink to his lips, bloody hell it felt good to be able to drink again "So yeah I believe Its the Sith alchemy and the mad science that's kept me alive all this time."

 

[Kalic Daws]

Kalic shrugged a bit at Daro Roz’yrn , motioning to Jee.

"She said it's jammed. Not much she can do about...." He started to look through as Sprocket whizzed by, and the ships jolted.

"What the kark! When you said unstable I wasn't thinking this unstable." He focused around a bit, with Starcrest speaking up.

"You're looking for something?" Kalic answered aloud, taking a breath.

"Don't see any obvious damage near us, but I'm no engineer." He looked around as the order was given to Bishop Turner , while Jee complained a bit about Sprocket before floating into the newly opened door, followed by the EPC who seemed to muse about all the various things inside while Kalic followed them in, looking around again. Always interesting how some designs didn't change all that much.

"A bit run down, but... sturdy... ish."

Ira Sarrin

 

[Bishop Turner]

Bishop closed his eyes briefly as Sprocket made the usual fool of itself. Like it or not he was stuck with the droid, and by extension so were all of them. But it wasn't as though they were counting on the element of surprise. They were 'welcomed' in.

What caught them all by surprise though was the ship that they were in jolting and tilting out from under them. The entire thing groaned around them as though it was either waking up, or in a death thrall. "Ironheart? Are you picking up anything?"

~No new life forms. Structural integrity however is weakening further in.~

"Sounds like we don't have long, gentlemen. I suggest we get what we came for and go. No time for a tour."

No sooner had he said that that Sprocket came whizzing back to them. "Oh boy, guess what I found?! A tank with a weird creature inside! It's all gooey, fleshy and wirey! It's so cool! Come and seeeeeeeeee!!" And with that Sprocket was gone again, singing merrily along the way.

Daro Roz’yrn Kalic Daws Ira Sarrin

 

[Daro Roz’yrn]

Spoiler: Daro's gear

• Holy Communion Neural Implant:
  • Set to level 5, bonded to the Nephilim Marine Armour
• Nomadic Under-Uniform Skinsuit:
• Nephilim Marine Armour:
  
  • Spinal hard-point:
    • Nomad Marine Jetpack
      • LPD-66 Flashfire Blaster Rifle magnetic "holster" on jetpack's hard-point
      • Computerized Interface Scope added to Rifle
  • Thigh hard-points:
    • SV-5 "Phanes" class survival kit
    • A custom-made double holster for holding Haon Hafey's Twin Heavy Mandalorian Blasters (acquired here)
      • Computerized Interface Scopes are added
      • Mk XIII Smartgunner Chips have been re-keyed to Daro's space armour AI.
  • Forearm hard-points:
    • x2 Fallen Angel Energy Shield(one per forearm)
  • Waist hard-points:
    • x1 EMP Grenade
    • x1 pouch with x10 concentrated vials of Stim Tea and x10 concentrated vials of Root Tea
    • x1 Fusioncutter
    • x2 pouches with spare blaster gas magazines for the rifle, 6 magazines per pouch
    • x1 pouch with spare blaster gas magazines for sidearm, 6 magazines in pouch.
• Modified Garmr Battle Dog companion named Hal:
  • Linked to the Operating System in the Nephilim Marine Armour
  • Now wears a fancy leather smuglger's hat that Daro recovered from the corpse of Haon Hafey

"She said it's jammed. Not much she can do about...." He started to look through as Sprocket whizzed by, and the ships jolted.

"What the kark! When you said unstable I wasn't thinking this unstable."

As if on queue, just as Kalic Daws said that, a coolant line with rancid fumes burst right next to them and started spraying them with noxious gasses. As both Bishop Turner and Kalic Daws were wearing Nomadic Under-Uniform Skinsuits, both suits would detect the airborne poisons and deploy their flexicris helmets to protect their wearers. Daro offered something of an apologetic grin, "I did say that we'd start to see failures as soon as we started disturbing things. Here," Daro attempted to hand Kalic Daws his jetpack as he had successfully removed it while talking.

"Sounds like we don't have long, gentlemen. I suggest we get what we came for and go. No time for a tour."

No sooner had he said that that Sprocket came whizzing back to them. "Oh boy, guess what I found?! A tank with a weird creature inside! It's all gooey, fleshy and wirey! It's so cool! Come and seeeeeeeeee!!" And with that Sprocket was gone again, singing merrily along the way.

