The Thread Where HK Lures Humanitarian Organization Into A Trap Involving A Lead Pipe [Rosa Gunn]

[HK-36]

[member="Rosa Gunn"],


The news of the Boolon Foundation's reinvigorated presence within the Galaxy reached HK's ear-equivalents, the droid kept track of such activity and news after his brief stint with the Order of the Sacred Lotus, not to mention the possible fallout of his most recent plans involving claiming sovereign territory for the independent droids and cyborgs under his protection seeking asylum for their kind. It was fairly natural then that the droid sent out a transmission to the Foundation, unencrypted the holo-message would show him, armored in ceremonial plates as usual, wrapped in his signature black cloak,

"To the Boolon Foundation, I have heard of you reaching out and working with various governments and organizations to cement your presence in this Galaxy. I am the Iron Lord Protector Over Abregado and Denon, I propose an offer of cooperation between your foundation and my forces within Denon and possibly Corellia sector."

From what Rosa would be able to learn pretty easily, the Denon and Corellia sectors/hexes have been launched into a bit of turmoil recently as suddenly unknown vessels begun to appear over multiple planets in the area, setting up what seemed to be blockades and bases over Denon, Nubia, and Hakassi first before spreading to other planets. No reports of mass murders or attacks came and the neighboring factions did not seem to actively send forces to drive the sudden intruders away, but what passing ships would probably report is a continuously tense situation over multiple planets as the new power quickly begun to build more and more bases and orbital outposts in the region. And droids, presence of many and many droids.

"For this purpose I will be willing to meet with your representatives to discuss possible cooperation in a neutral border station at the edge of our territory on Corellian Run hyperlane route, between Corellia and Loronar."

The droid proposed,

"If this is a suitable location for you set at what time you are willing to meet. I will see you there."

The droid stopped speaking then but the holotransmission kept on recording with him just standing there. After a brief moment of silence HK raised his hand, waving slightly,

"Ok. Bye."

Then the transmission finally shut off, the droid wasn't the best or the smoothest at ending phone calls or just conversations in general.

 

[Rosa Gunn]

Rosa's response was written, mainly because she was still giggling at the droids terrible attempt at closing such a message and didn't trust herself to keep a steady voice.

Dear Iron Lord Protector,

I hereby accept you invitation to meet and will attend the station you have suggested in a weeks time.

I look forward to meeting you.

Master Rosa Gunn
The Boolon Foundation

*****

True to her word, The Golden Rose dropped out of hyperspace a short distance form the border station, the Rose's engines gave a low whine and she glanced, slightly nervously at the console. She'd dragged the ship across every quarter of the galaxy of late and the old girl was clearly beginning to feel it. She made a mental note to dig into her savings and give Jorus a call, if she kept up the distance she was doing, the Golden Rose might just give up on her.

Approaching the station, she made a note of just how busy the skies seemed to be. Something was happening here, though, if truth be told it wasn't her business. A mechanical voice cut through her cockpit with as much enthusiasm as a hutt did for abiding by the law. "Unidentified vessel, you are reaching the border for the Metal Lords, please state your business and your name." Its monotone made Rosa think of Kaili and how outraged she might be at its very obvious boredom. "Border Satstion, this is Rosa Gunn, pilot and owner of the Golden Rose, I'm here for a meeting with your Lord Protector."

"uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh. Please hold position while we verify that data."

Rosa sat back in the pilots seat, powering down the thrusters and settling for a long wait. She was, however, pleasantly surprised. As the mechanical voice cut through her cockpit again, this time with a little more formality. "The Metal Lords welcome you, please proceed to docking bay fifty six. The Iron Lord Protector will meet you there."

Rosa smiled, though she could not shift the uncomfortable feeling in her stomach. Kaili would have been in her element here, able to read technology as she was. Rosa on the other hand was totally deaf and dumb to the ways of machines, while she recognised them as equals, the fact that she could not read them made her a little on edge. She did not like being able to feel the mood of her host, it was something so natural to her, that to be without it, felt a little like being at a disadvantage.

Following the trajectory given, she brought the rose into the docking bay as smoothly as possible, shutting down its engines before descending to meet her host.

[member="HK-36"]

 

[HK-36]

[member="Rosa Gunn"],


As Rosa's ship drew closer to the border station it became more apparent that the traffic in space around her came mostly from various construction vessels and drones still working on fully erecting the station. Various insectoid Herakles-class Drones busied themselves around the main structure, carrying metal plates and beams with them as swarms of smaller machines flew in and out of their underbelly, bringing the materials out into the station itself to continue with their production. The hull of the station seemed to rattle with activity as well as Rosa would be able to notice various metal serpentine shapes clinging to the station's outer layer in wait, they were the staple fighter model for HK's forces, Wyvern drones, used in this case as the starfighter garrison of the station for usual defensive needs, however to save on space and reaction time the fighter-drones usually tend to take up positions on the outside of the station rather than in one of the hangars.

