On Strike - Riots on Krildor

[Jessica Cloud]

Prologue
Kril'dor

Kril’Dor is a massive green Gas Giant, one that harvests large amounts of Tibanna to sell to the rest of the Galaxy. Tibanna gas is a rare substance excreted by gas-filled creatures called Beldons and is a valuable resource for weapons. Once cohesive light passes through it, Tibanna produces four times the amount of energy. Although too unstable for smaller weaponry, it is used widely with turbolasers and guns found on large starships. In light of the heavy Sith attacks, it would be prudent for us to obtain a direct source of Tibanna for our defenses and the Peacekeeper.

On one of the mining platforms, the workers are upset with their pay and the poor working conditions. Because of this, they’ve gone on strike and small riots have broken out on the platform. The employers, despite the riots and lack of work, are still unwilling to fix the miner’s issues. This could prove disastrous to the mining platform, as the riots could escalate and cause it to plunge into the core of the gas giant.

.....

The Eagle
Administrative Platform, Kril'dor

Jessica Cloud stepped down the boarding ramp of the Jedi Transport Ship and squinted against the noise. The docking bay of the large admin platfrom was undergoing make-shift repairs and the fix-it droids were well into their work. Bulkheads were being replaced and broken glass was being swept away. Indeed. It was a bad sign already. The Eagle had seen it's fair share of riots before. But this? ...This was already painting an ugly, ugly picture.

Cloud stepped down onto the harsh metal deck and looked around for their escort. Huh? Nobody. Nobody had come to greet them. Strange. This arrangement had been on the books for days. I doubt the stations just forgot.

"I've got a bad feeling about this."

Jess murmured to herself. Best to get a better look of what was going on about the station now. It was already obvious their was trouble. Clad in her dark leather trench coat, she looked every bit the stealthy Inquisitor she was. Dark, dangerous, and already wondering if she should have brought a bigger gun. Cloud was nothing like your typical orthodoxy. She was born for the shadows. Expecting nothing. Believing even less.

She turned to her newest Jedi partner as he appeared on deck,

"Alright. Well? I guess we're going to have to find the Command Bridge on our own. Heh. The pleasure tour stops here, i guess. ...Man. Right before it even started. Sheesh."

She smiled and slipped her small holdout pistol into her jacket,

"Welp. Here we go."

.....

@Cainhurst Crow

 

[Cainhurst Crow]

Djura Volfe was not the type of force sensitive who was skilled in sensing things through their connection. Indeed, his abilities for combat such as augmentation or telekinesis were high, but when it came to sensing danger or the intentions of others, the knight was dulled and muted in that regard.

Even so however, he could tell something was off. Logical deduction and the current damage spoke volumes that the protests were beginning to take a dark turn, and he adjusted the trechcoat he wore to pull the collar closer to himself.

"I'd rather not draw my weapon until we have an enemy in sight. No need to give the wrong idea for the protestors or the administration." The knight said, dressed in rather modern looking attire of a trench-coat, a suit, pants, shoes, and a shirt and tie. It was a departure from a tradition robe outfit, but he was still an orthodox knight of the order, a warrior of the light, but an adherent to it nonetheless. It was part of a jedi's responsibilities to broker peace, and he was sure they'd be able to handle a simple dispute.

Assuming it had remained simple, "I am curious who struck first, the administrators or the protestors." He commented as he walked cuatious with the others, channeling the energies of the force and preparing to send himself into a speed enhanced attack should he need it. "I truly hope we can even get the two in the same room without violence. These workers do deserve to be given a fair chance, at the least." He said, having sympathy for those in a less well off social situation.

@Jessica Cloud

 

[Jessica Cloud]

For such a hard looking guy, Volfe seemed a soft touch.

"Sure sure. Same kark, different day."

Jess had a more soldierly, weathered attitude to dealing with problems. One. They never stopped. And two. The universe was rarely as benevolent and caring as the children's tales made it seem. Work was just work. Jedi work and all.

