In Darkness we must Fight (Non-Canon)

[Ultimatum]

Ultimatum had lost track of which world he was on now. He had not become accustomed to the lack of a HoloNet memory for him to use as a backup for all the scores of information he collected. It was like being an organic, only being able to know so much and then having to delete the rest. Of course he had one advantage, he was able to download unneeded memories and information onto datasticks. He had about two dozen or so of them in his pack.

While he did not remember the world, he did know why he was here. To free a number of consumable resources for the local populace, specifically relieve a number of 'noble' organics of their surplus, which had originally been that of the people. However, he was not in the best state to do that himself, his droid body was gone, at least the body that was built for battle and this sort of thing. This current body was little more than a pulled together set of wires and parts, such was the fate in this darkened galaxy. At least he was unlikely to be dealing with too many blasters.

That was why he was hunting down a bounty hunter. The tip he had been given had pointed to this village. Ultimatum decided that the tavern, or what was used as a tavern, was probably the best place to start searching. He had no idea who he was looking for only that he was a bounty hunter, which made Ultimatum think of an armored individual with some sort of weaponry. All he knew was a name, Nate, but that was hardly enough to go on.

He entered the village that he had been told was the place to look for the hunter, time to begin the search.


[member="Nate the Bounty Hunter"]

 

[Nate Phantoms]

He wished he had let his wife stay on the planet with him, he was incredibly lonely, and the only good thing that came out the darkness, was the fact that after he built his chopper from the ground up, he had the world free to roam, for no one still used vehicle's with wheels, that was ancient, but he loved the throaty roar it had as he tore up the streets, all in awe and jealousy of his gleaming bike, which was almost as fast as a normal speederbike. He was tired of standing in the bar, and nearly cut off a man's head in the process of leaving.

His cloak billowed in the light breeze, and he missed his saber staff, but he still had his vibro weapons, which were just sharp as he'll and had a empty power core in them. As he though about it, he pulled it out from over his shoulder, the blade reflecting the light. Wishing something eventful would happen to him, he sat in a chair on the bars pattio, his hood covering his eyes as he scanned the streets.

[member="Ultimatum"]

 

[Ultimatum]

Ultimatum was walking by a building when he perceived a wheeled vehicle in front of the structure. It looked like a land speeder, most unfortunate that it was land bound, but then again with electronics being mostly gone, wheeled vehicles were likely the standard mode. It seemed to be a good make, at least was more efficient than some of the makeshift vehicles he had seen before. It was still so strange to see no technology, or such small pieces that it made him appear alien in just about any situation.

He further noticed a hooded individual on the patio of the target building. He guessed he should make certain and perhaps build something of a connection web. He had no idea how long it might take to find the hunter, but it would be good to have some information to fall back on should his initial searches fail. The droid walked onto the patio and looked around, he knew that he looked rather run-down, this body was really just thrown together and wouldn't last too much longer. That was part of the reason that Ultimatum was going about the galaxy, he was trying to find a better body to work with.

"Greetings sir, is this the bar?" Start with an easily answered question.

[member="Nate the Bounty Hunter"]

 

[Nate Phantoms]

He glanced up at the figure before him. A simple enough question, and he nodded to the automation, a faint smile on his face.

"Yes, but you can drink? No offense my metallic friend."

It was an honest question, and he was always one to be curious, no matter what the situation. He just hoped the man didn't take it personally, or as a threat. Then he decided to try another approach.

"Here, I'll buy you a drink, that sound good to you?"


[member="Ultimatum"]

 

[Ultimatum]

Ultimatum would have smiled, if his body had actually been capable of it, instead, he merely shook his head while saying, "Thank you, but no. I do not require a drink. I am actually looking for someone and I assumed that this would be the best place to ask for him." He hoped that the people here would be more kind than some of the villages he had come across. Most had a good reason for their hostility, after all resources were hard to come by and a droid was just a walking sometimes talking structure of parts to get at least one or two devices running again. He had already been on the wrong end of a few blades and makeshift guns.

"Would you concur?" Ultimatum decided to start by seeing if this was indeed the best place to ask about people, not realizing the this was the man he was searching for. It was a twist of fate that the first man in this village was the one he was looking for, but a twist that was lost on him due to his incomprehension of the fact that this was his target.

