The modified Arquitens streaked through hyperspace, the enhanced stealth capabilities keeping it at worst a faint echo on Scimitar Command's sensors. Inside, the vessel was oddly quiet, with none of the sounds one would expect of an aging ship manned by a standard crew of approximately two dozen. Suddenly the silence was broken by an alarm, and a half-dressed man burst out of his quarters, running towards engineering. There, he was met by two droids: one, a tall, roughly humanoid build; the other, a squat Imperial Astromech.
"What in the blazes is wrong this time," he groggily demanded.
The tall droid turned to face him. "Statement: It would seem that reactor coolant system 3 is failing. Again."
The man sighed. "Alright, I'll see what I can do." He cast his glance down to the astromech. "C4, you're with me. See if we can do anything to alleviate the strain on system 3."
The little Droid let out a series of self-righteous beeps. "Translation," the tall droid said, "C4-K3 is most pleased to remind you of his opposition to maintaining stealth while in hyperspace."
"I'm sure he is," the man replied with a chuckle. "Duly noted. Next time I need to go on a mission and you disapprove I'll shove you out an airlock first so you don't keep reminding me. Alright, come on, you help me out here and I'll give you five minutes unrestricted access to Imperial Intelligence Files."
C4 responded with a pleased whistle, and trundled off to follow the man as he headed into the engineering bay.
A Short Time Later
"Well, that was a hassle, but at least we should be stable again. Alright C4 my friend, a deal's a deal. Let's head to the bridge and I will get you plugged in."
Once on the bridge, he walked toward a small computer station, turning it on.
Accessing Imperial Intelligence . . .
Enter Authorization Code: INT19922
Code Authorized as Admin-Level-2: Halifax
Please Enter Your Request
"There you go, it's all yours. Remember though, five minutes," he reminded.
With C4 contently sitting through data files, Halifax now took the time to check the rest of the ship's systems. Looks like everything else is holding steady. I knew I should have gotten a new ship: this old thing is almost entirely automated, but hasn't seen a major refit in twenty years. The bridge doors slid open, and the tall Droid entered. But getting ahold of you instead was too much to pass up. "HK, status update."
"Summation: No signs we have been detected. The vessels continue heading deeper into the Unknown Regions. As for communications with the missing agents, there has been no new signals sent from this region of space."
"Something's gotta be up. My sleepers have transponders surgically inserted into them. Even if they die, the signal doesn't stop, just changes from: 'alive' to 'dead.' I want answers, and my buddy Nerix is the best lead I have to finding out what happened to them."
HK inclined his head. "Query: If Captain Nerix is your comrade, why the secrecy?"
Halifax flashed a smile. "I don't want to bother him with a formal request, plus that would take too much time. I'm sure he would much rather have a nice surprise anyways."
Meatbags. I will never understand their illogical eccentricities. "Statement: I see."
"Besides, it's been far too long since I've been on a proper field mission, and I didn't want to risk the chance of being turned down, he continued. "Sleepers are my responsibility, and I need to get to the bottom of this."
"Inquiry: Will we be seeing Commander Crispus again?" HK asked. "I do hope so, it is refreshing to interact with a like-minded being."
"Yes, she'll be there. One of the high points of this assignment, seeing dear Fara again," he said wistfully. Then he paused, mulling over the droid's words. "What do you mean, a being like you?"
"Explanation: My designation is a Hunter-Killer unit; my purpose is singular. Commander Crispus' primary function is the same."
"Interesting." I'll have to remember that, it should help me narrow down my search about who she really is. "Anyways, I think I'll be heading back to bed, at least until the next system decides it wants to break. C4, time's up." The astromech obediently unplugged from the input socket and rolled off the bridge. Halifax followed, with HK-60 following close behind. The lights dimmed, and soon the ship returned to eery silence.
Topic: The RP Thread (Read 31189 times)