She closed her coat to hide her firearm, flak vest, and saber. He was right about that though. No need to appear armed and dangerous until it was time to be, armed and dangerous.

"I'm not sensing anything crazy right now. Let's just look around and see where this goes."

She took the lead and moved into the linked compounds and hallways that made up the floating station. It was as haphazard in it's decoration as it was in it's construction. Easily mistaken in places for a boy's locker room, a naval vessel of poor-repute, and a shopping mall without any customers. Making the entire station somewhat difficult to describe in one single sweeping brush of expression. It was... A mixed bag, for sure.

However. One thing did become a pattern. There was damage, spray paint, and broken glass everywhere. Signs of a moving riot. Not just a peaceful plaza protest. And even after ten minutes of walking down beat up halls and long-lost alleyways? The only people they had seen were quick to disappear just as easily.

"I'm sensing at least sixty people grouped together in that direction. Might be our rioters. Might be our people. Hard to say."

Cloud stopped on a grated walkway overlooking a vast industrial expanse. Then turned to Djura,

"By the way? You ever had much experience brokering trade deals or cease-fires before? ...I mean. Last time we met. You had just left a bar fight in a spice hub, and left a few of their fellows rather worse-for-wear. You sure you can handle this?"

It wasn't so much a challenge as it was a request. Jess needed to know Volfe had her back if the kark hit the fan. If this mission went south? Well. She didn't want to be the only Jedi Knight making it back to the ship in one piece.

She needed a badass.

.....

@Cainhurst Crow

 

[Cainhurst Crow]

"That was different. Those people were scum, drug pushers and thugs. These are just people, angry and not thinking clearly..." Djura said as he looked around the area and frowned. It was a mess, and few others words could describe the hodgepodge of different designs and materials then that of a mess. The knight felt uncomfortable here, and he wondered how much longer they'd go before seeing someone.

Unlike Jess, Djura could not feel through the force so easily. He had to take her word for it that things were as she said up ahead. As the two walked however, a loud crash was heard behind them. Djura turned around, saber out of his coat and ignited as he looked to see one of the repair droids, having come to this side of the station as they had torn off a piece of bent wall siding and were going to work straightening it back out. Djura relaxed a bit, giving a shudder of his shoulder as he looked towards Jess.

"This place seems to be making me a bit jumpy. Forgive me..." He said as he deactivated his saber, slipping it back inside of his coat where he had managed to draw it within a fraction of a second. Djura looked back to see more droids doing repairs, noticing a few of them pausing at odd intervals, others collecting the broken materials and placing them into the walls as they got to work, using them as patchwork repairs.

Djura shurgged it off for now, walking to move deeper into the complex. As the two moved they could hear the faintest sound of voices. The riots had evidently taken them down a few hallways, the smashed panneling and flickering lights appearing recent as a voice began to echo out along the large corridor that was leading towards the main offices.

"No Justice, No Peace! No More Blood Spilled On Our Streets!" It sounded like one voice, and followed by many, a chant that was being led by someone, but by whom, it was uncertain. The slogan was marked on a few of the walls, and there seemed to be some service droids that lay demolished against walls. They were the first signs of violence against anything resembling a sentient, and the droids had been torn to pieces.

Djura frowned as he approached the droids. Compared to the rest of the station the violence on the droids seemed to be especially viscous. What worried him however, was there still didn't seem to be a lot of people.

"I was afraid of this..." Djura said honestly as he bent down to take a closer look at the droid, seeing what seemed to be plasma burns on its surface, "Whoever did this was armed...could be a torch, could be a blaster. It seems I might have been the kind of jedi needed for this after all." He said regretably. He was the kind of jedi who solved things with violence, and he had hoped he'd be able to use his tounge for this. It wasn't that he wasn't persuasive, but it was just his skills favored one approach over another.

He really hoped he was wrong, but for now, he proceeded with caution, a saber hilt in his hand, but not yet activated, as he made his way deeped into the station.

