Plot Nar Shaddaa Black Friday

[Maxims Tionson]

Nar Shaddaa was the worst place in the Galaxy as far as Max was concerned but that wasn't why he was so concerned about being here with Rizkacha. No the main reason he was so concerned was the viral outbreak that threatened the people here and, in turn, threatened them far more than a virus actually could because the virus would turn the innocent into the aggressors in an instant.

Oh and the fact that it was happening on Nar Shaddaa somehow made it far worse. Now they had to work in Hutt Space and working in Hutt Space meant either hiding your lightsaber or finding that the locals were never grateful enough to NOT try and shank you for the reward the Hutts had put up for sabers. Max wasn't sure how many people would try and gain said reward but even one would be too many in his eyes.

BD-9 coming along was something of a comfort though; at least one of them was immune should the worst come to pass.

He had his lightsaber hidden away under his robes and visibly was armed with a vibrosword strapped to his waist on the left and a Power 5 Blaster Pistol strapped to his right side. There was panic already beginning to set in around the mall and he and his allies had only just arrived through one of the top floor entrances. The trouble with a mall situated over three levels of Nar Shaddaa's cityscape was that there were a LOT of entrances.

And the diseased were coming.

"BD-9, see if you can find a point to plug in. We need to try and lock the door we came in through." he grimaced, "Rizkacha; we should try and find the security room or someone who might know where it is."

He didn't mean to order them around but, well, time was a factor here.

@WiffWaffs @Lavi

 

[BD 9]

// Right away, sir! // Beedee chirped and got right to work.

There was a panel adjacent to the door that looked promising. The little droid took a great leap, extending his scomp link in mid-air, and landed perfectly on the face. The scomp link went in with a satisfying click and the droid went straight to work. Accessing mainframe. Accessing door controls. Acces--

The panel suddenly burst with energy. BD-9 cried out in surprise, pulling out the scomp link as quickly as he could, and unceremoniously planted his head on the durasteel floor.

The droid ran a quick diagnostic as he tried to right himself. The good news is that his scomp link didn't get fried by the power surge. But the bad news is that the corresponding leg motor got fried instead. The droid flopped on the ground as he tried to stand back up. It is no good: BD-9 is going to need maintenance in order to walk again.

// T-This u-u-u-unit is s-s-sorrrrry. // the droid sputtered out. Perhaps the vocalizer also took damage.

@Nefieslab @WiffWaffs

 

[Rizkacha]

Riz'kacha wasn't really a fan of Nar Shaddaa in the first place, and now that there was a disease outbreak happening she couldn't help but dislike it even more. Still, she had a duty to the people that were still healthy. Equipped with her old Power-5, a vibrosword, and with her Lightsaber (Similarly hidden, of course), she felt ready to take on anything.

That was, of course, until her droid got shocked by the first panel it interacted with on this planet. Things were off to a great start. Immediately, the Twi'lek made her way to the droid and scooped him up in her arms, noticing that one of his two legs wasn't working properly. That was going to be a pain to fix; BD unit parts were practically collectors' items at this point. Still, at the moment, that wasn't the concern, "You poor thing. Perform a diagnostic check, Beedee, and report the damages. We'll need to keep moving for now. I'll make sure to perform maintenance when we get back to the ship, alright?"

Hopefully the stuttering on the droid's part was just stress from too much electricity in its system, and it wasn't a wholesale malfunction. Her gaze shifted to Max, "Understood, Master Tionson. I'll try to track us down a security room so we can effectively lock this establishment down and evacuate the current denizens in a safe manner." After putting BD into her bag and leaving the flap up so that he could see out of it as freely as he wished, she made her way into the crowds and spotted what looked to be security personnel.

"Sir, my companions and I need to find the security room. We know an imminent threat to the security of this establishment, and we need to report it to someone of a higher station in order to organize evacuation." The man stared at the Twi'lek for a couple moments, before simply shrugging and keying his radio, "...This is Dagwood, I'm bringing a couple of people to the security room to talk to the chief. Saying something about some sort of danger. Be there in a few." After he spoke, he looked to the Jedi and jerked a thumb behind him, "This way, folks."

