Act I Through the Looking Glass [Blue Zone Open thread]

[Aithne Charr]

Location: Fairview heights
[member="Drones"]

"Thats the thing little guy. I should be at my home on Kesh, not where ever the hell this place is. Speaking of which, which planet is this. And who rules it. Oh and do you have any idea where my saber is, i cant seem to find it on my person which makes me assume i left it at home, but again i cant even seem to reach said place by datapad." He started to lean back against the nearest building as he stood there, turning his head at the droid and smiling though until he knew where in the world he was he was not going to relax. Right now his eyes were searching the droid's surface for places where the force could be applied if needed. If he was in sith territory, that would be bad.

 

[Lok Maxus]

[member="Drones"] [member="Raziel"] [member="Kalyn Skirata"] [member="Nei Laa"]

LOCATION: FAIRVIEW HEIGHTS, DISTRICT 7


Nei clung to her daughter in shock as a fully-armoured Nautolan woman ran at them...after firing shots at the peacekeepers and causing chaos. She was too shocked to say anything, her eyes wide as she struggled to comprehend what was happening. I hope the Emperor's men do something quick, before that heathen causes more panic!

"Mama, what's going on?!" Mona wailed.

Nei tried to comfort her daughter. "I don't know, sweetie, but I'm sure--"

"Who the hell be you?!" Nei looked up, startled, and realized the woman from earlier...

...was her doppelganger.

"Me? Who are you?! Why are you shooting at people?!" Nei took a step back, keeping Mona close. "Peacekeepers! Over here!" The Nautolan began to wave her hand, hoping to attract the authorities' attentions.

That was when the day got even weirder.

A ship dropped down in front of them, causing Mona to let out a little squeak and cling tighter to her mother. "My daughter and I are not going anywhere! We are good, law-abiding citizens of the Emperor and have nothing to fear!" This was the most confrontational that Nei had ever gotten; usually Kif was the one who spoke more. She simply preferred to stay in the background, making sure everything else was running smoothly. The Nautolan went back to hollering for help. "Somebody, please! Help!"

 

[Nei Laa]

[member="Other Nei Laa"] [member="Kalyn Skirata"]

LOCATION: FAIRVIEW HEIGHTS, DISTRICT 7

"Shhhhhhh!" Nei dove forward, putting one gun in its holster before clamping her hand down on her doppelganger's mouth. The little girl let out a shriek but did nothing to impede her.

Good grief, the Nautolan thought, She may look like me, but she be nothing like what I be. So, someone who shared her face, but not her attitude. That was comforting; many people, [member="Joran Del-Finn"] and [member="Vagabond Crimson"] included, probably didn't want another Nei Laa running around.

"You be speaking my language!" Nei then said to the other woman, with the ship. Holstering her other gun, the woman flicked her visor down and looked back. The number of soldiers and drones had, indeed, appeared to grow a bit, and were definitely coming closer. "Let's get outta here!" With that, she grabbed the little girl and her mother by the back of their shirts, and dragged them up the boarding ramp.

"No protests!"

 

[Kalyn Tal'verda]

[member=nei laa] [member=other nei laa] [member=raziel]
Kalyn once they were all aboard, closed the boarding ramp and then got right down to buisness.
"Okay, man the guns, i want you on top gun" She said pointing to the armored nautolan. "And R7 on bottom guns, and you ma'm keep you kid safe, i dont want any deaths here." She said
Kalyn started flying away at full speed, just as her datapad started bleeping about riots in Docklands, it oddly picked up on the same frequency as the holo news net. Perfect place to hide
Kalyn then relized the drones and troops were trying to tail her, a terrible job at it too. She instantly realized they were trying to sweep this under the rug, and she had the perfect escape plan.
"Okay i have an idea, but it is a bit unorthadox. The law enforcement are trying to tail us, and sweep all of this under the rug, but there are riots going off in some place called the 'docklands' they are currently peaceful protests, we are going to change that." She said
She then explained her plan, which was to not buy into it, they would cause as much chaos as possible, which in her mind could lead to a few things, but the one she was counting on was their forces being spread paper thin, and making it easy to escape unnoticed.
She then entered the docklands, still being followed, and started flying towards one of the crowds.

location: Docklands.
Objective: Escape
Allies:[member=nei laa]
Enemies: [member=raziel]

 

[Ultimatum]

Ultimatum nodded as he listened to the little droid. He was a little suspicious still, this place just had to be very isolated. The droid asked him to turn over his weapon and at first Ultimatum was hesitant, after all it could be trying to disarm him in order to make it easier on any enemies that may come to pick him up. He took a moment to think it through.