@Jessica Cloud

 

[Jessica Cloud]

Jessica nodded to Djura's observations about the droids. This place was a mess. That was for sure.

With a touch of discomfort, they moved deeper into the station. Eventually arriving at a very colorfully decorated hanger bay. There were no ships, no trucks. No delivery cargo and no repair droids in sight. There was however, a very tense-looking gathering of workers below them on the bottom deck. Jess' senses had been right too. About sixty bodies crowded the vast expanse. High above them, on the third deck of the hanger, carefully decorated with red movement banners and obnoxious propaganda posters, was the ringleader and his lieutenants. A thin white-haired man of no more than thirty years old. He held a microphone to his lips and looked upon the gathered crowd through round distasteful spectacles. Even from this distance Jess could tell that his hands were badly burned and patched up like field work. Even so, his voice was all fervor and blast. Shaking his bandaged fist at the world,

"They can't treat us like this any longer! We've taken the Bow and we've emptied the Burner! Let them come to us now! Let them know. ...Let them know who we are!"

"Yeahhh!"

This was obviously a rally of some sort. Well decorated and composed. Their host was even flanked up high by his numerous staff members. All rebellion. All fluff. Yet... All white collar paperwork too. Funny that. Some of these people up there looked they had been pulled straight from their cubicles and desk jobs. Others? The blue collar types below. Jumpsuits and heat gloves. An interesting visual separation. Even for these downtrodden underdogs.

Jess stepped to the railing of the second deck and glanced down. Then glanced up. Probably best to find Station Administration before engaging with the local mob. At least to get a top-down survey of things. Riot gangs like this one tended to give bad field intel. Or... In the case of many a local file. Sometimes they gave the best.

Cloud tilted her head up towards the charismatic platform high above them,

"Should we engage this party or keep looking? Station Administration might be the better place to start?"

Among the visual busyness of the largely decorated bay. It was unlikely our heroes would be spotted anytime soon.

.....

@Cainhurst Crow

 

[Cainhurst Crow]

"The administration will have some security footage, at the very least..." Djura said as he looked down towards the crowd and the chanting. A small group, but they'd be hard to contend with if they turned hostile. Djura's Ataru made him adept at hand to hand combat, but against so many foes he'd be easily overwhelmed. And he refused to draw his sabers against these people for expressing their anger in the wrong way. They deserved better then that.

"Even if they don't however, that infromation will help us get a better picture on events. Even information one doesn't learn can be valuable." Djura said as he took a step back from the railing, looking to Jessica as he adjusted his sleeves, "Come on, let's find someone in charge and get some answers. I'm tired of running into these damned droids." He said, aware of the sound of the repair droids working on the hallway behind them, having come to patch up the platform from its damage.

@Jessica Cloud

 

[Jessica Cloud]

Jess turned and eyed the droids. One of them stopped and seemed to just stare back at her. It made the danger sense on the back of Cloud's neck tingle. But nothing came of it. The robot went back to being a robot and Jess snapped out of her trance just as quickly.

"Sure. This way."

.....

Administration looked like a skyscraper jammed into a train station. This was where all the public transportation came to a HUB too. A giant glass building above a transparent canopy of sound. Even now one of the station's yellow trams came screeching to a halt. Hissing to a complete stop and slowly folding open it's cargo bay doors. Red lights turned to green as the trams cargo unloaded itself. Jess and Djura stepped off the tram and sighed at the sight. This place had seen a riot too. What a mess.

"Funny. Did you just happen to notice that we were the only ones on that train?"

She smirked at the obvious. This place was definitely on lock down. That tram they just stepped off of had been running on remote.

"What do you bet somebody saw us on the cameras and let us on? I doubt these trams have been getting out much, eh."

The green lights above the station returned back to their brilliant red hue. Letting an entire empty platform of zero passengers know. Yep. These shuttles weren't going anywhere. Anytime soon.

"I guess we head up then. Nowhere else to wander..."

