3334/Easier then the Kessel Run

Easier then the Kessel Run
Date of Scene:	05 November 2015
Location:	Void - Empty Space
Synopsis:	The smuggler Han Solo, performing a run for what ought to be easy credits, finds himself in a dubious situation aboard an abandoned vessel. Here, the Corellian smuggler and his Wookiee companion quickly finds something in common with a Miraluka outcast, a space dragon, a synthetic construct and a living soul in an artificial shell - namely that they have all fallen into the targeting brackets of a cadre of homicidal assassin droids.
Cast of Characters:	Kotone Yamakawa, Bahamut, 673, 754, 814, 892
Tinyplot:	Storyline I - Forges of Hell

---

HK-47 (754) has posed:
     Usually, jobs such as this were relatively simple for most smugglers - trade-offs and delivery runs were, according to popular rumor, commonplace among them.

    Of course, it was rarely, if ever, that easy. Between official law-enforcement, unofficial law-enforcement, people who thought themselves above law-enforcement and competitors or even colleagues that might want a piece of the action.

     This tended to help them learn when deals were worth the risk though... or when something was on the verge of going really, really wrong.

     In the middle of uncharted space, hidden in the mass shadow of a remote world's asteroid belt, A vessel running on silent for a smuggling drop-off wouldn't be one of these things. You'd tend to want to try and avoid patrols from whatever group would have it out for you or if the cargo you were carrying was not something they wanted across their borders.

     But a vessel that was not just running on silent but devoid of life-signs was... more troubling to the average smuggler or observer. By all accounts it looked more like a derelict vessel as opposed to a meeting point. Phantom movements and signatures - maintenance droids or automated systems.

    Those well-versed in the native universe may additionally recognize the vessel, at 155 meters from bow to stern, as a ship from the long-forgotten age of the Old Republic; the Foray-Class Corvette/Blockade Runner... begging the question of, from the perspective of an Imperial-Era inhabitant, where the owner dug this relic up from.

    Granted, the docking arms - one on each side of the vessel - are still active, as was the open door to the cargo bay.

    The bay itself is large enough to hold a ship the size Millennium Falcon and offer better protection then an exposed external docking clamp... at the cost of having to deal with the hanger doors closing shut on them once they land. On the other hand, the docking arm has an easier chance of a ship getting 'accidentally' detached while the crew is stranded on the ship, though also offers a better chance of a quick getaway then a sealable hangar bay.

    Regardless of which option is taken, the ship seems unable to take more then three vessels at a time... and the oncoming approach will give those approaching ample time to think on the budding situation before them.

Han Solo (814) has posed:
    A relatively worried and subdued growl.

    "Just relax. I know it's suspect. Everything we do is suspect."

    Han Solo, Captain of the Millennium Falcon, is seated next to his blood brother and reputable Chewbacca the Wookiee. Chewbacca's huge paws are working the navigation at this particular juncture. Han's hands are on the controls of the ship that made the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs. There's a 'knowing' smirk on his features as the ship levels out from the hyperspace jump.

    "Scan everything." Han glances over at his screens to make sure there's nothing weird going on in the sector. "I'm not in a 'surprise me' mood."

    Chewbacca's response growl probably has more to do with Han never being in a 'surprise me' mood but he works those radar controls just the same. He doesn't feel like dealing with anything extra either.

    The Millennium Falcon soars slowly towards the derelict ship. Han's piloting is smooth and cautious, even as he turns the Falcon around and backs it up into the cargo hold. It hesitates for a moment before the landing gear unfolds and the ship makes a graceful landing inside Blockade Runner. The moment the Falcon is securely inside Han starts flipping switches to power the fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy down.

    "Alright. We're gonna' go down here and take care some business." Han whirls around in his seat to speak to the passenger behind him. "Do me a favor and don't touch anything, huh?" Han smirks and nods towards his Wookiee. "Come on, Chewie. Let's get this over with."

    The first thing Han does when he stands is make sure his blaster is appropriately holstered.

Jayale (892) has posed:
    "Business? Right, you did mention something about a stop on the way."

    Behind Han was a middle-aged woman in fine white silks that looked more like a stray noble than anything else.

    "Far be it from me to impede on your business. I have no desire to mess with your ship, Captain. That said, I do not fancy just sitting here. Just in case. After all, if something untoward happens, I would rather be with the big strong wookie to keep me safe than here by myself, right?" Her tone was entirely teasing despite her words seemingly making sense. "Besides... while it's always nice to have a Wookie around to smash open jammed doors, it is also quite nice to have a Miralukan along. After all, we can see quite a few things you cannot." She hardly looked the adventuresome type, had no visible blaster or for that matter anything visible about her besides her clothing and what amounted to an overly fancy-looking tool belt with no visible tools besides what might be in the pouches. "Of note... this ship is actually quite ancient. I am surprised it is not only here, but powered to a point. I suggest before we even head in, you work with me to make sure this cargo bay you parked your ship in cannot close. I am sure we can find a control panel somewhere or determine where the power is that runs to the cargo bay and disable such?"

Rory White (673) has posed:
    Space ripples and shudders. It's very similar to a ship dropping out of Hyperspace but not quite identical - although, only scientists would likely care about the details. What IS important is that another ship, about 60 percent the size of the blockade runner... ALSO drops out of hyperspace.

    Its shape is similar, but it's stockier and broader. Far less manueverable, probably not as fast. And it doesn't appear to be heavily armed.

    IFF comes alive on a variety of Multiversal frequencies. The sleek, steel-grey ship that's covered in sensory equipment and only lightly armored is COGNIZANT ODYSSEY, an Argonaut research vessel. Definitely not one that frequents these parts.

    The problem is that it's far too large to enter the cargo/hangar bay... and an external docking just isn't likely to work.

    "Strange... I thought I just detected a power signature. There wasn't one earlier." Rory White checks her scanners, voice coming from everywhere and nowhere aboard the Cognizant Odyssey. The science vessel's thrusters fire in carefully calculated fashion to swivel it around and bring it into a slightly higher orbit than the blockade runner.

    The Blockade Runner is immediately subjected to a BARRAGE of scans across the entire spectrum, analytical AIs looking for signs of damage or activity...

    "I don't recognize the model, but that's no surprise. Still... it is orbiting an asteroid in the middle of nowhere. It is powered down neatly. There's no signs of damage. No signals from the ship..."

    Is there even a name painted on the damned thing? She's scanning for one.

    "Perhaps the people aboard used an escape vessel to leave. Or it may be entirely automated and waiting for some event..."

    She'd come expecting to find a drifting hunk of junk, perhaps half-functioning. Not this.

    But in no time at all, one of the standard Synth morphs comes to live as it's Jammed by one of Rory's thought threads.

