Chapter 1: Empire's End

[Jedi Skyler]

((OOC: Got it, boss!))

As everyone leaves the hold, Vin starts taking a complete inventory. Eyes wide, he comes across a library of instruction in the ways of the Force; as he looks more closely at some of the subject matter contained within the volumes before him, discovering a lot of instructions for techniques that are as yet far beyond his ability to perform. He also uncovers a great deal about Sith sorcery; there is a fully-equipped alchemy lab. This doesn't surprise Vin; his Master had often alluded to future lessons that would include teaching him how to perform such techniques. Just from his own studies, as well as some things his Master has shared, he knows that several of the items in this area would be dangerous. he knows there are several chemicals present that would prove hazardous to someone's health, and has been able to determine that several of the items are also infused with dark side energy. Although he doesn't know enough about Sith sorcery or alchemy, he knows that the others need to stay out of this hold.

Amongst the bookshelves, which are filled to overflowing with books and scrolls, Vin has discovered a number of Force-imbued artifacts. As of yet he doesn't know what any of them do, but he knows there isn't anything present of great significance. He resigns himself to the fact that he's going to have to do a lot of studying in the library, and will hopefully find either notes or references in the books and scrolls that will tell him what each object is and what each one does.

The last three items are of particular interest, almost more than everything else in the hold. He crosses to the small table containing the small devices he probed with the Force after having defeated the droid. He recognized them as Holocrons, and also that one is of the Dark Side, and the other is of the Light Side. He finds himself very interested in seeing what each one has to show him.

And of course, there is the droid. Obviously placed to guard his Master's lab, Vin figures the droid was also supposed to be a lightsaber sparring partner. Knowing he needed to know more, and hoping he could gain information about many things-lightsaber techniques, his Master among them-he opens himself up to the Force, trusting it to guide him. He knows a bit more about astromech droids than other kinds, and he's hoping that knowledge will help him here.

((OOC: Concentration, then Droid Programming/Repair. I presume you'd have me use Droid Prog/Rep, rather than Computer Prog/Rep...))

[Kaloth Varsk]

Darwin pats the droid on the head, "Good job Artee."

He then looks around to see what else the ship has to offer besides a cockpit, a cargo bay, and a gunwell. "We should figure out what we have for quarters here. I don't know about anyone else, but I'm sure both Artee and I could use some rest. Artee hasn't had any time to power down and relax in days."

[Wisconsin Wookie]

Caster nods at Darwin and says, "Go 'head 'n take your pick. I ain't quite ready to call it a day."

Caster then proceeds to the cockpit. He will glance at John and ask, "How long until we reach our destination?" As he waits for a reply, Caster will scan the cockpit, trying to determine his familiarity with this type of ship and its controls.

[Guardian_A]

Opening himself to the force, Vin focuses his attention on the droid. It dosnt take him long to access the droid's memory where he finds a collection of advanced security protocols along with extensive programing for lightsaber combat. After looking over the files for a short time, he realizes that there is very little of real value in the droid's memory. As he begins to close up the access panel, something catches his eye. On closer inspection, he finds a heavily encrypted secondary memory unit.

Darwin takes a quick walk around the ship. After a short tour, he finds a comfortable common area, several small rooms for the crew, a refresher and a well stocked galley.

"How long until we reach our destination?" Caster asks John as the two men wander back to the cockpit. Glancing around the cockpit, Caster finds that the layout is similar to several other ships that he has flown in the past.

Settling into the pilots chair, John takes a look at the pilot's display. It appears that the Chainfire will be arriving in the Kashyyyk system in a little over eight hours.

[Jedi Skyler]

Stunned for a moment, Vin thinks about what all this could mean. He reaches for the intercom. "Hey, guys...are any of you skilled in droid programming at all? For that matter, does Artee have programming allowing him to work with droid programming?"

[Kaloth Varsk]

Hearing a call for droid repair, Dar calls out, "Artee is better with ships than droids, but he's definately better programming droids than I am. I can have him take a look if you'd like."

Finding the closest set of crew quarters, Dar gives it a once over, "I'm going to try and get some rest before we reach our destination. I suggest everyone try to do the same."

[Jedi Skyler]

Vin replies, "Yes, please, send him back at once."

[Kaloth Varsk]

"Artee, could you take a look at that broken droid in the hold next? Once you are done there, come find me so you can power down a while. You've more than earned it."

