Log:Resistance: Technical Malfunctions
Technical Malfunctions
OOC Date: May 20, 2020
Location: Geonosis
Participants: Ambrosia Greystorm(GM), Merek, Barad, Ezret, Aryn Cole, Ban Iskender, Elrych Cometburn, Jax Greystorm, Qadira Suuryet, Kael Greystorm, Vena, Greez, Lokir, The Resistance
[Ambrosia Greystorm]
The situation: A New Republic diplomatic mission has been sent to Geonosis to give the Archduke an audience and discuss the future of CIS - NR relations and the whether or not the Confederacy of Independent Systems may exert its authority in the Outer Rim territories, as in the days of old. The Republic requested the Resistance provide some security for their envoys during what will undoubtedly be a tense talk, in a potentially hazardous environment.
A droid factory. (My doodle visual aid of scene map [1]
The Geonosians are sensitive about any show of foreign force in their space, be it actual space or the rocky, subterranean tunnels and caverns encompassing this massive factory. Respectfully, Resistance Trooper presence has been minimal and under close watch by the countless eyes awake in darkened nooks and crannies. Some of the inquisitive worker drones mightn't be seen, but the occasional flit-flutter of nervously resting wings calls attention to those unlit shafts connecting this horizontal perimeter with vertical tunnels up, down...It's a very maze-like floorplan, enough to make any gravity-conscience outsider more aware of their own limitations. The main tunnels, levels, production rooms and storage areas have been diagramed and uploaded to everyone’s HUD before arrival to both assist with orientation and to denote areas the Geonosians have specified "off limits". Most intersections and archways are reinforced with durasteel and blastdoors where appropriate, but there are some lesser passageways that are neither labeled nor reinforced. Many of THOSE are overhead or underfoot. It's worthwhile keeping a keen eye on one's surroundings when trying to navigate in here, HUD or no HUD.
The Resistance security team has been permitted to patrol what's essentially a square of tunnels around the factory below and the observation deck on this level, where the actual meeting is taking place. Motion sensors and vid cams have been deployed where each of the two main tunnels spill out into this perimeter, in addition to a couple minor passages that transect either end of our 'square'.
Maybe it's just her nerves, but when Cam Besh's feed hiccups in her monitoring HUD, Lt Quish echoes the blip with a small twitch and hiccup of her own. The LT straightens up her lean against the ruddy rock surround and replays the portion of misfired feed while adjusting her stance to turn rump toward observation deck's blastdoor and face toward that looooooong stretch of tunnel ahead, from which they've all come.
The diplomats are due to arrive in thirty minutes or so, at which point they'll seal themselves up behind her and she knows it'll be hours more before they're done...so honestly this tech malfunction is almost a welcomed break from the boredom that's to come. Almost.
<<Lt Quish to Sgt Black, Cam B's had a sneeze. Request patrolling unit check it out. Probably nothing. All I'm seein now is an empty tunnel, maybe true, but just before the glitch there were a couple'a worker drones passing through. Replay shows some movement up the north end of B?s 3-way sightline, maybe, but...might just be shadows of our drone friends playin tricks. Kinda creepy, the way they come crawlin in and out of the ceiling like that.>> She doesn't sound panicky about the misfire, but there's a mild edge of concern to the Officer's voice, all the same.
<<A, C, D are streaming fine. Private, you got a boot lace loose.>> Hahah, she's tracking their progress around the southwest corner, apparently. The trooper beside her utters a quiet snort under breath but shushes back into a silent, readied stare when Faraya's HUD glow turns his way.
<<Anyway. Quiet, this end. Let me know what you find.>>
[Ban Iskender]
Ban Iskender is moving among the security team in a suit of heavy, pale grey battle armor, with a decorative green half-cape tied over the left shoulder by a length of gold cord. An elaborate sword is sheathed at one thigh, and an elegant pistol is holstered at the other. As the team approaches the failing camera in question, the young soldier stops with a frown narrowing his eyes, as he stares down a corrider near the intersection. "Sergeant," he begins, stepping with haste to kneel beside a prone form. "A Geonosian. Worker, by the look- dead." A gauntleted hand settles in his sword hilt.
[Barad]
Barad is here in case "Things Go Wrong" ... as Things are occasionally wont to do. Things ... being what Things are, eh? Barad checks and double - checks his MedPac in his carry-satchel, as that's his method of fixing Things. Barad fixes people, not machines, you see, as he's a Medic! Barad's big 'ole floopy ears wave from side to side as he surveys the factory space. Lots of machines all around in here, though. They don't look -too- breakable. Are they? Barad really isn't sure how to even begin to tell. And so, instead, he watches Merek, Lokir, and the troops under his care. He -does- know how to patch -them- up! And .... whaddya know it. Some Thing has gone Wrong. A ... Mechanical Thing. A camera, in this case, it seems? Or perhaps Anothing Thing has gone wrong instead? And the Camera glitched into covering it up? Barad wishes he knew more about Tech to be able to tell the difference ... But, either way, in the end it seems the solution is always "Boots on the Ground." Fair enough. Barad has boots. The ground ... is right here. Time to "Put one foot in front of the other," and thereby see where this mystery leads ... Upon arrival Barad notes a dead Geonosian in the tunnel -- oh no! There's also something sticking out of the camera ... but that's a job for the more tech - inclined. Barad kneels down next to the fallen to ascertain cause and time - of - death ...
[Lokir]
Lokir sniffs the air--a coppery scent makes his mouth involuntarily water, as his sharp teeth tingle. Eyes darting around, the body of the worker drone is vivid and obvious. <Spike here---roger that. Second set of eyes on body. Some blood in the air as well...a small trail south.> Beneath his mirrored, horned visor, Lokir's watering mouth isn't obvious. The Theed S5 that slides into his stun-glove hands, however, is.
