“I am so sorry. I believed that you would be able to retrieve what your brother lost. It is not your fault, Vance. You had no idea of what you were caught in the middle of, what you are still involved in. In some way, you would have been lucky to perish. The very notion of you resurrecting this junk for your operation is puzzling to me. Now, you rely on these antiques to ensure your survival.” Kuat turned to Aggie and asked what his specifications were. Aggie did not answer. Instead, he opened his battered torso, revealing enhanced servos and a secondary heuristic / mimetic processor nestled among more standard components.

Aggie then spoke. “Sir, we may seem but mere antiques to you, and in many respects we are. However, not one droid assigned to this ship is what it appears with the exception of the medical units. They were just recently brought aboard. They are completely barren of enhancements.”

Kuat appeared to be contemplating scenarios in his mind. Again he spoke, this time to our newly appropriated MD-5 unit. “What would it take to repair his injuries?”

The medic faced Kuat, buzzing through his damaged vocoder. “Honestly sir, I do not posses that information due to the atypical nature of his injuries.” MD-5 keyed a switch on a nearby scanner, projecting a hologram above Vance’s body. It showed in vivid detail exactly what tissues and nerves were damaged, and where. “Frankly, I am puzzled that his body lives, even with our equipment sustaining him. Though my databanks hold an enormous amount of information, I am not aware of another case where injuries this severe have allowed the patient to live. We are currently attempting to locate a suitable cryo-stasis pod so that we may have the time to find an answer, and possibly replace the affected organs, or even repair the spinal injuries.”

“A cryo-stasis pod? They are not easy to find, especially since they were decommissioned by the Republic during the war for faulty monitoring equipment. They were largely replaced by the stasis beds. Unfortunately, they would not be able to preserve all functions.” Kuat stared at the floor. “I will attempt to find one myself.”

At that point, I spoke through the internal comms. “Why would you do that for Vance? You mock an attempt to help him, though you still place audio and holo-espionage equipment in his ship?” Kuat froze, clearly processing the new data presented before him.

“Ah, you must be SARA.” Kuat visibly calmed. “It is comforting to know that you are unharmed. As you may know, my line of business is not without its risks. Information is vital to everything. The first with knowledge, when correctly applied, is the first to survive; even prosper from the wisdom gained.” Kuat smiled, possibly believing his subterfuge was successful.

My reply was vocalized with stresses that I have associated with the emotion of anger. “The opinion you present may comfort a fool Kuat, not I. Such data is logical that you would have motive to prosper financially from information gathered within this vessel. This ship, my systems are unique in nearly every manner. Knowledge of this ship’s operation being transferred to new designs would make me and this vessel obsolete. That alone, would ruin Night Runners. I will not allow this!” I paused for an emotional response. “If you have no further purpose here, then it is time for you to leave. If it is necessary, you will be escorted out.”

Kuat straightened, bowing while visually searching for the ship’s holocams. “It is a pity. Imagine a Star Destroyer with your capabilities. I would be more than gracious enough to obtain the necessary equipment, or have my research and development team design new equipment to save Vance. I would also ensure that you and your operation remain, as you say, unique. As a reminder, I will leave a repair statement with your receptionist upon my departure. Conscious of your actions or not, it will serve as a reminder of what damage THIS COMPANY has done in its quest to be an independent operator.”

With that Kuat faced Vance and placed a hand on his forehead before turning to leave. He then stormed past Aggie towards the docking level, collecting his surveillance bugs as he left the ship. After approximately five standard minutes, Bajal Horn commed. The stress in his voice indicated nervousness. From his report, Kuat left a billing statement for damage recovery claiming just below two point one trillion credits. Bajal claimed that Night Runners had not even earned that amount in its entire existence. He was correct. The financial records in my databanks indicated a gross income of only one point eight trillion credits throughout the company’s six year life.

“What will we do? We can’t possibly pay that!” Bajal exclaimed, seemingly beyond the stress point of a human his age.