@Lavi @Nefieslab

 

[Maxims Tionson]

Was it strange to find the little BD unit to be almost as painfully adorable as a small child? Maybe but it wasn't his place to judge. Instead he grimaced when BD-9 took the damage both for the reaction it caused and because it left one of the many entrances to the mall wide open, which would promote stampedes to get out as well as making it all the harder to actually defend the place should some of the diseased try and approach.

But damn if he was able to be angry - the sight of the pitifully cute BD unit meant that he didn't need to worry about releasing his anger into the Force because he didn't get angry. He couldn't get angry at the little guy, not when he looked so damned adorable! He sighed a little bit and nodded.

"It's alright BD - we'll get it sorted another way."

The other way seemed to be the security room since Riz managed to get someone to actually believe her enough to get them into the security room. Hurrying alongside Dagwood, they quickly made it to the security room itself where another two guards were lounging around as the commander looked over some screens. At seeing Dagwood with the two disguised Jedi (and adorable droid), the commander rose from his seat and one of the guards took over the job.

"Dagwood - this them?" at the nod from the guard, he eyed them suspiciously, "Commander Artois, local security here. Dagwood said you got some kind of dire warning of danger coming?"

How to explain to someone that people infected with a disease were going to try and break in to eat people alive and infect them in turn? Telling that straight was not something Max thought he could convincingly do. Taking a deep breath he did his best.

"There's a disease that has been released on the planet." he grimaced, "The people infected are... they are beyond rabid. It crosses species lines and can be incredibly easily transferred. A mall like this is a target. Please, just enter a lockdown. If I'm right you'll see it on the exterior holos and people live. If I'm wrong then you're just running a simple test and you can, I don't know, lock me up for wasting your time."

Commander Artois stared at Max like he had grown a second head and for a horrible moment Max though he was going to deny him and things were going to get bloody in the mall. Instead the Force seemed to choose that moment to intervene as the guard watching the screens spoke up.

"Commander, we've got a group of people entering through one of the lower levels... kark there's hundreds of them shuffling around out there... OH KARK!" he pointed at one of the screens, "That crazed bugger just took a bite out of someone!"

A life lost for certain but...

"Initiate lockdown, NOW!" Commander Artois demanded even as he drew a blaster pistol, "You two, and the droid... sit down. I want to know what the hell you've brought down on me."

The lockdown was initiated and the entrances to the mall slammed shut but it was already too late; some of the infected were inside on the lower levels already and already infecting more.

Spoiler: Dice

Max convinces the security boss to declare a lockdown but not only is it partially too late but the man does not trust them!

@Lavi @WiffWaffs

 

[BD 9]

How did this unit end up here? BD-9 bounced around in Riz'kacha's bag as the trio confronted the mall security guards. It was just a door. Is the power grid out of control? Is there malware in the system? Beedee couldn't come to a conclusion that satisfied him. He let down the Jedi. And Riz'kacha especially.

But he could not let his negative feelings show: it would affect the morale of the team, after all!

"It's alright BD - we'll get it sorted another way," Jedi Master Tionson was saying.

// Yessir! // the droid whistled, flapping his antennae in acknowledgement. It seemed that the stutter was only a temporary inconvenience.

Beedee turned to watch the others do their best to convince the guards to listen. All without revealing their affiliations with the Jedi Order. Their reservations, even with the video footage as proof of their sincerity, is going to be a problem.

The droid gave a worried whirr as the camera feeds show the situation deteriorating. While the others talked, Beedee kept tabs on the various screens in case the Jedi needed to reference the events taking place around the mall. Beedee's diligence caught Dagwood's eye and he seemed as much enamoured by the droid as Maxims was.

"Commander, we don't have time for this. We need to move quickly before the situation gets out of control," Dagwood spoke up.

"We don't know how they are involved in this, Dagwood. For all we know, they could have started this whole thing," Commander Artois answered.

"If they instigated this infection, they wouldn't be running over here to warn us," Dagwood countered.

The security commander sighed. "Fine, but confiscate something that we know they'll come back for, as insurance," the commander grumbled, holstering his pistol.

Dagwood nodded. The guard looked over at Riz'kacha and pointed straight at BD-9. "Hand over the droid. We'll keep him here until the two of you can prove yourselves."

