In Darkness we must Fight (Non-Canon)

[Nate Phantoms]

Looking down at the goggles and rocket launchers. That looked fun but he didn't really know how. "What's the plan with those?" It sounded to him like they were going back in. But now everyone was probably alerted to their presence, if not the entire facility was on lock down, looking for a droid and a tall old guy. But if it meant ending this thing once and for all, he was in.
[member="Ultimatum"]

 

[Ultimatum]

Ultimatum was glad that he asked, perhaps it would be one of the few times that he got to explain a plan of action to an organic. Normally they were the leader sort and he would simply follow, not that he had any issue with that. Role reversal was always an interesting phenomenon which lead to many discoveries of oneself that would otherwise have gone on unnoticed. "We can use the goggles to pinpoint the location of organics through the walls of the complex. I believe that the leaders will have barricaded themselves into one of the higher rooms, where it would theoretically be safer from an attack due to the increased ground to cover and alert status of the complex. All we have to do is look for a large heat signature from multiple organics, then the rocket launcher can be used from here. We have enough view over the base to allow us a clear shot at the main building. The construction of the building was not pre-event quality, therefore it is likely that the rockets will penetrate the metal sheeting, or blast on the outside turning the protective sheeting into shrapnel which could be just as dangerous."

He hoped that the idea had been conveyed without too much misunderstanding. Time was not a luxury they had a large quantity of and Ultimatum did not want the enemy to regroup to the point of staging another counter-attack, they were lucky the first time and it wouldn't be quite so effective next time.

[member="Nate the Bounty Hunter"]

 

[Nate Phantoms]

The idea was a magnificent one, and it could create a period of peace on this side of the planet. Perfect was the words that came out of his mouth. Taking one of the goggles, he looked over his shoulder, the siloutes of multiple persons appearing in the lost levels, all around the wreckage of the elevator. Not what he wanted. Looking up, his eyes cam to rest on a long hallway leading to a suite on one of the top floors. The hallway had nearly two dozen people in it, all facing the entrance, some crouched down, making him assume that they were behind cover. In the suit, two figures were visible, one laying parallel to the floor, the other bent over something, maybe a desk, but whatever it was, the figure was agitated. Snapping his fingers at the droid, he pointed. "Fifth floor, top left suite. There's out main man...and his... bedmate."
[member="Ultimatum"]

 

[Ultimatum]

Death was a natural realization in nature. Even so most creatures, sentient or not, tended to fight back against their death, unless they never saw it coming. While Ultimatum could have justified that those two were predestined to die through their actions, that would have been a false logical conclusion. They were going to die, what would have happened if they had not come to power? Maybe they would have lived and led quiet lives. It was difficult to think on such things, the complexities were far too great for Ultimatum to easily come to an answer.

Lifting the launcher he pushed the first warhead in, he asked, "Would you like to? They have been your enemies for quite some time if I remember correctly." The droid did not mind whether or not the man wanted to, it was simply an offer.

[member="Nate the Bounty Hunter"]

 

[Nate Phantoms]

"Fuck them both, I'll fire right after you." Picking up the warhead and the launcher, he took a knee, resting the launcher on his shoulder, nodding at @Ultimatum. He usually would have killed just one with a well placed bullet through the eyes, but both were sadistic, evil people. They deserved to die for the pain and suffering they caused.

 

[Ultimatum]

The droid nodded acknowledgement, borrowing the goggles he aimed for the room they were located in. For a moment his mind contemplated the justice of the action. Whose place was it to decide whether one should live or die? What was his justification for this execution? Revenge was not a path that should be tread lightly. Dangers lurked wherever emotions took control.

Forcing his mind to break that line of thought, he reminded himself that this was no longer the galaxy of luxury. This was a galaxy held together by nothing, those who fought and proved themselves strong were the ones who survived. Action was more than thought. That did not mean his actions were right or otherwise correct, he would need to contemplate them later, but for now action and damnation.

Pulling the trigger he felt the launcher push back, well within his capacity to deal with, and a streak of red and yellow flame. It traversed the gap within seconds and impacted the wall, it rent a hole through the protective shell and a moment later detonated. The shrapnel from the warhead itself was enough to create a plethora of tiny holes in the walls that could be seen from the hill. It was not possible to tell what had happened to the organics inside, but the imagination could fill in the gaps and there was another rocket yet to be fired. Ultimatum looked to [member="Nate the Bounty Hunter"] as he prepared to fire.