    "Recommending we send some drones to start with or just leave, Kotone. This doesn't seem safe."

    But of course, they're not going to leave. So Rory's teleporter comes alive - and several drones on wheels, the size of dogs and bearing many integrated arms beam aboard as well as the remote-operated Synth.

    Coincidentally this puts her slew of drones not far from the Millenium Falcon.

    The Synth is just a humanoid robot with no attempt at fitting in with society. Naked metal and exposed mechanics. And it's staring right at the Falcon. "Ooooh. I like that design. When did this arrive?"

Bahamut has posed:
     The Falcon's cargo hold opens slowly, and the large grey dragon called Bahamut steps out. He rumbles as he stretches his arms and wings, rolls his neck, and flexes his tail. "I would have thought that a cargo vessel would have a bit more headroom." he says as he walks around the Falcon, his heavy footsteps probably alerting anyone..or anything..that they have boarders.

     Why did the dragon come along? Simple. Because he is a protector, and things on his world were actually slow for once. And a cargo run into criminal space could be quite hazardous.

     Okay, he was just a bit bored and the Falcon is a neat craft. The engineer inside him couldn't pass up the opportunity. It's why he doesn't mind doing this pro bono. He looks around the cargo bay as the others disembark, then blinks as some small drones appear. "It seems we have company." he rumbles, regarding Rory's robots with caution.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Rory was not alone Kotone had come along but had left the Bluenose as it was in for upgrades and wouldn't be deployed for a while. she looks over the scanners as well as she takes an idea to look over the ship.

"Humm if there's no one left alive onboard it's salvage right?"

She seems pretty plesed about this at this point as she's about ready. She beams in with Rory a moment later but she's well come in person as she's not wanting to make use of her remoting ability after all they need someone onboard who can't be jammed into not functioning right?

"Now there's a very sexy looking ship if I do say so myself."

She seems to be a fan of the falcon as well.

HK-47 (754) has posed:
    Once one actually enters it, interior of the ship is... just as eerie as the silent exterior paints it.

    For starters... the ship is clean. Frighteningly clean - no grime, no overt damages, no rust, no water-marks left from where cargo has been left to sit for too long. It's all immaculate... far more so then a ship used for smuggling would likely have, considering how many valuable credits would have to be spent to have every surface practically bleached as this ship's has been instead of food or fuel.

    Almost like there was a rather large mess that the owner didn't want anyone else knowing about - in the case of pirates or the like, probably the ship's previous tenants... though that is just as worrying as the scent of bleach is overpoweringly pungent. The signs of a recent clean-up job.... all of which doesn't explain the seeming absence of crew /now/.

     In fact, the only presence are a small contingent of droids - maintenance units that scurry over to the Falcon like pests and start scanning or probing it's surface, seeming as though they are trying to conduct a standard 'complimentary restock' of the vessel... without actually restocking it through the normal standards such as attaching fuel lines. In fact, they seem more interested in poking it with their appendages and tools simply to see if they can figure out how it works - which may very easily earn the ire of it's two owners.

    Foremost among thees droids are a pair of red-painted utility droids - shorter and smaller then Imperial-Era astromech droids with an angular pod for a torso and a small saucer for a head... which, by the Imperial calendar, have not been active in the galaxy for at least 4,000 years.

    Just like this ship itself, the droids aboard are antiques of a forgotten time... yet they all look almost brand-new. The benefits of a mutiverse connecting to a period a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away?

    The cargo bay seems relatively utilitarian - no uneeded or unmoored cargo. There's a small catwalk with a terminal - the docking control and manual overrides for the hanger bay, most likely... though seeing as they are locked down, they will likely require some program-slicing or a manual circuit bypass to override.

HK-47 (754) has posed:
    Moving ahead through the open doorway out of the hanger, the path ahead becomes rather straightforward... or rather, it's made this painfully clear by way of every other hallway off the 'beaten path' being locked down - and culminating in those present entering what seems to be a moderately-sized briefing room with a large chest on the table and roughly a dozen chairs around it.

     One of which is occupied... by one of three presences in the chamber.

     The individual - for lack of a better word - is clad in what seems to be a heavy cargo-suit with a full helmet. 'He' is tall - 5'9 at least - and somewhat bulky due to the outlines lightly visible through the mesh. On either side are figures of similar stature - one of which wears armor that looks vaguely Mandalorian; or rather, like antique Mandalorian Neo-Crusader armor from the far-flung past, polished and bleached to a shine like everything else has been.

    And if Jayale were to 'look' at them... she would disconcertingly find that they lacked any 'color' or 'aura' to them. In fact they may seem almost phantasmal to her 'sight' as they exist only in physical presence - the Force does not emanate from them at all. Even corpses aren't this dead to the Force.

    Since all life is supposedly touched by the Force... this could only be possible if the things in the suits had never been alive to begin with.

    The suited forms, after taking note of the new arrivals, gesture for those gathered to sit - or in Bahamut's case, take as close a position as possible. They seem to glance at each-other at the higher number of guests then expected - before the leader speaks in what sounds like a young human male's voice.

    "Hey. I see you brought company. Expecting trouble... or were you just hoping to try and extort more payment?" The one in the chair - the 'leader' it seemed as he was the only one to speak - gestured to the sealed crate on the table, closer observation showing it had credit-chip insignias on it.

    A bank-sized lockbox. Big enough to hold at least a million credits.

     The 'leader's hand settles back down on the arm-chair - a bit disconcerting considering no other part of him as so much as twitched all throughout - and addresses Solo calmly with a cocky smuggler-worthy draw that his body-language does not reflect in the slightest, as though it were a tape-recording; "So... you gonna offload the goods? If you want, we can play a few rounds of Pazzak while we wait."

     Yet again another sign of antiquity - pazzak was far, far outdated. Few people in the modern Imperial era probably even knew what it was anymore.

    Of course, anyone with good hearing might note that the vents seem to have come active at this time... rather strangely. And rather silently, too.

     ...

     If there was ever a time to have a bad feeling about a situation, this was undoubtedly it.

Han Solo (814) has posed:
    Han Solo stands in the front of this rag tag group of misfits that have gathered in various ways to handle the exchanging of cargo. The Galaxy must like him or something because he didn't know he would be packing such a large group. He doesn't say anything for the longest moment as he just stares at the individual that's speaking to him about this entire exchange. It's always much easier to let potential enemies talk themselves into not paying attention to the fact that his hand is resting on the Heavy Blaster Pistol that's resting at his side.

    Chewbacca's hands grip his Bowcaster. He growls.

    Han holds out a hand to keep Chewbacca from doing too much of anything. He doesn't want to jump the gun, here. It has a lot to do with the lockbox that could possibly be holding the credits he's come to collect in the first place.