The sentence trailed off as Jess was busy examining the tram station's damage. Like the other sections this was burned and stripped in places. However? There were no droids here. Only corpses of them. Blaster holes in them too. Precise. Somebody was aiming to put these things down too. Funny... These droids seemed different somehow.

*ding ding*

Her train of thought was broken as the glass elevator to Administration arrived. Oh!? It did appear somebody was watching their progress on the monitors? And they were even so kind as to send another ride. How sweet.

Cloud motioned to the glass elevator as it's wide doors sprung open and inviting. Looks like they were going UP after all,

"Well. Ahem. ...After you?"

.....

@Cainhurst Crow

 

[Cainhurst Crow]

((ooc: sorry for the wait))

Djura was cautious as he walked into the place, seeing the damage and feeling a general sense of unease as he did so. "The rioters made it all the way here...but then, if that's the case, why were they all the way back there." Djura asked as he pointed a thumb behind them. Something strange was going on here, but he couldn't get much further as the elevator arrived to take them to the administration office.

When they arrived at the top floor, there wasn't anyone to greet them, but instead at the front desk, a hologram appeared of a man in his late 50's, human by the looks of him, with his hands behind his back, and looking quite regretful about something.

"Ahhh, you must be the jedi sent to help. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Administrator Maiovs, A pleasure to meet you." He said, his accent showing that he was likely from the core worlds, at least sounding like it came from one of those planets, "I'm sorry for meeting you like this. The staff and I are currently in lock down from the riots. I'm afriad until the state of emergancy has cleared, we cannot leave the security of our safe zone." the man said, Djura raising a brow as he spoke.

"How many of you are there?" He asked the hologram, looking around as he saw the cameras in the room watching them. There was a mild bit of damage in the rather luxurious looking reception area. A wooden desk and polished stone floor had some minor chips in it. Nothing that major however.

"There are about 60 of us in total, myself and a few others, as well as the accounting and managerial teams. The rioters you see, made it all the way up here. They attacked some of the guards. After wards it was determined that nobody could leave until the situation was resolved. Essentially, we're trapped here until this facility is no longer under attack by those criminals posing as employees."

Djura looked towards Jess before looking back to the man they talked to. He didn't seem to trust what he was saying, but didn't express it outright, as he spoke again, "Thank you, Maiovs. Me and my fellow jedi would be happy to help. Tell me, could you direct me us tot he archieves. We'd like footage of the riot, to see what we're dealing with." He asked.

"Of course. I'll dispatch a protocol droid to help lead you there. Any footage that can help you, The Xtib Corporation would be more then happy to hand over for your investigation." The hologram said, its owner looking a bit less morose as a panel on the side of a wall opened, and a protocol droid waddled out, turning to the two and giving a nod.

"This way, to the security archieve room, please." The droid said, djura looking to jess to see if she wanted to follow it or ask the administrator any more questions.
@Jessica Cloud

 

[Jessica Cloud]

Jess didn't have any immediate questions as the others talked. Though she did find it odd that she couldn't sense any people in the whole building. Where ever this 'safe zone' was? It sure wasn't in Administration.

She waved Djura ahead. Cloud wanted to start from square one before diving in,

"Mr. Maiovs? What exactly were the demands of the station's crew? I understand there were riots, yes. However, just what exactly caused this disturbance in the first place? If we could better understand the concerns and causes of this situation, we'd be happy to help fix it."

Jess wouldn't need footage. Maiovs seemed resource enough for now. At least... Until she could talk with the crews themselves, as well.

.....

@Cainhurst Crow

 

[Cainhurst Crow]

There was a moment of silence before Maiovs spoke again, keeping the same formal tone as he spoke, "These riots began with little warning. There was an attempted tampering and destruction of property for the Xtib Corporation. Standard protocol was taken to deal with the culprits, however, the workers of this station seemed to take this as a reason to rebel." The administrator said as the protocol looked at them, tilting its head in a manner all of them seemed to do.

