Ain't That A Kick In the Head...

[Grudge The Grutt]

The area where Grudge's eyebrow SHOULD have been perked. He heard 'ruler' and 'well known'. Seems the odds were favoring Grudge, perhaps minor compensation for the whole..200 year stuck underground ordeal. It seems now a days droids were ruling planets and operating any direct need from sentient beings. These were scary times, but also shockingly interesting and opportune. "Rule-..Grehaha! Well poodoo, seems the odds are shinin' on me, huh? I'm standin' before a Ruler and infamous Droid. This makes life just that much more exciting. Just uh..don't expect me to go kneel'n..as you can see I lack both the care for your title and well..legs to kneel." Seems he would be roll'n on the grav. sled this time around. The Grutt even took the liberty of rolling himself onto it, hovering beside @Ultimatum.

"I'd wish not to overburden you with my many requests, but it's what'cha want." Cigar Puff.

"I can hardly karking wait.."

 

[Ultimatum]

Ultimatum smiled at the amusing joke. He had never been bowed to, or given any physical sign of respect to rulership. It had never occurred to Ultimatum as important. He had shown strength and had proven himself capable to the people. None had questioned his authority... well one had and he had yet to find that one. Ultimatum took control of the grav sled, setting it plan to the nearby hangar. There the Fate would be waiting to take them to the Sovereignty in orbit.

"There is no burden. I enjoy being given tasks that test my capabilities. In any form."

It was only a few minutes before the grav sled came to a halt outside what had once been a Clone wars era assault transport. It was hardly comfortable, even with the seats and refresher installed, but its purpose was hardly comfort. It was intended as a basic transport and played that role well. The medical droid, known as MU-01, took over for the hospital's medical droid. Data was given and Ultimatum helped [member="Grudge The Grutt"] move onto the ship.

"MU-01 will take care of any medical needs you may have during the trip. He will transfer to the main ship of our travels. You ready to go?"

 

[Grudge The Grutt]

Grudge merely nodded, "I've been ready, bub. Let's get this ball rollin' already, huh?" The impatient Grutt responded, readying to be taken onto the Sovereignty. "I've pondered the idea..and well..[member='Ultimatum'], you've shown the utmost generous thus far, however I doubt you'd go as far as to fully meet my needs. For the armor, I'd need a certain restricted material..one with distribution so closed off that we'd have to really go out of our karkin' way to acquire diplomatically. In my current condition, I can't exactly go balls to the wall firing blasters and crashing star destroyers into planets, now can I? Suppose I'll go more into detail when we reach Mustafar.."

 

[Ultimatum]

Ultimatum nodded and the Fate's doors closed before the ship rose and began flying to the Sovereignty. "Well, I would suggest avoiding trying such things in your current state. I am most interested in this proposal you have." Ultimatum was always intrigued with rare metals. As a droid, metal was life. That was why he had chosen Mustafar as his base, the access to a near unlimited amount of metal made it possible for him to run his droids and factories with little in the way of problems.

The potential for rare minerals was always important to him. His current body was made of Phrik, made that way due to the fact that he wanted to avoid problems with Force users. Due to the fact that he had had to deal with many Sith in the past, and hated them even so, he had decided to try and find ways to counterbalance their strengths. The first was to have materials that were completely resistant to lightsabers. The second was to learn how to wield lightsabers, something he was still working on. The final and most unlikely to pass was to become Force sensitive. He had thought about using some sort of implant in a Force sensitive and taking control via that, but there was too much going on elsewhere that he could really focus in on that specific goal.

-----------------

It had been an uneventful trip. The Sovereignty tended to attract a little attention due to its age. Ultimatum was fond of the ship. It was a true gift and he was glad that it had been repaired from its decayed state when controlled by pirates. But it was time to leave it. They took the Fate back down to the surface. It was a short ride.