Daro was… mostly pleased to hear this, but he proceeded to scowl at Sprocket as he wizzed by for good measure anyways. "Well, good work you two." He said referring to Bishop Turner and Ironheart, "We may be up against the chronometer, but at least we know that the Angel isn’t far from here. And you two as well," he said to Kalic Daws and Jee.

He then sent his Dog Hal through the door first and then proceeded to worm through the small opening… only to get stuck! Without warning, his dog shot him in the torso with his harpoon and towcable and proceeded to try and drag him the rest of the way through. No budge. After grunting, he realized he would need more help… "um, guys? Little push?"

Inside Daro's inner mind​

Ira Sarrin

Tin-Can watch the manifested view screen and listened to Ira Sarrin ’s words as he spoke. He considered what the man said very carefully, thinking about the implications of Sith alchemy, the fact that he still had his old body, and the way he was relying on aging machinery to live. Extracting this man and getting him to safety was going to be difficult. Carefully, Tin-Can tried to patch a comm channel through to Starcrest, hoping that Starcrest was listening, ~how are things going out there? Are you coming soon? The Angel that we seek comes with some… baggage, so be advised: you will need to figure out how to get him back to Damascus safely and quickly or he could die.~ Tin-Can then quickly sent Starcrest a recording of the image that Ira Sarrin had just shown him. He hoped that Starcrest and @Kalic could come up with a solution.

He then picked up another glass, started cleaning it, and responded to Ira, “this is quite fascinating, as I’ve never met a hybrid before. It would seem as though you are on the precipice of a crossroads in your life. The Prophets would not have sent us to you unless you had an important role to play, but you seem to be in a unique position of being able to make a decision. In your current state, you can choose to be an organic, or choose to become an Angel in full like myself. So my question to you is, what will you choose?”

 

[Ira Sarrin]

Ira thought for a moment before noticing that the other guests seemed to be having some trouble reaching him with a thought he opened the most direct and stable route for them along with the soft glow of flickering green lights leading the way, unfortunately he couldn't do anything about the rapidly falling apart station they'd have to deal with that themselves.

"Let's say I do become an Angel as you put it would I be able to captain my own ship or would I have to be paired with someone like yourself? I'd rather prefer to be a captain of a ship once more" Ira replied

 

[Kalic Daws]

Kalic looked at Daro Roz’yrn , sighing a bit and putting the jetpack down while he quickly tried to get the man through. He looked around and soon grabbed hold of some metal, dragging it over and jamming it in the door before pushing it, hoping to get some leverage. The little EPC would try its best to help, while Jee.... She noticed what Sprocket found, and whistled out a few words of worry. She was looking on a... body?

Starcrest meanwhile, got the message, quickly looking through the EPC's optic before responding.

"Well, this hull is shaking apart, it sounds like Bishop's droid found something... 'gooey,' and... Daro appears to be stuck in the door. Jee said something about it jamming earlier if I heard right."

Bishop Turner Ira Sarrin

 

[Bishop Turner]

Bishop was glad for his gear. Like Ironheart, it kept him safe. And in this case it was really needed. At least Sprocket and the others weren't readily affected. He did check on Kalic Daws and Daro Roz’yrn visually though. The pair seemed fine.

Although the latter got a little stuck in the door. There was something to be said about being larger than life; it wasn't so good with getting out of a tight spot. And just as Kalic tried to leverage the door open, a hydrolic hiss released the jam and the door slid open with the grinding noise of metal on metal.

"Looks like the way is clear. Let's get a move on."

Sprocket didn't seem to relay any dangers to them, and neither did Ironheart. And it didn't take long for them to come across the hyper droid bouncing in the air above a tank of sorts that held Ira Sarrin . Still, Bishop kept his rifle at the ready. "Lookie! Lookie! Isn't he gooey?! Can we take him home? Paawweeeeeeease?!"

"Calm down, Sprocket! Or you'll use up all your power." He approached the tank slowly and tapped the side of it with the barrel of his rifle, looking for signs of life.

