My Arm's Big Adventure

[Caulder Dune]

THE MACHINATOR
MEDICAL BAY

Adekos moved his fingers one at a time, testing his control over each of them. Technically speaking, they weren't his fingers. Not his original ones, anyway. These were the fingers of a modified Nyax Arm Cannon that had been surgically attached to him in the wake of him losing a limb to that insufferable Cavill fellow. His original fingers were still attached to his original arm, which was being kept in preserved cryostasis until Adekos wanted it back. There was a war coming. The Techno Union was expanding, and expansion always warranted violence. An Ion Disruptor built into his prosthetic arm was a great way to conduct incredible violence against those who opposed the most righteous of Unions.

He sat himself up on the medical bed, swinging his legs over the side. The Rodian scientist (mad by some descriptions) watched with great anticipation as Adekos flexed his new arm. This was going to take some getting used to. No question of that. It certainly wasn't something his knowledge of Mechu-Deru would help with, would it? Even if it could, some things were better accomplished without use of the Force. It was a needless complication in this case.

"How does it feel?"

"Like I have a metal girder for an arm. Bendable, though."

For emphasis, the Umbaran bent his prosthetic limb at the elbow, as if he were curling something.

The Rodian nodded, scribbling something down on a medical clipboard. "That won't go away, but you'll get used to it."

"Great." Adekos said, devoid of any real enthusiasm. "Absolutely marvelous."

 

[Caulder Dune]

GYMNASIUM

"You'll need to get used to the strength of the grip." Ugoto advised, bringing him to the Machinator's large gymnasium. Or what passed for it, anyway.

Waiting inside the large circular chamber for them was already a Z6 Naval Droid and a large wheeled bin filled with inflatable rubber balls. The sort younglings would kick around between them during recess. Adekos never recalled where that bin had come from or its contents. Then again, this Lucrehulk was originally owned by psychopathic band of pirates. Pirates who tortured and mutated people for sport. They really weren't pirates, come to think of it. More like reavers. But what use reavers or pirates had for assorted rubber balls was far beyond him. Maybe it had been here when the reavers took the vessel? It was strange to Adekos that he had no idea what the history of this ship was prior to it being brought into his possession.

Perhaps it was worthy of investigation.

Ugoto tilted his head at the Umbaran. "Are you listening to me?"

"Hmm? Oh, yes. Catch the balls without breaking them."

The Rodian nodded, scribbling something on the clipboard before gesturing to the Z6. "Alright, let him have it."

To facilitate the training exercise, Adekos put his other arm- the one that wasn't a cybernetic replacement -behind his back. The Z6 Naval Droid retrieved one ball from the bin and tossed it towards the Umbaran. Adekos, frankly, had no idea just what he was getting into here. As far as he was concerned his control over the replacement limb was absolute. All of those other individuals with cybernetic enhancements made it look easy. So when he reached out and grabbed the ball from mid-air, he was moderately surprised when his fingers pierced the outer-layer and caused it to rapidly deflate.

Adekos lowered his hand, inspecting the deflated rubber rag he had created. He frowned.

"That's expected. Just try to be more careful until you get it right."

Adekos tossed the useless rubber rag aside and nodded at the Z6 to continue.

 

[Caulder Dune]

It took a great deal more focus to finally start getting it right than Adekos would have guessed. But that much was obvious by now. Adjusting to this was going to take a great deal of time, as evidenced by the ever-growing pile of deflated rubber balls that were starting to become littered around Adekos. What a mess. He had better start getting this right before they ran out of balls, otherwise they'd have to find some sort of suitable replacement. Or just start ordering bulk packages of rubber balls for this reason. Adekos had no idea who was monitoring his expenditures (it could have been anyone or no one, but he suspected someone was doing so), but he certainly didn't want them to see that he was ordering such things.

And then once Jemmila came back, having to explain to her why there was a room packed with crates of rubber balls. That was a fun one. He was going to have to check on her again. She had spent some months with that savage on Eol Sha. Adekos' probe droids had kept him appraised of her progress, and a stealthy task force of droids were on stand-by should she get into any real danger. How long was enough punishment for running away? Then again, was it even punishment at this point? She seemed to be... Actually learning.

Enjoying it, even.

Adekos caught another ball, this time willfully crushing it out of pure spite.

