Topic: another teaser of fan-fic (minor update 5-19)

[DocOutlands]

I was trained to obey.

Bred to obey.

Engineered to obey.

And I did.  For years, I obeyed orders without question.  Then, one day, I helped a friend and violated an order I never knew had been given.  On that day, I became a hunted man.

If I had kept my mouth shut, my eyes shut, my head down... things would be different today.

But I couldn't.  For while my creators made me to obey, they also made me to serve and - more importantly - to think.  To consider my actions and their outcomes.  To evaluate the worlds around me.

I did all they trained me to do - and I terrified them.  Most of my brothers did all they wanted us to do - and they lived.  But I... I had become an ... embarassment.  A problem.  A thorn in their side.  But I was doing everything they had trained and taught me to do from the beginning.

For I had more teachers after them.  And I learned well.  And I grew, until their engineering became only a part of who I was, and am, and was no longer the entirety of my being.

And I did what they had trained me to do - and I terrified them.

[Phatty]

I'm liking the sound of this so far!  I think I need to create a board for Fan fic now, too!

[DocOutlands]

 

I wouldn't mind...  Altho, everything I write has the potential to be turned into a PN, so who knows.

Here's another piece, goes along with the previous one...

=========================================

"Looks like Geshin is trying to hook himself one."  She handed the flimsi across the desk.  The man seated behind it scanned through the text on it and grunted.

Shaking his head, he passed it back.  "Play him.  It'll help us patch the holes in security."

=====

"Chief, we may have a problem."

Outland Station Chief of Security Dessik Killian activated his helmet comlink.  "What?"

"Constable Xola just received a holonet transmission from her sector HQ.  Twenty-seven seconds before that call came in, eighteen new bounties were posted in a single batch by Javik Security."

"They run the Fandan Prime prison.  I believe they just had a jail-break."

"Looks like it.  You know FP ships ore through Outland Station."

Killian changed his route and lengthened his stride.  "High security prison, escapees, ships to Outland Station.  I don't like the equasion.  Get the CTT on standby, pull me everything you can on the prison and the posted bounties, and find out what connection any of them might have to the Station.  I'm on my way to the Constable's office."

"Roger, Chief.  Already working on it."

=====

Constable Xola stared at the face floating above her holoprojector.  Her lekku twitched nervously.  "Let me get this straight."  She propped her elbows on her desk and leaned her chin against them.  "You had information Geshin was planning a breakout in conjunction with several other prisoners and offworlders, knew the rough date, time, and location of the event, and had a reasonable idea of his mode of travel.  Yet prison authorities did nothing to prevent this from happening.  Now, a serial killer is loose along with a number of other vile criminals and you aren't entirely sure where they have gotten off to, but you think perhaps my system is one that might be visited by some of them."

The Sullustian's holo blinked twice in rapid succession and nodded.  "It seems there was some miscommunication at a higher level that resulted in thinner coverage of the possibilities."

Xola glowered.  "I'm sure that's what it was."  She glanced down at her datapad, still busily receiving the info-packet the prison office was sending to her.  "And you think they may be arriving here when?"

The Sullusian blinked again.  "Actually, the shipping manifest indicates the ore-hauler should have docked at Outland Station two hours ago."

Xola lunged to her feet, leaning in toward the hologram.  "WHAT?"  She stabbed a button on her desk.  "Petre, get Chief Killian for me immediately."  She turned back to the hologram face.  "You realize Javik -"

"Yes, yes - Javik Security will recompense any losses incurred as a result of this breach in containment.  Absolutely."

"- Security may well face sanctions over this.  Investigations."

"Hopefully that won't be necessary."

A knock on her door disrupted whatever retort she had been about to deliver.  "Please make an appointment with Petre."

The door slid open to reveal a fully-armored Mandalorian.  "Petre said it was urgent and to come straight in."

Xola narrowed her eyes at the Station's security chief.  "Chief Killian, we need to talk."  She looked back at the Javik Security representative she'd been talking to.  "I'll deal with you later."  She slapped the disconnect on the holoproj.

Turning back to Killian, she took a deep breath to steady herself.  "I've just been told that an ore-carrier that docked here some two hours ago may have been carrying as many as eighteen fugitives that escaped from the Fandan Prime mining facility, run by Javik Security."  She gestured to her datapad.  "Once I have all the details, I'll forward a copy of the pertinent information to your office."