“We will do what we must.” I doubted that would calm him, but encouragement did not seem to be either the logical or the proper strategy at the time either.

Bajal was sweating profusely now. “With his political power, and nearly endless credits, we’re through no matter how we go about this. He might as well be the Empire; he could crush us with a whim.”

“Possibly.” If I had the ability to smile, I would have. “However, he has a wonderful disposition of constantly underestimating this company, and its antiques…”

Through my research of Kuat of Kuat, the man some refer to as the technician, he shows to be highly intelligent, and an extremely calculative being; especially in the arena of anything mechanical, or electrical in design. Kuat entered the room, glancing at Vance’s motionless body only briefly before individually inspecting every droid and piece of equipment aiding him. Aggie, who had fallen behind Kuat’s stride, entered the room moments later to observe Kuat kneeling at Vance’s side.

Immediately after landing, Kuat demanded to speak only with Vance. Aggie attempted to explicate the impossibility, however Kuat refused to listen. After a slight amount of risk management, I transmitted clearance for Aggie to escort Kuat to Vance’s quarters.

Repairs have begun in the cargo bay. As expected, remnants of the BRT’s encoded programs remain in the memories of the affected systems. A full wipe has been ordered to prevent any further incursion of other networked systems. Due to the proprietary engineering, it will take approximately ten standard days to successfully reprogram, even with the backup copies stored in my primary memory core. The primary memory is also soon to be duplicated as a redundant security measure.

Holonet searches of Vance’s contact, Praetor Ku, have provided no further results. All queries have been halted to better provide resources for repairs.

All night runner droids have been retrofitted, proving to average a forty-three percent increase in efficiency.

Vance’s condition is unchanged, as expected.

I am intercepting reports of anti-Imperial demonstrations on several planets galaxy wide. The nearest planet, Dantooine does not seem to be in that category;  I have not scanned any reports mentioning it. However, local vessel traffic has increased by nearly eighty-six percent over the past three days. Several of these vessels are formidable considering the amount of armaments. Some vessels have docked with the Intolerable for various services, including minor repairs, to estimation costs for shipping contracts, and the pilot of a modified Corellian YT-1300 asked for employment. Though the ship would have been a great asset, logic dictated turning the pilot away. Financial resources are currently returning little profit. We would not be able to secure payment for additional navigators due to the existing expense obligations, and I am unable to calculate how long Vance will be in his current condition.

A transmission was received yesterday from Kuat of Kuat stating that he will be arriving tomorrow to retrieve his property. All attempts to return a reply message have failed.

Droids on The Intolerable are now being fitted with the same Network Transponder devices that have been installed on all Intent droids. These allow me to be in constant communication with those droids to allow for a higher efficiency quota, and to serve as a time management tool. These devices will also soon be placed on all company ships as well.

Vance remains in critical condition. His quarters have been reconfigured into something resembling a battlefield transportable med-center. All operational medical droids have been placed to monitor his condition, and treat when necessary. As you can probably understand, his injuries require not only constant watch, but even the basic necessities, i.e. ingestion and excretion of food solids, fluid intake, and even bathing are all performed by the droids, and equipment. I have been searching the holonet for approximately two hours. I believe I have located an old military grade cryo-stasis unit from the era before the Clone Wars. If obtained, it will increase Vance’s probability of survival by one point eight percent.

On a more positive note, company-wise, I now have exact schematics of each Night Runner ship. Navigator assignments and manifest routes are now more efficient. Partly due to that, I have managed to secure several new contracts worth approximately eighty million credits in total.

Engine repairs should be complete by next week. Sublight reactors have been re-modulated for a fifteen percent increase in propulsion. Debris from the BRT explosion has been removed from the cargo bay; however, repairs will not begin in that location until all engine repairs are complete.