    "Pazzak's not really my game." Han finally responds. "I'll take what you owe me. No more, no less." He tilts his head so that he can keep Jayale, Bahamut and the others that are on his 'side' in his peripheral vision. "We'll unload the goods after we load the payment. Not that I don't trust you but I don't trust you." Han keeps the smirk on his face and his hand grips his blaster a bit tighter. He's ready for the draw, that's for damn sure.

    Han is hoping that this can go down without violence. He really is. But the way he's looking at The Leader is will probably let the others know that he has a bad feeling about this. At the very least, Chewbacca knows.

    "Bahamut?" The dragon can handle loading up the lockbox, right?

Bahamut has posed:
     Bahamut has had a bad feeling about this since they landed. When you are a guardian of an entire world for a few years it becomes part of the territory. Instincts and all that. But, when Han calls to him, Bahamut nods, then goes to serve the part of cargo unloader.

     He is keeping an eye on the Leader and his two bodyguards. With is size and strength it wouldn't take long for him to unload the cargo containers into the larger ship. "What is Pazzak?" Bahamut asks as he works, trying to relieve some of the tension and possibly keep the suspicious characters off guard.

Jayale (892) has posed:
    Suffice it to say, Jayale has lived as a trader for a long time, and even before that she worked a function much the same. Dealing with others for most of her life, combined with being a Jedi whose training - like many others - allowed them the ability to sense the way things were going, such as emotions or how beings in general were feeling lead to her thinking strangely about the situation. Miraluka did not really see how others saw to begin with, and combine that with what else she was able to see, these beings - the ones in the Cargo suits - had her standing there with her arms crossed as she allowed Han to do his thing.

    She was along for the ride, this was his business, her own business was a fair bit away. She had hired him, after all, to be a faster transport than her own ships might offer. But here she was with him, in a position that was rather unnerving to her. She was quite aware of the difference between living beings and technology, quite aware of how beings looked through the Force that were alive... and those that were manufactured. And these beings certainly were not normal, natural living beings. There was no thoughts, no feelings, no sentiments of ease or unease despite the voices. Their body language didn't match their voice, hell, even their movements didn't match their own bodies. At least not fully. But she hadn't actually said anything since they got here, and it was entirely possible that despite it all they /were/ legitimately trying to conduct business despite her unease with the situation. Which was why she reached into her cloak and pulled out a datapad, typing something onto it before offering it towards Han so he could see. On the datapad? It read rather simply, 'You seem tense enough that you know similarly to I, but they are at they very least not alive. Droids, or shells of some kind, but not alive. Either the droids on this ship are malfunctioning and self containing, or something is /very/ wrong. I suggest we skip the lockbox and leave with the cargo. I can find another buyer.'

Rory White (673) has posed:
    "No local wireless. What kind of backward engineering makes a FTL-capable ship without local wireless?" Rory's perplexed at a complete lack of anything that seems to be radio traffic between the droids that are scampering around the Falcon and the ship itself. So much for her hopes of getting any answers from the ship's computer with a guest user query or the like.

    But Kotone's comment is answered with the equivalent of a shrug. "Perhaps. But as I said, it may be automated. This ship is very clean. It cannot have been in this state for very long. Machines cannot be this active without some kind of periodic mainten-- huh? We're not alone!"

    With Bahamut looking her way, robo-Rory and all of her drones back up slightly.

    "Pardon me. Are you the owners returned? I had thought this ship derelict?"

    Of course Han Solo can just walk on without either of them. Rory sends an animated question mark to Kotone over local wireless and then tromps onwards...

    Oh well. She just walks along, sure she'll find some answers deeper in the ship. Which she eventually does.

    "Oh. This explains the incredible cleanliness. Are you the captain? I came to investigate whether an apparently derelict ship needed help. But none of my communications went through, so I came aboard to check directly." She doesn't know who Han Solo is or what they're doing here, but...

    Rolan is warning her of a lot of bad signs.

    << Kotone. I think we may have stumbled across something criminal. Retreat to the cargo hold and beam back to the odyssey. You're in danger and I want to move the Odyssey out of range of this ship's weapons.>>

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa seems to have come across a business deal of somesort with Rory this was not expected tat all.

<<One that is heavy duty on security prehaps? It would make keeping systems a lot more secure if you had to get to physical terminals to do anything. She ponders about that and she looks to Bahamuyt for a moment taking a look over Han walks past she does take a good look at him.

<<It seems we walked into something from the lookc of it Rory, looks like a business deal of some sort we don't want to dirsupt it. You got a good point, I'm heading there now.>>

HK-47 (754) has posed:
     When Rory and Kotone first arrive aboard the vessel, some of the droids flocking the Falcon pause to acknowledge them - some of them even scuttle over to prod at their feet with their stubby appendages as if testing to ensure they are real, or figure out what they are.

    It might actually be called cute in some form of the word, were it not for the fact that the rest of the disconcertingly-clean ship was utterly devoid of any other activity.

    As Han turns down the offer for Pazzak, the trio seem to glance at each-other wordlessly, the 'Leader' tilting his head quizzically. "Really? I figured most smugglers loved Pazzak - or taking chances and risks in general. After all, what other reason would anything have to make such insane choices?"

    The draw is still there... but the way he speaks is more structured - more ridged. Though what seems like cold amusement - perhaps even eagerness - starts leaking through the voice when Han remarks he doesn't trust them. "That /is/ the common practice, isn't it? I know very few... others, that ever trust each-other fully. Either that or the opposite extreme where you meet ones that are too trusting."

     The one in Mandalorian armor seems to take note of Jayale proffering her data pad to Han, as though suspicious of something. And curiously enough, they all seem to take special note when glancing at Bahamut... as though they know what he's capable of even though this /should/ be a first meeting.

     Another hint is that the credit box is surprisingly light - so much so that if Bahamut tries to heft it up too hard or quickly, he might stumble from how much lighter it is then it should be.

    And then... at this point, those of keen ears will notice something is quite obviously wrong with the vents... namely that, after having been active for only a few minutes, they seem to be malfunctioning as wisps of something start leaking out of the grates.

    When Rory asks the 'Leader' if he is captan, he seems to take special note of that, body straightening up a bit more as if having won an award. "You're very perceptive. Yes, I suppose 'captain' would be the best term for me. Though I daresay I will not be needing help, per-se."

    Now a hissing noise becomes gradually more audible as the vents start forcing atmosphere into the room far harder then they should... but those with the senses to perceive it learn rather quickly it isn't /air/.

    Bahamut may recognize it as well... seeing as he'd seen it in action rather recently.