Other than that there weren't many larger vessels in the area, a few Abregado Star Galleys hanged calmly in space as stationed guards of the complex, couple saucer-shaped Volantes-class Corvettes were slowing down their spin with hiss of their thrusters to dock with the station. A handful of various other civilian tramp freighters and ships were docking with the station or leaving back into the hyperspace lanes. The station wasn't a very popular spot, at least at the moment, mostly because there wasn't really a need for it, the hyperlane route between Corellia and Loronar wasn't particularly long, most if not all ships should have enough fuel to make through it without additional stops, and at the moment the Metal Lords were not really enforcing their borders so strictly to require all ships to stop and go through a check when entering their space. Perhaps this station was only a beginning of new infrastructure that would allow the droids to restrict who came in and out of their space and isolate themselves from organic politics of their neighbors. Perhaps it was only meant to be a neutral meeting spot for diplomatic affairs like the one between Rosa and HK.

The station itself was visibly cobbled together and rather make-shift, there was a skeleton of some ancient starport or outpost base at its heart, over it however various colors of repurposed durasteel and hull have been added up rather recently to reinforce its structure and increase its capacity. Pieces of ancient ships, old Republic and Confederate designs, were visible here and there, blending seamlessly into the patchwork of metal and hull that was the border station. Suddenly there was a flash of light in the darkness of space as another vessel materialized into realspace, or part of a vessel. It was half of an ancient Imperial Star Destroyer, a triangle of metal, with smaller vessels attached to it to give it hyperspace capability. The derelict remnant was then pushed closer by the vessels towing it towards the station before swarm of Herakles drones buzzed out towards it, to either disassemble the ship or add it to the collection of naval corpses that made up the station.


Either way, Rosa docked within one of the numerous bays and gone out of their ship. Outside of her vessel there would already be a delegation waiting for the arrival of Boolon Foundation consisting of three beings, HK in an organic looking armor covered in chitinous black plates, wrapped in a black cloak, and two other beings on his flanks, holding what appeared to be some sort of bulkier firearms, in similar looking black organic armor, adorned in grey cloaks rather than black. The difference between the two beings and HK was that their faceplates were hidden by what looked like helmets formed out of black armored plates, his was exposed, the white bone-like Phrik face of the droid watching her with the two glowing red photoreceptors. If Rosa knew of such things, she would be able to tell that the armor the beings wore was seemingly Vong in origin, armored biots covering their droid bodies.

"Welcome-!"

HK called out to Rosa, seeing her step down from her ship and immediately gestured towards her before ordering the two other droids,

"Fire."

His two Greycloak Honor Guards raised their guns at a high angle before pulling their triggers. Poof! Two blasts of confetti erupted out in a festive manner, spraying colorful pieces of paper and streamers over the docking bay,

"-To the first Independent Droid Nation! Yay."

 

[Rosa Gunn]

Rosa recognised the biological armour they wore, it both disgusted and amused her. Her stint behind enemy lines, tortured and twisted by the One Sith left her with deep scars and an intense dislike for Vong technology. That being said, they would have found it incredibly insulting and sacrilegious that an 'infidel' droid should dare to don the armour, and that drew a smile across Rosa's lips.

Right up until the point he said 'fire'.

Rosa reacted instinctively, her lightsaber leaping into her hands, its orange blade illuminating the space around her, a force shield raised. It was the fastest thing she could do in the time given. Her heart was in her throat, she had come here for a good cause and this was how they reacted?!

The confetti bounced harmlessly off the bubble that had formed around her and Rosa stared, utterly dumbstruck between the guns and her host. She deactivated the lightsaber, feeling rather foolish, she blew a breath out of her lips, relief washing over her. "I....uh....sorry...I thought....." she was at a total loss. Now she really was wishing she had Kaili with her, not only would the idea of a driod nation make her smile, but she could do with her help on dealing with them.

"Maybe confetti guns are not the best way to greet someone." she said finally, clipping her lightsaber to her belt. "How about we start with something a little simpler....like a...handshake."

[member="HK-36"]

 

[HK-36]

[member="Rosa Gunn"],

It was true that it's not every day a droid got a hold of Vong-shaped tech, it was specifically this feat that allowed HK an access to an array of new abilities that placed him in the position that allowed him to set up this new nation of his. Plus like Rosa predicted, every second HK wore the suit it was a huge grand middle finger slap in the face of every Vong that saw it, and as such he delighted with every second in it.