While clearing space in Vance’s quarters, several astromechs were assigned with scanning all hand-written documents before moving them. I discovered Vance’s plans to restore three droids stored onboard The Intolerable. Two of the droids were described as T-3 utility droids, and one was apparently an earlier T-1 model. My records did not have information on any droid of those series. The holonet was equally void of information. I did, however retrieve some data, and images. The T series droids were an ancient predecessor to modern astromechs, and agromechs; they were produced by a company called Duwani Mechanical Products. Beyond that, information is all but extinct. Vance wished to restore these units, and upgrade them to modern technology. As ordered, the units were brought aboard. Without proper schematics, a lengthy examination, and multiple scans will be required to successfully reverse engineer.

R3-I5 uploaded more document scans… One document proved cryptic. Six simple words scribbled onto a flimsiplast sheet.

“Must contact Praetor Ku about SARA.”

The name was not in the list of my creators, nor did a holonet search reveal the name. Interesting…

http://www.scifiscapes.com/index.php?referrerid=4

Subject: Investigation – Loss of Vance Rőgen – Near destruction of HaVoC’s Intent

As you can see from the last transmission, both this ship, and the company have had better days. Currently, I am attempting to re-integrate into the remaining functional ship systems. For lack of better terms, I am piloting the ship back to The Intolerable for repairs with only one engine functioning. My first priority en-route is to inform you of the known activities chronologically from the point of Vance’s last dictation.

According to the data collected to date, mostly consisting of holo-recording segments, Vance entered into the rear section of the main cargo bay as the door sealed behind him. There the BRT computer was interfaced with several ship systems. Unknown to him, a second assassin droid armed with a lightsaber lie in wait in the forward half of the cargo bay.

For those that have not been aboard HaVoC’s Intent, the main cargo bay is split into two sections (A and B), by a large blast door and secondary bulkhead. Each section has its own separate gravitational and environmental controls for shipping of various cargos. This secondary bulkhead is also a structural integrity failsafe for hull breaches in the foremost section. (Section A)

The BRT was positioned just aft of the bulkhead (in section B) and covered the majority of the blast door. Vance entered section A with an injured arm, and was confronted by the droid.  The audio has yet to be recovered due to the multiple failures ship wide, however a conversation took place that lasted approximately 42 seconds. The recording stops for a brief time, only to show Vance thrown by the droid to the port side of the bay. The droid produces a lightsaber with a blue hued blade. Vance attempts to stand, but falls down as the droid advances. Vance then rolls to one side and is able to fire two rounds at the droid. The assassin deflects both blaster bolts before running the blade through Vance’s torso. The droid stands over him for approximately twelve seconds, possibly communicating to a dying Vance, and turns toward the BRT. The droid approaches the BRT, and inserts a crystalline cube, possibly a data module, and retracts it after approximately nine seconds. The droid then enters an access hatch on the aft wall of section B. The droid is seen again on another holocam exiting a maintenance hatch on the bridge level, entering the port airlock that Interrogator’s docking tube was previously attached, and jumped away from the ship.

All sensory data ends at that point for a period of 14.5 hours. According to my investigation, the BRT began a feedback loop into the attached systems, disabling some, and destroying others, including engine controls. The BRT then detonated itself, sending a massive Ion and electro-magnetic pulse large enough to completely disable the Intent and disrupt the three ships in Commander Madine’s fleet. Witnesses from The Interrogator stated that a small shuttle of an un-identifiable class jumped out of hyperspace nearby, and activated a tractor beam before jumping away. This information could not be verified however, due to a lack of sensors.

Two of the troopers from Vance’s team were able to breach the cargo bay, and retrieve Vance before the explosion. He was transported to his quarters, where an emergency life support system has been placed due to Commander Madine’s quick aid. Due to Vance’s critical condition, further transport is not advised. His spinal column was severed at the T-1 vertebra, effectively paralyzing his body. Brain activity is minimal. Vance’s survival is not probable, however more equipment and personnel will be boarding as soon as I dock with The Intolerable.