     Cyanogen gas. A toxic cyanide that killed through both skin-absorption and inhalation. Getting immersed would cause the lungs to seize up and the body to go into shock, causing death by painful seizure in minutes. Breathing in enough would be fatal - though one could live long enough to treat it with an anti-toxin injection.

    It also burned horrifically hot when ignited - 8,177 degrees... so if someone was crazy enough to /shoot/ it while it was still only just now leaving the vents...

     "Now... I do believe you asked to receive what you were 'owed?'" the 'Leader' remarks... though his tone sounds disturbingly more murderous. "I shall be all too happy to provide... and while it was merely a cover to lure you out, I must say I do appreciate you delivering the ores to me in such a timely fashion."

     At this point, the voice loses all humane qualities and becomes a grating, almost malicious-sounding metallic tone that is clearly not that of an organic. "Placation - As a token of my appreciation, I may even spare your life" - for a few more days, though he dent volunteer this - "As a smuggler, your words will be a valuable commodity in locating other unaffiliated... and bringing them into line. The rest of you, however... "

     The next instant, the two forms start reaching under the table - if they get the chance to complete this action, they'll pull out very lethal disruptor rifles; if there was any proof this was danger, it would be those flesh-disintegrating weapons.

Han Solo (814) has posed:
    "I hate droids."

    That is both in response to what he's read on the datapad and also what he's hearing from the Leader that's sounding more and more like itself. What happens next is probably what happens more often than not when he's dealing with stuff that kind of wants to kill him.

    Han doesn't even need to see the things go for the underside of the table. He's assessed the situation. He's been in one like this at least a dozen times before. He knows whatever kind of weapon is probably under the table and that's probably why the damn thing kept sitting. So by the time the droids are reaching for their rifles beneath the table, he's drawn his DL-44 and firing a shot at the head of one of those things. Chewbacca has raised the Bowcaster up and fired a shot at the opposite one. Both shots are sent in a simultaneous manner because that's how blood brothers roll.

    Both Han and Chewie are also on the move as they fire those shots because they are not trying to stand still and get shot in the unlikelihood that they miss. This movement, though, allows Han to see that there's stuff that's coming out of the vents. "Chewie! The vents!"

    Chewbacca inquisitively roars!

    "Figure it out!" Han's looking at the rest of his makeshift crew (and the tagalongs, as well!), "Run!"

    As if they didn't know that already.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa gets poked more than a little bit she looks embassed but the thing it not making a hostile action at least yet. She is however starting to back off at this point and making for the cargo bay she doesn't want to leave Jayle and Han there but she knows she'll be more help ona s hip if this does go bad. It may not but she doesn't want to end up running foul of things. Then the voice is shifting oh ya, Rory was right it was a trap all right.

Rory's warning is heeded as she switches to itnernal oxygen she doesn't have klong but wit will help for her.

She does howev er draw her blaster and opens fire, just trying to keep the ones who set everyone up's head down a bit as she makes for the cargo bay to beam out.

<<Rory we might want to offer them a way out Screw it I'm telling them.

She calls out to Han, Jayale and Bahmut.

"I got a way out if you people wnat it keep with me!"

She doesn't stop moving or shooting and oddly doesn't seem to be sucking down the gas? Though if someone were to scan her it be clear why she might be a droid her self, though someone with the force could tell there is life in that shell, something stubbonly clinging to this world cased in sythetics.

Rory White (673) has posed:
    Rory, little more than a 'droid' in this current state herself, and REMOTE CONTROLLED at that, has no fear for herself when weapons start coming out or gas is pumped into the room. But her sensors pick up the change immediately. "I see. It's a trap for someone else!" It's kind of eerie how clearly she states the obvious. "It's a small Multiverse sometimes. Hk-47? Or one of others?"

    All of Rory's remote-operated drones arrange themselves in a defensive phalanx to cover Kotone, although if the others get to retreating they'll also be mobile cover for them too.

    But as the biggest, her remote Synth is likely to take the most fire if anything crazy happens.

    And well, crazy IS happening. There's already blaster bolts flying. the synth grabs one of the dog-sized drones and hoists it up like a shield to provide better cover!

    Her priorities are ensuring Kotone and the other fleshies off the ship and FAST!

Jayale (892) has posed:
    Being at one with the Force was generally a good thing when it came to knowing things were about to go wrong. Especially when the situation was already this awkward. However, the culmination of things that were going on, combined with the fact that when she saw one of them reach and finally thought to look, Jayale found herself cursing her own naivety in not actually looking the place over better to begin with. She could literally straight through the table, she just hadn't even /looked/ at it. Instead she was so focused on the others there that it hadn't run through her mind.

    It was a reflexive motion, but just as she started to put the datapad back to where it went, and they started to reach for the weapons, Jayales hands came forward and with a single motion she grabbed for the table through the force and attempted to upturn the table so the guns were on /her/ side and instead all the things in the cargo suits could grab at was the top of the table from their angle.

    At the urge to run she didn't quite turn yet, instead attempting to use the surface of the table to try and battering ram those in the suits aside and back before turning to do just that. The vents though? Jayale began to look around at the surrounding area only to let out a soft sound and say, "I will go to make sure the cargo bays don't close on us, I'll meet you at the ship!" She wasn't the /fastest/, but when you count in her attempt to buy them time by battering the others out of the way, perhaps she'd be able to make it to the catwalk in time that lead towards the controls among other things. Though that did beg the question - was the cargo bay even still open? If it was, at that point it might be much simpler to just try and find the power source that lead to the bay and cut it.

Bahamut has posed:
     Bahamut pauses as he hears the voice of the leader changing, then he looks at the vents before growling. "It is definitely HK-47." he says as Han and Chewie start shooting. "That looks like the poison gas from yesterday! Do not get near it!" Bahamut calls out, then looks over at Kotone. "They will be fairly safe inside the ship, but you and your friends should get out of here!"

     Bahamut grins as Jayale flips the table and bashes the badguys with it. With them distracted, he quickly slides the cargo containers back into the Falcon. No sense in losing their cargo! That done, he steps out to cover Han and Chewbacca. He does this by throwing spells at the droids who are still standing. With a wave of his hand, he conjures that devastating spell known as Flare. A powerful explosion of pure energy surrounds the Leader, supersaturating the matter it hits until it explodes.

     Hopefully this won't ignite anything. Bahamut isn't one for studying or researching. Even if the information about the gas is available, he is unlikely to know it. "Get in the ship!"

HK-47 (754) has posed:
    The droids thought they had the advantage in using the gas and their disguises - they believed they would have had the element of surprise.

    They didn't anticipate the Miraluka, and they didn't anticipate the smugglers to be so quick on the draw, the droids having only just grasped their weapons while leaning down when the shots impact against their skulls.