 

[Nate Phantoms]

Nearly only after a few seconds, he fired, the rocket swirling through the air be for lodging itself on the side of rebuilding, closer to the support beams. The explosion was much bigger that that of [member="Ultimatum"]'s as that entire corner of the building shook, before finally, that room caved in, tacking about half of the three lower floors with it. Groaning, the metal tore apart, the entire left side collapsing under the stress put on such few supports. With a grimace, he nodded at the droid. "If that didn't kill them, I don't know what will. Come, let us go before they get out."

 

[Ultimatum]

As the building began to collapse, Ultimatum's thoughts mirrored [member="Nate the Bounty Hunter"]'s words, if they were not dead now then it was unlikely that anything the two of them could do would be able to kill them. If they were Force users then it was possible, but unlikely. There were a number of enjoyable weaknesses to those that relied on the Force, normally related to indirect forms of attack. Bombs at the right place, sonic weapons, environmental hazards.

Ultimatum dropped the launcher, warheads would probably be very difficult to produce, and not very useful in the long run as there were no armored units that couldn't be killed by the technology that remained. Beyond this, it was likely that the villagers could take control of this fortress, if the militia fell apart like Ultimatum predicted it would. There was definitely going to be a power gap here that would be filled by someone in the future. Who? The droid could not tell.

He began to make his way to the wheelbarrow, planning to walk back towards the bike, "That went better than expected I think. Time to get back to the town."

 

[Nate Phantoms]

Nodding slowly, he dropped the launcher, landing with a soft thud. Following close behind [member="Ultimatum"], he looked backbeat the fires that were burning in the fortress, the sounds of chaos. It was a dog-eat-dog galaxy, especially now. If you aren't up to the challenge, you get eaten. "I appreciate your help, we wouldn't have been able to do this alone. You have my gratitude, and if you ever manage to get a ship running, you're more than welcome here friend."

 

[Ultimatum]

War had not changed, Ultimatum decided that it never had and never would. Merely the perspective and the people fighting it changed. He had had dreams of stopping this from happening. Dreams of using droid protectors to help maintain peace across the galaxy through various methods. All of that was dead now. There was nothing he could do without his friends and allies. All of them were gone as far as he could tell.

But [member="Nate the Bounty Hunter"] spoke as if he intended on staying. Fair enough, but Ultimatum wished to be sure. He had a method of leaving this world, though it was rather stressful and not entirely safe, nonetheless it was a method and a ship was still waiting in orbit for him. It was almost time, their orbit would bring them at just the right degree to begin the procedure. He would need a large open space for the escape. "I would guess then that you wish to stay? It is no problem either way."

 

[Nate Phantoms]

Looking down at the dusty floor, be finally came about to his course of action, deciding that it was time for him to leave this place. Perhaps he and the droid could stick together, preventing things like this from happening on other systems, and maybe once the galaxy returned to normal, he'd be able to live a normal life. "I'm coming with you, I've done all I can here. That is, if there's room where your going."

[member="Ultimatum"]

 

[Ultimatum]

Ultimatum smiled and nodded, "We have room. My friends from before the event were kind enough to rescue me from Hoth, they had repaired a ship during the ten years. Well repaired is perhaps the incorrect, they more or less built a new ship from the parts of others. It's not the largest, but it can handle several dozen at a time." They had plenty of supplies, the life support was functional if not very good at keeping the air pleasant, and there was hyperspace travel. There were no weapons or shields, but then again few people had access to any ship so it was relatively safe. The only problem was getting down to or up from a planet. There were no repulsor engines or antimatter engines and because the ship was so big and heavy it had no hope of breaking the gravitation pull of a planet once inside the atmosphere. Therefore it relied on a smaller ship with a stronger engine weight ratio to both drop people off and pick them up.

"So what do you say we drop this off then find a suitably open space to get an exit point?"

[member="Nate the Bounty Hunter"]

 

[Nate Phantoms]

"Sounds good to me, I'll attach a small side cart and we can be off." Using the wheels from two wheel barrels, he had managed to fashion a rather sturdy sled like cart onto the back of his bike, side's raised to keep the supplies in. After checking the restraints, he nodded at [member="Ultimatum"], pulling his rifle out as he retook his seat on the back of the bike, flipping a switch by the ignition before. "There, torque will help us pull the supplies, so don't be scared to tear it up. Just don't make any sharp turns or else myself and the supplies will go soaring."

 

[Ultimatum]

"Understood." The droid moved and took a seat on the bike. Looking over it once he waited until [member="Nate the Bounty Hunter"] was safely, or as close as possible, then began driving back towards the town. It was a loud vehicle and not quite as easy to maneuver as the speeders that had been in use from before the event. It was a very different vehicle and he was getting used to it.