"I see...and I suppose the security footage would support that, correct?" Djura asked as he glanced towards Jess, thumbing towards the elevator as he kept his hand behind his back and out of view of the cameras.

"That is correct. All footage has been reviewed, and I assure you. It will show you exactly as I've said." THe admin said as he gave a nod of his head, turning to look as he brought his hand back from behind his back and to clasp them together in front of him.

"Thank you for your time, Administrator. I believe we are ready to confront these, rebels as you put it, and dispense justice." Djura said as he turned to walk towards the elevators, the administrator giving a short farwell as they left.

"Best of lucky, Jedi. On behalf of the Xtib Corproation, you have our gratutiude." Maiovs said as the doors slid shut and they began their descent downwards. Djura turned to look at his partner as he spoke up.

"The footage has been compromised. We need to talk to the rioters themselves. Hopefully get something other then anger out of them." Djura said as he rolled his shoulders, bringing a hand up to rub the back of his neck, "You sense anything off about our administrator there?"

@Jessica Cloud

 

[Jessica Cloud]

The elevator went down. Leaving Jess a moment to catch her breath and ponder upon their short conversation with the Station Master,

"Only that he mentioned that the rioters had been dealt with in a 'usual' manner. Which is ridiculous in excess. Bah. There is no 'standard' procedure for dealing with this kind of scenario. Not in any corporate environment I've ever heard of anyway. He was clearly trying to pad his reputation or cover up some terrible mishap on his end. A bluff. As usual."

She shrugged. It wasn't the first time a white collar criminal had played the 'business as usual' card in regards to extreme situations. A hand dealt out of pride and a bruised ego. Always. Kiddie stuff for a Jedi to notice.

"I should probably also mention that I didn't sense our Station Master anywhere in the building either. Where ever he's hiding? It's not here. Hmph."

The elevator dinged and they returned to the tram station.

"By the way. I noticed you wanted to leave Administration as soon as possible? Why was that Djura? I mean. I had actually hoped to use some of their camera feeds to survey the rest of the station. It is a command HUB after all. Another fifteen minutes with Maiovs wouldn't have killed us?"

The tram lights turned green again and the railways were now open for use. Yet. The station's security cameras seemed all the more menacing now. As if Jessica knew in the back of her mind that Administrator Maiov's was always watching. Thank goodness then that he couldn't hear them. At least she could speak openly with her partner about his concerns.

A busy day ahead of them indeed.

____

@Cainhurst Crow

 

[Cainhurst Crow]

"He wasn't in the building? That seems very odd..." Djura stated as they came to the ground level, heading for the tram to take them towards the rioters location. He heard her question about the video as he spoke up, "Call it a bad hunch, but I had a feeling when I asked him about the footage, that it wouldn't be reliable. Remember, he said it'd show exactly what he said it would." He pointed out. He didn't want to chance that that meant more then just the past footage.

"Regardless. I want to hear these peoples sides of the story as soon as possible." He said, as the tram came ot its destination and the two got out of it. As they approached the location the rioters had been, the shouts grew louder, and something seemed off. The shouting had become more angry, aggressive.

As the two came out into the large walkway that overlooked the courtyard the rioters were in, they saw them gathered around a few droids. The droids had been severly damaged, the workers attacking the in a semi-circle with anything they could get their hands on, piping, metal furnature, and a few of the tools they used on the job site, and all of them looked out for blood.

Even djura could sense the rioters were brimming with fury as he sprang into action, "Stop! All of you!" He called out as he leaped down from the top of the platform to the bottom, landing in a crouch as a man on the makeshift stage looked towards the two.

"Well well, what have we here?" He called out, his voice amplified by the speaker he'd rigged up, as a few of the rioters turned from destroying the repair droids to look towards the exposed jedi, "Some dark dressed mans come to tell us what to do again. And what are you going to say this time for those bastards at admin, huh? That there's nothing wrong with the droids? That everything here is just fine and dandy?" He called.

