Frozen in time (Prequel thread)

[DHK-51]

DHK stood at the bridge of the small freighter, looking at the dark shape of an ancient Imperial-I class Star Destroyer, surrounded by asteroids. That ship, or more precisely, the things on the ship, were today's target. The droid had been hired by an anonymous client, but it wasn't alone in this. It had been paired with a meatbag, who's skills were unknown to the droid. It didn't really care either.

"Statement: It'll be best for both of us if we finish this quickly, I'm sure we both have other things to do." It said, before doing a perimeter scan. There was an entrance on the port side of the vessel, large enough to house the freighter, though if it were stable enough was another matter.

 

[Jynx]

She didn't bring much. There wasn't exactly much opposition to be had on a dead spaceship anyways. Although, there was nothing stopping this droid from putting more holes in her than that Star Destroyer and taking more than his half of the share. Yep... At least no moral reason was stopping it. But Jynx didn't have a moral reason: she had ion grenades . They were hidden of course, nothing to tip off her suspicions.

"Did the client specify what exactly they wanted us digging around for? 'Artefacts of interest' is real helpful on an 800 year old ship"
This wasn't even a contract where any specific skills were required much less anything of her speciality. Go in and grab some stuff - any fool could do it. Which is exactly why she took the contract: an even bigger fool would pay a decent amount of money for that kind of job.

[member="NT-6922"]
[member="DHK-51"]

 

[DHK-51]

"Joking Statement: No, the client only said to finding artifacts of interest. We could return with a piece of hull and say that they hadn't specified." DHK responded, continuing it's scan. Mynocks covered the outside of the ship, sucking what little power was left out of the vessel.

"Query: How could a ship of this age still have power? Perhaps a backup generator of some sort?"

[member="Jynx"]

 

[NT-6922]

The star destroyer was as silent as a tomb, still as stuck as it had been centuries ago inside the asteroid belt, crashed against one of them. Entire parts of it blown off by rebel fire. The proximity to the sun required great caution in actions; in fact, it was a matter of weeks before the ship would be completely engulfed by the star. Aboard, all was still. The security and medical droids on-board had long since run out of power, and the power cores were barely holding on; Imperial ingenuosity could only do so much. It was a sinister sight; some skeletons were seen here and there, still gripping their commands, frozen in their last act of defiance against the rebels. They had wiped almost every single information of their data banks before dying. But, what the two hired hands ignored, was that one being on this ship wasn't as dead as she should. While the rest of her squad died over the years because of the conditions of their carbonite freezing, she was a tough one, and still waited in her sarcophagus-like chamber, waiting to be awoken... her distress signal still repeating on low-frequency, the radiations of the sun frying the signal.
One would need to get aboard the ship to even hear words instead of a lot of static; but if someone was close enough to the ship, they would be able to receive the transmission, albeit incomprehensible.


[member="DHK-51"]
[member="Jynx"]

 

[Jynx]

[member="DHK-51"]
[member="NT-6922"]

"It's either that or magic space wizards pedal powering the ships..."
Touchdown. This part of the ship they landed in was as decrepit like the rest of it and worse. Amazingly the decay, asteroids and mynocks still managed to make the outside of the ship seem almost brand new compared to the sight greeting them within.
What ever loot there was to be had, the easiest was probably some data from the computers. Their client was probably one of those historical imperial remnant kinds: willing to pay money for any old piece of junk.

"I presume you've got scanners. Why not try looking for a signal of any kind, might make it easier to find data cards or some slates"
The hangar was a mess. Girders and wires hanging from the ceiling with what looks to be what remains of ships and men. However whatever happened was irrelevant: the paycheck was.

 

[DHK-51]

"Statement: Activating scanners." The droids sensors kicked in, searching for life signs as well as any signals. There were mynocks, and a lot of dead stormtroopers, the armour they wore predated most things in the galaxy these days. Then the droid found something, a very faint distress signal.