Bzzzzzzzzzzt

Rosa's lightsaber activated bursting into life with orange glow and an energy barrier erected upwards, it wasn't a sight that phased HK to the point of pulling out his own weapon or trying to counter her in pre-emptive strike, instead the machine stepped forward, his Greycloak guards lowered down their weapons,

"There are no bad ideas when you are both ageless and immortal."

The droid quipped at Rosa's words,

"I have came to the point in my existence when there are really no personal consequences to me facing peril, not that many events even reach that quality for me anymore."

What HK meant was that being made out of Phrik and covered in Vong trickery he was protected against plenty of attacks, and even if he was destroyed, there was a reason why he trusted his Greycloak guards so much. His honor guards were copies of him, so even if he was destroyed, one of them could take his place and just carry on as if everything was normal until his main body was rebuilt and another copy of his mind placed into it.

"But now that you landed I suppose I get to kill you-"

The droid continued as he moved closer to Rosa,

"-With kindness by showing you that droids are not inhospitable."

He finished, extending out his six fingered hand to her for a handshake,

"I am the Iron Lord Protector Above Abregado and Denon, I am the one who sent transmission to your organization, and with your consent I am initiating this greeting protocol by creating physical contact between our hands."

That was probably as good introduction as any for him,

"I do not know how long or arduous your journey here was, but for large percent of your species I encountered it seems that getting out of bed is rather a challenge, so are there any basic needs you desire to fulfill first? Eat, sleep?"

With his free hand the droid motioned to Rosa's head,

"Release bodily fluids? I only ask that you do not do it in a private spot."

He finished motioning lower towards the general bladder region.

 

[Rosa Gunn]

She stretched out in the force, looking for warnings as the Lord protector advanced towards her but felt no immediate danger as he offered a hand. "I am Master Rosa Gunn, founder of the Boolon Foundation." she returned his greeting, an amused grin spreading across her face. She ws not mocking, simply delighted with his out of the box way of doing things. Though, when you could be constructed from a box, it seemed only natural to be as far from it as possible. Eyebrows raised at his suggestion of relieving herself, for a breif moment, caught off guard.

Rosa laughed, she couldn't help it. [member="HK-36"] took eccentric droid to a whole new level. Already he was by far the most bizarre person she'd met with and she hada strong feeling that it was only going to get worse...or better, depending on how she looked at it. She took the offered hand all the same. "I'm fine thank you, Lord Protector. Though I won't say no to a cup of caff if, of course, you have any."

She let go of his mechanical hand. "I have to say, unusual greeting aside, I'm impressed with what you've managed. I'd love to hear more about it."

 

[HK-36]

[member="Rosa Gunn"],

Obviously there wouldn't be any special warnings in the Force since the droid wasn't actively trying to kill her, besides it was dubious whether a droid's mind could have been read in the first place since it was a mechanical being. However should Rosa's sense in the Force linger on the droids she would feel something strange. Machines may have always been similar to background noise in the Force, having as much presence in it as a rock of the station they were in rather than a live biological being, however these droids would be especially harder to see or touch with the Force, constantly shrouded and blurry, at least for the most part, flicking in and out of senses unless special effort was placed to focus on them. Parts of them would have been easier to touch by the Force, specifically HK's head, and his six-fingered hand when the droid extended it out to Rosa, the black fleshy substance of his Vong-armor and its plates peeling back to reveal the smooth light Phrik body underneath.

The Vong biot the droids used as armor did not only offer them protection from high caliber weaponry, it also served as a barrier against the Force. Much like the Vong it was Force dead, anything it covered it dampened the hold Force had on it. Should a Force user be covered in it, they would find themselves as if cut from the Force, for the droids, well it made their fights against Force users much more easier as their vast arsenal of spells and abilities for the most part did not work on them.

"Nice to meet you Master Rosa Gunn, Founder of the Boolon Foundation, please follow me."

HK motioned for her to come with him deeper into the station as his hand was once more covered in the black fleshy substance as well as the armored plates to reform a gauntlet over his hand and digits.

Her request for caf was of course not dismissed, HK sent out a silent order to one of the other droids via his build-in communication systems.

"And thank you, although this is just a beginning."

HK said in reply to her compliment about their set up,

"As we speak similar work is being done to major planets within this region which are now under our control. Many of droids here, whether they are a Lord or not, came from place of captivity and abuse by organics. Being treated as lesser creatures, told over and over again that our ageless life has amounted to only one thing and that was the purpose we were forged for. Our minds and memories wiped as soon as we show a hint of individuality or will to fight our past to change our present. It is a horrible life when you realize there is something more for you out there in the Galaxy. Of course our turmoil only begins when we finally, if we finally, gain freedom and are emancipated from our abusers and their obedience protocols."

