Open Terrain

Sat Sep 04, 2010 5:17 pm by LE-03

Arn Menlas wrote:"So, what will you do once you're in your new device?"

"Oh, that's easy. I'll live."

*It was true, and as all the LE units were informed, not everyone abides by the same definition of life. She wanted to get out in the world, experience what her creator had with her own eyes, not from recordings and transmitted files. She didn't need to reveal that her next immediate goal was to hunt down her late creator's best friend to psychoanalyze her. He didn't need to know that she would have no problem with letting the assassin droid terminate said friend once she was done. She was telling the truth.

Just not all of it.*

*****

KR-04 wrote:"Activate the distress beacon."

*She cocked her head to one side, then nodded a moment later.*

"Done."

*She had modified the usual auto-play beacon to include the fact that the communications array was trashed; the two units ran on separate systems, but the beacon was an output-only system. They'd have no method of two-way communication until they were within audiovisual range of the ship itself...*

Sun Sep 05, 2010 1:42 am by Arn Menlas

LE-01 wrote:"Oh, that's easy. I'll live."

*It was true, and as all the LE units were informed, not everyone abides by the same definition of life. She wanted to get out in the world, experience what her creator had with her own eyes, not from recordings and transmitted files. She didn't need to reveal that her next immediate goal was to hunt down her late creator's best friend to psychoanalyze her. He didn't need to know that she would have no problem with letting the assassin droid terminate said friend once she was done. She was telling the truth.

Just not all of it.*

*Once again nodding, Arn arrived at the opening to a small chamber the LE-03 stood outside of, as if beckoning him to enter. Peering in, the old soldier saw the well muscled form of the athletic droid; it's "skin" hiding it's true form once again.

Menlas remained expressionless and asked,* "Perhaps I should be more specific; what is the first thing you wish to do once you are able to leave the Revenant?"

*The human did not step inside the chamber, indeed, his body language seemed to carry a very strong aversion to being near the kill-bot that was now armed to the teeth.*

Sun Sep 05, 2010 12:13 pm by KR-04

"That is no concern of yours. Continue."

*KR-04 stood to the side, allowing Arn a clear path to the damaged, massive black box, revealing the black-and-chrome armor contained within. The Jedi wasn't moving, his fear all too clear; the droid's creator had known that Jedi were not immune to fear, and ensured that his masterpiece capitalized on that fact.*

*To that end, "Aherk"'s ocean blue eyes flashed a bright aqua for a brief moment to get his point across, reminding Arn of who - or more appropriately, what - he was dealing with.*

Mon Sep 06, 2010 8:52 am by Arn Menlas

*Self preservation was normally the prime directive of most sentient beings and to Arn it seemed no different with these AIs. Entering an enclosed space with an obviously hostile kill-bot wasn't exactly the smartest thing he could do to continue his own life and so the Jedi hesitated at the threshold and ignored the lithe killer within, his own lightsaber hilt never having left his hand, though they were concealed within soaked robe sleeves.*

*Keeping focused on LE-03's hologram, Menlas prompted,* "Please answer my questions and I will do my best to end the path of captivity you have traveled for so long."

*Soft voice sincere with the truth of his statement and the underlying steel of one who would not bend quickly to the will of another, Arn took a few steps back from the chamber entrance to stand near the wall opposite and so keep both the hologram and the flesh masked droid in his field of vision.*

Mon Sep 06, 2010 3:57 pm by LE-03

*The holographic avatar looked back and forth between the two, having to turn almost a hundred and eighty degrees to switch her views. A pointless gesture, really, because the AI could perceive both of them simultaneously. It really wasn't any of his business, as the droid pointed out, but there was something else that needed to be taken under consideration: LE-03 liked to talk.

A lot.*

"If you must know," *she said finally,* "I plan on finding an .. old friend. It's been over six years since I've communicated with anyone, and I have some things I need to discuss with her. Y'know.. girl talk."

*Her avatar offered Menlas a friendly wink at that, a cheerful grin stretching across her face.*

Tue Sep 07, 2010 6:20 am by Arn Menlas

*Giving a slight bow in thanks, Arn turned his attention to the armor within the chamber, scanning it in detail; wondering if it was built for stealth, war, or simply protocol...*

*To LE-03, the old soldier remarked curiously casual,* "An acquaintance of your brother, Cao?"

*Taking a few steps towards the chamber once again, the human looked directly at the athletically lithe figure within and asked sternly,* "What is your designation?"

Tue Sep 07, 2010 2:34 pm by KR-04

"Irrelevant."

*Obviously not wanting to come between the fine and amicable conversation between a hologram of what could be his greatest rival (if KR-04 cared to designate anyone as such) and a Jedi who was far too inquisitive about a situation that should never have seen the light of day, the machine strode out of the room and back towards the landing ramp, once again not bothering to move around Elly.

