After selecting your uniform colors, and finding appropriate sizes for each of your frames, you leave the laundry through the south door, and, turning left, find yourselves facing a large security door. A camera in the corner above the door stares blackly down on you.
I doubt those are going to be sufficient. :D
vs. 23 = Incapacitated
vs. 17 = Wounded
Nooope!!
Despite taking cover behind the speeder, despite putting a stun round into the leader, the two concussions from the Davika security boys drop Dartel where he crouches.
"Alright..." Honey looked down at her datapad, in which she was inputting random garbage data. Just to seem like she was doing something. "Let's start here. Do you recall your security access codes, Belfore?"
"Yes, administrator. Have you misplaced your security codes?"
She looks up from the datapad, "If that's the scenario you wish to use. I need to make sure you've been updated to current codes." With a dismissive wave her gaze turns back to what she was writing. "Proceed."
Donnella's garage resounds with the throb of the speeder engine and the shrill cries of blaster fire. The Davika soldiers are deadly accurate, and almost as quickly as you see the flashes from their weapons, everything goes dark...
"Hey, you three, wake up! This is the only breakfast you're going to get."
Immediately, a shock of pain erupts from your heads, the Sith lord of all stun headaches. Your mouth are dry and you feel a dull ache where you were shot, but you are otherwise unharmed. On the plus side of things, the air is clean - sterile, even. It has that smell to it, like every particle of dust was individually removed and tossed outside. The lights seem overly bright at first, and that's because they are. And when you shield you sight against them you notice your outfits have been cleaned, pressed, and each of you re-dressed. Your hands are clean too, and a more thorough self-examination reveals you all have been similarly bathed.
The room you are in is obviously a holding cell, but is considerably nicer than the Imperial Navy detention centers that Dartel is familiar with. A red force field dominates the whole of one wall, and inside, three bunks are exposed from the wall, each with a surprisingly comfortable sterile foam pad. A small drawer is thrust inward from the adjacent wall to the force field, and within are three trays featuring unremarkable but clearly edible food, the kind of heavy protein, light carb meal a soldier may regularly expect.
The guard, dressed in a standard-issue black security uniform that makes anyone who has interacted with the galactic bureaucracy wonder if they can be bulk-ordered by hypertext catalog. Beyond him is another row of cells identical to yours. The corridor terminates at one end and turns out of sight at the other.
Alright teams, we need to retcon two details. 1) Team Han, you arrived at Red Barren 2 days before the other team, not two weeks as previously stated. 2) Team Luke, As part of Taro Afar's initial mission briefing, he mentioned that an exfiltration team had previously arrived on planet and was in process of securing means for your speedy removal from Red Barren upon completion. He gives you a brief dossier on Dartel, Drifter, and Kahl. You know what they look like and that they are not Alliance because resources are spread too thin as it is. He strongly recommends you work with them, and they are familiar with high level mission-critical information. Desperate times...
Belfore pauses, as if considering the potential for protocol violations, but he just can't quite connect those two circuits, and so it turns and and sticks a mechanical finger into the security panel. It spins left and right and left again, and then the heavy door slides to the side with a whoosh.
Beyond, a pair of guards stand in defensive positions. They have not yet drawn weapons, and they look you over with obvious confusion.
When they see Honey, they appear doubly confounded, but the uniforms completely bewilder them.
"M-m-ma'am," stutters the first. "We didn't see you come through." He looks at Mal wearing Security black. "Wait a minute, who are you?"
Tavin looks to the others to talk their way out of this one. He wasn't used to dealing with people and knew he would only make matters worse if he opened his mouth.
"Hmm, so who's watching that feed. We need to get into the security system if we want to continue walking around here. That, or someone's going to have to talk our way past these guards," Tavin thinks to himself, trying to stay calm.
Drifter rubs his eyes and groans as he sits up as the spike of pain shoots through his head.
Looking over himself, Drifter is surprised that he looks cleaner then when they were taken. He staggers to his feet and moves to take whatever food is offered to them. Once he has it he asks, "Where are we?"
Drifter looks to see if any of the other cells seem to have occupants.
"Tower Detention Area. Enjoy it while you can," says the guard. "Probably the nicest place you'll stay as long as you're on this dusty rock."
"Do we get to find out why we are detained?" Drifter asks.
The guard checks a datapad. "Subversive activities. Hmm, looks like you got turned in by one of the Elders. I wouldn't worry about it too much though. Everyone here knows the Family is just a bunch of lying cheats, so as long as you have a good reason to be on planet, we probably won't need to throw you into The Hole for more than five days, tops."
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Mal was maintaining an intent, if bored, steady gaze upon Honey's lower legs. He doesn't bother looking at the security guard, just maintains eye contact with the her feet, and answers him as if ordering a pizza.
"We are the people fixing this droid so that things can keep getting down around here.
Yes, you were already told about it.
No, you haven't seen us before.
Yes, you will get in lots of trouble if you keep bothering us.
No, we're not going to answer your questions all day, show you whatever secret-decoder-ring ID you want, or wait for you to do literally any thing. Some of us don't get paid until the job is done.