There was the possibility that this was all a trap, that he had been taken and was currently on some world where he would be held prisoner. However there was the possibility that this was not the situation it appeared to be. It could be that this was a residential area on a planet that was far off the beaten track. Perhaps he was safe. Perhaps this droid did mean well with its suggestions. He wondered if perhaps he had somehow come across some sort of disturbance and found his way through a wormhole to this place. Such phenomena were not unheard of, thought they were generally considered false tales.

Ultimatum decided and nodded replying, "Alright. Sorry about that." He put down his blaster and slid it towards the floating droid. "Where am I anyways? I don't believe I have been here before."

[member="Drones"]

 

[Dominik Borra]

Location: A Fairview Heights apartment, apparently.
Enemies: Himself?
Allies: NA

"Huh-what? Who's there?" The man in the bed woke up, looking around.

"Shut up, stay in the bed, and answer my questions. Then i won't shoot you. Maybe."

"Wait, shoot me?! I'm a Peacekeeper! I'm-"

"Be quiet, or I will shoot you." Dominion stated calmly. The other Dom gulped. "Now, where am I?"

"What do you mean? We are in Fairview Heights, in my appointed apartment."

"Fairview Heights? What planet?"

"Well, Cormalum, of course. Where else would you be? There is no where safer than the Imperial Centre"

"Imperial Centre? Cormalum?" Dom racked his brains for those names but... he knew nothing of those. "You said you were a peacekeeper. Like, what, are you a Jedi?"

"What's a Jedi?" He asked, tilting his head. Never heard of the Jedi?! Dom thought. That... Couldn't be..

"Have you ever heard of Sith, Jedi, Galactic Republic, Techno Union or Dark Jedi before?"

"Um, no, I haven't. None of them. And, by peacekeeper, I mean I'm a guard. A city guard that keeps the peace."

A city guard... That would be good for gathering intel. "What time are you booked to work as a peacekeeper, and where is your equipment?" Dom asked.

"From day break to nightfall, no matter the hours. There are others who have different times, and I could apply for different hours, but my equipment is stored at the barracks. Nobody is to have weapons not issued to them by the Empire."

"Hmm.. Alright. Get some rest, tomorrow, you get a day off."

"Oh no, I can't do that. I haven't been issued to have free time. They would know if I'm missing."

"Trust me, they won't."

 

[Cryax Bane]

Location: Docklands
Objective: Dust the propagandist, quell the riots
Enemies: NA
Allies: [member="Marek Starchaser"]

Cryax's Datapad starting pinging like mad and hurried voices came over his open commlink. Over the Imperial newswire there were reports of riots in the streets below. Was the uprising connected to Snogan and his pamphets? It seemed likely. Speaking of Snogan, Bane had tracked the Gran to a small prefabricated bungalow high up over the docks where the head of the teeming crowd weaved around the corner, accompanied by chants and shouting. Right. Dust Snogan. Then deal with rioters.

"DfR, open up!" he shouted through the intercom, but Snogan's door stayed shut. Bane rolled his glowing red eyes. Sithspit. He was going to have to slice in. Bane never met a blaster he didn't like, but when it came to slicing, he was all thumbs with all but the most rudimentary jobs. Plugging his Datapad into the security terminal, he began to tap. Luckily Snogan had no anti-slicing safeguards, and in a few minutes the door hissed open.

He lifted his disintegrator ray high, firing it directly at the unarmed Gran. The man was enveloped in green fire which flared blindingly, then there was only a pile of smoking dust where the rebel used to be. Cryax swallowed hard. What had he done?

"All DfR Forces report to the ground level immediately. I repeat, all DfR Forces report to the ground level immediately."

 

[Drones]

[member="Solan Charr"]

The Droid did not respond immediately. It was scanning the citizen for signs of alcohol or drug abuse. "In order to help you best, Citizen, can you share your full name, address and reason for being here."


[member="Other Nei Laa"]

The Drones monitored the situation. All citizens were loyal to the Empire - this was simply a fact and did not require clarification - unless the citizen had something to hide. The Drone awaited orders.


[member="Ultimatum"]

The Drone collected the blaster and ran scans on the weapon - ensuring it had not been used on any known felonies. It came back clean. So the Drone reverted to standard protocol. "In order to help you best, Citizen, can you share your full name, address and reason for being here."

 

[Ultimatum]

Ultimatum was unsure how to respond. He figured that he would start with what he knew, "My name is Ultimatum. I have spent most of my time alive on Mustafar. I am not sure why I am here. Where is here? I don't seem to recall ever leaving Mustafar."

He was still cautious, though he could feel himself beginning to calm down. That was not something easy to do when his paranoia circuits became engaged like they had. As a droid he could control them yes, but he often allowed them to run in the back ground to better understand how an organics might feel in a given situation. He was very uncertain that this was a circumstance he could fully comprehend. He had the uneasy feeling that this was all beyond what he could understand at this time.