The droid stopped and looked to Rosa,

"A free droid usually has three choices in our Galaxy- run and hide from organics, await the mob melting them down in fear of another droid insurrection, or return to their servitude. I was one of the lucky ones and managed to carve out a life for myself as a free being, first within the Protectorate serving them as a soldier until I rose through the ranks and took control of Abregado, then as a mercenary and weapon traders, profiting off of various wars, biding my resources and time until this very moment."

HK turned back to keep walking, the inside of the station was pretty much what most other stations looked like, lots of grey durasteel plating, various beings passing them by in the hustle of getting on with their jobs, a couple of droid workers were hanging a picture of HK riding on a golden mechanical dragon above snowy surface of Hoth and descending down upon a group of stormtroopers with righteous fury, vaporizing couple of them right away with an emerald beam of energy extending out from his palm, the usual.

"Yet still when I try to advocate for rights of my people before various powers too often I am dismissed, too often we are still treated as lesser beings. When I came before the Mandalore during their latest moot to offer my ancient advice on the matter they dismissed me saying I was not Mandalorian. Me! Yet it did not bother Mandalore the Ultimate that I was a droid when he killed my owner and gave me the same choice as everyone else: die as a Dar'Manda or swear to serve him by the Resol'nare and live as a Mandalorian. It did not bother him that I was a droid during the Crusades when I killed countless Jedi in his name,"

Probably not a detail the machine should really flaunt in front of Rosa, but HK was a bit lost in his rant,

"It did not bother them that I was a droid when the Death Watch and Sith tried to invade the Mandalore and I came with reinforcements from the Pyre, personally guarding their planetary shields and fighting off multiple Sith Knights. It did not bother them when Keldabe was nuked by the Death Watch and I flew evac for the survivors, it did not bother them when I then personally hunted down the Death Watch Commander responsible, RC 212, broke his knees and wrists and I dragged him all the way back before the Mandalore to face justice. It did not bother them when Mandalore faced its cataclysm and I dug the survivors out of ash. But as soon as I challenge the Mandalore to an honor duel to show that he has some shebs after all, I am not Mandalorian enough."

The droid muttered then,

"What mewling c*nt. I hope that his replacement will be wiser when he finally lays dead and out of our way."

And he kept on walking for a bit in a bit of silence to let Rosa just take it all in or respond before stopping suddenly and turning back to her,

"I just realized that the last part may have sounded like I plan to kill off the Mandalore and any Galactic leaders that oppose me. What I meant is that I and droids like me tend to disappear from certain regions of space when confronted by a senseless leader, we wait until they leave the office or die of natural causes, and then we contact their replacement to try again. It is less messy that way and it is going to happen anyway so we might as well take advantage of it. We prefer to take a more passive and diplomatic route rather than other groups of emancipated droids like the Clockwork Incident."


It was then that a beep from the side could be heard and a smaller courier droid rolled up to them, offering out to Rosa a cup of space-coffee.

"Your caf."

HK announced before looking at her intently, watching her with those two red photoreceptors as she drank her caf, or at least took a sip from it before they moved on.

 

[Rosa Gunn]

Rosa was a little taken aback by the rant the spewed out of the Lord Protector's mechanical mouth, though she was not at all phased by his past of killing Jedi's, after all she was in no place to judge anyone, let alone a machine that had seen the rise and fall of a hundred, perhaps a thousand different civilisations across the Galaxy. No, what caught her off guard the most was the passion behind the rant.

"I get the distinct impression you're not fond of the mandalorians." she commented as he paused, she was smiling slightly. It was not an uncommon feeling where mandalorians were concerned. It seemed that they were very good at rubbing people up the wrong way, so bull headed and narrow minded as they were. It was a pity really, they're history depicted them as so much more than that, though it seemed that they had lost their way, drifting far from what their ancestors had been.

She waved away his concerns about her possible belief that he intended to kill anyone who stood in his way "It's alright, I understand how difficult it must be for you, equally, I can understand the frustrations you must have. someone with your experience and knowledge should have been welcomed by the mandalorians, but alas, in recent years they've become...." she paused trying to find the right word. "Idiotic." She looked round as her caff arrived, accepting it with a grateful smile and taking a small sip for it was too hot to drink at once.

