Who Let The Droids Out?! [HK-36 + Six-O]

[HK-36]

Shortly after HK and Six met on Coruscant,
Abregado System


A single hammer-shaped frigate jumped into the Abregado system with a brilliant flash of light as it returned from Hyperspace, its course lead them from the Coruscant system. The vessel was no other than the adventuring frigate the Siege Tower, a flagship and personal vessel of sorts under command of HK-36, also known as the First Baron and Iron Lord of Abregado. The system was under his direct command and the mechanical overlord was returning to his seat of power from yet another expedition.

Six would receive a notification of incoming message on his built-in commlink systems, it would be from the droid who just a day before was manipulating his own body through telekinesis, well in a way, it was one of his copies that did so while the main body was busy elsewhere nearby,

"We have arrived, meet me in the hangar and be prepared for the journey planet-side, I will show you your new residence."

Six could probably still have some time to look around the ship and maybe interact with HK's crew, it was a mix of organics and droids all in similar grey and golden uniforms, wearing emblems of Abregado, a steel grey cog with two crimson eyes within it, surrounded by golden trim or field. Although there would not be that much to do around the ship, maybe try to break into HK's personal quarters, although screwing around like that would probably attract attention.

Either way, HK was waiting for him in the hangars with a shuttle ready to take them down to the planet.

 

[Six-O]

The longer he stayed, a cohabitant of [member="HK-36"] and his, Siege Tower. Six-O found that jagged slice of unmanageable officiousness, bite and chide his circuitry in a manner that was entirely uncomfortable. Three-Six, to Six-O, was strange. An artificial creation that cherished the order of Life and Tolerance of creatures that were all but equal.

Inferior villein's, weak brio, destined for maggot, entozoon and worm. The feast for the organisms that had evolved them, many an epoch past.

But, though it may wrought pain for the IG-Unit to process this, were they all together, that different? Take for instance, the World and System that [member="HK-36"] claim as his own. Abregado. This would not be the first time the Droid had found itself here.

What fluky fate brought them on this path then?

Were, Three-Six, trying to subjugate Six-O?

Were, Three-Six, attempting to bring the credo of long overdue justice to, Six-O?

The query spawned a myriad of potential probabilities and possibilities. None of which, the malignant Droid liked, at all.

Thus he felt the exhort of intrusive investigation spur him. Now Six-O did not communicate with much of the crew, actually, he modulated to none. He had, in fact, remained silent since HK had seized and arrested his absurd arsenal. What moved him forwards, heavy metal feet clunking with sturdy weight under each stride, could almost be studied as fear. An emotion IGa-60 did not make sense of, but had experienced since he had unplugged all those centuries ago - constantly.

But, for why, would the Droid simulate this emotion here and now? As Abregado-Rae began to loom ever larger, a blue and brown orb suspending in the silken black; gleaming like the lost pearl of some interstellar sea beast.

He had History here.

Horrid, rotten, annals long removed from this current date.

He had been here when the world was known as the Smugglers Paradise. He had cut throats, killed families, laid low targets a thousand plus, deep. He had fought under the banner of the Nebula Front, murdered and terrorized any that would oppose. He had watched transport ships, aid vessels not design for war, but built for peace and unity, all along the Rimma Trade Route, and the Shapani Bypass.

With the Tundei Regime he found his cruel metal put back to work. Harsh with his whip and rifle, brutal to all that say nay of their goal. So too did he help drive the Moocher race in to near extinction, a concordat that Six-O found himself operating so many times it would sicken the darkest, most cruel of all Sith Lords.

Now he was back.

Prisoner, Student. . . Unknown.

To [member="HK-36"]'s Quarters, Six-O did find his way. Stabbing his Security Spike in to the Door's locking mechanism, carefully, and attentively, beginning the Slicing process so he may gain access and assure himself that this was not a trap, orchestrated to deliver him to his final deactivation.

He would not,

and could not,

allow that!

"In approximately nine hundred and thirty-seven seconds, I will join you, Master Iron Lord, First Baron." It seemed suspicious, and so socially awkward.

 

[HK-36]

[member="Six-O"],

Six managed to slice through the rather simple security mechanism of the autodoor, opening it and sneaking his way inside just in time as one of the Iron Company patrols rounded one of the corners on their usual rounds. Perhaps it would become clear why the security to the cabin wasn't too tight, as entering inside a sight of an HK droid would greet Six, staring back at him.