Djura could tell that things were tense. The man leading this group was dressed in simple worker clothes and a plain brown jacket. He looked like he hadn't slept in days, dark rings and dropping whispy hair and an unhealthy palor to him.

"My name is Djura Volfe. I'm a jedi knight sent here to help settle peace between you and the administration here. I just want to know whats happening, and what has happened at this station. Nothing else..." he said, hoping his explination would help put the people here at ease.

@Jessica Cloud

 

[Jessica Cloud]

Hank Brisko. Simple worker clothes and a plain brown jacket. Though he hadn't slept in awhile poor old Hank could still carry a drifter's wrench over his big shoulders like it was nothing. Djura had guessed right. This was definitely the guy to talk to.

"Chaos." Hank started with. As his fellows began to nod in kind. "What you see here is what happens when middle management goes bad."

He kicked a droid and pointed his large wrench at the broken robot,

"This here be one of their foot soldiers. Ever since Kim and Barts took the Factory from em', they've been sending these little ones as scouts. Just looking for another opportunity to surprise us again. Bah. Well... That ain't gonna happen. We're on to them now."

Then Hank moved to point his big wrench at Djura Volfe,

"And you. I don't know what a Jedi Knight is. But if you're working for Pincher? We ain't about to be friends."

...

Jess pursed her lips from the upper platform and nodded. So far they'd learned a few things from this one. One. Robots had gone bad. Two. Somebody named Pincher seemed to be a bad guy. Three. The droid Factory had already been sacked by the rioters too. Interesting. Oh. And four. Some of the rioters hadn't ever seen a Jedi before. Good. Surprise is always an advantage.

Cloud moved to the stairs and calmly began the route down to join Djura. After all. When surrounded by peasants, she hated using any visible display of the Force. She could take the stairs. They had time.

.....

@Cainhurst Crow

 

[Cainhurst Crow]

"Don't know what a-, Jedi Knights are defenders of peace and order in the galaxy. We have protected the galaxy for centuries." Djura said, a glint of anger edging into his voice as he spoke. He calmed himself down as he spoke again, "I'm not on anyone;s side yet. I just want answers as to whats going on, and to try and help this platform get back to normal, for everyone."

 

[Jessica Cloud]

Brisko couldn't help but shrug at Djura's comfort level. If some interloper wanted to show up and claim to be the Tetan Emperor? That was fine too. Hank Brisko had just been through hell and back. Fighting for his life against an army of crazy robots. Nahh. One man with one eye ain't gonna change nothing.

"Wow. You some kind of savior then ain't cha. Well boys? What do you say. Are we gonna let this guy 'save us'?"

A few of the rabble chuckled. Most just frowned.

"Look little buddy. You want answers. You want to 'save the galaxy'? Feth. Go find Kim down in the Foundry's Arc. She'll get you up to speed. Might even give you a weapon too so you can survive a bit longer down here. Heh."

Hank shrugged and started to feel his weariness again. Damned robots.

"Come on boys. We got more tunnels to clear. Let's move out!"

Jessica rounded a corner as the rioters returned to their smashing ways. She came to stand next to Volfe and nodded.

"Well. That went well. ...Shall we kill them all for destruction of private property or go find Kimmy? Your call."

She smiled a deviant smile. The answer was obvious. Go find this infamous Mrs Kim.

.....

@Cainhurst Crow

 

[Cainhurst Crow]

Djura looked to jessica cloud as he adjusted his coat, a sour look on his face as he spoke, "I don't know what you've heard of me but I don't make it a habit to wantonly slaughter." Djura said as he got ready to move onto the factory and finally get some answers, "Something is going wrong, but I'm still looking for answers. Why are the droids the workers enemies, and whom any of the names they mentioned are." He said, as he headed down the courtyards passageway and following the signs towards the factory.

It wasn't long, a half hour walk at most, but eventually they came to the area where the droids were produced for the processing plant. The signs of damage were pretty clear, though this time much more pronounced then before. Destroyed droids were mixed with people in security armor, clear signs of a battle here as djura looked around.