Yes, we -will- just leave if you wanna press the matter and then -you- can explain why this droid didn't get fixed and then nothing else gets fixed and then no orders get filled and then we're all bantha poodoo.
Now if you'll excuse me we're in the middle of a level 3 atavachron-promethean type 8 diagnostic...which looks a lot like me following her following the droid.
Also, please move. If the droid touches you it voids the warranty clause of the contract and you try explaining -that- to your superiors."
The guard stares slack-jawed at Mal. "That-- You-- We-- The what clause? Umm..." The pair steps aside as the five of you pass between them. You get the impression that your ruse is still working. But as you turn down the next hallway you see the larger Security apparatus ahead.
Honey manages to suppress a snort, only just barely, as she marches the droid along in front of them on it's guided "tour" of the facilities. The presence of even more security however was a worrisome one. Mentally, she was counting down the numbers until their operation turned loud.
Dartel sits up, squints, then lays right back down again. "Stunner headaches are the worst," he complains, albeit only in a mutter. It takes a few moments and another try before the 'becoming upright' thing takes hold, and he lifts his hand to rub a little across his eyes -- not actually into them, but just across them.
Finally, though, he looks around, taking in the cell, his personal and clothing state of cleanliness (it isn't his fault there are more important things to do on the Kanga Tor than bring the refresher back up to installation-level perfection) and is, despite himself, impressed. "Wow. You guys really have the controlled environment thing going here, don't you. Last time I was in a place this clean was ... you know, I don't think I've ever seen a place this clean, not even an operating theater or a bacta tank. The dust outside really that much of a pain??" He eyes the meal on offer, reluctant to actually consume it, but aware that it'll be taken away if he doesn't at least retrieve his.
So he does, glancing up at the interaction between Drifter and the guard. "Yeah, seemed that way to me too. Ever think that maybe this 'Family' are the subversives?"
The guard almost cracks a smile when Dartel observes the environment quality. "Yeah, right? Matok had the hvac units brought in special - TraneTech - amazing machines. Before that it was just as dusty here as anywhere else. He even put a pair in the Metrotel on his own credit. At least that's the rumor." The guard seems particularly chatty, as if they don't get a lot of business.
He shrugs at the comment about the Family. "Nobody here trusts them, and you shouldn't either."
Belfore leads you into an open area which you assess immediately to be the main security area for this level of the Tower. In front of you (D), a wide room, spanned from one end to the other by a massive transparent plane of security glass, reveals the nerve center of the operation. Another pair of guards sit inside, observing you as you step forward.
To your far right (G) the detention area comes into view. To your immediate right (A) is a double-secured lift.
There is a weird quiet tension rising in the space as the group enters the area; the guards seem unsure of what to do, likely more surprised than anything else. The only sounds you hear are those of your footfalls and the blood rushing in your ears...
"Well then black for me it is then!"
Mal slipped into a black secguard uniform. After getting used to it he had to admit that he felt rather smart in it. He pondered wearing his blaster openly, but decided against it. No need to invite any more attention.
"Black it is then" and also gets into the uniform. He turns around, "Ok, you are all under arrest" he says with a grin.
Belfore abruptly stops. You could hear an ant fart. The droid casually turns toward you and asks, "What action would you like me to perform next, Administrator? If you have nothing further, I should return to my duties."
For their part, the visible Tower Security personnel are trading confused glances, then staring back at all of you. Inside the central hub, you see the guy on the right look at the other guy with wide eyes. The guy on the left shrugs and shakes his head tightly.
Khal has sat quietly nursing bruised pride, but also silently freaking at being in this environment. He listens to Dartel and the guard discuss the Family. He pushes himself to voice his question, his voice a little creaky at the start. ”Why is the Imperial Navy taking its orders from back world low life’s?”
The guard seems immediately put off. "We don't take orders from low life's, if that's what you mean."
He closes the food drawer and turns to leave the detention area, but suddenly he stops in his tracks, his attention fixed on something the three of you cannot see.
The intercom floods the silent space with a moment of brown noise, the thrum of electronics from inside the security hub.
"Hold on there," directs one of the guards from inside. "Identify yourselves."
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'How the buttocks did we end up in the sec room?' Mal wonders, trying to stay calm. 'Honey does know this is the one room we wanted to avoid, right?'
Outwardly Mal maintains his cool demeaner, keeping his eyes downward, not even acknoledging the speaker, except to answer in his bored-sounding way.
"At ease, sir. We are the people fixing this droid and I promise we are the most boring thing that will happen to you today."
At this point he actually started to believe that, so he put a little extra droning monotone into his speech.
"You were already told all about us so you know how boring we are. If you forgot, that is not our issue to fix. If your system did not update properly and you were _not_ told about us, that, also, is not our issue to fix. If that is the case, I suggest you contact your sysop and demand a manual re-set and get your morning briefing then. Of course the amount of time that will take will definitely be longer than we'll be here and will only result in said same sysop getting ticked at wasting his time and 'accidentally' deleting your next 7 vacation requests. And at least 2 paydays.