Ultimatum had them drop off in the Progenitor facility, activating the environment controls so that it was cool compared to the blasting heat of the planet's surface. He was still unsure of how that would affect [member="Grudge The Grutt"], but he did not want to take the chance of hurting this fragile being. "This is my work space and homebase, Progenitor Facility. Most of the droids you see around Mustafar have been made and designed here. What did you wish to speak of?"

 

[Grudge The Grutt]

Grudge spit to the side of 'emself, grunting. "More droids, huh? Lovely." The Grutt used a tendril to crack his cigar in half and dust it off his tendrils, the ash and pieces assumed to have rained downward and to the ground. "Back to business, I see? Well..well! WEEEELL!! Let's see here. The Body. Yeah..it's composition, I'm sure you have an assortment of metals and fancy ores. However, I heard of a particular..'something' said to be used for the greatest of armors. Besfer.." He paused, rubbing his would-be chin with a chain. "Or..was it Beslor? Besklor? ..Ahh..wait..Besv-..Kark it..KARK IT! Nevermind the karking name! It'll make pesky light-weapon users harder to penetrate, I assume. I've only dealt with it once, and even then it was for brief business. I want it, simply put. I will have it. However, acquiring it may be not the..'safest' I'll say. Tell me, honesty, @Ultimatum...how big are you on taking risks?" Ever heard of.."High Risk, High Yield? Geha..Gehaha..GeHAHA-" He coughed into his tendril, rubbing his would-be forehead in frustration.

 

[Ultimatum]

Once more with the imaginary cigar. It was a little disconcerting, Ultimatum had never dealt with organics that had some sort of hallucination. Perhaps he could make a medically safe alternative that would not have the current effects that could be seen. Ultimatum could not guess how often the creature must have smoked in order for it to become such a natural movement.

Ultimatum was surprised that the creature had heard of the Mandalorian metal, the droid refrained from correcting him immediately, it would have been an impolite gesture. Instead he put his attention to the question. Did he take risks? Well how would he have come into leadership of an entire planet without doing so? Or making deals with Sith? Or spending time with organics? He understood that [member="Grudge The Grutt"] did not know this, but it served Ultimatum just as well.

"Yes. I have heard of it. I believe that it is possible for me to aid you in this quest. Definitely the integration of that material, Beskar I believe its name is, into your armor would make it very durable and probably worth it. Do you have information on where some of the metal could be found?"

 

[Grudge The Grutt]

The Grutt's hideous figure dramatically leaned to the side, facing [member="Ultimatum"] after a half minute of turning. "Why..yes..I do! As a matter of fact, my informants supplied me with valuable location while I was stuck underground for the past two centuries!" Grudge wiped his crooked smile, dispelling a chuckle. "In actuality, guy, no..I don't. However, I'm sure with your resources and influence, it won't prove difficult to acquire the location. Getting it, on the other hand, is a whole 'nother story, I'm afraid. If you're willing, we can go in guns a'blaze'n, striking down organic and non-organics. It'd be just like my funeral..Greha..Grehaha!" The Grutt grimaced despite laughing, his serious face contradicting his repeated sarcasm until his crooked smile returned, jumbled and broken teeth revealed once more.

 

[Ultimatum]

At least he still had humor, that was one thing that often organics gave up when put through traumatic events, that or they grew a much more severe sense of humor. This one appeared to be the latter. The droid found it amusing, that the organic could be so playful about things of such importance. "The acquiring will definitely be the more dangerous of the two parts. The metal is most well known for being Mandalorian protected. I will try to find out what I can. Perhaps the Mandalorians will allow us to mine some, or perhaps we can find a planet that is free to then mine the metal. Either way it will take some time. When we know what planet we will work on, then it can be decided what type of work will be required, whether it be simple mining or a smuggling operation. I will have channels opened and communications begun, what would you like to do in the mean time?"

[member="Grudge The Grutt"]

 

[Grudge The Grutt]

The Grutt nodded, "So be it, Ultimatum. It hurts my tongue to say this..but I'm forever indebted to you." Did the abomination even have a tongue? Everything about Grudge was in question, seemingly. "T-..the mean time? It seems the flight has you a tad jet-lagged, my mechanized friend. We've still the design to come up with, the primary functions to settle on. The design, the color schemes, how I'll FIT into the karkin' thing for kark sake! This isn't just some hulk of sculpted metal we're constructing here! My memory serving me correct, I recall you saying you'd have something ready for just that by the time we arrived." He looked at Ultimatum..