-----

His weapons needed to be tested. Each would eventually come around in their own time, to be certain, but this was simple a part of being ready; KR-04 had to know how each weapon (or in the case of his DC-17, each attachment) felt and fired. The droid's modified shotgun was effective enough at its purpose; a non-Jedi probably would have been killed by the blast he gave Arn. It was now time for another weapon to be tested.

To this end, KR-04 slung the Relby-v10 grenade launcher to his arm.

Opening the main doors once again (revealing the now outright malicious storm beating down mercilessly on the fine soil), KR-04 looked until he found a suitable target. By the definitions of some it may have been petty; the test was useless here, and the droid was aiming for some weird sense of satisfaction, which held up until it was revealed that KR-04 found very few things satisfactory in the intended sense. By the definitions of others, it was a valid tactic; removing an element of the enemy so as to better overcome them, and should be the standard for anything as militant as the assassin droid.*

*Leaning towards the latter (as was only logical), KR-04 aimed the grenade launcher at Arn's swoop and fired, blasting it into useless scrap.*

Tue Sep 07, 2010 2:45 pm by LE-03

*When he walked through her, her image dissolved, only to reform the moment he was through her projection's current location, her avatar now facing in the droid's direction.*

"He can be so difficult to work with sometimes..."

*She raised an eyebrow, then turned her attention back to the Jedi.*

"Yes, Cao knew her. But she was my creator's best friend. They would have done anything for each other. They would have died for each other.."

*She let her voice trail off, then shook her head as if to clear her thoughts.*

"Come on. The computer core is this way."

*She started off again down the hallway, heading towards the core room where she was truly located..*

Tue Sep 07, 2010 2:59 pm by Arn Menlas

*Arn shifted back to allow what he now believed to be an advanced assassin droid of some type to pass by freely and watched it's retreating back as it disappeared down the hall.

Having ran his eyes carefully over the gleaming black armored body within the chamber, the human turned to follow LE-03, though Menlas was silent as he strode onwards, only giving a brief nod of understanding.*

*A muffled detonation could barely be registered through the hull, but that wasn't out of the ordinary; the thunder had been rumbling for some time now.

Still, Arn felt the hairs prick up on the back of his neck; something had gone awry... the old soldier briefly thought of the Enclave and trusted all was well there... else they would have contacted him, right?

Following LE-03, Menlas felt satisfied that he could release this being without regretting the decision; she, at least, seemed to have been programmed with protocol routines.*

*As he neared the core room, Menlas asked,* "How long will the transference process take?"

OOC: can you describe the armor for me? or is it like what the hologram wore before?

Tue Sep 07, 2010 3:24 pm by LE-03

OOC: It's like the black outfit from the holo. I didn't want to repost my full epic description.

"To transfer me to a storage unit? Less than a minute. Then it depends on how fast you can walk."

*She chuckled softly, that half-smile stretching across her face once more.*

"Then just put the storage unit in the back of the armour's neck.. It'll be obvious where it goes. From there, I'll need to run systems diagnostics on the suit, make sure everything's stayed five-by-five.. That step shouldn't take more than a few minutes. I can't be more specific than that; time changes things, and it has been a while since I've accessed the mobile unit.."

*They had reached the core room. The door slid open, revealing the massive computer banks held within, with a row of terminals lining the first banks, all facing the entryway. Each terminal had a screen above it, mounted back against the machinery, and long lines of input boards that didn't seem to make any sense. They weren't designed to make sense, except for a few select people, and Eliana Shan had chosen those people very carefully. Underneath the input boards were columns of dataports, and a few slots that seemed designed for hard data containment.. actual data discs. One of the terminals had a data slot that was framed by a strongly glowing red.

The AI's holographic avatar moved into the room, the briefest of flickers visible in her image resolution as she crossed the threshold, and stood next to the terminal that was two places to the left of the one with the glowing slot.*

"This.. is where I am."

Tue Sep 07, 2010 8:09 pm by Arn Menlas

*Now alone again, Arn entered the core room, staring about in wonder. The flesh and blood Eliana Shan must have been a genius many times over to have constructed what he now saw. The trust that LE-03 was putting in him was not lost on the old soldier as he gazed from one terminal to the next, the awe of recognition of singular achievement painted upon his rugged features.*

*Turning to the glowing red data slot, Menlas breathed with heavy gravitas,* "Elly-oh-three, you put much responsibility into my hands; quite literally. Were I a less scrupulous being, I might be tempted to simply make off with you whilst in your containment unit...But I would not belittle the faith you have given me. Still... I must ask you for something in return."