[Merek]
"Patrol team to Lt, we will check it," Merek offers, then he takes a moment to lift up his weapon, moving along. He wears dark armor, because his camouflage looks to take on an aspect of the place, he wears a scarf as well while he checks the helmet which he wears, orange visor watching. Then he notices the Geonosian, "It is," then he speaks to comlink, <"We have found a Geonosiaqn working, he was killed it looks like, permission to acquire and use his keycard?"> A look then to folk while he nods a bit, seeing who all is on his patrol team. He does glance to Barad, "Will you take up position in the middle, Private?" he asks.
[Ezret]
Ezret is not one to particularly enjoy guard or escort-type missions, but neither is he one to complain. The Nikto is moving alongside the others in the team, doing his best to follow orders immaculately, when they receive the call to check things out. Following behind the armored figure of Ban, Ezret's attention is quickly drawn to the same thing as the other soldier. Grunting lowly to himself, he grips his weapon tighter as the dead drone is reported.
[Greez]
<<Thanks, Ell-Tee. Would be embarassing to trip on my own feet and fall to my death.>> The private spoken to about the boot lace? The boot lace isn't loose. It's a joke that Private Tykor Drell has heard often. Some inside joke about how he fell on his face, the first day of training. Even so, the camera feed from his helmet shows that he double-checks anyway. There's -never- a reason to not check, when there's no shooting going on. But it's quick, and then he's looking back up, to see what's going on. <<Might be lodestone interference. Underground, after all.>> He doesn't seem worried, but that doesn't mean he's completely slinging his old modified BlasTech E-22 away. The safety may currently be on, but that's easy to change. His armor barely makes a sound as the plastoid plates slide over each other. Standard issue, but still quite effective. For now, Tykor is doing his best to keep to the rear; no need to allow people to sneak up on them. After seeing a dead Geonosian, it's best to keep on guard. <<Doubting that lodestone thing now.>>
[Vena]
Vena had traded out the B-OPs flight suit for armor again once she'd been told by Poe that there was a mission she might be interested in helping with. The tall Chiss is quietly following along after Aryn and Ban, being her usual quiet self when they have to do something. She stops when others do, but doesn't seem to pick up anything else that they haven't already seen. The Chiss gives a nod to the others as she awaits to see where they are heading.
[Aryn Cole]
Ban's approach has a shorter accompaniment, one who is dressed in lighter armor bearing the green and bronze/gold of her house. A dark cape trails behind her as they approach the respective intersection and happen upon a dead Geonosian. Sliding free from her holster is a silvery Westar-34 blaster pistol, and she angles it skyward after folding her arm casually 'up' to keep from flagging anyone with its muzzle.
Aryn makes no mention of the obvious as its already been called out. She instead, inspects the fresh corpse by turning the insect like carrion to the side searching for a wound. What she finds is alarming. "This was a very precise shot. Instant death. Someone familiar with the species by the looks of it; a professional." Is her observation. She straightens then, adjusting her cape and unhooking the hilt of her curve lightsaber hilt to be held with her other hand.
[Jax Greystorm]
Like some of the other Irregulars, Jax had been called up to the big leagues for the mission. Though unlike most every one else he's not in uniform or armor. He was wearing his nomral spacer garb plust what ever badge and code cylinder the Res had dreamed up for identification. At least it wasn't a giant piece of cardboard with a bit of twin to hang around his neck that some Private had scribbled on the name 'My name is Chax Darkmist. I belong here.' again. Though as he draws up with the rest of the people finding the dead worker drone. He shakes his head, "I got a bad feeling about this. We better report this to the Genosians before they get an idea it was us."
[Elrych Cometburn]
Elrych isn't wearing any armor, unless one counted The Force as Armor. He's not far behind Ban and Aryn, keeping his mouth shu. Those shades he likes to wear are absent, instead on display are those icy blue eyes of his. He raises and eyebrow at Aryn's discovery, looking about at other thing, and seeing quite a bit. The Contacts he's been wearing are working out.
[Qadira Suuryet]
Kadi is here because Jax brought her. She is part of the Irregulars, and well, she might be able to help. She's in void armour, standard issue, and there's a serious look on her face. No gun in hand, but as they find a body, and everyone starts reporting, she takes a look around, and catches sight of something. She moves to check it out, going to one knee. << I found a pack here, >> she says. And she does take a quick and careful look inside. << Engineer's stuff, if you ask me. Nice repair kit, and oh. >> A pause. << You know if this was my gear, it would have a RevAllen Key wrench. Most do - usually used to remove restraining bolts among other things. But it's missing. >> She only sounds thoughtful, as she says that. << Wouldn't be my first choice of wrenches for - well, most anything. >> She brings the pack with her, to stand near Jax.
[Kael Greystorm]
Mayhem is here. Complete with power armor and a sword slung over one shoulder and a pair of blaster pistols in maglocked holsters at his thighs. He's with Jax. And with the armor over him he's not really easily identified. "You have a bad feelin 'bout everything." Perched on his left shoulder sits ID10-T5 it's eye looking around.
[Elrych Cometburn]
Elrych is distracted a moment, something catching his (now) sharp eye as he looks towards Cam Besh, just as Jax and Kael are talking about bad feelings. "Huh... that's not supposed to be there." THe Jedi steps forward calmly, his robes swaing just a bit as he does so. "Someone attached another reciever to this... it aint ours... someone is watching our feed."
[Ambrosia Greystorm]
<<...>> Lt Quish ducks her head, chin resting against breastplate for a moment's quiet curse as reports of their findings come feeding through her helmet.
