Sunburns & Hyperdrive Troubles

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

"Filmsi?" Kaile would ask, her fingers hovering over the keyboard. She expelled the breath she had been holding then. Kurt hadn't been the only one who had the passing thought that perhaps the locker could be rigged. Thankfully, those fears were for naught.

"Why would anyone use filmsi?" especially so far advanced in technology as they were. That thought made her give a slight double take, her brows furrowing. She would turn her torso to face the pilot, her head canted a bit to the right in curiosity.

"We haven't had a need to for centuries." at least, for the more advanced societies. Filmsi was still considered to be a rather archaic form of record retention. A major security issue as well, due to the ease of which one could easily lose important files. At his summon, Kaile pushed herself out of her seat. Her leg was a bit stiff, but she managed to hobble to his side.

Kurt held out a few to her, which Kaile took in hand. Her frown would deepen, and she shook her head. A majority of it was in Cheunh; a language that Kaile had not studied. She pursed her lips.

"I'll have to run some of this through a translator..." another shift of papers, "Seems like.. oh!" finally something in Basic. Toffee coloured eyes would sweep back and forth. It detailed more information about the base.

"Huh." she paused, licking her lower lips. "Seems this was a base full of prototypes..."

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

"Storage probably." Kurt said quietly. "The Republic has them too, weird little bases where they throw all the things that are a bit too expensive to mass produce. I never really understood it, if you have it, you should use it, not let it lay around gathering dust."

He shook his head then pulled a piece of paper out. "This looks like codes."

The Courier inspected the numbers for a moment, frowning slightly as he tried to make heads or tails of it. There wasn't really much to go on, except for the fact that some of the numbers looked very similar to the ones that he had seen on Kaile's computer screen earlier. He'd never been much for military protocol, but at the very least he thought he recognized these as door codes. They weren't long enough for launch codes, and were too complex to be ignition codes for a ship.

"Door codes?" Kurt asked Kaile, offering her the list. "Maybe to access more of the base?"

He tried to close his eyes and remember the blueprint.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

Kaile took the list. Her eyes would skim over the sigils. The information would read and match against that which she held in her datasplint.

“They are codes.” however, they didn’t seem to be codes to the blast doors. Having them in a footlocker of all things would be ridiculous. No, this was something else.

Something caught her eye. A reference. “I’ve seen this before.” she would murmur under her breath, a finger tip sliding over a particular set of sigls. Her mind rewound towards the past day. The turbo lift. The twenty-fifth floor. The Hanger. The -- that’s it!

Kaile gave a nod. “By the hanger.” she told him, brown eyes meeting blue. “In the corridors. The north side of the base.”

A pause. Kaile nibbled her lower lip.
“An auxiliary hanger.”

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

"That makes sense." Kurt said quietly.

Why would a bunker this big have only one hangar?

"Probably holds something fancy." The Courier pointed out. "Maybe belonging to the jerk that owned this room."

A shrug rolled over his shoulders. Why else would the codes be in here? For that matter why would any of this be? Truth be told he didn't quite understand any of this. Oh he got the theory behind it, but that theory had been apparently blasted away by the hundreds of years that this so called Empire of Hand hadn't come back for their soldiers. What happened to them? Why didn't they use their army? Where they even still around?

Those were some of the questions he had, questions he doubted would be answered. "We still need to find a way to shut down the clones."

Or they could run.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

“I reckon it could hold any number of things.” Kaile would say rather wryly, well aware of the multitude of surprises they had both been exposed to. One more wouldn’t be hard to imagine.

“Mores the question is just how dangerous it could be.” the Lorrdian would add, still going through the Cheunh sigils and transcribing as much as she could. This was bound to give her a headache.

“I’m still goin’ through it. Even with my stint, never reckoned I’d have to learn Cheunh.” it was a hard language to understand, let alone speak. Few humanoids had the vocal chords or the ability to truly grasp it.

“It ain’t far though.” Kaile would add, looking over the sheet of filmsi.