Killian nodded.  Inside his helmet, he was listening to s teady stream of updates from his office based on the information his own officers had been able to accumulate already.  He knew the name of the ore-carrier that had docked.  Security officers had holo's of the fugitives based on the bounties that had been posted.  The Combined Tactics Team had assembled and was on standby.  Officers were already on their way to the dock that had been used by the ore-carrier.  Security holo's were being reviewed to see if any of the eighteen had walked in front of a holocam in the last two hours.

"I appreciate that, Constable.  By the way you said it, I assume there's also the possibility none of them are here at all?"

The Twi'lek's lekku squirmed in their own kinesthetic language.  "That is a possibility.  Right now, Javik has eighteen prisoners unaccounted-for.  Three were picked up on Bission IV hidden in a maintenance crawlspace on an ore-freighter.  Apparently, Javik's people knew there would be an attempt at escape and were waiting for that freighter to arrive.  Imagine their surprise when only three out of twenty-one were aboard.  They shut down the carriers, but by that time, five more had visited and left the facility."

"Are they all drone ships?"

Xola cocked her head.  "I don't know yet.  I expect that information will be included in the package.  Is that important?"

Killian shrugged with a muted clank of armor-plates.  "The more information, the better.  Helps when you know what the enemy knows.  Then you know what decisions he faced and might be able to work out what decisions he made."

=====

"Is that all she sent us?"

"Yessir.  I mean, we pulled more info than this together just off the bounty postings."

"Get with station comms and see just how big of a file her HQ sent her.  I don't think the Constable is telling us all she knows."

"On it, sir."

=====

[Tamer]

Wow, this is getting good. Keep it going. I like.

[Darth Aussie]

good read...more plz definately...

[DocOutlands]

It was dark there, deep in the bowels of the drone.  Quiet.  Safe.

Perhaps as safe as a mother's womb.

I never knew that luxury.

But I left the darkness and safety to be born anew into a world of chaos.  To rebecome myself.  To remake myself.  To repurpose myself.

But first I had to remember myself and bring my old skills back, to survive.

[DocOutlands]

Killian stepped through the doorway into his briefing-room.  His CTT commander was there, in full armor, going over traffic-flow patterns for the station. 

"Update, please."

A Devaronian female signalled a droid and a holo-panel on the wall sprang to life.  Files began opening in sequence across its surface.  "Chief, what we can assemble so far is Javik Security decided to play along with a prisoner's break-out attempt.  Several weeks ago, one Geshin Nastrin, made a play at one of his correspondence tutors, counting on his innate charm.  Bad luck for him, she was actually part of Javik's staff.  She brought his letter to their head of security at Fondan Prime who made the call to string him along.  Bad luck for them, he succeeded anyway."

A Duros male took up the narrative.  "No one is sure yet who was in charge of the break-out.  It seems the prisoners involved all made a variety of outside contacts and all handled different pieces of the plan.  In the end, they had gathered a schedule of ore shipments, plans for the sensors used by Javik at the loading docks, twenty-one emergency space suits, dockworker clothing, tool-sets, and various odds and ends."

"The first three picked up were expected to be the entire twenty-one by Javik forces.  They had selected a remote facility with a low chance of being detected and a good choice of exit routes out to more populated locations.  When they were caught, Javik shut down the ore shipments, but five more drones had already spaced."

"We're over two hours behind the curve here, people.  One of those drones came here."

"Yessir."  A male human worked a display remote and called up security camera feeds.  "The Olan Bast docked here just over two hours ago and discharged its cargo of ores at the refinery docks.  Scans of the security holos show nothing out of place, no unusual activity."

"Has anyone intercepted the Bast?"

"We don't know, sir.  The Constable is not exactly being very forthcoming with information on this."

"Then we likely don;t know which prisoners were responsible for handling each facet of the breakout."  Killian crossed his arms and drummed his fingers on one armored gauntlet.  What information do we have on the remaining eighteen fugitives?"