<<No way we're takin the fall for this.>> She says like she's got weight to pull with the Archduke, which she most certainly does NOT. <<Permission granted, Sgt. Sounds like this ain't accidental death you're looking at. Need to find out what's goin on down here, and fast. I'll relay to the dignitary escort. Keep me posted--what. A /reciver/!?>> This time, her swear IS audible over coms. <<Copy that. Any particulars you can make of it?>>
For now, Quish holds her position, keen on keeping /this/ room and its approach secure. Meanwhile, the ambient din of zippy wings and scrabbling claws remains a near constant throughout the tunnels. Shadows play tricks here and there, but so /far/ there seem to be no other workers passing through their immediate area.
[Ban Iskender]
Ban Iskender remains crouched beside the fallen worker drone as the others discover the telling details of what is at work in the tunnels. Ban draws off one gauntlet, and rests his palm on the carapace of the dead Geonosian, letting green eyes go closed. Black brows knit with consternation as he reaches out through the Force, but to no avail. Sweat has beaded on his face by the time he shakes his head, swallows, and opens his eyes.
[Barad]
Barad readily gives way to Aryn as she takes over the medical foresnsics aspects on the downed Geonosian worker, and thinks a bit as he stands on back up off of his haunches. Thereafter, Barad arrives at a few hunches: "Hm. -Why- would someone want to disable -this- camera, in particular?" Barad looks around. Well, there's the droid room. Barad's big 'ole floopy ears nod as the logic 'clicks' for him. Barad also 'clicks' on his comms: "<< Hey Sarge, Imma go check out the Droid Vault. It's the closest obvious thing to the camera ... " Thereupon, Barad trundles on over to the Droid Room and peers in. Barad's big 'ole soft brown eyes behold another set of casualties. "<<A'ight, we got more 'casualties' here, Sarge! A pair of ... B1's - they appear to be 'dead' ...?>>" Barad 'clicks' off the comm and returns to where Lokir, Merek, and Tykor / Ezret are -- at least, that vicinity. Barad's normally wrinkly fuzzy 'ole face has a few extra fuzzy wrinkles of worry now.
[Lokir]
Lokir feels wind ruffling his delicate...horns. Glancing up, he sees a discrete tunnel. <Possible entry point. Tunnel in roof. Got a blast door in this tunnel, along with a computer terminal. Any slicers want to give me a hand?>
[Merek]
<"Alright, copy Lieutenant."> The man looks to the Jedi while he considers, then sighs, "I won't even ask." Merek nods a bit, then he picks up the card while he tries to examine the device of El's with the wrist comlink, "Well. We need to take back information to the Geonosians, if we don't want to take the fall, we need proof." He then nods a bit to Barad while he checks, "Alright, weapons free, we are going to investigate," he says. <"We're weapons free, LT. I am going to investigate with the people.">
[Ezret]
Ezret is starting to feel a sense of rising tension as circumstances begin to become...unusual. Watching as some others in the team begin to fan out in other directions, Ezret instead steps closer to the tampered-with camera. He seems to attain a controlled calm, his low growling subsiding, as he inspects the camera and the attached receiver in a deliberate manner. <<"It's both a receiver and a transmitter,">> he reports evenly. <<"Someone's messing with our feed. Or feeds.">> He tightens his grip on his blaster.
[Greez]
Pvt Tykor keeps still for a bit. He's slowly panning his vision, and keeping an ear out. <<Someone's headed this way. Geonosian. We've got only a short time. This feels like sabotage.>> He's backing up, to get closer to the group. "Suspicions are already high. They see this, talks break down. Either need to hide the body until we figure out what's going on, or we're shooting our way out." Tykor doesn't like that one bit. The blaster rifle is now held in both hands, and he takes defensive position at a wall, back to it. "Someone want to help me stow this body, and hopefully not get caught?"
[Vena]
Vena gives a look up when Elrych points out that the cameras got something attached to it. She then goes over to look at it, her red eyes squinting a little as she does, "Someone is biggy backing the signal and watching." she grumps at the device, agreeing with Ezret on his estimation. Then she steps back, allowing those that are more skilled in these things to take a look over it and for her not to be in the way. The tall woman goes to take up a spot again near Ban and Aryn and drops back into silence as she looks over things. When she hears the words from Private Tykor there is a frown, "Seems to be something that is common in this line of work." the Chiss mutters quietly.
[Aryn Cole]
Aryn presses south at a steady pace leaving behind Lord Ban and Vena, walking casually with the blaster in a gloved hand. Quiet, as is the youthful Doctor's nature, she comes to a T-intersection, looking left first (while still oriented south), into a room. While she intended to search this section to the left, the sound of something moving quickly drew her gaze right!
Keeping her weapon trained up, despite the urge to hone in on the sound, she steps bravely toward the right (orienting herself west and taking the right path, the left from before now at her back.)
The noise she had detected had originated from the ceiling and scrambled through a tunneled gap in the north wall. The caped Jedi stands at the entrance of this tunneled gap in the wall for a moment, then slowly angles her gaze up to see that the Cresh Surveillance remains untampered. "Hmm."
Aryn triggers the tac-light on her wrist-device and finally lowers her pistol to angle the light toward the tunnel in the wall. <<"Doc here. I'm presently at the southern most corridor. I've detected quick, suspicious movement here, and what appears to be another Tunnel threshold in the northern wall. Whatever was here, exited with haste through this gap. I intend to follow, if it's something I can manage.">> Aryn steps into the pitch black then, swallowed up by the shadows, only her bright tac-light providing any proof that she's there.