[member="Drones"]

 

[Aithne Charr]

[member="Drones"]

Location: Fairview Heights

"I dont liveor belong here you damned droid... as for my name. It is Solan Charr. So how about you go and get me someone who can actually talk before i turn you into scrap for being here wasting my time. Deal?" Solan sighed as he shook his head at the droid that remained infront of him. He was slowly becoming ever more annoyed by the floating cue ball that his hands had gone and crossed over his chest by now. His attention was drawn for half a second though, glancing to the side as he could hear shouting and a bit of blasterfire nearby.

 

[Dominik Borra]

The following morning, the other doppelganger Dominion was tied up in the apartment. The real agent had asked questions about protocol and how things went at the barracks. He needed to seem like the most normal person there. No slip ups, no bumps in the road. And through Dominion's expertise in sabotage and going undercover, he went by with no hitches. All rectal scans or body scans in general were passed due to the two Dominion's being the same person, apparently. The other Dominion had no knowledge that they were the same person. On the walk over to the barracks, it was so awkward to walk without any of his gear, mostly his helmet. But it was comforting when he strapped on his standard issue Peacekeeper armor.

He was currently stationed in district 8 when a peaceful protest started to break out. Static "Peacekeepers, there are protests in secors 5, 8, and 10. Do not engage on the civilians until they make a violent move. Just stand by." Static

 

[Drones]

[member="Ultimatum"]

The Drone was programmed with AI, but it only stretched so far. "This is Cormalum, Imperial Centre. You are here. You have always been here. There is only order. Your response is illogical. It is inaccurate. Is everything in order with you...citizen?"


[member="Solan Charr"]

"Profanities are a crime citizen. Desist from such language." The Drone checked its records. "Given this is a first offence, a warning will be issued. A repeat offence will be treated less leniently, Order is good. Order is the status quo. Order is inevitable."

 

[Cryax Bane]

Location: Docklands
Objective: Quell the riots
Enemies: [member="Kalyn Skirata"]
Allies: [member="Marek Starchaser"]

After disintegrating an unarmed Gran propagandist, Bane's head was a tangle of emotions. As their great Emperor always told them: Order was good. Order was inevitable. But frell, the guy was unarmed. He probably had a family. Maybe kids, too. These were the thoughts that plagued Cryax as he descended to the ground floor of the docks on the turbolift.

Spilling out of the lift with other DfR soldiers, the stench of a fire bomb assaulted his nose. The supposedly peaceful protests were turning ugly. The uprising was in full swing and the Emperor's forces seemed to be losing control. He lifted his riot shield and stun baton and began to follow the lead of his fellow soldiers who began grabbing rebels and throwing them to the ground. Stun nets flew, electrocuting bodies into submission as they landed.

He spied a woman running through the crowd suspiciously. His glowing red eyes reflected off his riot shield, the Chiss soldier stood right in her path, waving his stun baton at [member="Kalyn Skirata"]

"Stop in the name of the Emperor!"

 

[Aithne Charr]

[member="Drones"]

Location: Fairview heights.

Solan's eyes just looked at the drone with a boredom to them that said one thing. This conversation was getting on his nerves. "What planet am i on and why am i here... also. Shut up you stupid bucket of bolts, i dont know what law you mean but i have to get back to my home as soon as possible and you are being a massive headache..." His body started to slump a bit though none the less while he stood there, looking both was down the street before leaning his head back to look up. This was getting boring.

 

[Marek Starchaser]

It wasn’t long before he noticed the ship he was after. Ugly and broken, something from that company known as Silk. Clearly an off-worlder, an outlander, a foreigner. Anything that was working within the confines of a privateer and merchant ship of the Empire had sleek lines, was built for the Empire, by the Empire.

What he was hoping for was that one of the [member="Infected Drones"] would watch out for him, give him just a little bit of a warning. Still, Marek approached the broken drone and looked up, he couldn’t see any cameras and quickly worked to cross some wires on the broken patrol drone. It started to let out a whining sound and the man made a run behind a wall. The blast was followed with an EMP burst that would disable the tracking chip he had, at least for a few moments. He’d have to respond to the comms if any Drones approached, but for now?

He made his way up to the ship. “The Lightning are really blowing it this season.” Some sports team, but it was the code word as the pilot of the freighter turned around.

“Mr Starch?” The Captain asked, and to that, Marek nodded.