 

[Caulder Dune]

This bin, truly, was bottomless. It felt like hours were crawling by as slowly as possible, but at least now he was able to catch the balls without breaking them. Would he be perfect with controlling the strength of his cybernetic limb going forward? Not really, but at least now he had an inkling of how to keep it simple. Ugoto continued to incessantly scribble on his clipboard the entire time, insisting that the practice thus far was not enough. Practicing until you got it right was the fast track to unexpected failure. It was better to practice until you couldn't get it wrong. These were words to live by coming from an unlicensed Rodian medical practitioner who used to make his living stealing and cloning organs on the black market. With a minor focus in creating bioweapons and the nastier sort of drug.

A man of great repute. Adekos was glad it was him who attached this malevolent piece of machinery to him.

Adekos caught the ball flung haphazardly towards him, bounced it against the floor once, and then tossed it back towards the Z6. "I think we're done here, Ugoto."

"Agreed." The Rodian nodded. "We'll continue your physical therapy tomorrow. We oughta test the weapons systems in the arm next."

"Weapons systems? Plural?"

"Well, I like to tinker with things. Like your arm. I made some adjustments. You'll like it."

For Ugoto's sake, Adekos did hope that he liked it. It was one thing to attach a cybernetic limb to a friend as a favor, but another entirely when someone modified it extensively without explicit permission. Was this why the thing was so infernally heavy? It felt almost like twice the weight of what was listed on the iBorg holostore. Adekos followed the Rodian out of the room, leaving the Z6 to re-bin the balls that had been caught successfully and clean up the mess of broken ones.

 

[Caulder Dune]

THE FIRING RANGE

Adekos had half a mind to tear out the firing range when he first acquired this vessel. He had no use for shooting at things- not when he usually utilized a plasma sword in all of his combat exercises. Then again, on occasion he would use a wrist blaster. Just to give him that extra edge when he was engaging people with that aforementioned plasma sword. They were usually too close at that point where aim became an issue, but now that he had an arm cannon... It would be nice to learn how to aim properly.

"You can put a targeting system in your helmet, obviously, but you'll need to get used to the sensation of firing and reloading."

"Yes, of course..."

With a series of mechanical whirs and clicks, Adekos' new prosthetic transformed itself. The hand spun around, splitting in two and sliding under the forearm as the upper panels split apart. They clutched both sides of the base of the gun for stability as the barrel rolled out. It was a funny feeling, considering he felt nothing from the exchange. There were no sensory parts in that arm. Just cold, unfeeling durasteel. Once he was done laying waste to Rebel Alliance scum on Geonosis and helping the Techno Union claim more worlds, he would get rid of it. For now, though, he had use for something that shot Ion disruptor beams.

 

[Caulder Dune]

The firing range was chiefly utilized by the organic personnel who resided on Adekos' Lucrehulk. It was a fine way to pass the time, perhaps bond with fellow personnel. One of the reasons he had opted to keep the thing in place as opposed to replacing it with another storeroom. As of now the range was empty, as Adekos did not want to be disturbed while brushing up on his marksmanship. He effortlessly leveled the arm cannon at one of the targets. It was a fair distance away, and Adekos got as close as the erected half-wall would allow him. He narrowed his eyes at the target, then opened fire.

A blue beam shot forth from the disruptor. There was no recoil. Blaster weapons had none, but the shudder of the weapon discharging such a destructive beam was unmistakable. Adekos liked to think that it was for that reason that the bolt went wildly off-target. The miss was complete, scorching the wall behind the semi-solid hologram badly. No big deal- the wall was already well adorned with similar misfires. Ugoto snickered at the severity of the miss, but flinched back into place when Adekos pointed the weapon at him.

It was an empty gesture. Adekos had no stomach for shooting subordinates, but it got his point across. Ugoto returned to scribbling on his clipboard.

Adekos couldn't imagine why the Rodian flinched. He had missed the target, he probably would have missed Ugoto as well. No matter. The fear that rolled off the Rodian was enough for Adekos to draw on, fuel his Dark Sided power. Give him focus. The Umbaran leveled the Nyax Arm Cannon at the target once more, now with much steadier movements. The next shot pierced the hologram, causing it to deactivate. The beam carried on, scorching the wall regardless.

Great. Even when he hit the target, he was still messing up the wall.

 

[Caulder Dune]

"Now, in addition to the single shot, you can opt for fully automatic, three-shot burst, or the charged shot. That's in both modes, mind you."

"Both modes?"