     The one with the pilot's jumpsuit goes ridged and recoils with a metallic shriek as Han's shot melts part of it's plastoid helm to it's head, the superheated material searing out one of it's optics as it staggers back instead of focusing on it's targets - a flaw of it's programing in the eyes of it's progenitor unit, the 'Leader' glancing at it in disappointed scorn and disgust as it wails; "Agonized Exclamation - Aaaahhhh! My photoreceptors! My photoreceptors!!"

    The one wearing the antique Mandalorian armor has the helmet scorched as the powerful bowcaster shot splits the shell of the helm open... revealing the angular and menacing silver-grey head of what is clearly a combat droid, yellow photoreceptors glowing menacingly even through the black scorch-mark now burned on it's faceplate.

    Jayale, if she has studied it, may recognize the contours as matching the HK-series assassin droid prevalent in the Jedi Civil War and the Galactic Cold War millennia ago. Bahamut, Kotone and Rory will all recognize it as sharing the shape of a certain rust-red assassin droid they all have met before.

    The droid's poor decision to real back from the shots compounds their failing as Jayale flips the table, blocking them from getting their guns - and smacking the half-blinded droid, now in the process of bending forward to try and wrench it's melted helmet off, square in the head and knocking it to the ground.

    The 'Leader' in turn... actually takes the time to glance at Rory White's addressing of them as it rather calmly stands up when the table is lifted and quickly maneuver out of the way.

    The brief acknowledgement is all but confirmation that the leader among them is the elder assassin unit; "Musing - I suppose it is at that... though I personally consider it something of a shame that you will soon be deactivated. Reassurance - But you need not worry; I shall endeavor to convert your remains into a potent new unit, if only because of how wasteful it would be to let your components go to waste."

    The droid raises his arm - and is quickly enveloped in explosive energy of Bahamut that encircles him and burns away his disguise... only to reveal a portable shield-barrier deployed, the form knelt down behind it trailing smoke and steam from it's heated metal body, clothes little more then burnt rags around a rust-red form that was now glaring at them with undisguised malice.

     Outside the room, things get worse. The cargo-bay doors begin closing shut to trap the falcon... and the previously-sealed hallways open to reveal four more HK-51 units, all of which pull lethal disruptor rifles and quickly become embroiled in a hallway gunfight as Kotone and Rory's probes begin trading shots with them. And that gas is still pouring - only now, vents all over the ship are starting to come online, though they're not pumping the poison yet like in the briefing room.

    That will probably change in a few minutes.

    Disruptor shots are devastating to electronics as much as they are to organics and lethally accurate enough to avoid accidentally igniting the gas - one of the reasons why the HK's love them so much - but the number of probes Rory has deployed makes downing them difficult as the rifle's major drawback is a slow firing speed. The probe's cover thus lets Kotone shoot the disruptor rifle of one droid, sending the HK-51 flying several feet backwards as it's weapon detonates in it's grip and blows off three fingers from it's left hand.

    Angry droids in front... and angrier droids giving chase from the brief. All in all, likely your typical 'impossible odds' for the average smuggler.

Han Solo (814) has posed:
    Chewbacca hurls something into the nearest vent as he takes off running after Han and the others. He's big and hairy so his running isn't the fastest but he's not wanting to stick around around what he's just thrown. He roars at the back of Han's head as he brings up the rear.

    "You did /what/?" Han stops to turn around and look at Chewbacca. Chewie lowers his head as Han runs up to him. He raises a finger for ultimate chastising but shots from droids in either direction cause ducking. The two smugglers fire off shots at the droids before returning to their previous positions of Chastiser and Chastisee. "Get to the Falcon. I'll get the doors."

    The Smugglers are back in the race for freedom and not getting shot up by droids. Chewbacca's run and gunning is probably going to assist with taking out some of the droids in front. His Bowcaster is in Auto-Fire mode so he's definitely intending to mow them down. The roar that comes forth as he attempts to blast a path to the Falcon is definitely one of anger. Han? He's shooting every panel he can find on the way up that might keep those cargo bay doors open long enough for the collective to get on the damn ship!

    By the way, there's a hole in the vent that Chewbacca threw a little something. Wookiee strength allows for such things to happen. Just uh, what did he throw in the vents exactly? Nothing too special. Nothing too dangerous.

    ... just a Thermal Detonator.

Rory White (673) has posed:
    "Making assumptions that you can deactivate me--" Rory's 'robo-skeletal' remote scowls as she tosses away another drone and grabs a new shield, the last blasted through by several disruptor and blaster shots, "At this point is very immature. I am not terribly attached to this Synth model. They're easy to produce... easy to deploy... easy to modify... and..."

    ROBO KICK! Rory sends her downed drown across the room towards one of the HK-51's with a display of prodigious robot strength! There's at least one mighty crunch noise fromt his effort, but there might be two.

    Rory's drones are only lightly armed and not terribly armored, but they have one advantage. Their weapons are ordinary lasers. Which travel at the speed of light and thus, at this range, can't really be dodged. The onboard AI targets lasers at the HK-model optics!

    On the other hand, each of the half-dozen drones she's brought goes down with only a few concentrated shots. Seems they were really mostly maintenace drones or scouts.

    "Easy to remote control."

Bahamut has posed:
     Bahamut just grins as he sees those malice-filled optics. "Perhaps you chose the wrong occupation, droid." he says loudly enough that HK can hear him. Of course, he's a droid, so Bahamut probably could have whispered. He is surprised as the room starts to fill with droids and...he doesn't seem to be targeted. The dragon isn't going to look the gift horse in the mouth, though. With HK-47 hunkered down for the moment, Bahamut focuses on the droids trying to make their way into the cargo area. He crouches a bit, then growls and shudders slightly as energy arcs over his body. That energy flows up to his shoulders, then forms into three large orbs of blue-white energy. Bahamut roars as he launches them toward the open doorways. When they impact, the orbs explode much like the Flare, but not as powerfully and with the added effect of possibly turning those it hits to stone. He is hoping Jayale can stop those closing doors. It might get bad in here if she can't.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa sees the design and has her ideas. She is backing off as she's making for the cargo bay she sees the door closing and this world has no wireless so she can't remote in she's going to need to find a jack in point. Or there may not be much time she's doing her best to avoid them. She's almost at the point she can beam out but the others need to get off here.

"I'll cover you then!"

She calls out to Han, she's using a blaster pistol that if noticed dates back to the clone wars. She's however shooting bolt adfter bot she can.

She's backing out now and is about at the point she can be beamed out but Han's trying to get out with his ship and she fully understand that hence the covering fire!

<<I'm in the caro are giving the ship captain cover fire as he attempts to get the doors.>>

She will also dish out cover fire where she can for anyone else.

