This work location has gone 30 days without incident (ASA)

[Corey's OOC]

Marek Starchaser, Overseer of the Technate, was finally starting to get ahead of paperwork since the creation of the System Authority. All this really meant for him was he could start doing what he was made to do, exploring the galaxy. With several new ships purchased, and the HYDRA Droid project having been launched, there was ample time for him to get out of the office.

Which had him taking in tropical vistas around the galaxy, working with other friendly CEOs on unique projects, and confirming locations of former Techno Union facilities within the System Authority. Most were simple to talk to, they needed to know they were getting paid to continue their research, and that the scientists were supported by the government. There were a few marked on Marek’s list of places to be convinced, and places to be burned. Depending on the facility, he was taking his time to allow them to continue research.

However, there was one facility that was completely off the edge. Located under the main government building of Chroma Zed, a place Marek spent a lot of time, due to the aesthetics and in no small part to the former Viceroy of the world, this one couldn’t just be flooded and drained. Not this close to Republic space.

The Sith Lord hopeful had returned to the Vagrant Wind, the ship he used to claim descendance from Corellia, and sent a message out to the Systems Authority’s command. [member="Salem Norongachi"] and [member="Raziel"] were being contacted to provide assistance. He couldn’t get through this on his own, and he didn’t want to contact Haor Chall for a sweeper team of HYDRA War Droids, should the experiments of this location have developed a degenerative system virus.

The communiqué was as follows.

“Comrades of the Systems Authority.
I have located a Verd-era Techno Union facility still in operation beneath the streets of the capital of Chroma Zed. It appears to be a testing facility for droid warfare, different from Haor Chall’s droids, and testing clones, namely prototype Dread Guard, Vong Shaped clones. I am requesting that this message is forwarded on to any parties interested in making extra pay, and doing civic duty to cleanse this planet and our border to the Republic from a dangerous facility.

Regards,

Starchaser
-Overseer”

 

[Corey's OOC]

Watching as the ships are landing of System Authority operatives, Vision, the facility's friendly virtual intelligence drone, who recognizes Marek Starchaser as supreme authority is hovering near the Overseer. Awaiting the disembarking of the operatives, Vision greets each in turn.

"Welcome to Station Aurek Onith 0083. We understand that you are here to cleanse the facility and would like to remind you that this place has gone 30 days without incident. Per order of Foreman Starchaser, we are allowing smaller drones to follow you through this facility. Each has been linked to myself so we may monitor your progress. There are three locations that we are requesting assistance as the technicians in these labs have not made their report in 48 solar hours. The advanced automated lab, the cyberwarfare lab, and the biomedical research station. Testing at these labs will include advanced droid warfare units, advanced turrets and security stations. Finally, we have been working on biomedical viruses and Vong shaping clones at this facility."

The probe would circle each operative, its eye watching them.

"We implore you to be careful, and will provide you with unique weapons along your course. There is no best-route to take, however, we recommend taking the cyber warfare lab first. We thank you for coming to facility Aurek Onith 0083. Have a pleasant stay."

 

[Raziel]

Raziel considered the small watching droid carefully. He paid little heed to its words, but loaded a map of the facility into his HUD. In his mind he started to plan out his route, but just to be certain he decided to load the map onto his wrist display. The advanced adaptive camouflage shift, the armour plating on his wrist suddenly becoming a map. With a few taps he laid out some key waypoints.

His greatest concern was that the cyber warfare lab had developed some electronic attacks that had scrambled the station’s droids deep beneath the mountains of Chroma Zed, the station may not have been able to get a signal out, but that didn’t ensure that something wouldn’t emerge from the facility and attack ASA computer systems. Cyber defence was under the auspices of the intelligence community.