 

[Daro Roz’yrn]

Spoiler: Daro's gear

• Holy Communion Neural Implant:
  • Set to level 5, bonded to the Nephilim Marine Armour
• Nomadic Under-Uniform Skinsuit:
• Nephilim Marine Armour:
  
  • Spinal hard-point:
    • Nomad Marine Jetpack
      • LPD-66 Flashfire Blaster Rifle magnetic "holster" on jetpack's hard-point
      • Computerized Interface Scope added to Rifle
  • Thigh hard-points:
    • SV-5 "Phanes" class survival kit
    • A custom-made double holster for holding Haon Hafey's Twin Heavy Mandalorian Blasters (acquired here)
      • Computerized Interface Scopes are added
      • Mk XIII Smartgunner Chips have been re-keyed to Daro's space armour AI.
  • Forearm hard-points:
    • x2 Fallen Angel Energy Shield(one per forearm)
  • Waist hard-points:
    • x1 EMP Grenade
    • x1 pouch with x10 concentrated vials of Stim Tea and x10 concentrated vials of Root Tea
    • x1 Fusioncutter
    • x2 pouches with spare blaster gas magazines for the rifle, 6 magazines per pouch
    • x1 pouch with spare blaster gas magazines for sidearm, 6 magazines in pouch.
• Modified Garmr Battle Dog companion named Hal:
  • Linked to the Operating System in the Nephilim Marine Armour
  • Now wears a fancy leather smuglger's hat that Daro recovered from the corpse of Haon Hafey

After a few zeconds of grunting, cursing and prying, the door suddenly opened on its own and Daro was catapulted forwards from the extra force of his dog pulling him. The front of his armour scraped along the floor until he came to a stop in front of the Bacta tank. Slowly, he stood up and looked back at his companions, avoiding eye contact with his dog.

Embarrassed, he looked back to the tank, and noted that the Bacta was an off-colour. Probably stale and rancid. Daro was thankful for his helmet just then. Inside was a mutilated man, with bundles of wires and tubes coming out of him in a disgusting display of gruesome surgical intricacy. He looked around some more and saw a dusty control panel with a droid port and a microphone for talking to the… patient. Daro turned to his companions and spoke, “alright. This is the hard part. We need to link all of our angels to him, so we can keep his mind intact while we remove his body from the tank and wires. I was expecting a CPU of some kind, otherwise I would have brought a medical gurney, but we don’t have time for that now, so we’ll have to improvise. Bishop Turner and Kalic Daws , I need you both to use your ECP droids to uplink your angels to this person and keep their minds stable, and… Jee? Do you mind draining the Bacta? Bishop, you and I will start unplugging him once the bacta is gone. Are we clear?”

Inside Daro's inner mind​

Ira Sarrin

Tin-Can kept cleaning his glass as he waited for Ira Sarrin to respond.

"Let's say I do become an Angel as you put it would I be able to captain my own ship or would I have to be paired with someone like yourself? I'd rather prefer to be a captain of a ship once more" Ira replied

The very concept of what Ira Sarrin was suggesting baffled Tin-Can’s mind. It was strange to him to even consider being an Angel without a master. Such a concept was entirely foreign to him, and the fact that angels had masters was akin to fire producing light, water being wet, or gravity pulling down. He couldn’t imagine a life without Daro, and such a life could only be a miserable thing… right?

He considered this briefly for a moment before responding, “I’m not sure what to say to that Ira Sarrin . Being an Angel without a master sounds like a lonely, sad way to live. I… I don’t think that it’s something that I would recommend, but then again, you are very different from other angels. I don’t know what to say. I guess I’ve never had a chance to consider the possibility before.”

Suddenly, Starcrest got back to Tin-Can.

"Well, this hull is shaking apart, it sounds like Bishop's droid found something... 'gooey,' and... Daro appears to be stuck in the door. Jee said something about it jamming earlier if I heard right."

~Thanks, sister Starcrest. I suggest you hurry. Tin-Can out~

Tin-Can set his freshly cleaned glass on the shelf behind him and then turned to his guest.

“Master or not, you can’t stay on this station. Me and my friends are here to save you, and bring you to the prophets. Perhaps they can help you see what you are meant to become. Maybe you will show them? But I ask you to please come with me. We must go.”

He then stretched out an offered, Mon calamari hand for Ira Sarrin to take…

 

[Ira Sarrin]

Ira turned to the tapping on the bacta tank his milky white eyes locking on to the faceless helmet of the man in front of the tank.

"You know its rude to just knock on someone's tank" Ira said with a tired and mechanical voice, with a quick but light force push Ira tapped the stranger back.

"See its not so nice is it" said a somewhat irritated Ira.

---

Back in the mindscape looked at the offered hand Ira shrugged and took the Angels hand.

"I'll come with you what do I have to lose at the end of the day" Ira said with a grin

 

[Kalic Daws]

Kalic took a breath, then looked at the bacta tank, seeming a bit shocked.

"They're... alive.... How is that...." And then whoever was in there spoke! And... tapped Bishop Turner somehow. Wait.... The Force. His face didn't seem to change much until Daro Roz’yrn spoke up. Ok. So there was a plan. Kalic thought, focusing on Starcrest for a second.