[Jax Greystorm]
"What can I say? I'm a pestmistic guy." Jax says to 'Mayhem.' "You want to keep Spike from getting murdered? You know what happened to the guys that go off down tunnels alone in the holos that start off like this. I don't care how bad ass a fighter they are. I'll stay with Gadget, behind Gadget." He closes his eyes as if he concentrating on something. Then nothing his hand resting on the handle of his blaster, his saber not too far away. <So Dead B1s? You mean the Battle droids? Are they damaged or have they been disassembled to be repaired?>
[Elrych Cometburn]
Elrych is about as occupied with the reciever he's found as Ban is with the Worker drone. His hands go to his hips, brows narrowing. Teeth bite at his bottom lip, he reaches out as well, trying to 'talk' to the reciever. To find out where and to whom it might be sending its signal. Alas, the reciever is grumpy and does not want to play with this Jedi. The Corellian grumbles and turns around to see others moving off down into the tunnels following the blood trail. "Don't go too far ahead!" He warsn, "Caves like this can bounce comm signals. You'll get lost."
As the call from ARyn is heard over comms, brows furrow even more, narrowing in concenr. <<"Alright... I'm going to head down that way then...">> He looks back towards the reciever before looking to Vena, "Try to find out where that signal is being sent?" It's not an order, more phrased like a request. To Ezret he asks, "So what the monitor is seeing is what they want us to see... interesting. I wonder if they didn't want us to see who's been moving through here." He then stars towards the caves.
[Qadira Suuryet]
Kadi grins, keeping track of the tools she's found. She listens to the conversation, quietly, as she moves to check out the gizmo that has been found. On the camera. Because well, why not? She is an engineer. She pauses, though, frowning. << Missing wrench that - Doc, is that fellow do you think an engineering tech? Maybe this is is his tool belt. Well, minus the missing restraining bolt wrench. >> That's all said as she moves to stand near Ezret, nodding to what he says, in agreement. Her gaze too goes to the device, and she adds to what he's said, << Looks to be newer tech, and that probably explains the hiccup. when it got put on. It looks like it's quality equipment too. I think someone either knows what they're doing or has paid really well for this. Or both. >>
[Kael Greystorm]
Mayhem nods as he pivots and strides down the hallway behind Lokir his hands resting on the grips of his pistols but they're staying holstered for now, "Not a slicer but HighBall can help with some things like that."
[Ambrosia Greystorm]
<<Droyk>> Lt Quish grunts, to all of the above. It pretty much sums up her sentiments. <<Don't lose that receiver, it's evidence. Pvt, have you got TIME to hide the...Careful along that southern end, it's treading our boundary. Frell. I'm picking up on major drone activity down there, Dr Cole. If HUD display tells correctly, that's worker housing. You, heading to the East - Spike. See if you can't get a peek of whatever's behind that door. Sgt, try the keycard.>>
All this and more is rapidly fired off as Quish scrolls through the constant feed of the other three cams and utters a hiss under breath. <<Tykor. The westernly tunnel ahead - two meter in, on your right, I see what looks like might be a drone tunnel or hollow. At least a divvet. Might stash it there, for now, unless any of you can think up a quick explanation in seven...six...>>
Shadows tell tale that the Geonosian is getting closer to rounding that northern corner.
And on the southern end of things...Aryn will find that she's stepped into a deafening hussssssh of silence.
For about five seconds, long enough for a body to consider whether or not they are being watched, as her light scans over shallow depressions in the stone floor, crates of mystery, a ration pack...
Flit-flit. Fzzzt.
All at once, the dark chamber explodes with pandemonium. Buzzing, croaking, clicking, buffeting of wings as all the sleeping drones therein are alerted to the intrusion and freak the frell out.
[Ban Iskender]
Ban Iskender replaces his drawn-off gauntlet and rises, flexing the fingers to achieve a better fit as he looks aside to Tykor, black brows drawn in a frown. "I daresay deception will serve us worse in the multifaceted eyes of our hosts, sir. I'd advise against further disturbing the body-" At Aryn's report and Elrych's decision to go after her, Ban nods. "If there is a Geonosian approaching, I'll remain to speak with them, for now." Aside, he regards Qadi, "Madam. If a dead technician's restraining bolt tool is missing outside the storage room where a number of battle droids have been tampered with, the conclusion would seem rather clear." Approaching the incoming Geonosian openly, the gentleman states, "We are here with the permission of your Hive and Archduke, who has granted us leave to patrol this area of tunnel. In the course of this, we have discovered that some intruder has killed one of your people, and we suspect they gave tampered with your droids. We formally request the assistance of your people in securing this area and uncovering any conspiracy undermining this council."
[Barad]
Barad hangs out by Ban, visibly and audibly in the foreground, holding his still - open MedPac conspicuously enough. Barad never carries guns, and this visible demonstration can't but help the ongoing Diplomacy efforts -- at the very least it quite clearly demonstrates our friendly intent. You paged Aryn Cole with 'There's a shred of cloth clinging to the side of a rubbly hole dug in the northeast corner of that chamber. It's a big hole, the kind that drones use as shortcuts.'
[Lokir]
Lokir shakes his head at the com chatter. <Don't contaminate the crime scene. You'll just make it look like the NR fot jumpy and shot an innocent.> Eyeing the door, Lokir shrugs. <No slocer's, huh? I've done some light B&E. Perfectly legal stuff, of course. I'll give the door a try. Worst case, we can shoot the shielding out. Give it a few months and then stroll in.> Lokir approaches the control panel and begins to poke at the buttons. The door isn't amused.
