Searching For The Lost

[AD-8]

http://i.imgur.com/9ofnFPs.jpg
T here was a small base, hidden in an asteroid in a huge asteroid field in the vast far-flung regions of wild space, finding it would be like finding a needle in a haystack. It had a small entrance, visible only to those who looked hard enough, not that anyone came here. A small local beacon emitted a signal, as it had done for the last 400 years. No one had seen or heard of the base and barely anyone of the asteroid belt. The main power to the base has long failed but a small backup generator powered a beacon and the sensors that checked for incoming ships. The inside of the base has long fallen into disrepair, the winding corridors have not seen light for hundreds of years. Who knows what treasures await inside?

The sensors on the base picked up something coming out of hyperspace. They quickly logged the event in their databases.

[member="HK-36"]

 

[HK-36]

[member="AD-8"],

With a flash of light the elongated shape of an adventuring frigate, the Siege Tower, personal vessel to HK-36, entered real space in the uncharted system. The ship slowed down, sailing calmly towards the asteroid in silence as its scanners engaged in diagnosing the inner components of the base, searching for any signs of life or power.

Aboard the vessel various droids and organic mercenaries that made up its crew were busying around, getting to their battlestations as HK prepared a special team to venture out into the station and investigate the signal they picked up during one of the many voyages Metal Lords take, among them would be any of the machines allied to their cause, including [member="AD-Iqatar.13"], [member="Seishin"], [member="Ultimatum"], and [member="WD-334"], should they be willing to come with HK onto this particular adventure.

The older droid was within the Tower's hangar, looking over the Knight of Eclipse, a sleek black stealth-transport they were going to take aboard the station, waiting for his team to gather up and to see what the results of his frigate were concerning the station and its systems.

 

[AD-8]

[member="HK-36"]

L Ights flickered inside the base as the centuries old power generator tried to generate something, triggered by the sensors detecting an incoming ship. The lights flickered, on, off, on, off, on and finally off. There was just enough power to power the computer and the weapons. The weapons started to track the ship to be ready if it was to charge its weapons. The computer tried to turn on the emergency lighting with no avail but managed to turn on the lights leading into the hangar so the ship could see where it was going. The guard droids awoke and stood up, "Unidentified ship incoming" the command droid said in a warped tone, "head for the hanger to meet the visitors". The computer then contacted the ship "Please identify yourselves or be destroyed"

 

[HK-36]

[member="AD-8"],

HK was just overseeing his Greycloaks loading up their arsenal into the stealth transport when a transmission came through from his ship's bridge,

"We have the station hailing us."

"Patch me through."

Soon enough that computerized voice of a, well a computer, came through to HK,

"Please identify yourselves or be destroyed"

The droid send back a transmission of his own,

"The discussion about who could destroy who in this situation aside, I am the Iron Lord Protector of a Kingdom of Machines in the Void, we received a signal from a beacon on this station, presumably distress call, me and my droid crew were planning on sending a team to investigate it."

HK explained, identifying himself in the process as one of the Droid Lords, if the computer ever heard of such a thing,

"From the flickering lights it is fairly clear that your power source is either damaged or running on its last legs, even if we were hostile I doubt you would hold out too long. So how about you identify yourself back and we can resolve the matter of this signal peacefully?"

The probably older machine proposed, as derelict as the station was, HK was initial forged even before the fabled Mandalorian Wars kicked off.

 

[Ultimatum]

Ultimatum was loading in with the rest of the Greycloaks, he had just finished coordinating work back on Mustafar and was now ready to move out. While the younger droid would have probably enjoyed listening into the conversation, he had business to attend to. Legion, still on the red planet, had spent the last week attempting to track down the identity of the traitor in LOOM's headquarters. It was a matter of considerable importance as the person had already effectively sabotaged Ultimatum's efforts with the Extinguisher incident. Now, Ultimatum was constantly juggling multiple paramount objectives that each required large portions of his time. The difficulty of ruling a planet, a company, and a people all at once.

The droid was already aboard the stealth craft when [member="HK-36"] began communicating with the ship and thus missed the fact that his current leader was in diplomatic talks with the potential enemy. Instead he simply looked to those allies with him, he asked in an offhanded tone, "Ready for what may come everyone?"

[member="AD-8"]

 

[AD-8]

The barely functioning base ran some simulations of the possible fight, it didn't look good.
"Permission to land granted, please make your way to landing pad 1," It replied to the probably older droid.
The blast doors for the hanger started to slowly creak open and the lights that illuminated pad 1 flickered in protest before turning on. The droids on the ground fanned out around the pad, ancient blasters drawn.
"any signs of hostile activity will be seen as a threat and will be terminated," The station sent to the incoming ship.
[member="HK-36"] [member="Ultimatum"]

 

[HK-36]

[member="Ultimatum"], [member="AD-8"],

Receiving the reply from AD HK nodded, agreeing to the terms,

"Good choice."

