Sunburns & Hyperdrive Troubles

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

Kurt didn't hear Kaile's cry of alarm of course, she was a bit far away for that, instead he simply began to head towards one of the storage closets that lay on the opposite side of the hangar. This one wasn't held closed by the same rickety metal door that had held the Darktroopers, instead it was a proper locking mechanism. He frowned slightly, looking at the electronic panel that kept the lock in place. His fingers pushed some of the dust off of the keys, his eyes wandering over in close inspection.

On Tatooine there had sometimes been a need to...bypass certain aspect of security near the Boonta Eve track. When one really needed a particular piece of equipment or a part it wasn't too uncommon for racers to acquire these parts from competitors, and usually that required breaking a lock or two.

Kurt of course had never done such a thing, but, he had been taught by some of the others how to do it, just in case. Crouching slightly Kurt pulled a small servo-driver from his pocket, placing it beneath the lip of the metal panel and prying open the small hatch. He gently removed the panel to reveal the wires below, beginning to hum a small tune as a small knife slipped into his hand and between some of the wires. Within half a second there was a slight hiss as The Courier connected some of the wires, the door unlocking and quickly falling away into the wall.

"Easy." Kurt said with a smile.

 

[Kaile Vera]

Well, Kaile girl, you have your work cut out for you...

Preliminary inspections would reveal that there was plenty of her to do. The decades had not been particularly gentle to this control room, and considering that bats had made this particular section their home, Kaile wasn't surprised. If she wanted to get the full spectrum of information and data within these consoles, she'll have to fix a few wires first.

At the very least, she could first check and see what the databanks had that she could use first. Taking the dataspike, she connected it to her datapad. Another wire soon hardwired it to the console. Starting it up, she would begin the initial diagnostics.

The stream of information went floating across her screen, and Kaile would scrunch her brows as it all came in. Huh, what was that? There was some sort of encryption here.

It was the same sort of encryption that Kurt would find in the shuttle, if he so chose to dig a bit deeper. Akin to the Black Ciphers of old, but a far more advanced version, it would be an interesting find for them both.


[member="Kurt Meyer"]

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

Kurt wouldn't be digging into any computers, because that wasn't what he was good at.

Sure he could use a holo-tablet, sure he could use a targeting computer, but beyond that? Slicing wasn't really his thing. The Courier very much preferred analog systems, simple dials and buttons that he could press and turn to get everything done. He wasn't a complicated guy, and much of that carried over to the things he liked in...well the digital world. Kurt had never been much for advanced technology, probably because his homeworld was about as technologically stagnant as they came.

Of course, Kurt wasn't even thinking about that.

Instead his attention was firmly fixed on the contents of the maintenance closet that he had just opened.

A loud whistle escaped his lips as he peered into the storage area, his eyes slowly wandering over the shelves and hooks that sat upon the wall. Hanging on them, or sitting in place where a myriad of starship parts. Most of them were simple things, replacement fittings or small hull patches, but at a glance Kurt was able to find a few parts that were far more rare, mostly for hyperdrives and large weapon systems. A slow grin parted his lips as he spied the corner of the room and it's contents.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

Having the nifty blow through just about every bit of firewall imaginable was very handy. The more time passed and Kaile got to see exactly just what this baby could do, the more she became excited. There were still vectors she wasn’t able to get to, but that was just due to the power outage.

“If I can just get power to those areas…” then she would be able to map it. Taking her laptop in hand, she plopped herself down on the holoarray table and went to work. Her fingers were a flurry of motion, her brow set in a furrow of concentration. A slide and drag would bring up the previous map she had downloaded from the basement.

It bloomed with a cerulean glow, and with a bit of an adjustment, zoomed in to blow it up into a larger sample.

“Alright.. Let’s map you out.”

Bit by bit, Kaile would take what information her new dataspike could break through, process the information, then add another section to the map.

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

It wouldn't normally have interested Kurt all that much, weapons never did, but what was sitting in the corner of the maintenance room was rather unique. It was a stack of four light turbo-laser turrets, or at least that's what they looked like. Two guns on each of them, swivel mounts leaning against the wall. The barrels were slightly sleeked down and compensators sat at the end of them. He frowned slightly as he approached the weapons, running his fingers over them.

There was an odd design on the end of the turret, some sort of symbol.