[Merek]
Merek looks to the people while all of them seem to be doing all that they can to work on things. Then he takes the card while he swipes that upon the door, which opens up for all of them. "Well, that works," the man offers, then he takes a moment to set his weapon to stun, "We can always try to explain later, we can't bring back those we kill. Stun only if you meet the Genosians please." He then comlinks to the party, <"Stun only for everyone on the Geonosians, that is only if we have to fight.">
[Ezret]
From their comms, the situation is quickly becoming complicated on multiple fronts. Not angering their hosts is important, investigation is important, quite a few things are rather important. Ezret decides the immediate priority is right in front of him: restoring the integrity of their feed while recovering the evidence as mentioned by Lt. Quish. Getting close up to the camera, he begins to tinker with the electronics. Time is of the essence, and with full focus, the receiver is removed with minimal disruption to the camera. Task done, he straightens up, depositing the recovered device in his pouch. <<"The receiver has been removed, Lt.,">> he reports. <<"Camera should remain operational.">>
[Greez]
Pvt Tykor was ready to do what he needed to do; but his superiors give the order, and he acknowledges. Instead of hiding the body, Tykor calls back over the comm. <<Not enough time, getting caught makes it more suspicious. Posting up defensive, setting to stun.>> Does his old weapon even have that setting? Yes. Thankfully it does. He's a man of few words, and he's simple about the methods. But, he's also a soldier who follows orders, and assists his commander officers first and foremost. With Ban casually greeting and explaining the situation, Tykor points his gun the other direction, away from the dead body, down what he hopes is an empty hallway; to make it look like he's ready to fire, should someone come at him with a weapon. Which is actually true, but he doesn't actually expect it to happen. Of course, he'll follow Merek into the room to investigate, but he'll do so by walking backwards; the rear guard is the worst job, but someone has to do it.
[Vena]
Vena's bright red gaze looks over the group and then back to the corridor that the Geonosian is going to be coming down, "Well kriff." she whispers. She's standing behind Ban while he talks and it's probably the look on her face that gives the impression of her being at a loss for words, because she is. She waits with baited breath to see if they're about to get into trouble...and that's when the drones went nuts. "I see it is going to be an eventful evening all over the place." the woman sighs.
[Aryn Cole]
Aryn's answer to Kadi, and Elrych sounds back over encrypted comms. <<"I'm no--..*Static* ure. I *static* ou kno *static* --The sound of swarms and screams of a hundred Geonosians.-- *Comm cuts out*">> Aryn did not freak out, or at least that's what she repeated to herself as she lowered to a sudden fetal crouch and hugged her head. The whisp and sharp flaps of wings circle her in a sudden frenzy, but Aryn slowly rises up to the darkness and shines her light through the rapidly moving swarm to look. "Sorrrrrrry!" She said aloud, grimacing at her being /here/, disturbing them.
Her slow walk, as the swarming cyclone would allow, led her to a large hole carved out of the floor. Without shining her light inside, Aryn could detect light below, but it was far down. Faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar down. Furthermore, there's torn cloth here! She picks it up, then tucks it into the satchel at her side. "Hmph."
She slides the Westar-34 home in a single motion, then adjusts her cape to free the Theed Arms S5 from her lower back. Hooking her lightsaber back to her belt, Aryn orients the blaster skyward, and waves her tac-light shining hand. "Move, friends.. sorry!"
POW--THUUUUUUUNK!
That's the sound of the grappling hook finding purchase in the stone above! Aryn orients the cable pistol then to use the descend functionality. Grimacing again, she drops into the hole and the pistol's cable function begins to:
Ziiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiip!
THUNK!
Aryn lands on a catwalk below, suddenly immersed in the sound of a working, churning factory. Rather than recall the cable, Aryn left the pistol hanging in case Elrych found it and knew to follow. Aryn had /always/ been on the move, afterall! She unhooks her lightsaber now and begins to look around this large place for more clues..
[Jax Greystorm]
Jax was horrible at the diplomacy stuff. That's why when he was a jedi, he played the roll of staying quiet and pretend you look smartand carying. Now when he goes to function with Sesti, he plays the role of the polticians spouse. You know be quiet, smile, and wave for the holocameras. This time he tries or well he tries to as he takes about three steps forward trips on his own boots and face plants. Yeah that's going to look real good and like the Resistance are bringing their a game. Who let the civillian in here whose sleeping on the job.
[Elrych Cometburn]
Elrych had paused when Ban spoke about the approaching Geonosian. He simply holds up, watching the approaching insectoid. He is quiet as Ban speaks, waiting for him to finish, before giving a wave to the denzian. "Hey there, mind giving us a hand? You all know this place better than us." Working together they could solve this mystery. He points towards the camera and the reciever that's being bagged for evidence, "Did your people add this device?" He asks with a charming corellian grin.
Regardless he makes his way down following ARyn, especially as she starts to break up on the comms. <<"Doc... Doc? Can you hear me?">> He shakes his comlink, "Knew it..." He runs into that cyclone of Geonosians, "Woah... hey... ah. You guys seen blond human come down here?"
[Qadira Suuryet]
Kadi glances at Ezret, and she smiles. "You go ahead," she says, which he was already doing, so that's all to the good. She keeps an eye out, maybe learning a thing or two in the process. In any event, she's there, ready to assist if need be, an extra set of eyes during this process. She refrains from backseat driving, letting the expert do his job. Assuming he finishes successfully, she practically beams. "Well done," she says simply. Now what?
[Kael Greystorm]
The heavily armored form of Mayhem walks up to the blast door and looks at it for a moment. Then moves to the panel, "Excuse me a moment." He pops open the panel and adjusts some wires... "That should do it." He puts the panel back on and then hits the button.
[Ambrosia Greystorm]
<<Confirmed, Pvt>> Faraya answers Ezret, seeing his face blink suddenly into the view for the first time from this angle. She motions for her companion at the door to respond to the query coming through on another frequency, from those outside. 'Fill them in' her lips mouth in silence before communicating back to her team here. <<West entry to factory is secure. Conference room, Observation deck secure.>>
For now.