"This battle...the security teams...were they fighting these droids?" He asked aloud, turning one of the men over whom had what looked like a large spike impaled through the chest, "This doesn't make any sense. These droids are just a bunch of maintenance droids. They shouldn't be able to put up so much of a fight."

@Jessica Cloud

 

[Jessica Cloud]

Jess smiled but made a mental note. Volfe had no, sense of humor.

Together they came to the Factory. Or, what was left of it anyway. Djura had even found a fresh body. Spike-through-the-chest and all. Ugh. Gross.

"I'm guessing this was all part of Maiov's 'business as usual' plan. Probably turned the droids on the rioters when things got hot. Messy business that. Still... It's starting to paint a picture."

Cloud spoke as if war and death were just happenstance. Casual flavors in a casual universe. She had seen to much of it already to let such simple slaughter faze her. She was numb to the site of just more dead men. It guess this was her version of business as usual. This is just what a Jedi sees.

One of the men is security armor spotted them and waved them over,

"Hey! You guys. You just came from the outer deck yeah? That's brave man. We thought those repair were everywhere. How did you..."

He suddenly begins to notice that Djura and Jessica are not from around here. Though, Cloud wonders what gave it away.

"Nevermind. You guys look new. Which crew are you with?"

Jess waves a magical hand and smiles with suggestion,

"Brisko's. We're here to see Kim."

The security man seems to flinch. Then he shrugs with acceptance of the magical lie and continues,

"She's up top with Barts and Mello. They're talking about fixing the power generator or something. Here. Just take the lift over there. They'll probably want a report about Brisko's recon team anyway."

"Thanks." Jess nodded. Then turned to Djura, "More elevators? Wonderful. Hehe. ...Here. After you."

Cloud shrugged as they moved through the Factory's dirty underbelly. Just glad that finally, finally they might be able to talk somebody who could give them some real answers. The Leaders of the Riots.

.....

@Cainhurst Crow

 

[Cainhurst Crow]

The elevators arrived at the top of the factory and djura led the front as he walked forward at a brisk pace, looking around like an animal on the edge. He didn't like not having answers, and he could be unflexable when it came to his own morals and ideals. This entire situation, therefore, made him quite uneasy as he worked his way to see two individuals standing together.

Barts and Mello were in the top level of the factory, in the head office. Barts appeared to be a simple technician, going over some of the stations blueprints, while Mello was a larger fellow, heavyset up built like a weightlifter, salt of the earth as he stood with his arms crossed. He turned to look at the new people who had come and gave a raised brow.

"Who the hell are you?" Mello asked, his tone gruff and sounding like the kind of man who smoked a pack for breakfest. Djura gave a short bow as he spoke, "Jedi Knight Djura Volfe, I have come with my associate, Jedi Knight Cloud, to help restore peace to this station. I was told you could help give us answers." He said, keeping his composure as Barts head looked up.

"The jedi? So someone's noticed whats happened here. Thank goodness." The wirey individual said with a sigh of relief as mello held out a hand in front of the man to silence him, "Now Now, I ain't heard nothin 'bout these knight fellows. We ain't know who sent them, or why..." the bigger man said, trying to show who was in charge.

"We were sent, by the jedi order. With the hopes that we could help settle whatever is going on here. We were told it was riots, but this seems more like a war." He said as he looked out the observation windows to the stations outstrech, the place giivng a nice view of the industrial area.

"We are at war, stranger. With the clanks. 'Suppose if you haven't heard it yet, you aught to hear it from the source..." Mello said as he reached down to pull out a cigar, partially smoked already as he put it in his mouth, "About a week ago, everything on this station was fine. That is, it was almost absolute shite for everyone. We work with barely enough credits to eat, and we're supposed to get room and board on this station. Only problem is, them clanks don't do a good job repairing shit."

"A-actually, the droids do a good job, it's jsut that their perameters aren't well defined..." The technican, barts, interjected as he nervously twiddled his fingers together, hands wringing as he continued, "These service droids are older models, linked to the general operating system to keep the station in a profitable condition. It's just that, the qualifications were always a little...iffy." He said with a gulp.