[Guardian_A]

Letting out a whistle that sounds remarkably like a sigh, Ar-tee turns and heads back in the direction of the cargo bay. Leaving Darwin to settle into one of the simple crew cabins.

A couple of minutes later, Ar-tee rolls through the airlock into the cargo bay. Pausing just inside the hatch, the droid turns its head towards Vin before letting out a quisical series of beeps.

[Jedi Skyler]

Vin pulls out a datapad. "Thank you, Artee." He points to the downed security droid. "I've found a heavily encrypted secondary memory unit inside this disabled droid. I need to know what's contained within. I am hoping that our combined efforts will allow us to decrypt it without damaging any of the data." He hefts the datapad. "Since you're not equipped with a vocabulator, I figured you could use I/R transmissions to this datapad to tell me what I can do to help you with this task."

((OOC: What I'm thinking here is going to involve some MAPS, so I was figuring on spreading it over several rounds to ease the penalties. I want to have Vin use Concentration, then Droid Prog/Repair as before. However, I also want to have him use Command if it will make them better able to complete this task successfully. I'm definitely open for discussion in the OOC thread if we need to hash it out there. If necessary, Vin will also use Concentration before the Command roll, which makes for a number of rolls, hence spreading it out over several rounds.))

[Wisconsin Wookie]

Caster, folding his arms over his chest and leaning against the nearest bulkhead, will reply to John: "What's the plan once we reach Kashyyk?"

[Guardian_A]

Caster stands in the cockpit for a long time, watching the viewport as the Chainfire travels through hyperspace. Glancing at the chrono, he sees that they will be arriving in the Kashyyyk system in about six hours.

Working with the Artee, Vin is able to open the encrypted memory unit after a little more than two hours of work. With the data files transfered to his datapad, he looks at the result of all his hard work. Five files. The first file proves to be larger than the other four combined. It appears to be his master's personal diary. Each of the other files has a name on it. The first two, he recognizes as his master's other apprentaces: Jamak and Lanra, the third file has his name. Looking at the final file, he sees the unfamiliar name: Tommen.

(Ok everyone, my next major post will be some time next week to start chapter 2. Feel free to interact with each other in-character until then. If any of the characters want to do anything that needs to be addressed, I'll do my best to address those posts as soon as I am able.)

[Kaloth Varsk]

OOC: Dar is catching some rest before we hit planetside. I figure it's been 3 days with almost no rest.

[Jedi Skyler]

Vin smiles as he and Artee get the secondary drive opened and the files stored on his datapad. He is sure he has plenty of interesting reading ahead of him.

Patting Artee affectionately on the dome, he says, "Thank you, Artee. I doubt I could have done this without you...certainly not this quickly."

He looks at the deactivated droid, then back at Artee. "Would you go through its primary programming for me? I need to change its original instructions from obeying and protecting my Master to obeying and protecting me. If there are any access codes it is programmed to respond to, I will need those, along with whatever conditions trigger the use of such codes. I'll also need any special instructions this droid has for allowing access to either its programming or its hardware.

"I'm going to go check in with the others and see where we stand. I'll come back and help with this task when I'm done. Thank you for your help. Oh," he adds before leaving, "please don't mess with anything other than the droid. There is a lot of dangerous stuff in here, items that have to do with the Force. You might not be able to detect the inherent danger, but trust me...mess with the wrong thing in here, and the entire ship could be destroyed."

Vin exits the hold and goes to the cockpit. Upon arriving, he greets the others and says, "Everything is under control. I have Artee going through the droid's programming so I can reactivate it and utilize it. In the meantime, there is a LOT of information in there. That library is a veritable wealth of information, and is going to greatly aid me in my studies. However," he adds, "there is a lot of dangerous stuff in there. It would probably be best for everyone to leave that area alone.

"How are we doing up here?"

[Guardian_A]

OOC:

The remainder of the journey to the Kashyyyk system is uneventful. All of the characters had the chance to get a little sleep before the Chainfire exits hyperspace. Artee plugged itself into an outlet to recharge just moments before the ship exited hyperspace and will require a little time to recharge. The little droid didnt say anything about its finding/progress with the droid in the cargo hold before recharging.

All characters may position themselves wherever they want on the Chainfire as play resumes in the new thread.

I will be locking this thread after this post. Our story will continue in Chapter 2 later today!