..."Well?"

 

[Ultimatum]

Ultimatum nodded, yes the concept designs were in place, the physical bodies made based on those designs would be longer in the arriving. It was a more complex procedure than some would assume, he had to make the body controllable in a manner that would be easy and yet complete. He wanted to avoid internal controls, that would make it more difficult for [member="Grudge The Grutt"] to act under pressure. Ultimatum wanted to make a neural link to the body, making it possible for Grudge to simply think and act, like most bodies.

He walked over to a datascreen and brought up the concept for a body. It was rather rough, the work of Ultimatum while having to deal with other issues. It gave a basic idea of what Ultimatum had in mind, but it lacked the exact details on how it would work and what would be required. Ultimatum had also decided to leave large openings for various devices depending on what the organic might want. He had already calculated the general size of Grudge and made an opening for him. The droid had assumed that the organic would want to be bipedal, because Hutts were rather slow by nature.

"What do you think?"

 

[Grudge The Grutt]

Grudge's eyes panned over the data screen presented to it. Scanning every nook and cranny. Bi-pedal, modular, optimized for his mutated brain-body to fit inside. From first impressions, the Grutt was pleased. "My initial thoughts are..decent. Just..BIGGER! More menacing. I want the very planet I step upon to rumble in fear when I arrive, the people to kneel in prayer to whatever god they know when they see the color-scheme of my highly-fashionable mechanized body. Understand?" Though he mused, as usual, a portion of her remained true. He wanted bigger, and better. "How easy will it be to implement attachments such as rockets, scanners, palm-blasters be? I've seen alot over the years. Figured it's my turn to play with toys of destruction."

[member="Ultimatum"]

 

[Ultimatum]

Well the organic was thinking bigger than Ultimatum had expected. Perhaps that was the result of years of radiation poisoning and being buried. Maybe it was dangerous to give this organic lots of weaponry systems, but then again it was for protection. He did not believe that it would be a problem. "I believe I comprehend. Yes we should be able to further add onto and optimize as time goes on. With the addition of the metal you wanted I am sure that we can figure out how to make your body more imposing. There will need to be some adjustments for flight systems if you intend on having rockets. Not much in the way of alterations, but they will be vital if you are to fly safely. How is that?"

Ultimatum demonstrated by making the projection alter and add the necessary components for stabilizing flight. It did not add much, but they took up space that would then be unusable in later additions.

[member="Grudge The Grutt"]

 

[Grudge The Grutt]

Grudge could be seen sticking his face in the projection. Alike a baby with a face pressed against the glass window of a candy store. "Beautiful, beautiful, [member="Ultimatum"]. Grehahaha! I placed a sliver of faith in hope that you could bring my plans into fruition and I've yet to be let down yet, my mechanized friend. However, this is not enough!'" He said, spreading his tendril out to the open galaxy. "I'll you, guy, there are things out there. Crazy things. Crystals, and special substances that I've heard of in my many years of living. They can increase the effectiveness of somethin' called the force. Only thing I only of the force is that it'll let me lift things. Telekinesis, I believe it's called. If these crystals can make that process easier, I -MUST- acquire them by any means necessary. Do you have a sliver of idea of how the kark we could get some? Could they even be implanted into the body?"

The Grutt had questions, that was more blatant now, than ever.

 

[Ultimatum]

Hmm, the Force crystals eh. Yes there had been such things in the past, Ultimatum had learned of an old government that had made suits using certain crystals to offer the wearer a minor connection to the Force. It was possible. It would take a bit of experimentation probably and then it could be integrated. "Certainly we can see what can be done. We will need to locate some of these materials and then begin testing, but I believe it should not be difficult. What is one of the materials you were thinking of?"