"Again, I tinkered with it. It has a long range mode now."

Normally the Nyax Arm Cannon was only good for short ranges. Ugoto correctly guessed that his friend here would hardly appreciate a weapon he had to get up close and personal to use. After all, what was the point of having an arm cannon if it couldn't be used at a safe distance? So Ugoto did his thing- he tampered with the original. He added the option for a longer barrel, gave it more stability. This made it easier to use for long range fire. A little heavier? Yes, but the loss of agility between the original and this one was about the same. If he was willing to get an arm cannon before, he'd still like it now.

 

[Caulder Dune]

Ugoto watched as Adekos shifted the device into long-range mode, the barrel extending and some additional stabilizers sliding into place over the course of a few seconds. It was good watching your work do its thing like that. Hopefully it wouldn't explode or anything. That would have been embarrassing and probably killed him if Adekos survived. Adekos rubbed his durasteel arm cannon, feeling the cold metal. Ugoto could only imagine what was going through his head right now. Probably "boy, pointing that at Ugoto and making him flinch was a dick move in hindsight. Especially since he's been so helpful."

"Maximum range?" Adekos instead asked.

"Roughly the same as a BlasTech standard blaster rifle."

Internally, Ugoto sighed. Oh, how his talents were squandered.

 

[Caulder Dune]

For the next hour or so, Adekos continued to practice with his newly acquired cybernetic arm. He switched throughout the various firing modes, developing a particular fondness for the single shot. This was an Ion Disruptor, after all. Anything else would be overkill. As he mowed down the still-target holograms with impunity and Ugoto merrily scribbled on his keyboard, Adekos could not help but feel the nagging bother that this would negatively impact his ability to wield a lightsaber. The arm was unwieldy. It did not move as quickly, but it did strike a great deal harder. Not that it mattered. He could use his other hand if he needed to, given the circumstances. The one he had lost to Cavill just happened to be his preferred one.

Adekos aimed at the next resurgent hologram, only to hear his arm click audibly instead of firing off a disruptor bolt. He kept clicking, initially suspecting a mechanical error but then he realized he simply had to reload.

"How exactly do I reload this contraption?"

"Eject the energy cell out the elbow. Replace it the same way."

 

[Caulder Dune]

Adekos jerked his arm into a bent position and the depleted energy cell popped out with little fuss. It clattered to the floor, Ugoto fishing around in his lab coat pocket for a replacement. He tossed it to Adekos, who then deftly caught it and jammed it back into his arm in the same motion. The Umbaran straightened his arm out again and the energy cell popped back into place. Reloaded and ready for more action. Oh, this was going to be swell. Once he added a targeting system to his helmet, he would be able to gun down those who opposed the mighty progress of the Techno Union with the same capriciousness he slaughtered these holograms with.

"Are we quite finished here, Ugoto?"

"Not quite. There are more tests to run."

"Then let us move on. I believe that's enough target practice for one lifetime." Adekos said, just as his arm began to fold back up into its regular position. Still strange how he felt nothing, but within seven seconds of rigorous transformation and wonderful precision engineering, his arm looked like an arm again. Ish.

 

[Caulder Dune]

The remaining tests were dull, tedious things that were of hardly any interest to transcribe in detail. Most of them revolved around testing the full strength of the augmented Nyax (which was about roughly the same) and measuring disruptor beam intensity. Aside from the increase in accurate range, the disruptor functioned more or less the same. Those tests concluded that same day, but Adekos' physical adjustment to the cybernetic augmentation would take a few weeks. Many an hour would be spent catching rubber balls tossed at him by a Z6 Droid. Ugoto did not stay for the physical therapy, as that much the Umbaran could take care of on his own. Instead he would be taking the schematics of what he called the Nyax Arm Cannon V2-A and tack it on to his job application for iBorg Prosthetic Augments.

It was an honest living Ugoto sought. Then again, didn't everyone?

Not Adekos. His business success generally relied upon the byzantine web of contacts and partners the Tion Hegemony afforded him. There was also the fact that his chief engineer was undoubtedly the most talented droid engineer in the galaxy, but that was another thing entirely. When he didn't spend his time lobbing rubber balls back at the Z6 Droid, Adekos worked on his aim. He also regularly switched between firing modes and the concealed modes to get a better feel for the transition time.

By the end of that, Adekos was sufficiently adept with this new device.

Time to shoot some Rebels.