Optic Sensors ready for install, gyroscop---The Geonosian's work-obsessed thoughts screech to a halt upon rounding the corner to find a multitude of foreign bodies hovering around a fallen hive member. Veiny wings twitch nervously and madibles click-clack what's either a blunt question, remark, or accusation. Maybe it's understood the situation? Maaaaaaaaaaaaaybe the words? A headtilt swivels its stare to the bag Kadi's looked through and that's where it goes. Long, dextrous fingers pick through adroitly, only to come to the same conclusion that the humans have. A double-click then and it scurries expeditiously around them all, ceiling to wall, to that wall, the floor, and into the opened hatch that Merek's gone through. From there, it takes to wing. Maybe it's going for help or to spread the word? The mandibles aren't clear. But about that blastdoor...
It opens to reveal an eerie sight contained within this massive, vaulted chamber. Columns of fully assembled battle droids stand at attention, illuminated by the red and blue strip lighting underfoot and along the walls. Racks run the course of ceiling, supporting each and every sleeping soldier. Nearest to point of entry are the B1 units. Eight columns across, and unknown rows deep. Flanking them is a contingent of B2 Super Droids. Equally inumerable at a glance. Somewhere waaaaaay in the distance are rows upon rows of Droidekas. It's a formidable show of force, even when standing still.
Meanwhile, Elrych and Aryn are having a time. The drones are settling - somewhat - only flapping at Elrych with half the degree of panic as before. Also, there are fewer of them than before. Where have they gone? Everywhere. A handful drop into flight down the tube Aryn descended, into the heart of the factory's conveyor system. Their commotion continues in the air, swooping erratically in attempts to chase the human back up to her approved area - This tour was NOT in their memo! The hiss of hydraulics and thudding churns of heavy machinery pound out segments of droid bodies farther below the catwalk. The belt furthest to the east is 'marching' completed units off the line.
[Ban Iskender]
Ban Iskender remains steady and calm as the Geonosian scurries about, inspects, and flies off. "That seemed.. a favorable result?" he guesses, looking aside to Tykor for the other's impression. He speaks into a comlink, "This is Iskender. The Geonosian seemed to respond favorably, followed out investigations, and withdrew. I do not comprehend the Geonosian language, alas, but I suspect they have gone to inform the Hive." He will turn his steps after the others who have managed to open the secured door to the legion of resting droids.
[Barad]
Barad nods, his big 'ol ears waving back and forth. Barad thinks that about sums it up, only adding: "Base: Can you check the cam footage -again- from right -before- it was tampered with? What angle could it have been spiked from? Give us an exact time on that, and what the -other- cams saw at that instant?" Probably nothing. But can't hurt to be thorough...
[Lokir]
Lokir enters the droid chamber, having totally helped get the blast door open. Slinking inside, Lokir's natural abilities go into overdrive, filtering the room into threats, targets, and junk. <Got a little com chatter and some faint metal noises on audio. Far rear--there's a droid misaligned among the B2s, into the aisle. Eyes and ears sharp, folks. If there's a party to be had, let's be the ones to throw it.> Lokir begins to move into cover and angle for a better look at the misaligned droid.
[Merek]
Merek walks up into the droid room, while he nods a bit to folk, from Tayek to Lokir, a lift of the brow at the man's words. There's nothing stated to it, besides to give the man another once-over, having seen him before, and also seeing him here, talking in such a way. All the same, it's a thought to ask him about away from the situation, then he maneuvers to the droid in those rows, "I will examine it." Then comlink, <"We are checking the droids up in the droid room."> He then approaches while he keeps the weapon to his side, "Well, hey there," he says. "You on?"
[Ezret]
Ezret is of half a mind to return to patrolling the halls, especially as much of the squad has moved off in other directions. There's always value, in such situations, in keeping some active eyes and trigger-fingers poised in case of surprises. Nevertheless, he hesitates, and instead he pulls out the receiver from his pouch. It may not be active now, true, but investigating it -now- could reveal some things that might be immediately useful, such as a channel to try and tap into or some clues as to the identity of the perpetrators. The Nikto kneels down and, with a silent air of intent, begins to carefully piece apart and examine the device.
[Greez]
Pvt Tykor is, indeed, focused. He doesn't have much going on in his life, aside from the job. This job, specifically. When he's perusing the room with the droids inside, ensuring that everything is safe, he notices something odd. "Sarge, one of these B2's are missing." And indeed, he gestures with his rifle to the spot where, realistically, there should be another droid. "Restraining bolt tool missing, droid out of spot, dead tech; I think a droid did this." Then again, it's not his job or place to have -ideas-, so he's keeping his weapon leveled at any and all droids in the room, active or not. Whichever one jumps out at them is getting red plasma to the chassis.
[Vena]
Vena follows after the others after the Geonosian was done 'inspecting'. She was just waiting for this all to go south. She was used to that. She listens to the others as she looks around the door into the droid room, "You think a droid did this?" she asks. "Interesting." the Chiss nods her head to that.
[Ezret]
Ezret growls to himself as he completes his inspection. <<"Lt.,">> he starts on the comms. <<"I've IDed this device. Signal interruptor. Some of its components trace to Baktoid and the Techno Union, for what that's worth. It was still attempting to transmit to some frequency when I removed it - I can't trace that channel anymore - but wasn't receiving any feedback at the time of removal. It's possible that it did its job in hiding whatever happened to that drone and then was left alone.">>
[Aryn Cole]
Aryn waves her freehand before deciding that the swarm needed a reason to stay away from her. Thus, the sudden snap-HISS of her lightsaber followed, its hum distinctive even with the most subtle motions. "Please.. stay back, my friends. I am trying to help you, not harm you!"
Aryn lowers the humming sapphire blade to her side and moves quickly to the edge of the catwalk, following the functioning order of the conveyor belt that's below. Aryn thinks to produce her datapad, recording this deep factory and the marching battalions of droids. "Mother save us." She mumbled, before quickly killing the feed at the sudden feeling of someone coming.