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

"Let's go down there." Kurt said simply with a shrug. What could it hurt? There were clones in the way, sure, but at the very least they now had codes to get through the doors. There wasn't anymore danger heading there then there was staying here, or so Kurt thought anyway. He considered it for a moment more, assessing if he was actually thinking straight. "Yeah."

The last was more of an affirmation for himself.

There was bound to be something down there, something that they could use to get themselves out of here, something they could use to shut down the clones, something that would at least set them a step further then they were right now. In all honesty it was really the only option that they had, the only one that Kurt could see anyway. A frown pulled at his lips and he shifted his weight slightly, pushing himself up from the ground so that he could stand over the box.

The Courier had little to no understanding what those codes were, or rather, what they would lead Kaile and he to, but that didn't seem to matter. Anything was better then just sitting here and waiting for those troopers to figure out that they had been lying. "Come on."

He offered Kaile a hand.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

Kaile blinked at Kurt, her eyes widening for the moment. Is he being serious? Kurt had some hairbrained ideas; the majority of the time they panned out. However, that didn't mean that they should take such risks so soon. There was an entire base of clones. Some of whom had been searching for them earlier. Their little charade may have worked for now, but for how long would they be able to keep this up?

She had a hurt knee, which was starting to spot again. Also, even with her data stint, there were still a few holes of information that they did not have. Her concern was evident as it would wash over her face, pearly white teeth nibbling on it.

"I don't know Kurt..." she began, those large brown eyes meeting blue. They fell to skim over the filmsi then back up to the courier again.

"We don't even have the codes to open the blast door yet..."

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

He shrugged. "Maybe we'll find it down there, or maybe we'll find something that can blow those blast doors. It's better then sitting here."

Perhaps he was just curious, or perhaps the situation was just starting to get to him. Part of him had given up home on finding any sort of kill command for the Stormtroopers, and another part of him already knew that even if they did find it, Kaile probably wouldn't want to use it. Unlike the Courier, Kaile actually cared about the clones, in her own way. They weren't quite human, but they were still living beings, still capable of independent thought, and that made them precious in a way.

At least to Kaile.

"We have to do something." Kurt urged. "I don't want to just sit here and wait."

That was certainly true, he could barely stay still at this point.

Kurt wasn't scared, definitely not, but he knew that if those Stormtroopers caught onto their little scheme, and all they had was a pair of blasters they wouldn't last very long. That was fact, a fact that stared him straight in the face at the moment.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

It was true. They couldn't just sit here and wait and try to find the codes. However, it didn't mean that Kaile didn't want to be cautious. Her fingers gave a little tap along the filmsi. Mind racing, she weighed the options. What they could do. What they should do. And how were they going to get out of here with their skins?

Her shoulders and chest rose as she took a deep breath. Holding it, she ran over one last thought. If this was an auxilery hanger, they could possibly find the codes there.

"Well, reckon we could search for the codes there." she finally said. As soon as she did, Kurt's expression relaxed and he flashed her a faint smile. One of encouragement. He gave a nod, closing the locker behind him. There wasn't anything else too interesting or pertinent for their search there.

"But we can't linger long... who knows if they are watching us..." which, with clones, didn't quite make sense. But at the same time, it felt so weird.

 

[Kurt Meyer]

Kurt didn't disagree.

Lingering meant more of a chance of some stormtroopers getting curious, and that meant more danger for him and Kaile. It was better for them to move quickly, and silently for that matter. He shifted slightly and pulled himself towards the door, taking rushed steps to reach the small window that lay in the middle of it.

He stood there and peered for a moment, watching and listening for any signs of stormtroopers. When mone were to be found he motioned to Kaile and quickly opened the door, slipping outside as quietly as he could.

Moving silently was still easier then putting on a facade.

Without another word Kurt began to head towards where he knew the auxilery hangar would be, and hopefully towards a way out for the both of them.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

Kaile tucked in the sheets of filmsi in the inside pocket of her jacket.

“Wait!” she said low, rushing over to the data terminal to grab the small datastick. No sense in losing this now, she mused. Taking the data stick, she promptly shut down the power to the terminal. A final sweep and she took one extra stick that she found. Just in case.