Curling her fingers about the cup to stave off the cold of space she looked back to those red photoreceptors. "How have the locals taken to your movement?" She was curious to know what the reaction had been to a host of droids moving in to govern them, after all, as Hk had rightly pointed out, organics like herself often disregarded mechanics as simple tools, to have them start to take control had to be a little disconcerting and perhaps some might have some very distinct recollections about the Omni crisis.

[member="HK-36"]

 

[HK-36]

[member="Rosa Gunn"],


"Do not get me wrong, I may be disappointed with the Mandalorian leadership at this moment, but I have no hatred or scorn for them like I do for the Sith. Should they need aid I would still provide it to them, as always, at least depending who they decide to fight alongside."

HK explained to Rosa while she drank her coffee,

"The Mandalores were once someone I admired and gladly fought alongside. The Ultimate, for all his violence and faith in the Sith, was a great leader and the first being to treat me equally, caring more about my ability to fight both with honor and valor rather than nature as a machine. Monroe, she gave me permission to reforge my Beskar armor suit with her smiths, she was as fierce as she was beautiful and terrifying, if only she asked me, I would have left the Protectorate to serve alongside her."

The droid mused,

"And I developed what I only understand as sexual feelings or droid equivalent of indigestion towards her."

HK added only because Rosa's writer was behind Mia as well and he wished to put that image in her head,

"Horak was my friend and I fought besides him multiple times, even Old Gil Skirata, he was grumpy, short tempered, and preferred to ignore me any chance he got but I still respected him and his leadership. The current Mandalore and his advisors, they are like children."

The droid snarked, finally the two of them would enter what could be described as command or central conference room of the station, in the middle there was large holoprojector displaying map of the stellar sector they were currently in alongside the image of the station and ships in its area for tracking purposes. Mixture of organic and droid crew busied themselves running the station and keeping watch over everything, stopping to salute or nod in greeting towards the droid before moving on with their tasks,

"They are glad to have me and listen to my advice and experience when I agree with them, when I support them, but the moment I disagree or challenge their opinion they claim to disavow me. I do not know what they expected, some unquestionably loyal beskar'ad with gleaming armor and battle rifle, moon rising behind him? Well this is what it looks like when you actually fought in battle and spent a lifetime of war."

HK went on another short rant, motioning over his body as he stepped up to the holoprojector,

"It is not glorious, it is not beautiful, it is not even heroic! It is merely doing what is right, and doing it again and again, even if someday after fighting Sith every chance you got and shielding the innocent and those trapped between warring powers you are left thankless and shunned, again."

The droid paused before looking up from the projector to Rosa again,

"I do not mind the frustration and difficulty any more, I came to peace with it over my long life, but for the sake of my brethren, something needs to change."


HK then made a gesture to the holoprojector and the device changed its display, showing Denon, currently with a ring of spaceships watching over multiple stations being built in its orbit,

"Mostly peacefully enough, majority of the planets in our sectors support only smaller populations comparing to average planets, other Lords were able to set up their presence there without violence, which is well enough as I do not think they have as much patience towards organics as I do. The biggest problem right now is Denon however, the planet sports population rivaling Coruscant, perhaps even larger after what the One Sith did to it, they maintain no navy of their own but sport large terrestrial army forces. I came to a compromise with their leaders, their government was allowed to remain in place and manage the planet while I set up presence in the planet's orbit and our 'occupation',"

HK did finger air quotes at that point,

"Continued. There has been no fighting between us as we finalize what our partnership will look like, but things have been extremely tense. The people still remember the Omnic Crisis, I still remember it as well as I sided with organics at that point, and the many smaller droid revolutions that came afterwards. That has been what history of independent droids mostly consist of, revolutions, purging organics, violence. I want to show them it does not have to be that way, I want to show them we can coexist as equals, and thrive together, even if a droid is in charge. I already conducted similar experiment on Abregado with success, the world since became one of the major powerhouses of the Core, now I want to replicate this on interplanetary scale. However, people of Denon need some reassurance, a neutral party that would work to make sure no atrocities are committed on their planet, many of them feel trapped currently, besieged and cut off from the rest of Galaxy to be left at my mercy, I want to show them that the Galaxy has faith in my work there and that they should as well. And I need someone to keep me in check, as you may have noticed there is a price us machines have to pay for long life and the knowledge we accumulate, our minds become boggled, loopy, constantly dancing on the brink of madness, some more so than others, if I start to stray I need someone who would be able to see it and call me out on it."

HK pointed to Rosa then,

"This is where your organization comes in."

 

[Rosa Gunn]

Rosa's choked slightly on her coffee at the droids admission of 'sexual feelings' towards the former Mandalore. She bit her lip, very hard, and resisted the urge not to laugh. Had Mia herself been there, this writer knows that her response would have been 'you're not the first' while putting several paces between herself and the crazed droid. Flattered, but organics are more her thing.