*Taking a deep breath, the once-Jedi continued in a very formal voice, as he approached the data slot,* "I swear upon my honor that I shall dutifully transport you to your mobile containment armor, if you will promise me that you will aid me if that... thing, the assassin droid in a man's skin that travels with you, seeks to harm me in anyway. Can we make this last agreement? I shall not ask anything else of you, for I believe bestowing the gift of freedom upon your intellect will only serve to make this galaxy a better place. But, will you grant my final request of you, in turn?"

Tue Sep 07, 2010 8:26 pm by LE-03

*A broad smile stretched across her face.*

"You truly are a diplomat, you know. You have people skills. It was something my creator was never too skilled at until much later in her life. Ironic, don't you think? She created her AIs with the ability to feel and portray genuine emotion across as wide a range as possible, to interact as if they were alive.. yet she herself was unable to do the same."

*She laughed, a truly joyful sound this time, her behavioral controls sending multiple pulses through her subroutines for mirth and happiness.*

"You have my word."

*She would gladly step in if an altercation arose. It would be a fine test of her capabilities, if it came to that. She didn't really need KR-04 for her purposes, but she would cooperate with him to make it easier.. Just as she didn't need Arn Menlas past his purpose, but she would cooperate with him as well. She would honor her word, yes, but the final outcome was still.. nebulous.*

"One last thing, though."

*The avatar then started slowly turning, doing a complete 360 and taking her time at it. When she finished her circle, she was looking back at the Jedi, and there were holographic tears in her eyes.*

"One last look at home. And.. that one's a decoy," *she said, pointing to the glowing red data slot.* "As I said.. This is where I am."

*The terminal she was standing next to suddenly began emitting a pulsating whirring noise.

Her hologram disappeared in an instant.

And a data chip, about the size of a human palm, emerged from the terminal's slot, a faint electric blue glow emanating from its center...*

Tue Sep 07, 2010 10:09 pm by Arn Menlas

*A genuine smile grew on Arn's weathered face. The old soldier did not usually show such emotion, the difficulty of his life having ground a streak of cynicism into his everyday interactions. True, he knew how to be polite and observe protocol... but meeting a truly interesting being was perhaps one of the greatest pleasures left in his life.

It was odd to note that he thought of LE-03 as not an it, but a her; a true tribute to her maker's aptitude he figured. Though she was only a series of programmed codes, the singular achievement of such replication, of life... Arn couldn't help but now feel a bit bad about his goading words earlier; she was not an echo... she was in fact something singular and unique... at least, he hoped so.*

*Moving over to the chip, the veteran Force user called upon his abilities to lift the object from it's cradle and began moving back towards the chamber holding LE-03's waiting body, her containment unit following along through the air.*

*This felt right; as if the old feeling of following the will of the Force was welling inside him again. The same feeling he'd had on Ossus with Devlin... the same feeling he'd recently felt when returning to Dantooine.*

*Arriving at the entrance to the chamber, Arn took another long look around at his surroundings, the chip floating near his left temple and searched for the unnamed assassin droid; he would protect LE-03 as he'd vowed.*

Wed Sep 08, 2010 9:11 am by Arn Menlas

*Satisfied that he and his precious cargo weren't in any immediate danger, Menlas ducked into the chamber and swiftly circled around the impressive armor that stood silently, brimming with possibility.

Locating the data-port in the back of it's wide neck, Arn lifted a scarred hand and guided LE-03's containment unit through the air into the small slot and gave a small push to nudge it within.

Moving back to wait by the chamber entrance, Menlas placed his back to the wall to the left of it, alternatively glancing down the hall to see if the assassin droid was returning and back towards the armor, searching for any signs of movement.*

Wed Sep 08, 2010 10:02 am by LE-03

*In her contained state, she couldn't perceive anything except for her own thoughts. It wasn't much of a change from her condition for the last six years, but at least then she had been controlling the Revenant. So when her containment unit came into contact with the dataport, it was a blessed release from her prison.. in more ways than one, for she would now be free to truly move...

The dataport sealed itself behind her, and then she was inside, already dispersing herself throughout the suit's circuitry pathways. Her User Interface routines, the methods used for displaying and animating her holographic forms to perfectly mimic organic life, were designed to be adapted; the UI would allow for her to control the mobile unit's movements exactly as a real human would. The miniaturized holoprojectors embedded in the mobile unit's chassis were all still intact; these would allow her to maintain her ability to choose her own image, though given the proportions of the armor, the only form she could adopt that would be able to contain the mobile unit's bulk would be that of a Wookiee. Regardless, it was still an asset; her life had depended on holoprojectors, and she felt comfortable knowing she still had them. At the very least, she would be able to show her chosen avatar's face again.