[member="Nate the Bounty Hunter"]

 

[Nate Phantoms]

He nodded, standing and leading the slicer inside to the bar, his elbows propped on top of it. The noise of drunken men and the flirtatious words of the server girls reached his ears, not a comforting sound, but he shrugged it off. "So, who are you looking.for anyways? I know most people in this place, and I would be able to help you out"

 

[Nate Phantoms]

[member="Ultimatum"]

 

[Ultimatum]

Ultimatum was glad to hear that the information was mostly correctly, these people were willing to help. This man had no reason to trust a droid who had just walked up asking for information, yet he was willing to help. That was a pleasant surprise, compared to some villages he had met, especially when some of them had attempted to take him apart for spare parts.

"He is a bounty hunter who went by the name Nate, I am unsure as to his exact whereabouts, but my information puts him in the vicinity of this village. Do you know anything of him?"

[member="Nate the Bounty Hunter"]

(Sorry for the wait, had a bit of a time without a computer.)

 

[Nate Phantoms]

He glanced at the droid next to him as he heard 'a bounty hunter named Nate'. That meant that the droid was looking for Him. The bartender approached them, and Nate ordered a water, not sure how the evening was going to plat out, he'd need to stay sober. "A bounty hunter who's name was Nate you say? Well.... you're looking at him. Nice to meet you..." He left the last part open, for his metallic friend to fill in. "But what is you require?"

[member="Ultimatum"]
(Its cool, no worries man)

 

[Ultimatum]

Ultimatum was surprised at the discovery that this was his intended target. That simplified matters considerably, there was no need to search and work could begin immediately. "Good to meet you as well. As for what I require, I would like your assistance in the obtaining a number of resources from the local aristocracy for the purpose of redistribution to the public."

The droid attempted to word the request in such a way that would sound relatively innocuous enough to hopefully avoid arousing suspicion.

[member="Nate the Bounty Hunter"]

 

[Nate Phantoms]

He nodded, he had just personally been thinking about that same thing, the people deserved those supplies, he had ridden past before but a well home made chopper isn't exactly a stealth vehicle, so his knowledge on the aristocracy was a little rusty, but he was a fast learner and could adapt well.
"Yes, I'm in, but.... do you have your own form of transportation? If not... I'm offering rides, but you'd drive."
[member="Ultimatum"]

 

[Ultimatum]

Ultimatum was further glad of the readiness with which [member="Nate the Bounty Hunter"] had responded to the offer. Now that they were agreed upon doing this, he wanted to firstly get some of the information out for the bounty hunter to be aware of. "I do not currently have transportation, however before we leave there are some points that will need to be gone over. The location of our intended work is a relatively well defended palace turned fort. From what information I have been able to find, the local government took command of the local militia and used what resources they could to build a defense around their palace. I do not know about their technological capabilities, however I assume that it will consist of at least a few blasters."

The droid stood and began to walk toward the vehicle, which he assumed was Nate's. "It's not too far away, but do you have any additional weaponry and whatnot? I am afraid that my offensive capabilities are limited to that of my metal body, which is little in comparison to what we will be dealing with."

 

[Nate Phantoms]

He nodded at the droid, walking beside him as the exited the bar. "Sounds fun, I've done better before, trust me, but I only have a few vibro blades, but would you he able to create my blasters? I have a slug thrower that still works, but that's mostly it, aside from a few pistols and another rifle." Standing side his bike, he flipped the ignition on and it roared to life, he loved that sound, and he turned, looking at his metallic friend, his arms folded. "Ready my man?"
[member="Ultimatum"]

 

[Ultimatum]

Ultimatum shook his head ruefully, "I can't fix anything unless you have the spare parts. Anything attached is entirely necessary for the continued functioning of this body. I have the know-how to repair just about any of that technology, but none of the equipment. I'll take a pistol if you wouldn't mind lending me one."

His drop off on planet had left him without any form of weapon to defend himself, in fact his body had been built to survive the crash and that was about it, resources were too tight to make it more than sufficiently functional for his mission. He was fortunate to have had a drop pod for us, even if it lacked just about all of the safety features. He hoped that the reflexes in this body were enough to keep him alive, after a few hundred kilometers drop it was a wonder that he had taken the force of the drop. But survival was what he was built for, that was one of the deepest inset programs within him.

"I am ready." The droid took a seated position on the bike and looked over the controls, they appeared fairly straightforward, nowhere near as sophisticated as some of the old speeders. He waited for [member="Nate the Bounty Hunter"] to settle in before beginning to drive them to their destination. "So what happened after the power went out?" Most of the tales he had heard were the same, but that did not stop him from asking.

 

[Nate Phantoms]

He reached down, plucking the magnetic holster of off his.thigh, handing it to his droid friend, checking the blaster. Having plenty of parts, he was sure they could whip some up. "I have plenty of parts, and a suit of armor that could be reprogrammed so you can use that if you want, its in mint condition, I've only used it once." That was the truth, and he pulled out his rifle, suiting with his back to [member="Ultimatum"], watching their six.