"I think you heard, so... are you ready to help this guy."

"Yes, and I think that's the Angel." Kalic nodded a bit.

"Hey... uh... need to name you, but get close to that so Starcrest can uplink." Jee meanwhile would give a nod, guessing Daro didn't exactly understand her before floating over and connecting to the computer, starting the draining process when everyone was ready.

Ira Sarrin

 

[Bishop Turner]

"Sprocket, you heard the man. Those are your orders. Now execute."

As if some type of switch had been hit, Sprocket's hyperactivity abruptly ceased. The bubbly personality was replaced by one devoid of emotion. "Compliance." Sprocket lowered itself to Ira Sarrin 's tank. It's optical light began to flicker in an almost morse code while it began the process of linking Ironheart to the Angel in the tank.

Meanwhile Bishop was shoved back by an invisible force. He grit his teeth as he regained his footing and brought his rifle to aim at Ira's head. He was about to spout a retort along the lines of 200 push-ups when Kalic Daws spoke up. Bishop shoved his anger aside and shouldered his rifle, placing his hands on the edge of the tank. Completing the mission was top priority. And he was not about to deviate from it.

Daro Roz’yrn

 

[Daro Roz’yrn]

The work began to decouple Ira Sarrin from his entrapments and Sprocket somehow became totally docile in the process. Ironically, this made Daro want to kill it even more, knowing that the damn droid had the option to remain quite, it just chose not to.

~Don’t do it Daro.~

~oh, you’re back. How was your visit?~

~It was nice. He’s happy to be coming with us I think~

~I gathered that…~

The whole facility shook more and more, more frequently, and more violently as they worked. Eventually, Ira Sarrin was removed and Daro gestured for Bishop Turner to help him lift the mutilated man.

“We have to hurry!” He started to order, “the whole place is not gonna last long!”

All of a sudden, the gravity stopped working and the group began to float freely. Daro groaned audibly, “Kark! Ok, everyone grab on to mine or my dog’s whipcords and towcables. Hal, lock on to my back. Kalic Daws , throw on my jetpack and I’ll tie my line to you and you can drag us through to the ships. Bishop Turner , hold on to Ira Sarrin and… keep him company I guess? I’ll tie my whipcord to you while Hal takes Jee. The ECPs can fly on their own. If we get injured along the way, then thats what we have bacta for. I’m guessing that we don’t have time to come up with a safer plan. Now let’s get moving!”

 

[Kalic Daws]

Kalic was a bit spooked as the gravity failed. He shifted his focus around before finally yelling out a bit.

"For kark's sake!" He looked around, hearing Daro's plan. The Miraluka nodded and started trying to strap on the jetpack. Meanwhile, Jee floated over to Daro, letting an annoyed string of Binary out about being able to move by herself. The droid would float through the door to get back to Starcrest while Kalic got the last things ready.

"Ok.... This should be interesting. Hey Starcrest, please tell me didn't let the engines cool."

"Still running on low. Need to make it quick."

Daro Roz’yrn Ira Sarrin Bishop Turner

 

[Ira Sarrin]

It was an interesting feeling be out of the bacta tank although not an unpleasant one to say the least, the gravity going out was not a good thing.

"No time for whipcords and towcables, I'll take care of that" Ira stated, reaching out and taking control of the wires that were connected to him, Ira snaked wires around each of his rescuers and attached a slightly larger cable to the Garmr Battle Dog and took complete control over the dog at least temperately. With a lot of effort Ira put up a sort of force cushion around everyone but the dog, once that had been done Ira sent the dog at top speed through the station to the landing pads.

"Sorry for the rough treatment" Ira said before slipping into unconsciousness

 

[Bishop Turner]

Bishop grimaced once his reliance on gravity failed. But this wasn't the first time such a thing had happened. "Remind me to wear mag-boots on the next rescue mission." At least those would have helped right about now. He did agree with Daro Roz’yrn to the mere fact that they needed to get out of there quick.

And no sooner was he about to affirm with Daro's plan that Ira Sarrin had a better idea. Sprocket ceased it's task and immediately went back to it's bubbly self. "I'll let Ironheart know we're cooooooooomiiiiiiing! Oh Ironheaaaaaaaaart laaaaadyyyyyyy! Time to flyyyyyyyy!"

Bishop watched Kalic Daws and Jee briefly, before holding fast to the wires that bound themselves around him. And then they were off. The faster that they could be away from this place, the better in his opinion.