 

[Kalyn Tal'verda]

location: Docklands.
Objective: Find Supplies
Allies: [member=nei laa]
Enemies: [member=raziel] [member=cryax bane]

Kalyn lost the Drones easier than she had though she would, they seemed to be going after the riots, and were overridden, it was odd, so she went into a less populated area of the docklands, and found an abandoned hangar, landing her ship there she made a few plans.
"Ill go out and get some supplies, you guys stay here and set camp, do not let anyone in." She said to the others with her.
She then grabbed minimal equipment, two blaster pistols, a beskad, and her armor. She then left the building and went looking around for a market, she kept wandering through, pressing her way through the crowds, and the riots, staying as calm as possible. While on her way, she was stopped by what appeared to be a law enforcement officer. Who told her to surrender. She then drew one of her blaster pistols.
"I dont have the karking time for this, so this can go two ways, you can leave me alone and we can forget this ever happened, or you can leave with multiple holes in you, the choice is yours buddy." She said to the chiss man.

 

[Dominik Borra]

Static "Peacekeepers around the border of sector 8, get to sector 5. The peaceful protest has turned violent. Assist requested." Static

"Well, I guess that means me?" Dominion asked nobody in particular as he spotted other peacekeepers start to move Northeast. "I guess that's where sector 5 is. The Docklands." While in the barracks, he acquired a map of the Imperial Centre and took mental notes on all the sectors. He would rather not be involved in a riot, mostly because it might blow his cover. Somehow. He didn't really know how, as he was the person he tied up. Or, the person he tied up was him. He wasn't sure. Either way, he reluctantly made his way down the street, coming close to a drone talking to a robed figure with his arms crossed leaning against a wall. Those were... Those looked like Jedi robes, almost. Maybe he wasn't the only one to find himself in this strange place.

"Drone, I uh, I'll take it from here. You move on to Sector 5 and help stop the riot there." He hoped he even had the authority to command these drones. He had seen them flying around, but had no clue with they were above a Peacekeeper or below them.

[member="Drones"]

OOC: Gonna leave this here, but I'ma count this as not a thing because Solan Charr didn't play along with it. on the next page I'll have a post that replaces this.

 

[Ultimatum]

Ultimatum was surprised at the response. Imperial Center had been the name of Coruscant while under the control of the old Empire. He had never heard of this world Cormalum. He wondered if perhaps he had always been here. Had he been placed in sleep mode before being created? And all of those things that had happened, were they all the product of an imagination circuit? Was everything he had come to know a lie? Was this reality?

There were a number of ways of finding out. This wasn't an optical illusion and neither had what he remembered been, he would have known. The data recordings all said that it was real and that it held none of the trademark signatures of a sleep mode episode. Everything was pointing to direct contrasts. The two stories didn't agree. A normal droid might have broken then and there, incapable of making a judgement required for a droid brain to survive. Ultimatum however was able. He simply chose the one he was familiar with and decided that that was reality. This was something else. What, he was not certain.

He began going through some of the holo-frequencies he had used in the galaxy he remembered. Some had been used only a few times, such as a refined call to a ship he had helped rescue the passengers of. Then there were others he had used on many occasions, such as interplanetary contacting of allies. On the outward appearance he would seem to be normal, if not contemplative. However a watchful sensor would more than likely notice the increase in outgoing information from the droid. He called out silently through his programs, "Does anyone read me?!" Perhaps he would find others like him. Perhaps.

It only lasted about five seconds before the transmissions ceased. He focused his attention to the little droid. "I am not certain, where would you suggest I be?" He was testing the drone, seeing what it would suggest and he would probably obey it. For now he was curious once more. He didn't fear what was reality anymore, he had decided and was no longer concerned about it. Let it be what it may.

[member="Drones"]

 

[Drones]

[member="Solan Charr"]

The Drone remained static. It called for two more Drones to join it. There was a high probability the citizen was under the influence of a substance and therefore erratic behaviour was the most likely prognosis. "Remain calm citizen. Everything will be alright."


[member="A. Dominion"]

Information was relayed. Drones were drones. There was no chain of command, they simply followed their programming. And Drones were infinite in number. But a collective AI consciousness meant instructions to one were conveyed to all. So this Drone remained static, others would be despatched to deal with the situation.


[member="Ultimatum"]

The question was illogical. Given the composition of the citizen, substance abuse was unlikely - but a programming error was possible. A virus even? The Drone needed to ascertain the extent of the issue. "Where do you believe you are citizen?"

 

[Aithne Charr]

[member="Drones"]

Solan's eyes shot to it with a raised brow and laughs. "I am, im just confused where i am is all... Hmm. Tell me about this world if you would do so please." Solan's body leaned against the wall before looking to his shoulder as the moving form of something familiar popped out from his cloak. "Ahh, Kira. I must say it is a pleasure to see you are still with me. How you holding up in this weird place?" He ran his hand along the sapphire blue hair that covered the Ashlan wolf, the smile not disappearing as his eyes turned to glance at a nearby alley. "Hmm."