Raziel had a more important reason for coming here. A recent retrieval had pulled stolen data disks from an enemy of the ASA. What it had also contained was notes that suggested that deep beneath Geonosis lay a tomb containing ancient technology. Designed for the Galactic Civil War, but lost to time. These were the same designers that had constructed the death star. This facility was where several recent items excavated from Geonosis had been sent, and in fact they had received several items just days before the incident. Curious

He had chosen to come alone. Spynet strike teams were not technically supposed to operate within the boundaries of ASA space, and Raziel deplored paperwork. Keeping a silenced shatterpistol close to reach, he approached the doors to the facility. Turning to the floating droid he asked a simple question: “Have we any information on the events leading up to the loss of communications?”


[member="Marek Starchaser"]

 

[Corey's OOC]

That one was different. While Vision was greeting other arrivals, there was one, the one that seemed to actually know what it was doing, and not just being a simple mercenary. Having been linked into the Technate’s computer network, it was open to all the different products that were seen in service and some that were off-record. The Overseer was sometimes too thorough, but this armor set, it was different.

The being was asking about the reason behind the fault in the system. “Records do not indicate any hardware errors leading up to the black out. No software errors were report. Suspected sabotage. Possibly kidnapping. Overseer Starchaser would prefer the scientists alive.” Vision scanned [member="Raziel"] and uploaded the unique biometric signature of the operative to its personal map.

“Friendly programs are working to liberate some systems, we are unable to stop the war droids or turrets, but should it be needed, we have blocked off bacta and medical resources.”

 

[Raziel]

Raziel nodded in reply to the droid. "Keep the light dimmed wherever I am, if possible," he instructed. He stepped through the door that slid open ahead of him. He walked forwards and turned off the main corridor into a darkened room, waiting until his senses adjusted to the darkness and silence. His other senses were far more capable, but there was no need to ignore any sense when it could provide an edge.

When ready he made his way to the entrance to an elevator shaft that would take him to the lower levels. The surface of his armour shifted between shades of grey to form a near-perfect camouflage.

 

[Raziel]

Raziel used the Force to stabilise himself as he leapt across the far side of the shaft. Even if the technate drones could claim to get some facilities back in order, he wasn't about to use a turbolift that could be crashed into the ground at a few hundred clicks per hour! With feline agility he landed on a ledge on the far side, barely using his arms to stop himself. With a few sideways steps, he reached a ladder. Taking a look down, reaching out with the Force to gauge the depth of the shaft, he stepped onto the ladder and started his laborious descent.

A few floors down he stopped. Without even looking over his shoulder he leaped backwards. Landing into a crouch on the far side without making the slightest noise. He slid a blacked out combat knife between the two doors out of the shaft, twisting it to give himself enough room to get his fingers in. With a gentle push, he opened the door and stepped into the darkness.

This was utter black. Not low-light, but a complete absence of light. His suits thermal imaging gave him a limited picture, but he simply extended his influence with the Force to take in his surroundings. Damned droids, he despised them. So difficult to detect and influence with the Force for him. He'd always been both a manipulative and sensitive Force user, but his experience was limited to sentient creatures and minds. Still, he sensed the movement up ahead and ducked into a side room. His suit silently reported detection of sonic waves, likely being used by the small drone that hovered past to detect its surroundings. His suit could jam a sonic detector, but he couldn't go unnoticed by one. It presented a problem, even if he destroyed these drones, there was no guarantee that there loss wouldn't be noticed by more troublesome droids.

He would cross that bridge when it came to it. For now, he rechecked his map and adjusted his planned route to give him plenty of cover. Adjusting his HUD, he ensured it would visually alert him of the strength of any sonic "clicks" picked up. [member="Marek Starchaser"]

 

[Raziel]

Raziel had successfully navigated a veritable maze of offices and laboratories to find the entrance to the restricted areas. The scout droids were effective, but the active scanning gaze Raziel a way to trace them that his specialisation in the Force could not.

There was a long corridor to the entrance to the restricted section. Likely a deliberate layout. There was twenty metres of corridor to cover, with no hiding spaces or alcoves along the way. Even with the lights out Raziel decided not to risk taking a look around the corner. A sonic scanner could still see him, even if he had no infrared signature.