A look of preparation slides over the cool and collected expression of the young doctor as she observes Elrych's arrival. "Oh. It's you." She says, lowering the blade back to her side.
Another moment of observation reveals the culprit of this operation. "There! Elrych.. help me.."
The datapad is slid home, and Aryn reaches out with her freed up gloved hand, taking command of the Force, and influencing a running bald saboteur below. At the sudden beckoning of her fingers, and the closing motion she made, an invisible force took hold of the man and uppended him from the conveyor and lifted him into the air. Aryn appears to struggle a bit, holding him, thus her request that he help.
The goal was to bring him to the catwalk, and they could search and apprehend him from there.
[Jax Greystorm]
Jax pushes himself to his feet as he finds himself in a room full of Genosians doing their thing. "Excuse me. Sorry. Let me get out of your way." The Corellian starts to back out of the way catching sight of Kadi and he mouths to one of his oldes friends, 'Droid room? Droid Room.' Figuring the Droid expert probably would be best helping there. So he goes to make sure they make it to the droid room safey.
[Elrych Cometburn]
Elrych watches some of the drones shoot down the hole that Aryn had gone down, noticing the hook from the Princess' S5. "Uht oh..." Ban's communication in broken up as it comes to him but he can get the gist of it. He stops just at the ledge, looking down. "Aryn!... Hey! I don't think we're supposed to be down here! Sounds like they found something back where Spooky cloak is..." Was there a responce? Either way, he'd crawl down the line to where she was. He pops out of that hole just has Aryn turns and says, "Oh it's you..."
"Chyeah, it's me. Couldn't you hear me up there. I don't think we're sup-" He pauses, eyes moving to catch sight to the bald nimble person running along the tracks, "What the..." Eyes squint, blink, unsure if he's seeing this or halucinating it. Did Ektor put spice in his cereal again.
Aryn's plea for help is answered, he Corellian Ace sobering enough to raise his hands and join his own command over the force with hers, picking up the person and bringing them to them.
[Qadira Suuryet]
Kadi looks over to see that Ezret has things under control. She grins, and starts meandering, prowling the hallway. Jax's funny look maybe distracts her a bit from inspecting the floor, the tool bag, the - wait, droids? That has Kadi head that way, new purpose in her step. Button, on her shoulder, can be heard to warbletweetBLURPKLE, and Kadi blinks. "I'm only going to look," she protests. Of course when she gets to the door, she glances in to see those rows and rows of ... << Oh, this is absolutely beautiful, >> she says, almost in a whisper. Seriously, who else, other than a mad megalomaniac Sith would find line upon line of deadly killer droids to be ... beautiful? Only Kadi.
[Kael Greystorm]
The gaze of Mayhem's helmet snaps towards the B2 section of droids, "Metal on metal sounds careful." His hands settle on his pistols, a breath as Merek walks past but he's following soon behind the man, "These are a lot of battle droids."
[Ambrosia Greystorm]
<<Blinding us>> Lt Quish grunts in response to Ezret's report re: device tampering with her vid relay. <<But maybe didn't do its job soon enough. The 'shadows' behind the drones it captured before the glitch might not have been a shadow. Watch your sixes. I'll need to enhance this playback to be sure. The Republic escorts have been notified of the situation.>> A glance goes to her chronometer. Less than ten minutes till arrival, but hopefully there's time to change plans? Or resolve this.>> Her frown behind her visor is not optimistic.
<<If they've borked with the droids...>> Faraya needn't elaborate on how big a cluster blunder that's going to be. For everyone.
Meanwhile, about those droids...
A faint blue light, nine rows back, six columns over in the B2 section, has blinked to life where once was only darkness. It’s the tiniest of lights in this room. Until there is another one, beside it. And one beside that. And another. Another...The droid at the end of the row is a /bit/ out of formation, as Lokir pointed out.
"Awaiting Orders." They said almost synchronously. Moments later "Order acknowledged." Right on down the line...The optic sensors pan left-right and the hefty bots snap to full attention. Pivot, and begin to march. For now, it's like these organics aren't even in the room.
In the subterranean bowels of factory, there's a completely different scene unfolding. A man is soaring through the air, struggling in vain as he's pulled to Aryn and Elrych's more tangible reach. He's dressed in shadowplate, armed slightly but effectively, and is definitely making a grab for something on chest plate.
[Ban Iskender]
Ban Iskender exhales sharply. "Marvelous. An animate legion of murderous automatons. Any here who are adept with electronics- we must bar their exit-" Drawing his elaborate sword hilt, and igniting it's blade with a vivid emerald glow. Finding the control panel smashed and useless, he mutters, "The crude path, it is..." Reaching his free hand toward the open portal that is the room's only exit, he brings his hand down sharply to force the unresponsive doors closed with a scream of protesting metal.
[Barad]
Barad informs one of the _Construction_ / _Assembly line_ Supervisor Droids that there's been an unfortunate sort of unforeseen error, starting with the Unit nine rows back, six columns over in the B2 section and that the affected Battle Droids should definitely be powered down and the Geonosians informed of this strange and dangerous error until the cause of this anomaly can be investigated properly. Thereby reinforcing the "We're all on the same team here." stance the team had adopted earlier. Vena has disconnected.
[Lokir]
Lokir eyes the B2 droids from the shadows, holding still as they begin to march past. He's not going to kick the party off just yet---but he'll definitely join in on the fun if a light show is called for.
[Merek]
Merek looks to the droids while all of them are given orders, then he nods a bit, "Independent B2, linked with someone offering the commands, they will advise," the man thinks about it, "We have an independent with full access on site," he then maneuvers to one of the computer controls. "Alright, cover me," he says to Tykor, while he takes a moment to begin working a way into the network.