Was all he sent back as Ultimatum came to join him in the hangar, the droid nodded again,

"Yes, there is someone still alive or active on there, but the whole thing is in sorry place. They seem tense but open to us coming aboard to speak with them. Stay on your toes but do not open fire unless they initiate a fight."

HK explained as he came aboard their ship of choice, the Knight of the Eclipse, a sleek black stealth transport,

"We have already plenty of enemies out there, what we need more than ever is more allies."

The droid quipped. The Greycloaks would take their places and so Ultimatum would be motioned to join them aboard before the shuttle would steal and take off.


Soon enough the transport would be sailing across the black void of stars, propelled by its thrusters towards the ruined station, heading for landing pad 1. The droids aboard would keep their promise and they would not open fire on them, hopefully AD would keep his end of the deal as well and allow the transport to close in on his vessel unharmed. Once docked and landed on pad number 1, the droids would disembark, and after brief scan of their surroundings, head in to try and find their mysterious host.

"What is the situation on Mustafar?"

HK would ask Ultimatum making some small talk after they disembarked, slowely heading deeper into the station, glancing back and forth to scan the surroundings and take in its architecture, hopefully find some clues towards the station's origins, or signs of any traps or structural dangers, if those existed in their path.

 

[Ultimatum]

Ultimatum's interest was piqued at that. There were many ancient things throughout the galaxy, many mysterious and powerful things that had survived the millennia. But few had remained functional over that time. It was rare indeed to discover some piece of tech that somehow continued to work after so long, especially in the harsh environment of space. Space was a dangerous place for all its beauty. Asteroids the size of star fighters flew through the void at immense speed, even the small pebble sized projectiles were capable of punching a hole in a metal wall at the speeds some of them were going at. Then there were the solar emissions. Cosmic rays were some of the most dangerous to just about anything. It effects on electronics was astounding and the lethality to organics was frightening. Yet for all that, Ultimatum found space to be profoundly beautiful. Something that apparently many organics missed, they preferred the speeding lines of Hyperspace. But that was akin to looking out a window on a highway and commenting the flowers the pretty. In order to truly appreciate the inherent aesthetic of a particular object you had to be free of distraction and motionless with it.

However at this point the beauty of space was locked off from him, inside the small ship he had entered. He agreed with [member="HK-36"] that they needed allies, but that was always true. If one had an option it was an obvious choice to want a friend rather than an enemy. He would nod to the statement. But the question that came a little while later was more difficult for Ultimatum. Things were not going well.

"All things considered I would say not too horribly. The people are content for the moment and there does not appear to be any form of imminent rebellion on the horizon. But you remember the Guide?" Ultimatum was certain that the older droid would after the near fiasco that HK had helped quell.

[member="AD-8"]

 

[AD-8]

As the visitors moved further into the station the security droids followed at a distance, never letting the visitors out of their sight. When they reached the door at the end of the hanger the computer tried to open it, it started to creak open but jammed halfway, only allowing single file passage through. The security cameras that still worked followed the visitors and listened in to snippets of the conversation. The scans of the visitors seen to back up the probably older droids claim that it was older than the station but that didn't make it any more trustworthy.

[member="HK-36"]
[member="Ultimatum"]

 

[HK-36]

[member="Ultimatum"], [member="AD-8"],

HK nodded at Ultimatum's question,

"Yes, the slicer, did you finally managed to track them down?"

The droid retorted as he suddenly stopped slightly, tilting his head here and there as if he tried to follow something.

"We are being followed."

HK stated plainly, even as he listened to Ulti's response about the Guide, it was a fascinating subject for the droid, never having to face rebellion of his own on Abregado he wondered what would come out of the rebellious factors on Mustafar, and how Ultimatum was going to deal with it. Unfortunately the droids may never really find that out, as it would not be too far in the future that Mustafar would fall to the First Order, the Galactic Alliance unable to defend the world.

"By droids."

He added before moving onward again, walking carefully through the station's old decrepit corridors to dive deeper into its bowels, looking for their host.

"But it is good that the situation stabilized at least, I am glad that people are able to be content under your rule, it will be a good example for other droids aspiring to lead their brethren and organics in the future."


Finally they would come to an automatic door which begun to open by computer noticing their presence there but not even halfway through stopped, jammed. HK turned sideways, his mechanized plates and armor shifting to make his body thinner as he started to shimmy through the gap between the door and the frame first, he looked back to Ultimatum,

"Can you fit through?"

 

[Ultimatum]

"No, the terminal he used was damaged beyond repair when we found it."