Reaching out with the Force he focussed on the physical realm. As he had feared there was something at the far end of the corridor. Probing the edges of the shape with the Force, it seemed to be roughly heavy battledroid shaped rather than turret. Moving as silently as he could, he unslung his smart grenade launcher and manually entered the length of the corridor for an airburst round. Sliding an Ion grenade into the chamber, with a sound he found unacceptably loud, it was immediately programmed.


OOC/ go on then [member="Marek Starchaser"] what kind of metal horrors are down here

 

[Corey's OOC]

The doors to the restricted section opened up with a hiss. When the door did open, the droid voice of Vision came over comlink. Unfriendly programs have been alerted to your presence. We are unable to break their firewalls to overcome their programming. Deeper in the area there was the sound of blaster fire and a man pleading for his life, only for the wet sound of a skull being run into a wall was heard. Between [member="Raziel"] and this first lab was a larger prototype droid. Unfortunately for the operative, this unit was larger and more... modified than the standard droids. This was a larger Hydra War Droid that had replaced one full arm with a concussion rifle, and in the other hand held a repeater. Any forms of scans would show this hallway did not have automated weapons, but there were a fire team of equally junkyard modified Clankers waiting.

Droids was the first challenge.

But they wouldn't be the last. Armed with vibration sensing probes, repeater fire followed by a concussion blast would be what would greet Raziel, should he be detected.

 

[Raziel]

Twenty metres of corridor to cover. That was quite a lot when under fire. Raziel took a deep, long breath, readying both his mind and body. His shoulder pressed up against the wall, he slid and span into the corridor. Gently pulling the trigger in the smart grenade launcher, he took the recoiled kick before his legs pumped to charge down the narrow stretch of metal deck.

The ion grenade flew wide of the target, but the smart grenade still exploded in the air at the predesigned distance. The Hydra shook from the impact, stuttering to a halt. At least Raziel wouldn’t be a sitting duck today.

As the dark-red enamel coated droid started to whirr back into life, Raziel was upon it. He leapt straight forwards, kicking out with his right foot to find purchase on its midriff, and pushing himself upwards. His left blade arced around for the exposed neck, but the droid reacted quickly. It angled its head down and the blade skittered across the cortosis weave. There was a crackle and pop as half of the droid’s sensors were melted by the tip of Raziel’s saber.

 

[Corey's OOC]

The droid heard [member="Raziel"] and turned towards where the man was moving. Firing a shot from the concussion rifle as the smart grenade was fired, the blast hit the ceiling above where Raziel was before he started moving. Turning and opening up with the repeater rifle, the blast from the ion grenade.

Shutting down until its system could re-route power, a factor that was installed into later Hydras, including the Prime unit, the first released into the wild. Once the system was back online it was back to combat. The repeater was firing as the ninja-Spy was in the air.

Turning the optics back to the agent, the droids optics were fried. Starting to swing, in a strong, steady and calculated pattern based on the movements it had monitored. And that was when the fireteam of mutilated Clankers ran in, opening up with standard blaster rifles, and giving the Hydra unit a way to triangulate where to swing at the operative.

 

[Chaos Maxtor]

As the twisted Clankers clamored in to set their blasters afire on Raziel; Elgyn entered the room. His intent was first to find the Jedi and claim what blood he could, thus he dulled his presence in the force. Shadowing the jedi from two rooms away moving to the next when he moved to a next room. He would be able to follow closer if it were not for the drones that monitored him, their proposal was interesting. Elgyn had little in the way of assets having awoken just weeks ago.

He would need allies.

His lightsaber ignited prepared for blaster bolts Cocking his head, Elgyn called out to the dark Jedi: "Sorry I am late, Jedi. But I suggest grabbing a limb.".

His force shroud dropped so the other could sense his presence and from his position in the doorway he reached out with the force. His left hand extended trying to wrap his mind and the Force around the droid's left wrist. With a quick turn of his waist and ankle he fell to take a knee trying to pull the Hydra Droid down on it's left side.