The stamp on the end of the barrel was also something he didn't recognize, the language rather foreign. "What the-"

Kurt wondered out loud as he traced his fingers over the cut metal. There was something odd about the way that the weapons were formed, something that made them decidedly...well, off. They weren't turbolasers, at least not standard, and the foreign language that read across the serial numbers was something that he didn't recognize at all. [Kaile?]

He called up his friend.

[Kaile have you found any records of aliens?] He wondered out loud. [Like...something that doesn't speak basic.]

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

[ What?]

Kaile's voice would crackle through Kurt's lenses, a bit confused. Records of Aliens?

[ Umm. Give me a minute. ]

With a tap of her fingers, Kaile brought up the previous files she gathered up from below. The Empire of the Hand. Check. Wait, she saw something earlier on when she worked with her new dataspike.

[ ... Chee-un-eh.] with her drawl, it came out all broken. Any Chiss within earshot would have internally cringed at the butchering. [ Chiss speak ]

The written form of Cheunh was represented ideographically, and the agglutinative features of the spoken language were reflected in the written form, which combined simpler ideograms to present more complex idea.

For Kaile, it was all just rubbish. While she could mimic the best of them, she had yet to master Cheunh. She'd have to listen for a good bit to be able to nab their accent and pronunciation well.

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

[Chiss?] Kurt echoed, that was the last thing that he expected.

[Why would Chiss be out here? That doesn't make any sense at all. Those guys like to keep to themselves, live in Wild Space, we're like on the complete opposite side of the galaxy from anything Chiss.] This was completely confusing. Why would there be Chiss weapons here? Kurt frowned slightly, shaking his head and then realizing that he had gone off on a tangent without actually letting Kaile know what the heck he was talking about in the first place. [I found some weapons with Chenuhaeadfasbvjiasrbgarg.]

His mouth trailed off slightly as he failed at pronouncing the name of the Chiss Language. [Chiss Speak.]

Kurt corrected himself with a nod.

The weapons of course were Masers, or rather a new development of Masers that The Empire of Hand had created for their ships. Kurt would know that if he could read Cheunh, but he didn't. He would also know that if he could slice into computers, but he couldn't. Thus the Pilot just stood there, wondering like a fool.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

Chiss speak?

Hmm...

Kaile gave a slight frown, then considered.

[ Activate the visor.]

The Lorrdian told the pilot. One of the perks of the sunglasses she gave Kurt was that it could uplink into her datasplint.

That could be... a bit creepy, but it could turn on and off. This way she'd be able to see what he saw.

[ Let me see. I can run them through a database to determine what it says. ]

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

[Uhh...] Kurt trailed off as he began to search for his glasses.

He hadn't been wearing them rather just tucking them into the front of his shirt. It would have been a bit silly to wear sunglasses inside, especially inside of a dark maintenance closet that hadn't seen the light of day in however many centuries. Eventually he managed to find the glasses, remembering that he had placed them at the front of his collar. He fumbled with them for a moment, pressing the small manual switch that activated the feature Kaile was after.

[Here.] He said as he pointed them towards the writing. [See?]

Kurt doubted that the writing would be anything secretive or particularly unique, more then likely it was a simple serial number and a name.

The Chiss weren't really known for graffiti or anything of the like, in fact they were probably the most serious species in the galaxy. Cold, logical, neat, organized, and even abrasive at times the Chiss weren't exactly known for their friendly nature. If this writing was their language, Kurt expected it to just be straight facts and nothing else.

 

[Kaile Vera]

The sunglasses would bloom to life, a small HUD like screen spanning across the lenses. When Kaile first created those sunglasses for Kurt, she had added a method for it to be able to connect directly to her cybernetic implants. What Kurt saw when he wore those sunglasses Kaile was able to see.

In the control room, her eyes gave a slight flare of light. As the connection was secured, a small HUD would shimmer over her corneas.

For someone to see, it would be a rather unnerving sight, but it allowed Kaile to do what she needed to do.

​

​

[ Uploading. ]

The sigils were scanned, then a slight twitch of her eyebrow would activate the databases within Kaile's cortical datasplint. It was all about retrieving what information she had on file, then scanning it through her laptops databases. It was a raw translation, but it made sense.

[ It translates to 'Maser.' ]

Kaile gave a slight frown.