Jayale (892) has posed:
    Jayale meanwhile had started to try and make her way towards the door controls only to realize that a certain smuggler was taking a more direct route. So, she focused instead on running and trying to avoid the droids shooting at them. She was hardly the most fit, however, and as a result without her lightsabers drawn she had a blaster shot pass along her leg and graze her, causing her to cry out softly and hobble forward a moment. She wasn't going to be able to just make it by running. She had to do something a bit more... direct.

    Primarily she actually had to make it to the ship, at which point she might be able to act. It's why she falls to the ground as she was shot, making it seem like she was hit worse than she was in the hopes that the droids take the opportunity to shoot at the more heavily armed and seemingly dangerous types than the wounded middle-aged woman laying on the ground. And hopefully at the same time they wouldn't notice her hands move a bit, a three-set of lightsaber handles coming from beneath her cloak and spreading out, one each shooting towards the nearest droids along the floor unignited. It wasn't until the last moment when they got close enough, practically already touching the droids, that they ignited and swung up in an attempt to destroy them before deactivating and returning to where she was.

    All the while Jayale waited just a moment for the fire to hopefully get redirected so she can head back towards the ship. "Just get to the ship, if you can stop the doors I should be able to force them open! Since I doubt we have time to use the terminals or slice anything!" though she reached out towards Chewie with the force, trying to nudge him with the notion of helping her along, since he was probably a lot more fit to grab her and help her move faster than she was on her own. It would simply be an idea, a 'Hey, I should help the injured woman', though it's entirely possible he might instead choose to just look out for himself.

HK-47 (754) has posed:
    HK-47's body is crafted from Mandalorian Iron; one of the strongest metals in the known galaxy, tough enough to withstand lightsaber strikes. Reinforced by a cortosis weave, the droid is capable of enduring immense punishment before he goes down.

     ... on the other hand, his duplicate generations, the HK-51s, being made primarily out of durasteel... are far less durable. Especially against a weapon as potent as a wookiee bowcaster, which is already stronger then the average blaster rifle.

    This is evidenced as one of the HK-51's, stupidly trying to stand firm against a charging wookiee, is perforated by the shots as the enraged Chewbacca pelts it and cores gaps in it's armor, the droid being pushed back by the force of each shot - until one round goes clean through it's left photoreceptor and cores it's processor. After that, the droid twitches a single moment before collapsing to the ground in a deactivated heap.

    Another HK, seeing his comrade be shot down, knows to try and avoid the wookiee's shots, though it's shoulder is clipped. Shots from Solo force the droid to recalculate cover - until it belatedly realizes the smuggler is shooting the panels covering the power conduits to the hangar bay's door mechanisms, causing them to start slowing down instead of closing fast. As a result, this HK unit proceeds to aim it's arm and activate it's carbonite-launcher, spewing a stream of supercooled resin at the smuggler to try and immobilize him.

    Likewise, the HK-51's are rarely used to seeing other droids willing to make such 'sacrifices' as to cast aside their subordinate units, one of the droids being knocked to the ground as Rory punt-kicks a drone into it, smashing it's rifle and severely denting it's torso. It only just tries to get up before it's photoreceptors are drilled into by the drone's lasers, the assassin unit screaming in agony while the rest of it is being systemically torn apart by the probes.

    The other HK's react accordingly, activating portable shield-units to deflect further blaster shots as they work to pick off the drones... though it's worth noting that personal shielding cannot defect melee attacks. They are forced back further by Bahamut's shots, which turns the rifle and left arm of one droid to stone, which promptly breaks when a lightsaber seemingly ignites out of nowhere and slices through the limb and puts a deep gash through the torso.

    The two remaining HK-51's, striding after their targets with HK-47, start changing tactics by lobbing adhesive-glue grenades, trying to cement the fleeing organics in a spray of blue-white gunk. One proceeds to begin trading shots with Kotone as pure-white disruptor bolts are traded against the blue-white of the DC-17 pistol, taking hits across it's form and gaining scorches over it's torso and limbs.

    HK-47 himself proceeds to target Bahamut as his arm slides open to expose his multi-spectral energy emitter; a weapon that utilized the same plasma-energy as lightsaber blades, creating a projectile that could punch through starship hulls.

    With any luck, dragon scales wouldn't fare any better... especially since the assassin droid is shooting at Bahamut's back.

    The other droid, however, following it's ingrained assassination protocols... approaches the downed body of the miraluka, apparently not trusting her to be dead... of course, it doesn't make the smart move of just shooting her corpse at a distance, not noting the lightsaber hilt until it nearly steps on it - and ignites, chopping off it's feet and sending it crashing to the ground. The resulting shriek from the droid is what alerts the others of the lightsabers, though the fact that two of the three blades struck their targets makes it little consolation.

HK-47 (754) has posed:
    It is as all this chaos is taking place however... that the detonator punched into the vents makes it's presence known, exploding with the force of a bombshell and blowing open a hole in the wall - a massive ragged gap that actually tears open a new entrance into an adjoining hallway.

    And when it does... the ship is suddenly punctuated by a new sound - the shrill warble of alarms going off as the ventilation systems are /flooded/ by gouts of flame shooting out of the vents, the masses of cyanogen gas within them igniting and lighting many of the walls up with brilliant jets of fire.

    Grates in the wall either melt, burst open or simply spit out fire as the ship's vents and their accompanying filters are burned away. The scents of antiseptic bleach and the growing stench of cyanide fumes are all burnt out and replaced with the reek of charred, melted steel and plastics, environmental control systems burning out across the deck as the vents on this section of the ship are purged by a flood of searing fire.

     Granted, so long as one stays away from the walls, they ought to avoid being hit by the flames - and if they have the precognitive senses, reflexes or even pure luck needed to do so, they can likely evade the fire even if they are somewhat close to the walls.


The HK units in turn are forced to pull back farther from their prey as flame blows out of the vents in the walls. The hoard of maintenance droids in the hangers are running about in a blind panic trying to fix the burning vents.

    Soon enough the flash-fire will die out as the cyanogen in the air is burned off... though the thick clouds of smoke left by the immolated remains of the ventilation system for this deck. Small geysers of sparks flow from some of the ruptured wall-panels like fireworks as a result of any internal systems that were burnt out when the vents melted and spilled their fire into adjoining systems.

    As a result, power flickers across the deck, the lights blinking in and out... and as a result, the hangar bay doors almost grind to a halt as the power fueling them sputters even more then it already was.

     Overall... certainly what one would call the product of a 'spark of ingenuity,' all things considered.

Bahamut has posed:
     The sound of that heavy plasma shot impacting Bahamut's thick hide is likely deafening in this confined area. The dragon roars in pain from the attack and is sent flying through the air as his heavily armored hide disperses the energy somewhat. There is a heavy dent in the plates along his back, and at the apex of the dent is a hole that is bleeding steadily.