The Sergeant begins to lift up protocols for the place. <"SGT Black, we have an independent hacker on site, with full access to the facility. They probably want to cause things between us as well as the Geonosians. I am going to contain the situation."> Then he begins to type in the command line, access code coming up while Kat begins coming from the man's belt, the cat looking to him, "Master, binary uploading initiated." A little look to the Kat, then a nod, while he takes a moment to lock all the racks that still have droids on them. The machinery whirs while it begins to lock each of the droids to place, then the door controls begin to seal off exits for the droids to keep them from fully leaving. He tries his best to remember each sequence of the doors they might need to seal in contain. <"Alright, be prepared, you all have droids coming by."> To those that are not in the full know.
[Ezret]
Ezret moves quickly to his feet once his report on the interruptor is delivered, re-placing the device within his pouch and taking hold of his blaster in one smooth motion. He resumes watch on the immediate hallway, and for now, things do seem quiet in the corridor... And of course, that's when he hears the reports of droids on the comms. He clutches his blaster and moves to the nearest intersection.
[Greez]
Pvt Tykor is on the spot immediately, blaster raised so that he might defend his Sergeant. Switching his weapon back from stun to kill, of course, because sometimes droids don't take the hint. "Well, I wasn't wrong, exactly. It had to do with droids. This is why I don't trust them. Too easy to reprogram them." A half-kneeling position is taken. Just like training! Except these models of soldiers are about... More than a half century old. Shouldn't be too bad, hopefully.
[Aryn Cole]
The pair of Jedi had managed to lift the saboteur to the catwalk successfully. Upon realizing that this man intended to reach for something in a manner Aryn considered to be a threat, she uttered a single word: "No." And spread her fingers. A thunderous pulse exited the palm of her hand that shook the catwalk and took hold of the man immediately, freezing him IN PLACE, incapable of moving anything but his eyes!
"Thank you, Elrych. I think I've got him." Aryn issued to her companion Elrych while holding her lightsaber at her side, her feet spaced and stance balanced, one in front of the other in a duelist fashion. "We must disarm him quickly, and get him to the Lieutenant. Our innocence may depend upon it." Elrych, of course, knew this, but Aryn felt she must emphasize this notion because she was not certain how long she could keep this man in stasis.
[Elrych Cometburn]
Elrych has yet to take his lightsaber off his belt, instead nodding to Aryn and instead moving his concentration in the force to keep his hands out in the open and not reaching for any weapons. On the Subject of weapons, any readily visible upon the person are imediatly grabbed via that invisble foce hand and brough into the Jedi's grasp. "Now... let's get moving then, yes?"
[Jax Greystorm]
Jax hand reachs down to the cylander next to his blaster pistol nest to his belt. He doesn't yet ignite the blade. He just holds it. "Great, It's a squad of B2s. Why couldn't it be a squad of B1s. Still there was always somebody givin.... There's somebody in here that activated them." Then Jax starts to look around then notices the a hatch, "There's an open hatch." Then with a run Jax takes off at a leap to jump on a rack of inactive droids. Then parkcor back towards the hatch. It was graceful it was beyond the abilities of what a human could do without the force. He just misses and then face on the ground again. [Qadira Suuryet]
Kadi goes still. She almost literally freezes. << They're the B2 variety. >> Like others said. << smarter than the B1, but not enough to creatively think up their own directives. And they probably didn't just release themselves.>> yeah, they know it,of course they all know it, but Kadi says it anyway. Then she looks for a place to duck, where she can try to figure out what to do next. << There must be a way - there's got to be a signal that is communicating with them somehow, someone calling the shots. Anyone got a signal jammer? Oh. Wait. That device that was on the camera... Maybe?>>
[Kael Greystorm]
Mayhem sighs a bit as the droids start to move. "Great. Just what we needed." He looks towards Jax and his flying human squirrel leap to the ground and then back towards the B2 droids, "Kadi do we need to deactivate them? I can start working on kinetic deactivations while you're handling a more refined approach?" He starts to move towards the B2 droids hands still resting on his pistols.
[Ambrosia Greystorm]
IF LOOKS COULD KILL...
Aryn and Elrych come under heavy fire from that bulging death glare from their captive as eeeevery muscle in their body tenses, trying to break free of the wacky weird wonders of stasis. For now, they are compliant and transportable. The Geonosians, who moments ago were busy being in the way, have mysteriously cleared out.
In the product storage vault (the droid room), things are 'contained' but...tricky.
The room's lights switch from mostly blue to mostly red and some announcement plays overhead in Geonosian nails-on-chalkboard garblygook. Probably something along the lines of 'alert' 'system lockdown' on account of Merek's hacking. It means the door that Ban's TK'd closed is staying that way, unless they - the hackers - dictate otherwise, or an actual worker drone legitimately keys an entry. Which probably will be soon, considering that drone who entered WITH them has been gone a few minutes, presumably through that hatch. In ceiling. Said hatch is an alternate exit, where Jax has made leaps and bounds to reach, but come up short. By a smidge. And a bruise.
"Do not interfere" the B2 Super Droids advise whilst marching diligently toward the exit. Weaponry systems are powering ON and actively wielded to be at the ready while they scan every face they go by. That door's gonna hold only so long, if they are determined to make their escape.
<<Good catch>> says Lt Quish when the Jedi bring her a rat to play with - said rat being the slinky, bald man caught down below. She secures his frozen wrists and ankles in binders and waits patiently for the dignitaries - or their personal guard, rather - to make an appearance. The Geonosians are flit-fluttering throughout the tunnels now, on the hunt for anything ELSE amiss whilst some of them keep near the Resistance forces, not entirely convinced they weren't the masterminds of this whole murder-infil situation. Hopefully it's just a matter of short time before the tactical droid is located and B2s powered down.
Hopefully.