The artificial turned slightly and glanced over his shoulder, as [member="HK-36"] stopped. His internal sensors increased their radius as she shunted power to them. He detected those who followed them. But he was unconcerned. Certainly an ancient station would have equally ancient droids, which would probably pose little threat to them.

Ultimatum was undecided on the praise. The situation had only temporarily improved. The people were happy for now and that was good, but it didn't stop the Guide. In fact, it had motivated a far worse maneuver. The artificial wondered if the Guide would ever stop. He was against the droid and according to the Vanguard, who knew more about the Guide than Ultimatum, he wanted to join the Sith. With the borders being Sith territory Ultimatum felt that an invasion was inevitable. How fortuitous a thought, that Ultimatum would even take part in the failed defense of the world. It would then have gone that he maintained control for a few weeks before a true rebellion led by the Guide took place. But how could he have predicted the turn of events. That the Alliance could not defend their borders against the ravaging hordes of the Sith.

When they reached the door, Ultimatum turned and pushed through, feeling a slight scrapping along his outer shell. His body was unmovable, due to the various mechanisms that had to be contained in his body. He smiled as he replied, "I guess that is a yes." He had done the calculations before hand when the door stopped, but it was more amusing to pretend otherwise.

The droid decided to continue about the Guide, "There was an attack during a weapons testing, I suspect the Guide. It cost at least one civilian life and one of my pilots." The Extinguisher incident was still fresh in the droid's mind and Ultimatum was still rebounding from it.

[member="AD-8"]

 

[AD-8]

As the visitors cautiously moved through the station the computer got a constant stream of error messages
light g3-offline light g4-offline door c3-offline module d-offline oxygen system a,b,c,d,e-offline
It shut down the error program so it could focus on the more pressing matters. The security droids squeezed through the gap and continued tailing the visitors as they turned onto G corridor, towards the main G module. On the computer's map of the station, the G module is just a black square, it can't control anything inside the module and its security droids aren't allowed in. The station wondered if the designer was trying to hide something from him.

[member="HK-36"]
[member="Ultimatum"]

 

[HK-36]

[member="AD-8"], [member="Ultimatum"],

"Weapon testing?"

HK asked, his interest peaked as he watched Ultimatum squeeze in between the door and the frame,

"How secret was it? Do you think he might have someone on the inside or be part of LOOM?"

The droid proposed before moving on deeper inside the station with his companion. HK stopped by one of the station terminals, spotting a string of errors on its screen.

"Look at this."

He pointed it out to Ultimatum,

"There is no G section on this station map."

HK said tapping the screen a few times before looking to the side, denoting that they were heading down the G corridor. His attention was then taken back towards the door they just pushed through as the sound of security droids who followed them doing the same came in.

"We should keep on moving."

The droid stated before heading out again down the G corridor towards the mysterious main G module.

 

[Ultimatum]

Ultimatum nodded at the first question. He had been as secret as he could with the Extinguishers, their power made it a target that could not be passed up. As proven by the attack. He had never found the betrayer of the information. There had been no indication of a mole, even though he knew there was one. More importantly they had not found any prisoners, all the soldiers that had survived the encounter has escaped. Those who were wounded on the battlefield were either carried off or killed, Ultimatum could not tell which.

"I know he has someone inside LOOM, or maybe the government. Whoever it is he's done well keeping his tracks hidden. I only know he is there because information on the testing site and time was confined to a very select area. The problem is that it might have been an accidental comment by one of the many people involved which could have reached the informant. The timing of the attack was perfect. It disrupted the launch without stopping it. The sabotage caused the missile to fly off course and had to be taken down by one of our pilots." The artificial refrained from saying that the pilot had died as a result of her actions. That had been a dark day for the droid, a dark day indeed.

When [member="HK-36"] pointed to the map Ultimatum's attention shifted from thoughts about the day to the map. The Metal Lords was right, as if there was some form of error the map did not contain any information on this 'Section G'. "I wonder what could be there, that warrants removal from the map." The droid wondered more importantly if the computer had deleted that portion of the map or if it was incomplete to begin with. That would make a large difference in whether they should be worried or not.

[member="AD-8"]

 

[AD-8]

The computer searched its databanks for anything about the G module, there was nothing, every time it tried there was some string of code deep down in its programming that blocked it, and it couldn't edit it. It seemed to the computer that whoever programmed it didn't want it to know about the module or even know who created the station.n The computer was suddenly curious about what was in G module and wanted to find the answers to all the questions. The computer followed the visitors as they got closer to G module.

[member="HK-36"]
[member="Ultimatum"]

 

[HK-36]

[member="Ultimatum"], [member="AD-8"],


"Perhaps it was ripped out of the station during whatever happened to it and is literally gone?"