     This could be bad, because it is about that time that the walls seem to burst into flame. Near-solar flame. Bahamut's wings fan out to try and arrest his flight, and since he is flying forward it is pretty effective. He manages to stop just before actually crashing into a flaming vent, but he is still seared by the flames. He leaps back quickly before growling. "Quite a sore loser, aren't you?" he says to HK-47, then raises a claw. Electricity sparks over it, then the air around 47 charges before a veritable storm of lightning bursts to life around him, all the bolts flowing right into him. On Bahamut's world, electricity such as this is very dangerous to robotic creatures.

Han Solo (814) has posed:
    With everything that is happening it is time for the Han and Chewbacca Show to get out of here. This is what they are good at. Getting the hell out of dodge. Escaping is the primary concern.

    "Bahamut!" Han yells to make sure that the space dragon is keeping up or ready to get on the ship or whatever. It's one of those warning yells that fades because Han is dropping and sliding beneath carbonite blasts that make him do a double take. From his kneeling position he goes for the epic headshot to make short work of the offensive droid.

    Chewbacca does a spin move that woud be epic on a football field if it existed in space. As he does, though, the Bowcaster is switched to one hand and Jayale is grabbed and hoisted up with the other. Wookiee strength is a blessing or something because he can just run, gun and carry all at the same time. Big hairy feet hit the Falcon's ramp with Jayale in tow. Moments later, the ship starts purring.

    Han's back to his feet and running up the ramp, as well. "I'm goin' back to workin' for Hutts." And he too is headed for the cockpit so that they can get the Falcon airborne. Engines are burning hot and that ramp is being lifted. The cargo doors on this thing are still open enough for Bahamut to get back into the hold!

    "Buckle up!" Han tosses to Jayale before taking his seat in the Captain's chair. "Chewie. Soon as we're clear? Punch it."

    Chewie's growling reply sounds a lot like you ain't got to tell me twice.

Jayale (892) has posed:
    As soon as Jayale is picked up she pats the Wookie and mumbles out in a /very/ broken accented Shryiwook 'Thanks'. It was broken, but she was fluent enough from trading purposes to approximate a few words and tones. The lightsaber handles flew back towards her and locked back into the hidden spot under her cloak where they were, and once onboard the ship she asked to be put down. Probably already was being put down. "I'll... I'll try to get the doors open wider."

    Just how she was going to do that remained to be seen, though she stayed where she was near the ramp and concentrated. Still, feeling out with the force, which was harder to do with the fighting going on and the wound to her leg. Though ultimately what she was attempting to do was reach out and push the cargo bay doors back into the spaces they came from. Certainly a task, but hopefully made easier by the fact the power to them had stopped thanks to the thermal detonator. She wasn't going to be fighting hydrolics or whatever was operating the doors, ideally, simply a matter of applying the Force to move them.

    To anyone else watching, though - should she succeed? The cargo bay doors would begin to retract with nothing touching them. Honestly it may even look like they did it on their own.

Rory White (673) has posed:
    Shields that fend off particles are sufficient to deter Rory's lasers completely. They're great at small things, but shield penetrating? They're not. Once the AI running Rory's drones deduces that... well..

    By that time, she's down to just two of the dog-sized wheeled things left.

    And they've switched weapon arms. Now miniature railguns firing tiny metal pieces - Shredders - open fire on the Hunter Killers!

    But Rory herself - or rather, the Synth that could be identified her - is too close to one of the vents when the FIRE happens. A huge gout of plame ensnares her, the explosive force hurling the drone body into the opposing wall hard enough to dent it and knock her completely off her feet. She yells in surprise, but not pain!

    It doesn't stop the drones though. They're still firing.

    After a bit though, the Synth just STOPS dead in the hallway. There's no point trying to recover it.

    The Odyssey's teleporter powers up and attempts to retrieve Kotone!

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa is just not wnting to leave people behind, she really does want to help but even as she's locked in a fire fight and going for cover she feels something strange it's the pull of a transporter locking on ot her. Rory is more than successful in beaming Kotone out, who gives a very loud shout of shock as she vanishes in a pillar of light. It's a godo thing too she'd have been heit dead on by the shots from one of HK's droids had she not been beamed out.

On the ship a very confused Kotone falls flat on her face on the teleporter platform.

"Gurk?!"

Is her refined and elaborate response.

HK-47 (754) has posed:
     One of the advantages of HK-47's design was that he had been built by Sith Lord. As such, he had been designed to engage Force-users - both Jedi... and Sith.

    One of the favored tricks of the Sith was the ability to project lightning. This, coupled with the natural weakness of droids to electricity, was something his Master had reinforced his design for.

     As the lighting arcs across the droid's frame... it seems to become /absorbed/ into it's amor and dispersed by the capacitor armor, the energy converted into power for the droid's own core.

    Obviously an effective upgrade... though far from perfect.

    As with all dispersal units, there was a limit to how much it could safely absorb. As a result, while the electrical strike is not fatal to HK, he does still emit steam from his armored shell being heated and scorched by the attack. His photoreceptors glow harshly from the charge of fury working through his circuits, due to the fact that the attack - while not able to kill him - had debilitated him enough for the draconic creature to have a chance to pull back to the smuggler's ship.

    Meanwhile, the battle is faring far, far worse for the HK-51's.

    The droid assaulting Han Solo is stunned by the smuggler's maneuverability as he ducks beneath the stream of carbonate - which in turn causes the droid to lose track of it's target... too late to see the blaster-bolt before it punches straight through the right photoreceptor into it's head-casing and smelts it's electronic brain into pure slag, the droid convulsing with the death of it's higher processor functions before collapsing into a heap.

     Meanwhile, the hangar bay doors, having lost all but the barest power, no longer possesses the hydraulic pressure to assert itself against the invisible pull of the Force as Jayale's efforts begin pulling the bay doors back open again, the gap slowly widening to the point that the Millennium Falcon can slide back out of the vessel's hangar.

     In the hall, a crippled HK-51 - it's arm missing with the remaining stub partly turned to stone at the end and a deep gash across it's torso unit from a lightsaber stroke - tries to lob a grenade at the fleeing targets, only for it it feel the impacts of shredder rounds pelting it's frame.

    Frame that, while normally impenetrable to such shots, is far more effective against armor that has already been breached by way of the gaping slash in it's front, the shells tearing through the weakened armor and coring it's vital systems as the droid slumps against the wall, optics flickering as it's power begins failing... and ultimately ruptures in an explosive burst that blows out part of the torso, leaving little doubt the machine has expired.