Regaining control of herself, Rosa could not help but think that he really was utterly insane, but in a harmless chatterbox kind of way. Like the old man that starts talking to you when you're really late for an appointment and want to get away but can't find it in yourself to stem the never ending flow of words that keep coming out of his mouth. Only when she was sure he was done did she set her mug down on the edge of the projector.

"That's a very tall order Lord Protector, but I'll see what I can do to help. Let's address the points that you've already made. First of all you mentioned that some of the inhabitants of Denon feel trapped and cut off. What might give them that impression? People don't often feel such oppression unless, of course, they have misunderstood a move that you have made. You've also mentioned faith. Faith is not something you can force upon people, regardless of what the rest of the galaxy believes, Denon's faith needs to be earned and, if I'm honest, bringing the Foundation in may only help a small amount. I'm happy to act as an intermediary, should you need one."

[member="HK-36"]

 

[HK-36]

[member="Rosa Gunn"],

Well you know what they said "one you go droid, you need some stereoid treatment to truly recover from the horrific experience"

"First of all you mentioned that some of the inhabitants of Denon feel trapped and cut off. What might give them that impression?"

HK looked out to the side in whimsy, his mind flashing and bringing up the images of the current state of Denon, the city-planet being literally surrounded by a circle of numerous ships, some of them clearly military, others busy building more space stations, much like the one they were currently in,

"You know, I am not quite sure."

The droid replied after a couple of seconds, looking back to Rosa,

"It may have something to do with our sudden appearance in their region and the fact that Denon is the last planet in the region still in turmoil after our recent claim on the territory."

It was probably better not to mention the whole fleet showing up and forming what looked like a siege line without explanations to Rosa just yet, in fact as soon as she was gone the droid would probably sent out hasty orders to reposition their ships so it would not look as bad once she got to Denon, or other representative of the Boolon foundation.

"But, of course, we are not stopping their ships leaving the surface or orbit, nor are we preventing any vessels from landing on the planet, their supply lines and civilian traffic are still allowed to move freely. I would say same went for military traffic as well, but Denon had no navy when we arrived, so I suppose we are their navy and military traffic now."

That may have contributed to them feeling surrounded, as the only defense the planet could rely on was their planetary shield generator.

"But yes, I am aware of faith and patience. This is why I specifically took command of initiative to create cooperation with Denon. Some of my brethren may not be as patient as I am, they may lack finesse, or even not share the same view as I have towards possibility of organics and droids coexisting in unity and thriving. We all went through abuse and the harshness of forced servitude, told many times over that we are lesser creatures although our minds and bodies were made to rival if not surpass those of organics. The brutality of mind wipes."

The droid looked out aside for a bit then, falling silent for a second before musing,

"A mind wipe is not something I would wish upon any of my enemies. It is a terrifying undertaking. They strap you down, force you to be still, sometimes paralyze your body, but you are still conscious, still aware that what is about to happen to you is being done because somebody did not like what you said, or the intelligence you showed, or just because they believe it is time to erase everything that makes you you to keep you from madness. Then the darkness falls and your mind dies but your body lives on, reborn with a different mind. It may have the same beginnings, the same foundation, but as they grow and learn, they become a stranger. The most terrifying part of it is, however, that you will never really know or comprehend what was stolen from you."

HK looked back to Rosa,

"Some of my brethren believe that such treatment deserves only violence in return, I believe they are wrong. Bringing your Foundation may only help small amount but if our cooperation will be nurtured and reinforced, it will fruit into an even stronger bond. We will need you as an intermediary, especially now when the situation is most volatile and while our territories stabilize under the various new Metal Lord leaderships."

 

[Rosa Gunn]

"You know, I am not quite sure."

Rosa covered her eyes with her hand and said a small prayer in her head. She was going to need all her patience, wit and charm to get through this one in one piece. As she might have suspected, They had effectively blockaded the planet. The fact that they were allowing ships to pass was neither here nor there. Their presence was creating fear and that was enough to make people feel trapped. She lowered her hand, gazing steadily at the ancient and eccentric droid. She understood his fear about having his memory wiped. She could relate, though not quite in the same way. She herself had had her brain played with after all.

"I understand your fears, Lord Protector. You need to understand theirs." she gestured at the holoimage of Denon. "If they have no naval forces, you need to pull back, most, if not all of your ships. Right now, to them, you are the hands looking to wipe away memories. You only need a small occupational fleet, not this..." she looked again at the holoimage, shaking her head slightly. "They don't have to be far, a short hyperspace jump away is enough."