Beedee's immediate reaction was to follow the finger past himself, as though the security guard intended to point to something over Riz'kacha's shoulder, but brought his photoreceptor back around to look around the room.

Being used as a bartering chip is not something that BD-9 had in mind. But if the Jedi agree to it, Beedee was willing to do it. It is not as though Beedee would be totally useless in the meantime.

// This unit can operate the security controls from here. Analysis and mapping of the infected's likely trajectories are also possible. // BD-9 reasoned with his companions.

Especially to console Riz'kacha. He knew that the Twi'lek would be least willing to go along with the plan.

@WiffWaffs @Nefieslab

 

[Rizkacha]

The Twi'lek had followed along with the various conversations until they had gotten to the surveillance room, at which point her attention was drawn to the monitors. To be honest, she was concerned about the people approaching. She could feel that something was coming, but she wasn't entirely sure the extent of what she'd gotten herself and her droid into. He was hurt now, and she was worried about him. Poor little guy was cute as a button, and now he had gotten fried by some socket on this stupid planet.

When Commander Artois told her to sit down, she grimaced, but complied before Dagwood came to her rescue. Until he pointed to her beloved droid, "Uh." She simply said, looking to Beedee and thinking. After the droid spoke up, she felt a little better, but he was injured. Could she trust the guards to make sure nothing would happen to him or to give him back? He was a rather rare model of droid, and it wasn't as if he could run away without her this time.

Still, he seemed to trust them, and if the guards were going to trust the Jedi, it was probably best that they trust the guards as well. After all, they had bigger problems to take care of. Sighing, the Twi'lek eventually relented, setting down her bag and reaching into it to pull her little friend out, "You stay safe, Beedee, and stay in contact over comms. If anything happens to you... Don't let anything happen to you, alright?" She handed the little guy over to Dagwood, who promptly sat the droid down near a standard computer port, "Be careful with him. His leg got zapped earlier when we were trying to stop more infected from coming in here."

Dagwood rolled his eyes, repositioning the droid's leg so its scomp link was aimed at the port, "Look ma'am, we're not thieves, alright? Let's keep things moving. These people need our help, so let's help them."

Artois didn't seem to really care about the circumstances, his gun still in his hand, "Can we keep this moving? I'd rather I not have a mall full of flesh eaters ."

@Lavi @Nefieslab

 

[Maxims Tionson]

Well time to get a move on.

Max wasn't crazy about leaving BD alone in the security room with no one but some of the security guards to watch over him but he didn't really want to make an argument about it when there was work to be done. The longer they delayed, the more people would be dead because of their inaction. Gritting his teeth a little bit, Max let out a deep breath before taking charge of the situation again. This time he didn't hesitate to order the security as well.

"Artois, you and Dagwood secure the east set of escalators. Make sure you block them off entirely." he instructed them bluntly before pointing to BD, "Shut down the elevators, BD."

He waved at Riz.

"Riz, you're with me on the west set of escalators. We will be manning an escalator set that we are going to be actively letting people through. We will need to screen them as they come through." he told her before staring at Artois, "Any issues with this?"

The commander stared at him for a long moment before shaking his head. Max didn't care to stick around, leaving the security room immediately and rushing towards the western escalator set. As he neared, he mentally began cataloging which pieces of furniture and art would be useful in forming a barricade.

With most of the people around them completely ignorant of anything that wasn't their own panic, Max was able to easily use Force Enhancement to enhance his strength so he was able to lift a large stone bench into place at the top of the escalators. He used the same trick to pile more on one of the escalators, leaving only one way up that still required some brief climbing. He began to pull some people through the hole, checking them over with the Force for injuries.

If one had a bite he wasn't going to let them through without being stunned.

It was... harsh but the most effective way to maintain order without being cruel.

"Riz, see if you can't project a calming aura in the Force... we need to get them docile or at least co-operative."

Spoiler: Dice

Forming an effective, semi-permeable, barrier

@Lavi @WiffWaffs

 

[BD 9]

It was a little strange to have to rely on the help of organics in order to jack into a simple scomp terminal. But without a working limb, it was less efficient otherwise. BD-9 gave bob of his head as he acknowledged Jedi Master Tionson's orders regarding the elevator and went straight to work. This time without being repelled by an electric current.