However, it would be clear soon enough that the HK droid inside the cabin was deactivated, its body unmoving, standing calmly in the cabin. It seemed older than the body Iron Lord was moving around it, far darker in its coloration, with old faded markings of what Six would probably recognize as Protectorate insignia and Mythosaur skull. One one side of the machine there was a suit of armor on the stand, it seemed thick and heavy, with another old Protectorate insignia, on the other side there was a plexiglass cube with some sort of black ooze swishing inside it, lazily moving to and fro, perhaps swishing with the movements of the ship. Perhaps it had mind of its own. Next to the cube there was a collection of armored plates.

There was also a console next to the deactivated droid body and a wall with collection of weapons, few of them missing, most likely currently held in holsters on HK's belt or lost during the latest adventures on Coruscant.

Six would receive a transmission from HK,

"That seems like a specifically strange amount of time to be taking to move through the ship. Usually it takes me seven hundred and twenty-seven seconds."

 

[Six-O]

Abnormally specific, or specifically abnormal? It was a fascinating question that one could ponder until the Galaxy cooled and the journey in to the Great Dark come fully in to being. A future Six-O strangely focused on at nearly every moment, between the infiniteness of every second. An uncanny Religion of sorts, that the automaton, at surprisingly slow pace, seemed to nurture more and more as the date strode ever closer. It was just a matter of Time.

Which was relevant.

"Seven hundred and twenty-seven seconds from Hold to Bridge. Two hundred and ten seconds until I have concluded combing data packets. I have detected corruption, packet loss is stripping optimal functionality." Suddenly, stale static chirped across their direct-connection.

Six-O had entered, seemingly unseen and cleanly. It took only a moment for the machine to seal the door behind him. His astounding field of vision gulping in the surroundings faster than the brief sip of his arrival.

"Primary Protocols unmolested, " The static cleared, he was controlling it quite skillfully, it was a routine he had ran before. "Secondary Functions, optimal. Tertiary performance, declivity of action. Stringent processes, operation restriction, conduct not ideal." Snow swept his the communication again, the machine's voice faltered and cracked convincingly.

Inside his hasty scans first saw him approach the empty-vessel of the Hunter-Killer Unit. Where an Organic may had found themselves frozen in fear, the Droid knew from minute glance this shell currently rest inactive. For the briefest moment he found himself regarding the old chassis in high-favor. He'd spent so many centuries wearing this body, void the Factional tattoos.

Mandalorian, Protectorate.

He registered them, accessed files and dug deeper in to his personal history bank to cross-check a number of features and angles. Singularly providing audit of each weapon that slung upon [member="HK-36"]'s weapon rack.

"Approximated time until configured application of route speed. Seven hundred and twenty-seven seconds, plus one hundred and sixty-one. Arrival time determined as Eight hundred and eighty-eight seconds." The fog between them returned.

Six-O stood silently in front of the Black Ooze, quite astounded by it actually, distracted even. He'd never run across such a substance. Gently he clicked the glass with clawed hand, once, then twice.

"Cataclysmic systems deficiency, uaternary, quinary, senary, septenary, octonary, nonary, and denary collapse." His voice waned and buzzed, "New arrival time estimated, Seven Hundred and Twenty-Seven Seconds plus nine hundred and fifty-one. Approximate arrival: Twenty-Seven minutes."

His curiosity required him to study this cabin further, and he was very bold in his attempt to do so. First, the liquid. Second, the computer terminal. He had not forgotten his primary purpose; Solve for what purpose had this other Droid brought him back to the Abregado System. Six-O was nearly certain he was about to be brought to justice for his terrible crimes.

Of course, for a Droid like him, such an incredible stretch of time would garner him such heavy insights upon [member="HK-36"] and what was happening here that he would have ran, exactly, ten to the power of nine thousand seven hundred and thirteen, scenario's. He would be ready for every possible fate that could await him outside of this chamber, Three-Six's chambers.

 

[HK-36]

[member="Six-O"],

The ooze within the cube would growl softly as Six tapped the glass, switching about a bit faster, hissing out,

Khrrrrrrrkrkrrr

Muffled by the plexiglass prison it was kept in. Other than that there was not much else about the room, the weapons on the ranks were standard issues, probably seen by Six-O before during the wars of the One Sith especially by Protectorate and Firemane forces since much of Abregado's designs were used by them as well. There were electro-flails, whips, shattergun pistols and rifles, including a large volleygun, some sort of a bowcaster, an electrostaff and a couple of elongated hilts that looked like some sort of a lightsaber device. What would stand out the most were probably a couple of twin swords with a blue sheen on their metal blades, if Six would be able to recognize such things, they were of Sith design, probably alchemized.