Something I have learned in my relatively short existence. Never discount the human condition. This ship has survived more than most ever would. It is possible, however unlikely that the human mind can surpass similar obstacles. I will continue to search for the technology, and knowledge to save Vance Rőgen.

An Arfour unit approached us, and began to sound off an approximation of an alarm, and approached a computer station on the other end of the room. I ran to the station, nearly slipping on the freshly crimson sprayed floor. On the viewscreen, it showed internal plans of the ship, and stopped at the Main hangar bay, where I knew the BRT to be located. The Arfour unit began whistling again, this time in short successive bursts, mixed with low tones. Where’s Aggie when I need him? The droid turned to me and withdrew an appendage from one of its upper storage doors and pointed to the datapad connected to my armor strapping. Sara… It’s trying to tell me about Sara…

I threw my rifle onto the readout terminal, and with my right arm, reached across my abdomen to the datapad that was attached to my belt. My chest began to sting, reminding me of my brush with death mere moments ago. I reviewed the last message received by Sara. Her core was located in the rear of the ship, connected at an internal comms relay station, nowhere near the hangar bay…

“Arfour, what are you trying to tell me?” The little astromech merely withdrew another appendage, a damaged one, and began hovering it over the primary data feed port. “Ah, you have a broken arm! Ok little one, can you just show me what’s so troubling?” With a scraping sound of metal on metal, the droid retracted its appendages, and began its journey to the cargo hold. I turned, grabbing my rifle and painfully strapping it over my right shoulder.

“Sergeant, could you grab a couple of your men and follow us?” I made the motion towards the droid as if showing the trooper our new leader. Two troopers and the Sergeant began following us through the corridors. The droid stopped about four meters shy of the personnel entrance into the cargo hold. Through the doorway, the edge of the BRT could be seen plainly. It was an ugly creation for sure, even for a computer. Pipes and large cables seemed to cover the surface of the large box. I stepped around the Arfour unit, preparing to enter into the bay, with one of its grasper arms; the droid hooked my belt, and began to pull me backwards. We’re wasting time, this droid is just afraid of that computer… nothing more. I began to detach myself from the droid, wishing like mad that I had the use of both arms. Apparently we made too much noise.

“Vance Rögen, enter the hold, and seal the door, NOW” Whatever that was, I’m paying attention now. It knows my full name, not good.

That was Vance’s final dictation to his datapad. I apologize, but he will no longer be able to transmit. According to his wishes, I will continue in his place. My name is SARA; Resident A.I. of HaVoC’s Intent. The next transmission will be the final one on this channel. Currently, networks are being re-routed for security purposes. The new channel information will be attached with the next transmission.

“That’s nice and all, but we’re in a bit of a spot here Vance.” Crix’s statement resounded through the small sound emitter.

“Crix, Is that you? What’s your location?” The adrenaline that was beginning to fade kicked into overdrive once again. ” Where the hell have you been?”

“I’ll be happy to tell you all of that if you can get us out of here. Our cutting equipment and one of my men got sucked into the ship… through what looks like a fifteen centimeter hole. We did what we could to prevent further casualties.”

“We’re on the way then. By the way, you missed out on a great fight…. It just goes to show that they truly don’t make droids like they used to.” I smiled with the thought, and winced at the pain in my shoulder. Without looking, I knew the arm to be lost. It would never again use it with success. With today’s technology, I can get it replaced easy enough. Or I could just let it hang there, useless for the rest of my life. Knowing that I would let it fall off first before going to one of those hack job surgeons. No, you will not, you will be born anew, answered the dragon.

As we made our way down to the engine compartment, some of team two’s commandoes were already cutting Crix and Alpha team out of their would-be tomb. I stopped in my tracks as I rounded the corner to see the remains of a tech could be seen spread all over the engine room’s floor, and nearby walls. The gelatinous blobs looked as though the man had exploded, which wasn’t too far from the truth.