[ It's a type of energy weapon. Laser and Kinetic.]

​

​

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

[Huh.] Kurt said with a shrug. He'd heard of masers before, of course, and he probably should have guessed that was what this was, but it hadn't really occurred to him. The Chiss were known for using Masers almost exclusively, powerful energy weapons that unlike Turbolasers actually hit with kinetic force. They were dangerous weapons when used against starships, especially when said ships were within the orbit of something with gravitational pull. In the Academy Kurt had been shown examples of where ships had been forced down into the atmosphere through the impact of Masers. Granted, that had only happened a few times, but it was possible.

[That's not common tech.] Kurt mentioned quietly. [The Imperials weren't really known for working with the Chiss, were they?]

As far as Kurt remembered the Old Empire wasn't particularly fond of Aliens. [I mean, History isn't exactly my greatest subject but I do remember a thing or two about the racism these Empire's showed, that's kind of their trademark after all.]

He was sure of that at least.

Kurt presumed that if they had Maser Technology then they likely had other Chiss Technology, after all why stop at Masers? The Chiss were one of the few Alien species in the galaxy who were actually quite divergent from the standard galactic fare. That was something that Kurt only knew because the few times he had met Chiss they had made it painfully clear that they were either better, or wholly different than normal human stock, stock like him.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

[ Well.. ]

Kaile's voice would resonate through the small speakers in his glasses, her tilting voice drawling in contemplation. One could even imagine her sitting and scratching her temple.

[ With all of this, I reckon it ain't too far to say that whoever this Empire of the Hand was, they dealt with the Ascendancy one way or another. ]

Which surely meant more Chiss speak and Chiss tech. They were known for that, innovators of technology.

[ So I'd be careful with whatever else you go on discovering there. ]

Her lips thinned, and she caught Marty's little red glow of his oculars.

[ The Chiss ain't known for having things that do nice effects to folk. ]

She was talking about bio-chemical warfare.

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

Kurt shrugged.

He wasn't really worried about running into anything too badly up here. The Empire wasn't really known for letting dangerous weapons lay around without much security. He figured if there was something that could harm him, something that could really harm him it would be locked away in more than a hangar storage closet. Eventually he reached down and pressed the button on the glasses, shutting off the visual link and halfway turning away from the maser weapons and back towards the other things.

[Nothing to worry about, I think.] Kurt commented to Kaile. [I'm sure most of the stuff is locked away on those other levels.]

Wouldn't really make sense to have it all up here anyway. The Hangar bay storage would only have what ships would need for immediate repair and replacement, not long term weapon solutions. He doubted that everything would be located here, mostly because Kurt had visited a few military bunkers in his day.

[Check for storage levels.] Kurt told her.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

[ No problem. ]

Kaile replied, the faint glow from her eyes dissipating as the connection was shut off. Her attention then shifted towards the data screen. Throughout their conversation, more and more bits of the map were being revealed. Sections would bloom on the holo map display, revealing a few more of those blacked out levels.

[ Hmm... looks like we have storage on floors seven through eight. ]

A frown drew over her brow. Now what was this?

[ There seems to be... laboratories on level ten... Still goin' through the rest of them. This nifty little gadget we found is helpin' me go through it all. ]

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

Oh great, laboratories. He was almost entirely sure that when it came to Imperials and laboratories there was no good outcome or result. That was a simple fact of Empires, they tended to have morals on the loose side and generally...well...their experiments weren't pretty. Kurt had no first hand experience with that of course, but his parents did. He frowned for a moment, surveying the parts and starship pieces that sat in front of him as he thought about what they could do.

[Avoid those for now.] Kurt said with a bit of authority in his tone.

[We don't know what could be down there, or who, or whatever. I'd rather not walk into any labs.] That was a simple true fact, though as his gaze wandered he had a small, albeit amusing thought. [Maybe we can put the glasses on one of the droids and send it down there.]

A small chuckle followed that. [Or maybe some kind of remote uplink would be easier.]

 

[Kaile Vera]

Another grimace.

This was where she was kicking herself again. She should have picked up her mail the last time she was on Sullust. She had ordered a variety of products from G.E.A.R. from the last SSB Expo. @Seraphina Shel’tah had been simply amazing and the entire experience had been a blast!