Once he was able to, Beedee quickly checked the security cameras, to make sure that he was not locking unwitting civilians inside. Unfortunately, there were. It was difficult to tell whether the people inside were infected or not, but the droid decided to err on the side of caution and let them out. After hijacking the original destination for the elevators, Beedee directed them to pile out into the elevator court, close to where Riz'kacha, Jedi Master Tionson, and the mall security were clustered. It was a lot more people than what the group was probably expecting, but the elevator riders at least appeared fine.

Once the elevators were out of service, Beedee made sure to activate the maintenance mode for them, so that any further attempts to use them would be met with large OUT OF SERVICE signs. That was one issue taken care of.

While BD-9 waited for further orders on comlink, he checked the security cameras that connected directly to the exits to the mall. There was still a lot of confusion, including people trying to get inside the mall for shelter on virtually every level. This was going to get out of hand quickly without immediate action.

@WiffWaffs @Nefieslab

 

[Rizkacha]

The Padawan clearly didn't have any issues with Max's instruction, though she still seemed a bit hesitant about leaving the droid here alone. He was her little buddy after all, and he was probably the closest thing that she had to a close friend at this point. Worry pervaded her thoughts as she continued to move along with Max. She was impressed with his abilities to work with a crowd, as well as his thoroughness when it came to inspections. Clearly, if something happened, he was going to notice.

Getting her orders, the woman nodded to the man, responding with "Right away, Master Tionson." Still, she wanted to check on BD before she started. One little comm check wouldn't hurt, right? "Beedee, how are things on your end? Are you doing okay?" With that out of the way, the woman got back to the task at hand, though her mind wandered even as she tried her best to guide the force. The distraction and worry in her mind was reflected in the calming energies that she was supposed to be giving the crowd. Even as they calmed down, something else pervaded their minds as well; a sort of paranoia that came with worry.

In the end, she had succeeded, but with it there was a clear unrest in the crowd. They could tell that something was wrong, and they could also tell that they were being manipulated. Despite her good intentions, the crowd stared at the force users as they guided them past, mistrust and uneasiness in their eyes. For all they knew, the Jedi were just leading them into more danger. Still, they knew that the Jedi were some sort of authority figures, and that they should probably listen to them despite the gut feelings that something was definitely wrong.

@Lavi @Nefieslab

 

[Maxims Tionson]

Some of the crowd were upset, which was easy to see, but most of them were still being funneled through rather easily. Of course this state of affairs was always going to be temporary as they all knew that there were Infected down on the lower level and they would be coming into play soon.

And as if by magic a group of them came into view.

Thirteen Infected and counting so far and already the civilians were beginning to feel more and more panicked. Cursing slightly, Max nodded to Riz.

"Weapons free Riz!" he instructed the Padawan before touching his com link, "BD, can you try and activate a fire alarm on the bottom level away from the stairs? The sound should draw them."

Hopefully.

Drawing his blaster pistol, Max gripped it tightly in his hand and all of a sudden it was as though he was a cop again, using the blaster pistol rather than a lightsaber. He shook slightly before sighting down and pulling the trigger. With the Infected, stun rounds were useless so he was firing with lethal force and it was... jarring.

Thankfully his aim was almost automatic, ingrained as it were. He blasted in quick succession, shooting dead the four Infected closest to the bottom of the stairs and the remaining civilians. If anything his eagle-eyed shooting calmed down some of the civilians, reassuring them that their protectors knew what they were doing.

Spoiler: Dice

Enemy numbers? 13
Max shoots and scores!

@Lavi @WiffWaffs

 

[BD 9]

As Beedee monitored the cameras, he could hear Riz's concerned voice on the comlink. It is not unexpected for him to hear fro the Twi'lek, considering what they have been through together thus far. // This unit is performing within acceptable parameters! //

Eventually, the droid received new orders from Master Tionson. Fire alarms? BD-9 understood what Master Tionson was getting at, but his calculations indicated that, due to the layout of the mall, attracting the infected to any specific fire alarm was likely to block routes that survivors could take to get to the barricades that the Jedi had prepared. However, there was an alternate solution.