A small grimace would curl her lip back, a small throb on her knee. Just had to work through it. A little paler, but ready to be by Kurt’s side, she waited for his okay. Here we go…

She kept up with the courier, walking close. There weren’t any of the clone guards here, but Kaile wasn’t going to take anything for granted. Sliding herself close to the durasteel bulkhead, the Lorrdian would move as quietly as she could. As they came up to the first corner, Kurt held up his hand silently to indicate to hold. Pausing, Kaile held her breath as the distant thud of boots indicated a patrol that was near.
The Auxiliary Hanger was situated a bit higher within the volcano bunker, smaller than the main hanger, but wider and higher to allow the hook ups for the small squadron of starfighters hooked up to the ceiling. Some would be familiar… others… well. Not so much.

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

In truth, Kurt had no idea what to expect. For all he knew they were stumbling into a massive weapons cache filled with some kind of super powerful laser that the Empire of Hand was going to use to destroy a planet. For some reason he doubted that, but there was a lingering thought that it might happen. He'd already been plenty surprised with what they had found so far, who was to say they wouldn't find more? A frown pulled at his lips as he escorted Kaile through the corridors.

"This place scares me." He said the words only as he was sure there weren't any nearby troopers.

Half of him couldn't even believe he'd said it. "I don't understand it."

Kurt continued to speak as they rounded another corner, moving up the steps to reach the level that the Hangar bay was on. The signs could already be read, they were nearing the Hangar bay. That was telling, the fact that the place was so close to the officers quarters.

"Why didn't they come back?" Kurt asked. "Why didn't they unleash their army?"

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

"It could very well be for many reasons." Kaile replied, her voice a low hush as they moved. Her hand came out, touching his shoulder to have him pause. A silent motion of her finger a vertical signal over her lips told him to be quiet. Her head gave a slight tilt, listening. After a few seconds she gave a motion for him to continue. They had to be vigilant. Who knew when a squad of clone troopers would come across them.

"Folk do things to prepare..." going for the long term plan appeared to be rather Chisslike. At least, from what she could gather from what little bit of information she collected. Next time, when they visited the Arceneau Holographic Museum, she was going to take some time researching the Empire of the Hand some more. Same with the Chiss.

"Or maybe," and this was a far more grim subject, " With how long it seems they've been here..." she turned towards Kurt. "Maybe none survived the plague to come back. "

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

That was a distinct possibility. The plague had ravaged many systems, destroyed entire ecosystems and wiped out entire planets with impunity. He remembered those lessons well enough, even though he disdained history. It was true that there was a certain sort of...mystery to the plague, much of what brought it about, and especially what ended it, was simply lost to history. It was very possible that the Empire of Hand had simply succumbed to the same disease that had killed so many others.

"Maybe." Kurt said quietly.

In truth, that thought gave him more comfort then anything else. It was obvious to him that the Empire of Hand hadn't exactly been the friendliest bunch, after all friendly people didn't need armies. So perhaps the galaxy was better off not knowing these men and women. He frowned for a moment, then shook his head and began to walk again. They were close to the auxiliary hangar now, and this was a subject that was far too grim to dwell on.

"Door's up ahead." Kurt said quietly. "Let's see if we can get it open fast."

He didn't want to linger.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

Kaile did not disagree.

Quickening her steps, she gesture for Kurt to keep a look out. “I got this.” while he may be better at opening traditional locks, Kaile could handle electronics. The entrance door was actually a blaster door in and of itself. Wide and large enough for even a vehicle to pass through it. Thankfully, this was a regular one that Kaile could work with.

The security console was set to the right, along the bulk head. The black square box had a keypad and a key card reader. Not too shabby. Normally, she’d use her slicing equiptment.. But they didn’t have the luxury of time here.

“Key an eye out.” she told Kurt, before setting her hand upon the console and closing her eyes. If she had Bobo with her, she’d not be able to do this. Another little trick and bit of information that the pilot would learn of her. It wasn’t just droids she could manipulate...

Her brows would scrunch up in concentration. Slicing a security keypad and reprograming to allow entry wasn’t too hard, but it took a bit of focus. The Force would pour down her arm and pool into her palm, where she manipulated that energy into the console itself. She began to familiarize herself with the piece of technology; how it worked, the schematics, where it sent information off to. A particular security mainframe.