    Meanwhile, the HK-51on the floor, left without it's feet due to Jayale and rifle-less due to Kotone having earlier shot it's weapon apart, tries to aim it's own multi-spectral energy emitter at the Millennium Falcon in an attempt to shoot a bolt of plasma into the engine-vent and cripple it - only to be set upon by the remaining drones, turning in a half-panic to fire upon them instead to down one while the other occupies it, ending the threat it poses to the smuggler vessel.

    The final droid, deadlocked in it's gunfight with Kotone, proceeds to take several more grazes across it's metallic frame - including one that severely charrs it's left arm and damages it's rifle - before it's target teleports out of it's sights. In turn, the droid only stares at the empty space for a moment before attempting to contribute to an attempt to stop the ship from taking off, pulling free a thermal detonator and lobbing it at the Millennium Falcon.

    As the doors open enough for the Falcon to fly out... the ship itself seems to be powering up rather rapidly.

    At this point, evacuating before the forward-mounted cannons on the vessel come online would likely be a very prudent measure.

Bahamut has posed:
     The yell from Han is all Bahamut needs. Having temporarily disabled HK-47, he makes his way into the cargo hold even as the Falcon starts to rise into the air. He closes the Falcon's cargo doors quickly, then yells. "Go go go!" Then, he holds on tight. Just riding back here when Han was flying steady was difficult. He couldn't imagine what might happen if Han is using evasive or other high speed maneuvers.

     Not to mention the cargo containers that are loos thanks to being unloaded and reloaded quickly. But, Bahamut can do little but watch out the cargo window as Han and Chewie fly the ship. He is grinning, hoping that HK-47 can see him as they make their escape.

Jayale (892) has posed:
    The doors begin to open and Jayale lets out a tired breath before saying softly to those in the cockpit, "There... we should be free to leave. But do not dally, this ship... is ancient, and while it is not quite as capable as something newer, it probably has more than enough capacity to tear us out of space." It may be implied that he knew it, but there was no harm in saying it, especially as she pulled herself into a seat and worked to restrain herself as she tried to catch her breath.
    Despite how capable she was of using the Force... she was both injured, had been trying to run, and was easily exhausted even in such a short time. "I'm getting too old for this poodoo."

Han Solo (814) has posed:
    The Millennium Falcon takes off with Han at the controls like he's never been at the controls before. He's got a ship full of new allies, a cargo hold full of stuff he 'acquired' and now has to try and get rid of. And he's apparently probably about to be hunted down by killer droids. Of all things. Droids.

    The moment the Falcon clears the space between the hangar doors and twists to get upright again, the hum of the hyperdrive seems to be in working order.

    "Droids. Why did it have to be droids?"

    Handiana Solo punches it and the Millennium Falcon is pulled into the vast reaches of HYPERSPACE!

Rory White (673) has posed:
    The moment Kotone's aboard the Cognizant Odyssey's dormant engines hit MAXIMUM POWER. G-forces might put her against a wall but that's unlikely to be a problem for her.

    Rory just has decided to BOLT, leaving the wreckge of her drones and her spare Synth aboard HK-47's vessel. It's completely motionless and empty, even purged of its operating software.

    Just to spite HK-47.

    The Cognizant Odyssey's engines soon spool up. If nothing moves to stop it... it'll enter its own FTL boost soon

HK-47 (754) has posed:
    By the time HK-47 manages to reach the fleeing vessel himself, it is already too late. The Millennium Falcon has already taken flight and the HK's vessel cannot power up it's main systems fast enough to try and give chase. Especially not since he vessel is superior in advancement and speed as the Falcon shifted out of the way of the last HK-51's thermal detonator in a way that even the average survival-inept meatbags would consider suicidal, practically corkscrewed out of the hanger bay and tore out into open space.

    In turn, all the droid can do himself is glare at the vessel, optics pulsing furiously enough that they would have burnt holes through the fleeing freighter if it were possible to do so.

    Outside, the ship itself comes alive as priority is diverted to activating weapons over propulsion, the small-scale point-defense guns coming online and firing after the fleeing ship. However, lacking a dedicated crew, the automated targeting systems prove unable to keep pace with the mix of talent and skill demonstrated by the pilots of the Falcon, sidewinding through the shots with the grace of a dancer and the ferocity of a rancor. In turn, the opposing vessel - Rory White's Congnizant Odyssey - is assaulted by the weapons on the opposing side of the corvette, but it's larger size ensures that it will at least be able to defend against it.

    By the time the ship aimed one of it's primary guns and begun firing at the fleeing target... a flicker of presumption signals the Millennium Falcon's escape into hyperspace, the green bolts of the Foray-Class Blockade-Runner's cannons arching through the empty space where the freighter had once been and missing by mere /seconds/. Likewise, the Cognizant Odyssey's engines, in full working order as opposed to the engines of HK's own ship - still activating - leaves them unable to even try and chase the departing ship.

     In short... it was nothing short of a disaster.

     Staring out into space with an intensity that could have lit even the vacuum, HK-47 ponders the odds that the dragon he'd encountered so recently would be here of all places. As well as the synthetic he'd faced when hunting John-117.

     Another surprise had been when the smuggler had brought a miraluka with him - an eyeless breed of meatbag HK-47 knew from his experiences with Visas Marr. One who, if the droid was not mistaken, must have been very proficient with the Force - that briefing table did not simply spring up on it's own.

    There was also the humanoid-synthetic he had encountered before on Nar Shaddaa - Kotone Yamakawa.

    Then there was, of course, the smuggler and the wookiee companion.

    Han Solo - a Corellian if HK was not mistaken - was purportedly one of the best from his universe... and after witnessing the way the meatbag had managed to fly that ship even with the limitations of his fleshy processor, the droid could comprehend why. Not since Carth Onasi or Atton Rand had the machine witnessed a meatbag skilled with flying... and this one quite possibly outstripped both of the Ebon Hawk's former pilots. Add to that his wookiee companion Chewbacca - who had to be just as resourceful to have enacted that rapid-burnoff of the cyanogen gas - and it was no wonder Solo had such repute.

     ...

     It seemed the Multiverse had ensured more names were branded onto his list of enemies he would enjoy hunting again.

    Turning on his metal heals, HK-47 walks down the corridors to the vessel's bridge, resolving to have the ship returned for repairs - it was still serviceable after all. At his side, the remaining HK-51 - the only one still standing - followed him out-

     "Re..qu... est: H... help. I... need-" *BAM!*

     - /After/ the elder droid, taking note of the last HK-51 writhing on the ground near Rory White's discarded frame, puts a stake-dart through his crippled subordinate-droid's skill out of disgust for the lesser unit's groveling.

    After all... If they couldn't even terminate with dignity, they didn't deserve to function at all.