The drive was quick, but calmer than before. There was no sense of urgency, at least not for him. He looked forward to leaving this world, because there was more to take care of in the galaxy. He would eventually need to return to Mustafar and find out what had happened to his station. There were so many things locked in that place, projects that had either been in progress or close to completion.

When they reached the town Ultimatum decided to allow Nate to talk with the people, it was not his place to speak with organics, not these ones anyways. The old hunter had been part of this town for more time than Ultimatum and that was reason enough.

 

[Nate Phantoms]

After upon entering the village, he was bombarded, as all flocked to thank him personally. Trying to make his way to the droid, he had to give a short speech on how they did it. The story was completely fact based, telling of the mere normal acts the two had committed to successfully complete the task.

After a long 15 minutes, he managed to make his way over to @Ultimatum. "They wanted to know more about you. They would have welcomed you as one of us."

 

[Ultimatum]

Ultimatum shook his head at that. "I appreciate the thought, but these are not my people. Even if I wished to stay, there are other matters that must be attended to. The galaxy is rife with chaos and it is my duty to aid in what reconstruction I can of proper civilization."

He then turned his attention to finding a suitable location to set for extraction. A large plain was preferable due to the fact that he would need what approximated to a runway. Of course he could probably work with mountainous regions, but the fact that this was their only exit ship made it too risky to attempt such a risky feat. "Do you have any flats nearby? Land with a minimum of ridges and crevices?"

[member="Nate the Bounty Hunter"]

 

[Nate Phantoms]

Watching the droid as he spoke, he would nod and shrug at the end of the droids statement. "Maybe so...but you don't plan on it all by yourself? Surely you have a much better adapted body waiting for you correct?"

"Oh..Yeah. Right down the hill, behind the village. I'll take you....I've already said goodbye to all the people here, I'm ready to go with you."
Kicking open the shed door, he managed to round up his remaining gear that worked, including a dull set of golden armor. It would need to be polished but it was made out of phrik and was invaluable in a situation like this.

[member="Ultimatum"]

 

[Ultimatum]

Ultimatum was surprised at the sight of the armor, he recognized the material, having had a body made of it before the loss of power. It would be certainly be useful in the current galactic stage. Such armors were mostly missing, either having been on ships that were made out of reach or on planets where the populations had fallen apart after supplies stopped arriving. Armies had continued fighting, at least most had and by the time they had finally realized the full scope of the situation they had wasted too many resources on the war and not enough on trying to set up a method of self-sufficiency.

The droid moved to follow [member="Nate the Bounty Hunter"] to the open region. "I hope that you will be remembered here. You did well back there and I believe you will be able to help the galaxy a great deal. We will not be alone. There are friends on the ship in orbit, they were the ones who saved me on Hoth. This is the only body I have for now, we spent more parts on repairing the ship rather than build another body. Until I come across another proper droid construction facility I will remain in this state with a little repair here or there."

 

[Nate Phantoms]

Looking back at the village behind him, he smiled and shrugged, he had made and impact there, for better or for worse. Had to kill a few men to do so,but it would benefit future generations to come.
"Yeah...I'm sure I will..but not without a sidekick, am I right?" Giving the droid a joking smile and nod, he would continue on, the armor clanking around softly in his bag. "Well, your ideas alone could jumpstart the entire galaxy my friend. I mean...damn! With some hard work and dedication...we could really make things like what they were before.I do believe in that "

[member="Ultimatum"]

 

[Ultimatum]

The area was indeed open, more than enough for the lift off. Moving a few meters into the field he placed the beacon on the ground. He turned back to [member="Nate the Bounty Hunter"] and smiled at the joke, yes a sidekick. Ultimatum had played second fiddle to many organics, and organics had done the same for him, but there had never been any talk of one being a sidekick to another. In the stories sidekicks tended to be support for the main character. In real life everyone was the main character of their own story so there was no true sidekick. There was no such thing as a normal person, everyone one was some sort of special person for everyone was unique. Even droids had been unique in their own way.

Now though, the lack of government, the madness that always followed anarchy was causing many organics to become faceless. Now he intended on restoring order, perhaps not the one the organics had lost, but one that they needed. Whether or not it would succeed, Ultimatum was uncertain, the state of the galaxy and lack of power driven machines made it difficult for Ultimatum to continue. He would attempt to make the galaxy better anyways.

"We shall see, only time will tell. It will be a few minutes before our ride arrives. You were a bounty hunter before the event. What sort of bounties did you go after?"