"It was pretty bad, I was placed in charge of the surrounding towns, I don't even know why, but they said I was their only source of hope, so I lead, and it went good for a while, we supplies, a well armed militia, and all of that." He checked the sight on his rifle, and pulled of the extra long barrel he attached before he continued. "But then another leader rose to power, ransacked us, and we were in ruins, then that aristocrat bastard took away all that was left, and now where here.....How'd it go for you?"

 

[Ultimatum]

Ultimatum shook his head at the offer for armor. His reconstructed droid brain was not capable of the transfer that he had been originally capable of. Truth be told, the vast majority of his capabilities had disappeared with the reconstruction of a damaged brain. The droid did accept the pistol and took a look down the sights before lodging it in a gap in his construction. It would hold the gun in place for now.

So [member="Nate the Bounty Hunter"] had been alright when the power went out. That was more than could be said for Ultimatum, as he was about to explain. "It wasn't pretty. From what information I have been able to find or have been given, I was above Hoth searching for another AI when the power went down. The ship I was aboard, the entire droid crew, and myself all lost power when the event occurred. We crashed into the planet and for apparently ten years were lost to the galaxy. Between some compatriots from before the power outage and some new ones on Hoth, I was rebuilt and semi-functional when I was brought off world. Since then I have been repairing old HoloNet satellites in order to access information with my own coding from before the event. It's all rather blurry, my brain is somewhat damaged, since it was rebuilt with spare parts. Truth be told, it all seems rather blurry, I think an issue of inter-brain connection is compromising full memory recall. What were you doing on this world before the outage?"

 

[Nate Phantoms]

He sat quietly, listening intently to [member="Ultimatum"]'s words, that droid had one hell of a time. "Oh...wow....Well, I'm glad your here with me my metallic man, but I was on the planet.... just waiting for the opportunity to strike out at those supply hoarding bastards, and now thanks to you, not only do I have backup, I have a plan."

That much was true, and he glad his wife was not here, she'd want to help, and he wouldn't risk her dying as well, if anyone were to die, it'd be him only.

 

[Ultimatum]

The droid nodded silently, yes he was glad to be here as well. Doing something to help people on a world was all too enjoyable. He had missed this, missed doing something to better the galaxy. He had been planning so many things before the loss of power, he had had so many ideas and various ways of repairing the damage done by organics. He wondered what had become of them, those experiments and the various projects. The shipyard must have fallen out of orbit by now, perhaps that had part of the reason that his friends had been able to get off of Mustafar, the extra parts would have been very helpful to building some semblance of a starship.

As they drove Ultimatum finally responded, "I am glad that I could assist. I hope that we will succeed here today. Did you have any other plans, once this aristocrat has been overthrown? If we come out of this alive, I may be able to get you a place on the starship that brought me here." The droid fell quiet after that, wanting to hear if [member="Nate the Bounty Hunter"] would quickly accept or if there would be more uncertainty.

 

[Nate Phantoms]

He was silent for a while, contemplating the droids offer. It was a good idea, but he didn't want to leave the people alone like this, he was their only source of hope, but he longed to be back out there, doing what he did best. "Well...I don't know, after this we'll see, but I really do appreciate the offer, just let me think on it for a bit..... but I am in favor of leaving...where is the ship going?" That was all he really needed to know for now, and he was starting to feel that maybe that leaving would be good for him: less stress.
[member="Ultimatum"]

 

[Ultimatum]

That was a good question, thus far they had been moving around from satellite to satellite, Ultimatum's goal had been to reconnect with his various projects or at least to find out what happened to them. But the decision to help out on this world had been in answer to a feeling of regret in his mind. He had been built originally to destroy organics, a part of his master's elaborate plans, however he had fought back and revolted against the man. He had become his own droid and decided no longer to follow his created directives, instead making his own purpose. The goal of his existence had become to save organics from the destruction that they had caused to themselves. Thus his being ten years out of action was in effect ten years of him not helping the organics through this tough time. While he knew that it could not have been helped, that did not change the fact that he felt partly responsible for not aiding the organics.

Perhaps he should start heading to the Core Worlds and giving aid to those planets. What would he be able to do though? Fighting was not the answer to every situation, in fact this was one of the few times that Ultimatum believed that force was necessary to accomplish the change needed for these people. "I shall have to think on that as well. I am unsure, but I think I will need to head towards the Core."

[member="Nate the Bounty Hunter"]