Ultimatum was creating a mental list of what would be required for this suit. It was becoming extensive, but he was not complaining. It was always enjoyable to see how far the limits could be pushed, so that he knew where he would need to work on advancing science. There was no greater achievement than to expand and entirely change the way people thought. Make something as simple as metal an advanced system of life and intelligence that surpassed organics. That was only the beginning.

[member="Grudge The Grutt"]

 

[Grudge The Grutt]

The Grutt's blood-shot eyes rolled, his tendril nearly slamming into the wall. "Exactly how would I know, Ultimatum!? I've never only heard of 'em from centuries of rumors and overheard conversations." He rubbed at his would-be temples, "Pardon me..my good friend. You aren't the one that my anger should be directed towards. The idea of revenge itself is so rich it becomes too much to bear at times. As for the crystals, I'd hope you possessed a tad more information on the matter than me. I'm hopelessly ignorant with such things like this, I'm afraid. You.." He paused, turning toward @Ultimatum. "You mentioned testing earlier, hmm? How long do you believe this testing would take? I'll be the last to rush perfection..but a mere estimation would be appreciated to settle my nerves." He was anxious, and that caused for the Grutt to begin to ooze a lil' bit of a slimey substance. He'd be damned if he was cleaning that up though.

 

[Ultimatum]

Ultimatum took the words from [member="Grudge The Grutt"] without allowing them to hurt him. The droid understood that Grudge was looking forward to getting revenge on whoever it was that had wronged him. It was however a lesson in patience if nothing else. Perhaps by pushing the organic in that are he would become more patient, then again the opposite could happen. Ultimatum did not want to annoy the organic, he replied to the questions in a calm voice, "I will begin an information search for crystals that could be helpful. I believe one that is well known are the crystals found on Tython, I believe they are called Meditation crystals. They are said to help Force users stay more in tough with the Force, perhaps that would help. I will see what else can be brought up. As for the testing. It is basic run downs of the machines capabilities. We would not want the body to break under a supposedly menial task. The idea will be having the machine run through various tasks while at the same time running a simulation of its supposed abilities. We will be able to see where the body is weak and strong and make sure that it is capable of what we want it to be capable of. The body should be made and ready for tests relatively soon. It should not take more than a week, unless complications occur, then it could be any time. Does that help?"

The factory was already building a basic body with the necessities and the flight systems. It was likely that there would be a second built with the full number of features, but until then there would be a simple body for basic review. Ultimatum did not see too much trouble being likely to happen, however he was prepared should it occur. He prepared to order droids to clean up the mess made with the slime, perhaps a DNA test on the slime would give some insight into exactly what had happened to this organic.

 

[Grudge The Grutt]

The Grutt coughed into his tendril, nodding. "A week, you say? Mmh. Fine, Fine. I'm atleast grateful you're not sculpting some metal and shoving it at me, Ultimatum. I'm just karkin' worried about my physical....body..or whatever the kark you'd consider this. I'm hoping this new body comes with a means for me to take medication to possibly sustain my life--or at least to null these coughs I have. It ain't groovy, ya' hear?" The Grutt looked around himself, noticing Ultimatum's facility. "What exactly goes around here? I'm assuming works of technology..perhaps more than just droid body construction? Without your intelligence, apparent wealth and numbers..I'm sure you've diversified yourself rather well. This, if true, will do well for me in the future. I'll need things..ships, droids, massive weaponry. War is not for the light-hearted, afterall."

[member="Ultimatum"]

 

[Ultimatum]

Groovy? Well that was a word Ultimatum had never head before. But the HoloNet was so full of words and concepts it was unlikely he could even hope to read through half of them in his time functioning. The context of the word gave him a basic idea of the meaning and so he passed over it with barely a hitch. Yes the medical application was an important part of the armor, Ultimatum had worked in an intravenous system that would deliver medicine and potentially bacta or forms of adrenals. It would be a relatively easy surgery, if Grudge liked the idea, and it would be relatively easy to undo in the future should he decide on a new body. But then again, Ultimatum had made the central part capable of being removed from the rest of the body, through the use of various tools, and placed into similarly structured parts in new bodies or even vehicles. They were features that Ultimatum wanted to reveal with the first test body. The machine was actually being made even as they spoke, the process was totally automated and supervised by the most scrutinous of computer systems.