BD-9's scomp link spun as he accessed the security systems for a music store within the mall. After selecting a playlist and increasing speaker volumes to maximum, he - as organics would say - let it rip. The effect was immediate: many slowed their approach to the barricades, turning their attention to the empty music store, including three of the infected closest to the survivors, leaving only six left to contend with. The current of unliving turned towards the music, leaving a more open path to safety.

The music itself was the sort that one would expect to hear at a club or dance floor, with a heavy beat to conduct the audience. Beedee felt as satisfied with his choice of tune as warding away the threat from his companions.

@WiffWaffs @Nefieslab

 

[Rizkacha]

Hearing BD-9's archaic beeping over the comms, it calmed the woman down and put a smile on her face. At the very least, she seemed to be brought back to reality after her slight blunder with the crowd. By now, with her fellow Jedi's work and the droid's management of the radio systems in the music store, there weren't many left and the crowd was more or less getting to safety. Still though, minimizing risks was important and as long as the shambling crowd kept moving towards them they weren't out of the woods yet.

The Twi'lek reached for the Power-5 on her belt and drew it, just as quickly letting rounds rip towards the remaining crowd. Though her accuracy still left much to be desired, her fingers were quick and the sheer quantity of blaster bolts sizzling through the air brought down three more of the shambling enemies. Though she didn't feel much like a Jedi doing this, she didn't mind. It was all for a good cause, after all.

"Three more down, Master Tionson! I believe there are only three left." She reported, before flipping back on her comms, "Good work with the distraction, Beedee! Once all this is done you might've earned yourself an oil bath, my friend."

@Lavi @Nefieslab

 

[Maxims Tionson]

So far they were doing well both at dropping the infected with violence and with cunning. It seemed that BD was doing a good job up there in the control room once again and Riz was proving herself to be quite the crack shot as well. From his vantage point, Max could see that they were, indeed, down to a mere three infected to defeat before the last of the civilians could be considered safe.

This bode well for their evacuation.

Reaching into the Force, Max pulled back his left hand as he prepared a Force Push. The idea was to knock the infected down without endangering the civilians any further but just as he was preparing to release it, he was nudged from behind by a fleeing civilian by accident. Too late to stop his motion, he released the Force Push with his aim off.

Grunting as he was knocked to the knees, he cursed as he saw he had sent four civilians tumbling to the ground rather than the targetted infected.

Spoiler: Dice

Max is jostled and his aim is off

@Lavi @WiffWaffs

 

[BD 9]

BD-9 could see on the video feed that the few remaining civilians were struggling to get to safety. He went back to work, hoping to be able to turn on the escalator controls so that the civilians would be able to ride them to safety. Fortunately, the escalators did turn on as he commanded.

Except the civilians were riding the wrong set of escalators. Although they were not quick, the moving steps brought the civilians that were trying to get back on their feet closer to the remaining infected.

// Uh oh! // Beedee cried out in surprise as he quickly turned the escalators back off.

Even though the droid was able to stop the movement of the escalators, the remaining infected were virtually on top of the remaining survivors. BD-9 could only watch as one civilian was grabbed by one of the remaining unliving beings, moments away from being turned into one of them.

@WiffWaffs @Nefieslab

 

[Rizkacha]

The civilian was faced with certain death after two accidental botches, but luckily for him, a blaster bolt streaked through the air and stopped the unliving being dead in its tracks. Again, that is. Two more bolts streaked through the air, finishing the immediate threats and leaving one lonesome walker to try to maneuver rather unsuccessfully over his slumped over friends. He'd have to be dealt with sooner rather than later, but for now he wasn't an immediate danger to the civilians that were on the escalator.

Letting the civilians take a moment to recover, the Twi'lek finally spoke up once more, "You are safe for now, but you should get moving quickly before that changes. We will do our best to keep them off of you." Riz'kacha gave a look to the Jedi with her, hoping that she was doing a good enough job. She then switched to her comms, "Beedee, how're the cameras looking? Are there more coming?"

@Nefieslab @Lavi

 

[Maxims Tionson]

Max was not good with electronics.

Upon seeing that it would probably be a good idea to get the enemy trapped downstairs, he immediately turned to the controls of the escalator. As the last of the living managed to make their way up to the uninfected level, Max broke open the metal control panel and took a look at the insides.