HK proposed to the query about the G module,

"Or perhaps something was sliced or corrupted, I suppose we will find out soon enough."

Of that the droid was sure enough.


As they moved deeper down into the G corridor within the station, HK moved the subject of LOOM and Guide again,

"Do you think he could possibly be a droid or disembodied AI who disagrees with your decisions? Not all droids are always on the same page, and you know how our kind can get, everyone thinks they were designed and forged perfectly."

HK asked, if he was a more sinister machine, or just cared more about his plans, it may have ended up that he was the Guide all along and sabotaged Ultimatum's position on Mustafar to make him easier into recruitment for Metal Lords. Fortunately that was not the case.

Eihter way, for now he would keep on moving through the G corridor, perhaps they would finally get to the doorway that lead them into the G module? Hopefully it would not be blocked or sealed in, HK did not like the idea of being trapped between Durasteel and Duranium walls and the security droids following behind them.

 

[Ultimatum]

Ultimatum was surprised at that idea. Certainly it was possible that the section had simply been torn from the rest of the station, though how or for what purpose boggled him. A meteor could do it, but wouldn't there be more damage to the surrounding area and more importantly, would the computer not have mentioned it? At the same time perhaps it did not particularly appreciate visitors and thusly was less caring about their safety. Of course, that was likely a side effect of its long life aboard the facility. Computers were not always perfectly created and time would often increase the imperfections of a program. [member="HK-36"] was right, obviously they would find out soon.

Following the older droid Ultimatum answered his question, "It is possible that one of the droids is to blame. Though most of them are connected to my programming, so from my understanding that would make them derivatives of myself." Which perhaps said something about himself, if a part of his own program was causing this then there was something wrong with him. But he did not believe that it was the case, "I believe it is most likely that one of the volunteers for the V programs or a scientist is to blame." Unlike most organics, Ultimatum was aware of the dangers of an ill-conceived droid, and he was careful to ensure that his creations were maintained to a high standard of integrity.
[member="AD-8"]

 

[AD-8]

The visitors neared the blast door that led to G module and slowed, they were more cautious of what they would find on the other side. The computer followed them on the cameras and tried to open the blast door but didn't know the password. The security droids lowered their weapons but still followed the visitors as they neared the door. All parties wanted to know what was on the other side.

@HK-36@Ultimatum

 

[HK-36]

[member="Ultimatum"], [member="AD-8"],

"Well whether we are organic or mechanical, it always seems that mind is the weakpoint and sanity fleeting."

This was especially true for older machines, the longer their programming going without memory wipes and reformatting the more likely their mind was to crumble, and for organics who could possibly go through extreme traumatic experiences, like the V project.

Either way HK and Ulti finally come in front of a G module blast door, a thick plating of durasteel or other hardened metals in their way. The older droid looked around immediately, glancing for any monitors, controls, or computerized locks, he would probably be able to find an input port or two, or at least one surviving console,

"I doubt it will open automatically, we could try to slice it, or,"

The droid would reach to a lightsaber hilt on his belt, activating it a crimson plasma blade would erupt from the lightsaber hilt, illuminating their immediate area with its droning buzzing noise,

"I stole this off of a Sith- whom I brutally and swiftly murdered- unlike mine it actually burns, we could melt an opening through the blast door."

HK offered, seeing what Ulti would agree with or propose another alternative before they decided how to get through their hopefully final obstacle.

 

[Ultimatum]

Ultimatum nodded, the mind was just too complex yet overly fragile. Perhaps the worst combination. It was strange how historically the greatest failings of droids had been the mental complications. However, Ultimatum wanted to believe that droids had a better track record involving insanity than organics. After all, artificials were not the only ones to have been known to enter homicidal rages when going insane, many organics had done that for far longer. The danger lay in assuming that anyone was above such developments.

When they reached the door Ultimatum looked it over, the metal most likely Duranium or some metal akin to that. The droid did not know what material it was exactly though he knew of several methods of cracking the door. Ultimatum was about to propose potential options when [member="HK-36"] spoke up. A lightsaber, the cultural weapon of a Force user. Certainly they were now almost common place in this day and age, but it still struck Ultimatum as odd to see one. He wondered what he was supposed to feel when he saw a lightsaber. Hope? Dread? They were simple devices with magical properties granted them by a force beyond his full comprehension.

He did however have a weapon that could do the same job. "That would work." Ultimatum could have used an Entropy rifle, if he had thought to bring one. The disintegration ray would have turned the door into dust within seconds. That was however beyond his ability at the moment, since he had not brought such a weapon with him. He had not anticipated much in the way of conflict on this ancient station. What was more, the Entropy rifle was too damaging for his purposes here.

[member="AD-8"]