"Curious: There is a signal emanating further within this beast, perhaps that is what we were sent to discover. Mocking query: Are you suited for this no gravity mission meatbag? Sure you won't float away?"

[member="Jynx"] [member="NT-6922"]

 

[Jynx]

[member="DHK-51"]
[member="NT-6922"]

"Yes, let's check it out. Better to fool ourselves into thinking we're doing something productive."
To the droid: purpose probably didn't play into what choices it made. Somebody else decided whether it's actions were purposeful; it just fulfils them. In a sense Jynx was the same, she couldn't care less about the jobs but they were both here for the credits.
She pushed herself off the ship's ramp towards the dull coloured hallways before turning around midair.

"The only thing stopping me from floating away and taking you with me are the credits. Now if you wouldn't mind taking the lead. Afterall, scanning for signals isn't exactly a 'human' thing."
She kicked off the ground towards the doorway. Stopping herself on the wall she awaited the droid to lead the way.

 

[DHK-51]

DHK followed his human companion, who'd suggested it take the lead. A logical decision, and one that made sense to the droid. Pushing off from the loading ramp, the droid floated over to the same wall it's companion was on.

"Statement: Follow me meatbag, let's get our credits quickly."

[member="Jynx"] - [member="NT-6922"]

 

[Jynx]

[member="DHK-51"]
[member="NT-6922"]

Bodies littered the grey hallways with stormtroopers looking as dead as when they were alive. They looked as if living men could be under those suits were it not for the loose cloth between the armour joints. Nothing but floating debris now.
Jynx floated forwards into a group, pushing them aside.
"You're not the kind of droid to 'beep faster' once we get closer are you? Could you estimate the distance towards the target?"
The truth was that this place gave her an odd feeling. The sooner it was over the better.
She attempted to discern the source of this discomfort. Was it fear? She glimpsed her reflection in the floating glass fragments: those weren't fearful eyes.
It was like a odd feeling yet the source came from the outside. She tried to reach further towards it.
Now it seemed to be coming from every direction at once. And again she tried to reach, yet whatever was next, whatever knowledge and revelations were to be had were beyond her reach.

"Why don't you pull up a map of the place from your scans and let me move through this a bit faster"
Anything to get her away from this ship as soon as possible.

 

[DHK-51]

The droid moved as quickly as it could, pushing the floating bodies of stormtroopers long forgotten out of it's way. The hallway they were in led to the signal, and the signal had cleared up a bit. The inklings of words could just about be made out, though that meant little to the droid.

"Sarcastic remark: Oh yes meatbag, I'll make a loud screeching sound when we're near the source." DHK responded, before removing a holoreceiver and tapping into it. After a couple of seconds, a map of the area would appear, or what the droid had been able to reconstruct.

[member="Jynx"] - [member="NT-6922"]

 

[NT-6922]

As the droid and its organic companion approached the high-security zone, the infamous imperial alarm rung in the ship, red lights flooding the hallways. And, as the alarms activated and the few security droids who had been put into stand-by instead of left to deactivate because of a lack of power, slowly went up and converged toward the position of the reported access, protocole dictating them to arrest the threat - and, if resistance was met, terminate it. It was standart imperial procedure for them, and so the tall, reinforced droids approached, wielding blasters.
Meanwhile, the signal became clear, allowing for the two explorers to hear.
"This is Squad Leader Natassia to all Imperial forces in this sector; if you receive this, retrieve us. We are stranded aboard our ship; the rebels hit us hard, we lost the command crew and the gravity aboard,along with atmosphere. This message will automatically repeat."
Further in the hallway, behind a sealed door, the vital signals of a certain stormtrooper were slowly coming back...