He really wished that BD was here for this but even just turning the escalators off would help to slow the tide of the infected right? Anything but the upwards rotation that currently had them literally being carried up to the uninfected levels. Reaching out with the Force, Max sought guidance on how to approach the delicate chips and wires... and then went with his gut instinct, flipping several switches and pulling out a fistful of wires he had no idea of the function of.

It worked!

Somehow.

Not only did the escalator now go down instead of up but it looked like it was actually sparking - as though he had managed to run a current through the metal steps. One of the infected touched the steps and not only was it pushed down again but it shuddered and fell backwards, having been shocked. Max breathed a sigh of relief.

"Level secure from the escalators." he reported via com link as he nodded to Rizkacha, "If we can get some of the public to assist we should be able to attract them to the lower areas we can see from up here and blast them apart."

This was, after all, Nar Shaddaa so it went unsaid that likely every civilian was packing heat.

Spoiler: Dice

Electric slide!

@Lavi @WiffWaffs

 

[BD 9]

"Beedee, how're the cameras looking? Are there more coming?"

// Checking! // Beedee beeped as he flipped through the various cameras.

It seems that a handful of the infected somehow managed to make their way on the second floor, where the group was situated, but it was hardly a number to feel too concerned over.

// A small number of infected detected outside Suite 238. No other activity detected. // the droid reported.

It appeared that way, at least. Even though BD-9 had access to all of the cameras, there were notable dead zones in the camera coverage. Perhaps some of the cameras were damaged or out of commission. In any case, the droid couldn't put a precise number on the infected count to be aware of on the upper level. That also does not include the infected loitering outside; there is no way to estimate how long it will take until they take interest in the mall.

In the meantime, Beedee remained dutifully at his post. Not that he could go anywhere with a disabled leg actuator, anyways.

@WiffWaffs @Nefieslab

 

[Maxims Tionson]

There were some of them up here with them? Well that wasn't too much of a shock but it was something to be taken care of for sure - thankfully there didn't seem to be too many of them. Rushing over to where BD had pointed them out, Max narrowed his eyes slightly before drawing his vibrosword.

Two enemies.

Thankfully the civilians seemed to be keeping the hell away from them and that was good - Max didn't exactly want his issues to start multiplying because people were getting infected. With his vibrosword out, he rushed in. Using the Force he amplified his speed and swung only once.

The slice cut one of their heads clean in half but the angle had been slightly wrong; instead of also slicing through the head of the other in the middle, it only sliced off the top of it's skull. Unfortunately leaving the creature still capable of attacking. Cursing, Max found himself grappling with the creature, keeping himself away from it's snapping jaws but currently in a bit of a pickle when it came to actually dispatching it like the other.

Spoiler: Dice

Two infected left
Only one left - but he's grabby!

@WiffWaffs @Lavi

 

[BD 9]

Beedee watched as Master Tionson went after the remaining infected. It initially seemed like the Jedi would be able to handle them without an issue, but the tussle devolved quicker than igniting oil.

// Master Tionson is in trouble! // Beedee whistled.

The droid's warning blared loudly on Riz's comlink, attracting the attention of Artois. The security commander's face hardened as he realized what was going on. At this range, it was going to take a precise shot in order to avoid hitting Maxims. Resting his pistol on the balcony railing, Artois lined up his shot and waited. It would take a precise moment in order to get a clean target to hit.

All the while, the infected latched itself onto Maxims, its nails digging into his skin and drawing blood as the Jedi struggled. The grip kept the lightsaber from being swung. And just as the infected went for a bite, Artois pulled the trigger. The single shot struck the infected in the neck, dropping the creature right onto the Jedi's lap.

"Ha! You owe me one!" the commander shouted, impressed by his own shot.

With that taken care of, Beedee did a final sweep of the camera feeds.

// No more infected detected on the upper levels. Securing entrances. // Beedee reported.

With a spin of the scomp panel, the doors leading into the mall were locked, preventing any more infected from entering the building. Although the mall is not infected-free, at least the situation is under control and its occupants safe for now.

Commander Artois holstered his weapon, and turned his men "Right. Dagwood, get a headcount of who we have. And make sure no one's been hurt by those... things."

// END THREAD

@Nefieslab @WiffWaffs