The question of what he constructed was fair enough. For all the organic could have known, the Sovereignty's additions could have been the product of another company. So he responded politely, "Starships, vehicles, droids, cybernetics, anything that binds organic and synthetic life together can be made here. Except for standard firearms, have not quite got there yet and microtechnology is still an area in need of work. We also are heading into the cloning business, have a few cloning spheres in this facility though I have not really used them as of yet. Long term, the plan is that LOOM will have the ability to make almost anything, become a practical government in and of itself." War was not a pretty thing, nor did Ultimatum approve of it, but none had asked him is opinion. He produced machines and destruction in the end to salvage peace and create a much more concrete one than the organics had ever accomplished.

[member="Grudge The Grutt"]

 

[Grudge The Grutt]

Grudge's would be ear perked. Nah, he didn't have a ear. His blood-shot red eyes widened briefly though before returning to their squint. "All of that, huh? Seems you've been a busy bot, then, [member="Ultimatum"]. Never the karkin' less, I must ask you how easy it'll be to transport from body to body. I don't want to be confined to this suit once I get inside, ya' understand? What's the fun in that? How will I tinkle?" He mused, "All jokes aside. I've been thinking..." No brains jokes. Noo. "With all of the features I plan to be integrated into this body, how proficient do you believe the power supply will be at sustaining itself for me to do what I gotta do? Ya know..like..when I have to do it? I'd hate to need to carry around a oil can with me so I can refill every four hours. The Twi'lek lazadies won't dig that, y'know? Also..I've been thinkin' on the weapons. Make sure the body has space for the palm-regions to be able to shoot blasts. What kind? Kark if I know! Just do it. Next, I'd like a grenade launcher of sorts. Those are fun. Missles are overdone in this abomination's mutated opinion"

[member="Ultimatum"]

 

[Ultimatum]

Well the organics certainly had some odd priorities. But then again, they asked the right questions and Ultimatum was ready to answer those. "Transporting from body to body should be fairly easy. Through the use of various latches and locks a central portion of the body can be pulled out and placed into any body made for that purpose, obviously bodies and what not that you plan on having specifically your own for use will need to be able to accommodate this, the process of replacing, depending on whether you have to do this yourself or if you have a droid to help, should take nothing more than five minutes. Also is worse comes to worse, the components that are attached to the intravenous system can come out, say the body is too damaged to pull the main part out, then one could extract you along with the parts that are attached with relative ease. It would take longer than the simple removal of a part of the body, but again this is more in the case that something went wrong with that portion."

The question of power sources was perhaps the most pertinent one considering the reliance on power for a droid body. There were a number of potential options, but the best option was probably a low grade vehicle power pack. Too large and it would not fit as needed, even if it produced enough power, but too small and it would not have a large enough output or life span. Whatever was used, because it was not a proper generator, would require recharging at some point. That was not too much of a concern, as efficient batteries had been in production for generations. He had a power source that would last as much as a week, given that he did not over-extend his abilities. Ultimatum guessed that for a time at least [member="Grudge The Grutt"] would not be taking part in any fights or such dangers. "I will find a the largest power pack that can fit within the allotted space. You should be able to go a few days without the need to recharge, that's it you don't push the abilities and gadgets too far. Just remember that the various weapons and technological wonders will take away from the overall power you have."

Weapons were interesting, but not that much of a concern, technology could easily be made more compact and was quickly being put into just about anything. Blasters in the palms, an interesting concept and one that Ultimatum could see happening with relative ease. Grenade launchers were a little questionable. There was always the chance, though it was very very slim, that a grenade would go off early and blow the organic to kingdom come, but that was unlikely. "Sounds good. It will be integrated into the designs. Anything more?"