[member="Marek Starchaser"] [member="Raziel"]

 

[Raziel]

Raziel ducked and weaved as the Hydra droid swung its massive concussion rifle at him. He darted back, but not far enough that it could safely gun him down. He sensed a powerful presence in the Force, unravelling behind him. Feth, he knew Starchaser had invited mercs to this gig, but he’d been opening to avoid them and follow up on the intel he’d found in Count Adeus’ vault. However, with the four clankers bearing down on him a little assistance would probably be life-saving.

"Sorry I am late, Jedi. But I suggest grabbing a limb."

The battle droid twisted awkwardly to one side as it was dragged down by an unseen Force. “I’d rather take one!” Raziel shouted. With the Hydra’s left arm held in place, Raziel stepped inside its guard and swung a turquoise blade upwards. Finding the unprotected joint, the blade seared through the shoulder, dismembering the Hydra.

As the droid was suddenly released from the force of the other Sith’s pull, it toppled to the right. Without wasting a moment, Raziel rushed on. He sensed the one-armed Hydra starting to get back to its feet, but he assumed the other Sith would finish the job.

In a display of sleight-of-hand one saber was replaced with a Quickfire-2 holdout. Raziel blocked several bolts, not even attempting to control the deflections with one saber. He ‘double-tabbed’ the pistol, putting a bolt in the chest and head of a clanker and dropping it.

The torrent of blaster fire was too much however. He rushed to the side, moving into cover behind a thick concrete wall as the three gave chase.


OOC/ Good to have you along!

 

[Chaos Maxtor]

Giving a slight nod of nod of approval at the Darksider's attack Elgyn quickly adjusted his footing and sped off in a run. Watching the Jedi dash to cover with the droids in pursuit, he took the opportunity to dash forth at the rising hydra droid. With the Jedi acting as flesh-bait but with seconds of safety he could attack himself. Speeding fourth he leaped hard onto the right side of the droid, plunging his saber into the socket where it's arm had once been he kicked off and propelled himself with the force falling behind the concrete wall Raziel found shelter by.

"Oh wow, that was a bad idea." his body was still in the final stages of recovery from his time in carbonite "I am going to be sore in the morning. I forgot to stretch for about eight hundred years, you see.." He told @Raziel. "So rush everyone who can clap?"

 

[Dicer]

.

 

[Raziel]

Raziel raised an eyebrow in amusement; this one liked to talk. The gesture was futile with his face obscured by a helmet plate that was displaying an adaptive camouflage pattern. He allowed his amusement to surface in his consciousness, detectable as a ripple through the Force.

Learning against the wall, Raziel stretched out with the Force to feel the three Clankers approaching. By the Force he hated droids, so much more difficult to manipulate than organics. “Ready?” he asked, before he activated one of the suit’s party tricks. The back of his suit switched from the adaptive camo to showing a countdown timer in large orange letters, the same was displayed on his HUD. Hardly more efficient than holding out fingers, but necessary when wearing a stealth suit.

Raziel rounded the corner into the line of fire again. With an overarm swung he flung one of his sabers – the violet blade in short phase – at the nearest droid. There was an orange splash of molten metal where it struck home and slid through the droid’s casing. The machine stumbled, but carried on. Raziel guarded with his left blade and drew a blaster pistol with his right.

 

[Chaos Maxtor]

The waves of bending light were difficult to make out the Jedi blur. But Elgyn could sense his presence nonetheless. It wasn't until he heard his words that he could pinpoint where his head was.

“Ready?”

Elgyn nodded at [member="Raziel"] and watched the orange numbers, this one had some interesting accessories.

Elgyn never had a taste for high tech armors systems he found that they restricted him in his skinshifting. As the count down ended Raziel acted. Elgyn was quick behind him and one of the droids was severed in two. With a spark of power he released a short wave of kinetic force with a push of his out stretching hand trying to send the clankers into the Hydra droid and shatter them on the larger droid.