"Right, ya see that's what I mean. Them clanks heads don't do too well knowing what we workers want outta a home. Don't know that shutting off the hot water and leaving dropping the temps in the middle of the night ain't good for living. Stuff like that. So, I gets an idea. Why not change how they think?"
Mello said, as djura looked between the two men.

"Change how they think? You tried to reprogram the droids, didn't you." Djura asked, as barts butted into the conversation.

"It was a terrible idea, I told you that. Messing with a droid was one thing, but what you tried went too far! Messing with Maiov's software was something absolutely against any common sense. Those boys you had break into the system had no business doing so and now-" Barts began when mello put a massive paw of a hand onto the others shoulder, making his voice catch in his throat.

"Now there, don't go casting shade where it don't belong, barts. What's in the past is the past, okay? Mistakes happen all the time, 'don't mean you gotta drag them to the surface." Mello said, his voice a cold tense whisper and his face deadly serious as he squeezed harder and harder on barts shoulder, "Don't forget who saved you at this plant."

"And don't forget who saved both of your asses when you both got surronded by those droids." A female voice came as Kim walked into the room, having been in one of the other rooms of the office as she looked to both the jedi, "If you're here to help, you have my thanks. I'm Kim Danis, mechanic for section E." she introduced herself, a calm confidence that made it clear she was leading this group here.

Djura however, while giving a bow, had a troubled look on his face, "It's good to meet you, Kim. I've a question for you, before we begin. Maiovs, you people mentioned before. What did you mean by that?" He asked as barts blinked in surprise.

"Maiovs, Main Autonomous Intelligence for Operations, Verification, and Services. He's a software program for operating the stations droid functions and helping administration conduct its business. Its a simple intelligence, no different from a protocol droid. Why do you ask?" He asked.

Djura's face looked pale as he processed the news, "That's....impossible. We talked to the Administrator, he said his name was Maiovs. We had a full conversation with him..." He said, really not liking where this was going. The security teams who had died, the droids destroyed on the trams, and the lack of people in administration.

What had been unleashed on this station, was far worse then a simple reprogamming.

@Jessica Cloud

 

[Jessica Cloud]

Cloud made some mental notes about this troupe. Barts was a nutjob. Mello was strange. And Kim might just be able to help them turn this situation around. Maybe. ...Oh? And Maiovs was an A.I.

Huh.

Jess took a step forward and nodded to Kim,

"Where here to help. Tell us the situation with your people and where the main A.I. core is, and we'd be happy to do the heavy lifting."

There was a steel in her voice. A command to her posture. Something that told even the large Mello that Jessica was a warrior. Not a hero complex and not bravado. Just another weary women who knew how to get stuff done. The hard way.

Kim passed her eyes over both of them.

"Well. Unlike some of my companions? I know a Jedi when I see one. So yeah. Congrats. Welcome to the team."

She stepped forward for a handshake with the newcomers,

"So. Let's take back this station. Shall we?"

.....

@Cainhurst Crow

 

[Cainhurst Crow]

The two got the knowledge on the AI cores location, the central computer system being located back in the administration. Djura and Jess would make their way to the tram system underneath the factory, the controls inoperable as he looked to his partner.

"I suppose we will be walking there." Djura said as he set forth, jumping down onto the track as he made his way forward. They followed along the tracks, djura looking down at the tracks as he wondered aloud, "I cannot believe it...a droid. We were talking to a droid and didn't even know it." He said as he shook his head.

"Once this is done, I wonder if things will improve. The corporations don't seem to have been in control of this situation. Maybe once the droids are stopped, negotiations can actualy take place." He said as the two walked for more then an hour before they managed to encoutner the inoperable tram that led to the bottom of administration.

"This is it. Let's get going." Djura said, wanting to get started as he reached into his coat and drew out both of his lightsabers.

@Jessica Cloud