Buuuuuuuutttt, all of her ordered products did her no good here in the middle of no where on this mysterious deserted island.

[ We are goin’ to have to go back to Sullust to pick up my mail…]

Her voice was a half grumble in disappointment of herself. Those drones would have been useful now. A huff would send a puff of hot air up her face, her bangs flying.

[ I can see what I can do. Reckon could build something easy enough to go investigating. ]

Something simple.

[ I could send Marty but… ]

Her voice would fade, but what went unsaid would relay that she wasn’t too sure of that.

[ I’ll think of somethin’. If you do come across anythin’ shiny that looks like a drone, hit me up. ]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

 

[Kaile Vera]

Another grimace.

This was where she was kicking herself again. She should have picked up her mail the last time she was on Sullust. She had ordered a variety of products from G.E.A.R. from the last SSB Expo. @Seraphina Shel’tah had been simply amazing and the entire experience had been a blast!

Buuuuuuuutttt, all of her ordered products did her no good here in the middle of no where on this mysterious deserted island.

[ We are goin’ to have to go back to Sullust to pick up my mail…]

Her voice was a half grumble in disappointment of herself. Those drones would have been useful now. A huff would send a puff of hot air up her face, her bangs flying.

[ I can see what I can do. Reckon could build something easy enough to go investigating. ]

Something simple.

[ I could send Marty but… ]

Her voice would fade, but what went unsaid would relay that she wasn’t too sure of that.

[ I’ll think of somethin’. If you do come across anythin’ shiny that looks like a drone, hit me up. ]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

[Okay.] Kurt said quietly as he began to scan through the contents of the room. There wasn't really much that they could use immediately, at least nothing that The Pilot saw. There were a few parts that would be useful if something broke, some things that they would likely need two or three months from now, but nothing that The Messa needed right now, even with all the damaged parts. There was a bit of amusement to that, the fact that there were all these parts and all those broken bits of The Messa but nothing here that he could use.

He gave a slight chuckle and shook his head.

The Pilot shrugged and left the maintenance closet. While the masers were interesting they weren't really something that he wanted, not for his ships. He had been removing weapons from The Messa almost since the day he got it. There were a few laser canons on it now, but nothing noteworthy.

He didn't intend on adding guns now.

"Alright, next one." There were three more closets that he could still search for parts, and if he was lucky he'd find what he needed to repair The Messa. It would certainly save them a trip to Raxus Prime, which was still quite a ways away from where they were now. Kurt mused on that as he began to fiddle with the second door lock.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

Slowly but surely, the map was starting to fill out more and more. Marty stood quietly to the side, awaiting further orders. Kurt might have thought that to be rather creepy, but Kaile had long been used to having to deal with droids in her life. While they could certainly form their own personalities, they were originally subject to their programing.

Marty, the Dark Trooper wouldn’t be doing anything beyond what she had instructed him to do to begin with.

“So we have storage here…” Kaile would murmur, zooming in on the holographic map. The laboratories were revealing themselves to be that dark area from earlier. Level Ten to Fifteen.

Hmm..

“What sort of laboratories are you?” She wondered aloud. Maybe with the new nifty prototype, she’d be able to find out. When she activated it, that is when Kaile got her first taste of the updated Cipher Black encryption.

“Now what are you?”

Intrigue bloomed across her features, and the Lorrdian got to work.

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

The second lock gave way as easily as the first one, though that wasn't unexpected. These weren't vaults after all, and most of the time a hangar like this would never be left alone so there wasn't really a lot of need for security that could keep out everyone and their mother. After fiddling around with the wires for two or three minutes Kurt matched to dislodge the door, the durasteel suddenly letting out a loud hissing noise before falling away into the wall.

The Courier let a satisfied smile spread across his face before he stood from his crouch and peered into the maintenance closet.

This time he reached for the small light switch on the inside of the wall. The light didn't switch on of course, and he frowned slightly as he peered around the dark room. He shifted slightly, pulling out his flashlight and turning it on so that he could get a better look at everything inside. Much like with the first closet, this one had nothing unique or really even noteworthy, though there were more of those guns that he had found in the first closet.

"Huh." Kurt said to himself as he wandered over and inspected them.

It seemed strange to him that so many weapon systems would be left laying around, especially with all the vehicles in the levels below.