 

[Raziel]

Raziel reached out with the Force to his second saber, as it slid through the chassis of the last standing droid. He yanked it up and twisted it, the blade searing through key components. The droid held stationary for a moment, before falling back, stiff as a board. Again, the crashing of metallic components sounded incredibly loud to his sensitive ears. Hopefully the drones were closing off certain sections as they went.

Raziel turned towards the heart of the Cyber warfare suite, the doors sliding open before him.

“An external system is attempting to compromise this suit, shutting down external comms,” a female voice sounded in his ear. He slid back the faceplate on his armour, looking up at the drone.

“I assume this is the source,” he said as he walked into the lab. The smell assaulted him, and he quickly put his faceplate back on.

Components and wiring littered the lab, much of it rusted and scorched. This could be the equipment that had been excavated from Geonosis. Raziel walked past several containers and cases, each labelled carefully. Several bodies were scattered across the room, burn marks where blasters had done their work.

Raziel quickly found an open notebook on the table and began to read, flicking through to find interesting paragraphs:


Excavation relic 10045. This item is surprisingly complete, given the age. It appears to be a gravitic modulator, but more advanced and powerful than those already in use for the CIS military. In theory, enough of these could throw off mass-sensors trying to find a ship of massive proportions, it is known that some factions currently utilise similar technology. This is considered a priority one investigation.

Today one of the relics started to emit an electromagnetic signal. We haven’t been able to work out what it is. Possibly a power fluctuation, but it is strange that something has activated. The power is low, only broadcasting twenty metres or so. Perhaps it is an old emergency beacon that has run low on power?

The systems have stopped responding. There is power, but nothing is responding. Will carry on by hand for now and keep making notes, but we can’t get a signal up to maintenance.

The reason we couldn’t get a signal out is because the defensive systems have been tripped, we’ve been cut off. Hopefully they’ll be sorted later today.

Blaster fire from the droid workshop. Screams. We’re locking down.


Raziel turned to the small drone. “The relic that hacked the base’s systems is still active. Can you detect which one so it can be shut down?”

 

[Corey's OOC]

The drone blinked for a second as it approached the system. "This system is restricted. I am unable to access the data."

At that additional klaxons began sounding. "There has been a release of patient 1138 in the biowarfare suite. Attempts at lock down have failed."

Of course, 1138 was a failed genetic mutation on the Dread Guard template. It was... wet. Puss, and not quite finished. Something was wrong, but what it lacked in aesthetics it gained in strength and in a massive force-dead aura around itself. Clearly it was here to stop the interaction with the computer system. One that was hacking even the drone following @Raziel.

 

[Chaos Maxtor]

"Attempts at lock down have failed."

"They always do." Elgyn chimed to his fellow darksider by the drone's explanation. He had experienced many horrors set out by the Yuuzhan Vong before. The Vong were enemies he had some, but not a lot of experience with. Their force void anatomy often proved to be an effective defense. However, Elgyn was not aware of what the enemy was. "Can you define who or what this 'patient' is?" Elgyn asked the drone.

He turned his head to Raziel, black hair slapping his neck. "What exactly is your purpose in this facility, Jedi? And what of this relic?" Information was necessary. Since he had decided not to hurt the Jedi and instead partake in the games at hand; he would need more information to continue.

[member="Raziel"]

 

[Raziel]

[member="Marek Starchaser"] [member="Chaos Maxtor"]

Raziel slid the Smart grenade launcher from his back and snapped the breach forwards. “I’m here because the safety of the ASA is under threat from this facility. The relics can be dealt with later, once we’ve worked out where the source of the corruption is and have purged the systems.”

Raziel loaded a cryoban mine into the launcher. “Which direction is this thing going to be coming from?” he asked the drone. His suit had automatically cut off all external sensors, and so whilst he had a map, he’d lost track of exactly where he was on it and his suit couldn’t map his position.

“This question is,” Raziel said as, with a soft thud, he snapped the grenade launcher back into line. “Why are you here?”