Or you can mellow here as normal and let us do our job. And, yes, this droid is broken. For instance, we told it to take us to warehousing, and now we're here. Aren't we a silly little goose.
For further explanation only slightly less exciting than mine you can ask extremely technical questions of Chief Technician Honey right here."
He stopped talking because he'd somehow bored himself.
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Honey scoffs, and starts closing random windows on her tablet for dramatic effect. "Yes, of course. Let me just take a break from my job to happily inform you about every minute detail about the technicalities with droid maintenance."
When she looks up it's instead towards the droid, utterly ignoring the security around them. Do you have any idea how hard it is to properly diagnose a F4-K3 model mainntence drone when it's having memory loop issues? I've been marching this thing up and down the corridor the whole time I've had this uniform on and not once did it actually take us to the area designated before the start of our operation. You think I'm just standing here tip-tapping away at this thing for the hell of it? I'd need to dedicate several dozen partisan strings just so I can analyze what's going on inside that thing's head."
"Do you want to do my job?" She accuses, turning toward whoever was taking the lead and gestured wildly with the pad. "I'd seriously like to see you try, when all you've gotta do is stay in here and keep watch to make sure nothing's clogging up the dustvents. I'd offer to switch uniforms with you, but quite frankly I actually enjoy my work when I'm not being accosted for doing my damn job."
"No I-- hold on, just wait there. Don't move." The guard inside the hub just slowly shakes his head, then turns to the one on the right and says - with the speaker system still active - "Get out there and apprehend them. We'll figure this out once they are confined."
Honey looks back to the poor droid, stuck in the wrong place at the Right time. "Belfore, these men are interfereing with propper maintence protocols. Stop them via any means, full permisions granted, all restrictions lifted."
The woman then proceeded to tumble off to the side, in search of quick cover before the figthing really started.
... what in space is going on out there?? A biscuit in hand, the bite taken out of it still in his mouth, Dartel stands and moves to the front of the cell, trying to get an eye on what's happening -- and who is making it happen. While he's up there, he tries to get a sense of where things are -- particularly the controls to open the cell door and the weapons that are no longer on his person.
Khal sees the guard get distracted and then moves to try and get a better angle on what’s happening.
Haven’t so far so I’ll make a call before I do so as to not metagame
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Something within Mal realizes the gig is well and truly up.
"Boring conversation anyway," he mutters, throwing himself against the inside wall, his heavy blaster appearing in his hand as if by some magic force. Realizing that at this range it's like shooting womprats in a multisonic krellide bank, he sends a blaster bolt at the heads of the two nearby secguards to just have done with them. There are so many others to worry about.
Drifter watches the chaos unfolding and wonders if they are being rescued or if they the three new companions were about to end up in some worse position.
Blue vs Mal vs 28
Red vs Mal vs 30
Mal calmly turns and raises his arm, his blaster in his hand as if it never left his grip. The surprised guards have no where to go, and before the words of their commander even have a chance to make sense, each man takes a blaster bolt to the face. The first man recoils, his head snapping back as he crumples to the ground. The second man is not as lucky; his head starts on fire where the blaster bolt cores it.
"Why are they shooting at us?" you hear the guard inside the central hub shout to the other. "They're intruders, you idiot! Get to the weapons locker!" the other responds.
From the detention center, you hear a loud crash and see the guard who has dropped a stack of food trays and is trying to remember on which hip he keeps his blaster holstered.
Yet to take actions this round:
Rel
Tavin
Honey
With the 2 closest guards down, and in the relative safety of a hallway, Tavin decides that less people knowing what is going on is probably better so he draws his blaster and fires at the camera in the corner above the dead guards.
Tavin targets the camera and bulls-eyes it. It explodes in a shower of sparks.
With two down already, the pair of guards in the hub start to lose their nerve. The one that you see to the left is screaming into the loudspeaker, "Stop! Drop your weapons!" He bangs on the command console and all the lights blink out, then turn red. Klaxons blare shrill alarm blasts around you, and the doors to the mechanical room hallway and to the repulsorlift shut and seal with red force fields. Meanwhile, the other guard in the hub runs across the narrow hallway into the next room.
The guard near the detention area thinks better of his action and turns back toward the cell holding Dartel, Khal, and Drifter. His face bathed in red light, he appears panicked.
"I'm going to let you out because your as good as dead in here. At least you'll have a fighting chance against these guys." He hammers a code into the wall console and the force field vanishes. You are free! The guard steps back, blaster in hand.
Khal steps back as the force field is turned off then forward warily to make sure it’s gone. ”My good man, where is our equipment as we have no chance unarmed and I am sick of being shot recently.”
Khal steps back as the force field is turned off then forward warily to make sure it’s gone. ”My good man, where is our equipment as we have no chance unarmed and I am sick of being shot recently.”
"Around the corner to the right," says the guard hurriedly. He doesn't notice then odd-looking humanoid dressed in Administration gray running into the detention area.
Drifter nods and heads out of the cell. He has no idea how many guards or attackers there are so he runs as fast as he can towards his equipment.
Keeping his head on a swivel, Dartel follows Drifter around the corner to the right.