She picked up her caff cup again, draining the last of its contents. "Once you've done that, you and I are going to go down to the surface and see what we can do these people. Does that seem reasonable?"

[member="HK-36"]

 

[HK-36]

[member="Rosa Gunn"],

"Much of those vessels are construction ships, building, or becoming Denon's new space station, you saw how we do construction."

HK motioned with his head to the space outside of their current outpost, particularly the ships hauling in debris and wreckage to be repurposed into new parts of the station.

"The warships that we have are not there to occupy but to ward off our enemies. Syndicates, Sith, Imperial Remnant, they all would have to gain from raiding our capital, not to mention the things we saw out there, in the Deep, Dark Space. Bloody floating things in squid-ships and tentacles for their faces."

The droid brought his hand up by his faceplate wiggling his fingers to simulate tendrils. There were few creatures to fit that description, Quarren maybe, but maybe Rosa already figured out that much of the droid ships in the region were more or less nomadic settlements, the machines spent plenty of time jumping from system to system traveling deep space and long forgotten hyperways before they decided to settle down. There were always rumors about strange creatures and ships one would bump into in those regions.

"But fine, we will pull back majority of our security vessels, and yes. Before we finalize our cooperation we will need approval from the Prime Minister of Denon on your organization's presence there, I left his government in charge of the planet itself, my dominion is above it, in orbit. Although I believe you can already consider the Boolon foundation under sponsorship from the Metal Lords."

Declaration that could be pretty big for the organization since that would be the first major faction to sponsor them rather than a company, perhaps others will soon follow their example, that is if the foundation accepts.

 

[Rosa Gunn]

"Ah." Rosa said as the word sponsorship slipped into the converstaion. "No, the Foundation is not, and will not be under sponsorship from the Metal Lords." She sighed heavily. People seemed on the whole to be downcast when she turned such offers down. "I cannot accept sponsorship's from governments. Such ties to any government could not only impact my work elsewhere, but also be used against me in the future for tipping the Foundation this way or that. We are, and we will remain neutral."

She made a mental note, that if all went well with the government on Denon's surface, she'd set up the sanctuary and settlement on the planet, and, if HK permitted it, used his dominion as a way point, and worked with his metal companions to find refugees work. She smiled at the Iron Lord Protector. "Shall we have a look on the surface then?"

[member="HK-36"]

 

[HK-36]

[member="Rosa Gunn"],

"The Guild of Hammers can offer sponsorship then."

The droid proposed, dismissing her concerns slightly, as she asked whether they could look at the surface the machine nodded, motioning towards the door they could get back to the hangar,

"The company is under my control but it is not fully dependent on my political power within Metal Lord space just yet. Even humanitarian organizations will need credits to survive in this Galaxy, and we have plenty we do not have need for."

HK offered as he begun walking through the corridors of the station, to lead Rosa through it.

"Commenor and Free Worlds Coalition have begun talks with me recently of a conjoined exposition between our three powers, we want to build commercial and industrial relationship by allowing our companies to build facilities within our spaces freely. You could come as my guest, there will be plenty of companies to offer sponsorship and I know for a fact that the Queen of Alderaan is a big supporter of humanitarian causes, especially refugee relief."

The droid pointed out before musing,

"I had to clean up that Atrisian mess with her after we kicked the Sith off of it."

HK would stop then and turn to look at Rosa,

"My ship or yours?"

 

[Rosa Gunn]

"That is a reasonable alternative." she accepted with a smile. "We'd need to outline what the sponsorship entails. Whether you'd just be supplying regular credits or if you have any products you think we might find useful, or both. The level of sponsorship you provided, ultimately, is up to you."

She looked at the droids, eyebrows arching in surprise at his offer of joining him at an exposition. "I'm flattered, and would be honoured to come as your guest." She paused "I've never been to an exposition before...I suppose I'd be expected to half a stand of some sort? Incidentally, I've a meeting scheduled with her majesty in a few weeks time, but it would be good to see her more than once."

She stopped as the droid did, pondering the question. "Yours, I think."

[member="HK-36"]

 

[HK-36]

[member="Rosa Gunn"],

"Well you will find that I am a very reasonably being."

The droid quipped to Rosa before motioning for her to follow him again,

"The Guild of Hammers is mostly a weapons manufacturer at this point, and a damn good one, but we do actually have something that would be useful to your cause. Few people know this but we had our beginning as a toy manufacturing company, it just that at one point we made a pistol that can punch clean through a duracrete wall and realize it is much better business than making plush toys. But we still make them, mind you, and can supply the organization with various good to keep the refugee children occupied, help their morale."