 

[Jynx]

"We must be close. Can you discern what kind of signal it is?"
They'd been travelling for quite some time. Every minute in this place felt like long enough. It still gave off a strange feeling and no amount of clearing her mind would help that.
Her mind was clear and this place still made her uncomfortable. She played with the idea of asking the droid if it had felt that. But it'd probably be an equivalent audience to a brick wall.
"I wonder if the signal came fro-"
Her speech was interrupted by the alarm and the previously dark ship lit up in almost blindingly red light.
"What the hell?"
She could hear sounds now coming from within the ship. The sound was metallic yet it wasn't the ship itself groaning from the heat of the sun against the cold of space. It was an uneven tapping metal upon metal. Almost as if there were other presences in the ship and at the signal of the alarm? Too much of a coincidence.
The first had popped the back of it's shoulder around the corner followed by the sound of more around the corner.
"Droids?" she whispered. It was a rhetorical question and her wandering mind quickly sharpened into a knife's edge preparing for the battle ahead.

Almost at the sound of her voice the previously slow movement of the droid around the corner became a quick whirr. Perhaps she wasn't quiet enough.
Hand already reaching inside her pocket where her two grenades lay, she focused on the sounds of her enemies. They were appearing to group, perhaps awaiting a sufficient number of reinforcements before engaging?

[member="NT-6922"]
[member="DHK-51"]

 

[DHK-51]

As the red warning lights whirled, DHK removed it's blaster rifle. Something was heading their way, and there was more than one of them. The droid's sensors were rapidly scanning the area, and the distress signal was finally making sense.

"Statement: Multiple targets approaching, and the signal is now understandable." The droid didn't go on, instead taking cover behind the fractured husk of a door. "Warning: Assassination protocols initiated. Be careful meatbag." As the first of the armoured droids rounded the corner, DHK fired at the attacker's head, fully aware that there would be more of them.

[member="Jynx"] - [member="NT-6922"]

 

[NT-6922]

Natassia's message repeated through the frenquency as the droids grouped up and converged toward the two intruders, weapons raised. Some of them were armed with blasters; others, with construction tools. All in all, what they lacked in armament, they compensated with their thick, resistant metal. A dozen of them advanced toward the pair, assuming a threatening stance, one of them speaking in a voice distorded by centuries of malfunction. "Stop right there or lethal force will be used - you have been warned!"

 

[Jynx]

These droids had certainly undergone extreme degradation and yet were still functioning. They had issued a warning yet could they even carry those orders efficiently?
Jynx still kept her fingers on the ion grenade primer hidden from view.
"Where are you to take us?"
The droids seemed to possess a higher degree of intelligence, yet there was a possibility that they were basic enough to act as thought the ship were still fully functioning. But security droids on a capital ship? Highly unlikely. Perhaps she could attempt to reason with them or was loyalty to a dead empire too ingrained into their code.
"Your empire is dead. It's been centuries since this ship was constructed. Just let us be"
Although, she could think of several groups that would claim otherwise. EIther the First Order or an imperial remnant group would be the ones laying claim to the legacy of the galactic empire of old.

[member="NT-6922"]
[member="DHK-51"]

 

[NT-6922]

The droids processed [member="Jynx"] 's reply mechanically, the distorted voice of the ringleader resonating through the cold halls of the star destroyer.
"Impertinent behavior detected. Protocole dictates action!"
And, without much more talk, the droids rushed to their targets, those armed with nothing but tools aiming to wrench the weaker organic, and the very few armed with blasters trying to get a shot on [member="DHK-51"] unit, which proved hard, due to their "hands" barely kept together, the passage of time having heavily deteriorated them.

 

[Jynx]

[member="NT-6922"]
[member="DHK-51"]

The droids although seemingly to have difficulty with their deteriorated limbs were still making progress. Sure, she pushed her finger into the ion grenade primer to activate and threw the grenade making sure a bounce or two would stop it in the centre of the droid group.
"Sorry buddy those were meant for you"
That grenade alone probably wouldn't suffice and the number she had wasn't enough for the entire group either. Best to make use of the chaotic situation and find a hiding place. And without backtracking she immediately made her way deeper into the hallway trying to find any door which would open. Perhaps her droid-partner would serve as a distraction as she fled.