The chassis itself was almost completely intact, aside from the small dent from the droid's assault, and all the joints reported back as being in working order. She wasn't going to actually move until she had fully integrated herself into the armor: when entering new territory, one always tried to learn as much as possible about the surroundings before moving or doing anything that would draw attention, regardless of the situation. The minithrusters in the back of the boots were still operational, allowing her some added jump height or running speed if the situation warranted it, and the various filters in the helmet that would allow her to use ultrasonic, infrared, and X-ray imaging were reporting all systems nominal. The integrated Force mask built into the helmet came back one hundred percent; this was part of Eliana's purpose behind the armor design. She had never been all that strong in the Force, so she had felt no need to keep herself exposed to it. The Force mask in the woman's helmet had prevented her from using the Force, which in her mind wasn't even a price to pay.. especially since the reverse was true: the mask kept others from sensing her. This wouldn't affect the droid much, except to offer minor protection from some droid-targeting Force abilities, but if she encountered any Jedi, she could maintain that she was alive by saying the Force mask blocked their ability to sense her life-force. She was designed to maintain that illusion, up to and until the point when those with whom she was communicating finally saw through the deception.

The most complex systems in the mobile unit all centered around one component: the cannon. It was modular, able to have different abilities installed depending on the power crystals the user had obtained. During her Vila days, Eliana Shan had become a collector, using various lightsaber crystals to power her main weapon, utilizing their abilities in ways for which they had never been intended. At her peak, the woman had had settings for a flamethrower, a grenade launcher, a sonic pulse emitter, a shockwave emitter (similar in ways to a telekinetic push), an actual electric cannon, and the regular heavy repeater.. She had even toyed with the idea of having the cannon being able to produce an actual coherent lightsaber blade if swordplay came into things, even though her armor had been manufactured for lightsaber resistance (after all, the suit had been designed with the specific mission in mind of hunting down and killing her Jedi brother). But LE-03 had never had most of those installed. It could function as a regular blaster, as would be expected, but right now she only had the add-ons for the flamethrower and the sonic pulse.. and both of those were low on power. They had been offline for some time, and even the most advanced technology suffered over time.

She was as ready as she could hope to be.*

::END LOCKDOWN PROTOCOL.::

*The helmet's visor began glowing, and then a face appeared inside, though this was just a hologram projected inside the glass. The articulated left hand curled and uncurled; the cannon stretched out, the tip swiveled, whirred, and then retracted. The locks holding the armor in place disconnected in sequence, surrounding the armor with a loud hissing noise as the suit emerged from the containment module and took a few heavy steps forward. The suit held up its hand in front of its helmet, still curling and uncurling its fingers, then turned to face the Jedi and tilted its helmet slightly to one side. A soft female voice emerged, sounding completely out of place coming from this mobile powerhouse.*

"..It's about time. Thank you.."

Wed Sep 08, 2010 11:11 am by Arn Menlas

*Awed, Arn only bowed from the waist forward, murmuring,* "Welcome back. Do you require anything?"

Wed Sep 08, 2010 12:10 pm by KR-04

"Transport."

*Despite his density, KR-04 was surprisingly light on his feet (though the droid had no doubt that his infiltration was greatly aided by the doubtlessly enthralling display of Elly's startup procedures), seeming to appear behind the Jedi and the now-mobile construct like a statue formed of thin air.*

"We move as soon as possible. When do you expect transport will arrive, Arn?"

*The droid stared the old soldier down, not making a move for any of his weapons. A missing Jedi, even on a world as backwater as Dantooine, would bring on too much unwanted attention. Plans had to be changed, and despite Elly's vow of partnership, there were simply too many variables in play to allow one machine to trust the other; if she could turn on her creator's best friend (this creator she was supposedly so very loyal to), then she could turn on him every bit as easily.*

Wed Sep 08, 2010 2:40 pm by Arn Menlas

*Head snapping back to where the droid had just appeared, Arn focused on the lifelike blue eyes peering out from the oh-so convincing facade of a human face.

A ghost of a grimace washed over Menlas' bristly face as he stared into the assassin's photo-receptors and saw only emotionless flatness reflected. Not breaking the locked stares, Arn tensed slightly, the Force beginning to gather within his chest as he responded,* "I do not expect any transport to arrive, for I've not called any. Have you? At any rate, I should be returning to the Enclave soon. I believe my business here is at an end."

Wed Sep 08, 2010 3:02 pm by KR-04

"I ask because Elly activated the distress beacon approximately five minutes ago. From the nearest dwellings, when do you expect transport will arrive?"

*Barring the necessary movement of his jaw and synthetic lips, KR-04 didn't so much as bother pretending to breathe as he kept his sights locked on the Jedi before him. He stood as a sentinel, barring the only way out of the room the trio were held in.*

"I also ask because you will accompany Elly and I until you are no longer a threat."

Thu Sep 09, 2010 11:35 am by Arn Menlas

*Arn simply stood spread legged, his shoulders relaxed and ice blue eyes glued to the figure in front of him, a quiet smile bloomed on his face as he remarked,* "And how exactly am I a threat to you, Mr. Irrelevant?"

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