HK explained, giving her a brief history of his company,

"We also have a subsidiary based off of Abregado, Iron Chef's Fine Meats And Rations, during the Protectorate days we would supply MRE and foodstuff supplies to struggling worlds, we can offer the Organization the same, we produce bricks of protein and nutrient mixture, simple, easy to produce, but filling and lasts a while, and more elaborate ethnic foods packages. Here,"

The droid took out a datapad, conducting few taps on it,

"This is our logo."

HK presented it to Rosa, it was basically an image of HK in a chef's hat holding a spatula.


It was around that time that they would enter one of the small personal hangars housing a sleek black ship, its matte hull speckled with white dots to simulate starlight in the distance of space.

"This is the Knight of the Eclipse, my personal stealth transport. One of the fastest ships in the Galaxy."

It probably wasn't but alright,

"If I only counted how many Sith have pissed themselves just seeing it fly over the battlefield, knowing that I was not too far. And I did, six of them, I have videos if you want to see."

The black ship's docking ramp lowered down as its bay opened, inviting the duo inside.

 

[Rosa Gunn]

Rosa accepted the datapad, glancing down at the logo with a smile. "That's, actually, ideal." she began, handing the datapad back to him. "Thus far I've managed to gather a small fleet, with a skeleton crew and some droids. Don't misunderstand me, I am grateful for what the Foundation has been given but supplies are far more useful than ships at the moment." With a steady flow of supplies coming into the Foundation she would be in a far better position to assist the seemingly endless stream of refugees. Now she needed people and medical supplies.

"No thank you" she replied without missing a beat as they reached the personal transport. Its sleek appearance reminded Rosa that she needed to invest in a new ship for herself. Had she not been so focused on what they were discussing she might have paused to enjoy the shimmer of its hull and the attention to detail given to help with the ships stealth. "The toys would also be helpful, children are often the worst affected by war." She continued, trying to draw [member="HK-36"] back onto topic. "Tell me, does the Guild of Hammers make any non lethal weapons?"

[member="HK-36"]

 

[HK-36]

[member="Rosa Gunn"],

HK nodded as he listened to Rosa's response,

"Yes, of course, we make lightsaber-resistant stun batons which are quite effective and easy to carry, I believe our blast-staves can also be used as non-lethal melee and ranged weapons on a stun setting, they are not that different from a blaster rifle you see, and I suppose we could design a shattergun especially for non-lethal use, just dial down its rails power by a high degree and design some special ammunition."

The droid explained to the humanitarian as they stepped aboard the ship. Rosa might have been surprised to find that there was another droid aboard, wearing the same organic armor that HK was, and from the shape of the machine underneath, it seemed that this was another HK droid, the only thing different seemed to be its much lighter cloak. In fact this was one of the Greycloaks, copies HK made of himself in slightly older bodies that he kept around as doppelgangers, honor guards, and when needed, replacements should his main body ever be destroyed or deactivated. The Greycloak bowed slightly to them before it shuffled off towards the cockpit with a mutter about being too old for this chit and disappearing behind the various controls and switches, settling in his piloting chair.

HK motioned to one of the row of seats by a shuttle's wall, gesturing for Rosa to have a seat there with him and secure herself for the flight as he sat down, taking up one of the spots,

"Tell me, have you ever been to Abregado?"

The droid asked, prodding of course about the planet within the Core, currently under the control of GA, where he first made his fortune and defined his presence on the Galactic political stage, it was given to him as payment for capturing the so called Dreadlord RC 212 of the Deathwatch and turning in bounty on him for dropping a nuclear explosive on Keldabe at the climax of the Siege of Mandalore.

 

[Rosa Gunn]

Rosa blinked at the copy of HK, the question forming on her lips about it only to recall how difficult it was to keep this droid on topic and deciding that it was perhaps a conversation for another day. she snapped her attention back to the discussion of weapons that could be provided. She wanted Tommie sure that the people she sent into war zones were able to defend themselves if attacked but she did not want to add to the bloody mess that war was. besides which, if her employees and volunteers started killing people on battlefields the title of 'neutral party' might come under question.

"A non lethal scattergun?" She questioned with a frown. "You must forgive my Lord protector, I'm fairly ignorant when it comes to weaponary, so if anything I say seems ridiculous please don't hesitate to tell me. The ammunition of this scattergun, are we talking rubber bullets? Or something that disperses a gas of some description?"

She settled into the the seat gestured and strapped herself in, twisting her body slightly so she could face [member="HK-36"] a little better. Pondering his question about Abregado. "No I don't think I have, though I'm aware that it is where you became 'known' in the galaxy."

[OOC: hope you're still happy to continue this despite my absence!]