That’s an idea actually… maybe she’d be able to open up the blast doors in the main hanger by connecting to that security mainframe.

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

Kurt turned away from Kaile, thinking that it was best if one of them watched behind them. They would hear the stormtroopers coming if they headed this way, there wasn't really anyway that you couldn't, but he wanted to remain vigilant. The long flowing hallways of this place still gave him the creeps, and in truth he was ready to go. Before he had wanted to find a way to shut down the clones, a way to get them to go back to sleep or just...go away, but now?

Now he just wanted to leave. "How's it going?"

Kurt asked quietly, probably breaking Kaile's concentration. There wasn't really much for him to do, and that state of...uselessness made him nervous. It was evident in the way that he fidgeted, his fingers squirming at his side as he searched for something, anything that he could do. Lips thinned, and eventually he turned towards Kaile.

"Ar-" His words were broken by a sudden hiss.

The blast door in front of them split apart, falling upon and quickly retreating into the walls to either side.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

"Done." Kaile gave a quick back with a perk of her brows. There was a tightness around her eyes, that took a bit out of her. Not much, and normally it wouldn't, but with everything she was already exhausted.

"Go." she told him, giving a nod of her head towards the hanger. She herself gave a look over her shoulder, scanning the area before backing into the auxiliary hanger herself. At least it wasn't dark. Which was a blessing so that way they wouldn't be tripping over themselves.

However, there was no preparing the two for the sight that awaited them.

"Shiny..." Shiny indeed. Hanging upon ceiling hooks were rows of TIE fighters. Just the sight of it alone was enough to have her catch her breath. Kaile came to a halt.

They weren't the only items there. Oh no, there was much more.

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

He saw the TIE Fighters. They were an odd design, their wings flat like razors, not the odd sort of shape that they normally had. He recognized other vessels in the hangar as well, a few clawcraft, some different ships that were of Chiss origin, he even saw an old X-wing. The last surprised him the most, though there was an odd sort of shape and reflection to the panels on the X-wing's body. He frowned for a moment, then slowly shifted through the hangar.

"Hey." Kurt said out loud.

He made his way towards an ancient TIE Interceptor. "I remember these things."

The Republic had studied them in flight school. The ship's weren't exactly the most marvelous things, in fact they were downright terrible compared to some modern interceptors, but they always had a certain suicide charm to them. They were fast, deadly, and unarmored. One couldn't fly the things without knowing what you were doing, if you wanted to live anyway. He smiled slightly as he ran his fingers over the edge of the Interceptors wings.

"These things are a death trap." Kurt told Kaile. "Get hit once and you're gone."

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

Kaile slowed her walk to a halt. Her eyes grew wide, staring at Kurt for a moment before giving a shake of her head. "I don't reckon why any sane man would be keen on flying it if that were the case." her lips grew thin. She knew that Kurt had served in the Republic Navy before as a starfighter. To consider just how many missions he'd gone through and survived was rather staggering. All the more so knowing the risks and the lives that had been lost.

"Why build 'em like death traps?" she took another step forward, coming beside Kurt. "Why risk so many lives?" it was such a waste. A sad waste.

"With all the technology that we've found.. you'd think they'd make something better than that."

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

"They were cheap." Kurt said with a shrug. "Not to mention the pilots were good.

Though the casualty rates in interceptors were high, so were their kills. The Courier had seen statistics, old ones that had been dug out of Republic records for one reason or another. These ships had been mean during battles. Sure one clip of the wing and they were dead, but actually clipping that wing? Hitting them or even seeing them before they saw you? That was unlikely. Interceptors were deadly, that was why their like still existed in the galaxy today.

"They didn't really make good ships until the Defender, but even those weren't all that great." He slowly moved around the vessel, noting that it was somehow...different. The wings were changed, the aft thrusters were a bit wider, the cockpit was slimmer, and there were more weapons.

"This..." He mused. "This is weird."

Kurt pointed out the small differences to Kaile, though he spoke so quietly it was almost impossible to hear.