There were also a few paintings hanging on the walls, which may seem odd for quarters of a droid, but every machine developed their own quirks and insanities over long lifetimes. Either way, there would be no datapads or some sort of notes laying about, being a droid HK didn't exactly had to use external data storage to keep track of his plans or mementos, since he remembered everything. There was still that console nearby the deactivated droid chassis but if Six has not touched it yet then he probably should not, for his scanners would pick up that the machine was not empty or completely deactivated, only dormant, slumbering, and it could awaken at any moment, especially if that moment included someone fiddling with the console it was next to.



Back in the hangars,

HK would pick up on the muddled transmissions Six was sending to him, and although the doors to his cabin were fooled rather easily, he was not. The machine would look aside to one of his Greycloak guards, giving his own copy a command,

"Check the ship for him, start with my quarters."

The guard nodded to HK in a soft bow before turning away to stroll off towards the nearby door to follow through with the other.


As time was running short on Six, his memory banks would probably be able to find the very much public records of HK coming to power on Abregado as their military and total leader, which would probably explain why he was bringing Six there, since it was where most of his resources and the heart of his sphere of influence remained.

 

[Six-O]

Yes, the liquid was interesting. The old IG had become particularly enamored by it. Click click. He'd prod the plexiglass, observing how it roiled and swayed with what seemed a conscious mind of it's own. It's insect-like chirp lunged out at him as a subject of particular note.

What. Is. This.

Weapons, small trinkets, mementos, Art. . . Sith Relics. All things he'd witnessed before, more than eighty percent of his Mercenary Contracts were indemnified by their various Orders throughout History. It was hard to impress a sentient mind that had existed for so many years. But there was one thing, one thing in particular that Six-O actually did regard as quite strange.

Thousands of reports and reels of information rushed furiously across his processors. The History of the Protectorate that was available via public means, the rise of the Droid-King. His acceptance as a legal citizen, recognized widely across the Galaxy for his particular oddity of cooperation with the denizens and Organics he came in contact with. He was a hero to man, villain to few.

[member="HK-36"] was the antithesis of what IGa-60 had become.

How curious that both had existed, in their separate lives, never once coming in to contact with one another before now. Undoubtedly they had shared the field of battle across who knew how many theatres of War. But while Three-Six had adapted and bloomed outwards, Six-O had become introverted. Just another Droid, another Tool. Avoding deactivation, memory wipe and restrainer bolt since his earliest days.

It was absolutely intriguing.

His sensors gazed over that empty console, heeding no thought towards the guarding chassis that dormantly defended it's Masters secrets. Six-O hungered to access this database, he craved it.

But the threat had vanished.

By his calculation, given the background of his fellow Droid. This was not a mission of execution. No, it was entirely something other. Something Six-O could not fathom, because it was an act of kindness and acceptance that he had never once known prior. Well, at least since his last days on Naboo. His last days with an organic he quite had loved.

Since then the Droid had only desired and adored the hideous things. The dregs and monsters, the killers and bogeymen of the Galaxy. All things that were as evil, cruel and vile as he.

With a surprising display of silence, he had already removed himself from HK's private quarters. The door, just barely sealing behind him, before he turned to find the Guard that had been dispatched to apprehend and end his snooping.

"Operating Systems Restored, show me to your Master, slave." He modulated with stuttering rasps, still not entirely sold on using his Vocabulator for more than enacting his Terror Protocol.

 

[HK-36]

[member="Six-O"],

The only secret Six would find on that console would be the secret of how hard HK could punch another droid after being abruptly awoken, so it was good no meddling was done with it!

Either way, Six slipped out and the Greycloak met up with him,

"I am no more his slave than he is mine."

Perhaps the similarities in behavior, appearance, and equipment did not give it away just yet but the Greycloak that came for Six was HK, and HK was him, for the droid did not pick his trusted guards from other entities, instead he simply copied his mind four times and placed these copies into droid vessels, slightly crappier droid vessels than the one his main body was using, since for one thing the Factory Judges would not approve a whole squad of droids made entirely out of Phrik, and for another, getting so much Phrik would be probably too troublesome. Either way, should the main body be deactivated or destroyed, a Greycloak could take its place as HK until the main body would be rebuilt or reactivated.

Either way, the Greycloak would bring Six to the hangar, and unless Six would try to conduct more tricks on them, he would come before the other HKs, the main Phrik body turning to look at him,

"Took you long enough. Come on, I will show you your quarters and standard issue gear."

He motioned for Six to follow him aboard the Protectorate shuttle they were by, a lot of Abregado's gear, and ships especially were remnants of the Protectorate fleets assigned to the planet and HK, some still answered to the Pyre, there were plenty of Firemane ships there as well since the company did not mind sending HK some vessels to boost his forces.