"Only what is in the bounty postings, sir."  The Devaronian woman began opening them on the wall-screen.  "I took the liberty of contacting Javik Security in your name, requesting more information as if you were planning to pursue collection.  I'm waiting on their response now."

Killian turned the face-concealing T-visor to look at her.  "Well-done, Rana.  That may help us out significantly.  Let's take a look at these gentlebeings and see who we are up against."

Fondan Prime was a high-security prison, keeping the inmates locked inside a sealed habitat on an uninhabitable planetoid.  Javik Security also held the mining rights to the planetoid and used the inmates as cheap labor.  They had contracts with several local systems to hold prisoners, freeing up municipal facilities - and monies.  Emperor Palpatine was still consolidating local and regional resources, and a backwater prison company was yet low on the new Empire's list of things to take over.  So, at the moment, Fondan Prime was populated with a host of criminals who had perpetrated a large variety - and quantity - of heinous acts against locals.  Among the eighteen fugitives, they were incarcerated on over two hundred charges, from embezzlement and malicious slicing to spice trafficking and murder.

One face stood out from the bunch.  Killian pointed him out.  "That Geshin Nastrin.  Is he a clone trooper?"

The Duros shook his head.  "Based on the records we have, he's had himself altered to look like one.  The Gr- Imperial Army doesn't just lose troopers and then leave them to sit in a local detention facility."

Killian nodded.  "That's true."  In his private thoughts, he added, If they know one is missing, that is.

[dana.raye.smith]

That is really excellent.
quite a teaser.
Please continue at your leisure.
And Thanks.

[DocOutlands]

Then I run into the problem of - do I keep writing or do I work on figs so I can illustrate it??   

[Clonehead]

that is a good question, doc. Should you continue the masterpiece or bring your imagination to tangible images for us to drool even more over? I love the story, buddy. It's going great. I love your descriptive style.

[dana.raye.smith]

Uh.....
I prefer both.
At your own schedule of course.
And it is easier to be creative with a good visual reference as well.

[DocOutlands]

Zessit looked at Gastrin.  "I'm sorry the choice was given to you."  He glanced down over the edge of the balcony and saw a squad of Troopers double-timing across the plaza, blasters at the ready.  "I'm sorry we let you down, G.  I'm sorry I didn't believe in you."

"Zes, turn off that damned lightsaber.  There's still time."  G tapped the ARC helmet sitting on the small table beside him.  "They trained me too well.  We can still evade them and get back to the ship."

"Evade now, yes, but for how long?  They know now a Jedi is here.  They won't stop, G.  If we get away, they will know I am still alive.  And that puts the others in danger.  I will face them here and they will kill me.  Perhaps it will be enough and the others will get away  You will be able to rejoin your brothers, where -"

Gastrin slammed a fist against the wall.  "I don't belong with them any more.  You were right, Zes - we've been used, all of us.  Like a starved massiff set on its littermate in a pit fight.  Our fight should be against the real enemy of the Republic..."

The clatter of armor-plated boots in the stairwell cut him off.

"G, you are a good man.  I am pleased to have known you."

A loudhailer blared to life.  A voice that was an eerie echo of G's reached them.  "Jedi!  By order of the Emperor, throw down your weapon and surrender to Imperial forces.  We know you have an accomplice with you.  Any support shown to a Jedi is an act of treason.  You are also ordered to throw down your weapon."

Gastrin picked up his helmet and slid it into place.  "I can talk us out of this."

"No.  If you do, the hunt won't stop.  It's okay, G."  Zessit smiled sadly at his friend as Clone Troopers poured out of the stairwell and took up firing positions.

"I don't have a choice, do I?"

"We always have choices, G.  The hardest ones are always when both options are right.  It's okay."

"No, my friend, it is not okay that we were both betrayed into this position."  G fired his blaster rifle once, leaving a smoking ruin centered in his friend's chest.  He walked over to Zessit's corpse and watched the mortal remains of the Jedi warrior cool.

"It is not okay that I must obey an enemy and kill a friend to save others.  There shall be a reckoning."

[DocOutlands]

They thought they knew me.

They thought they understood me.

Perhaps.  Or perhaps they understood only who I had been.  For I became so much more as I learned.  As I used and applied their training.  As I grew. 

As I became someone new.

But they continued to teach me.  And oh yes I continued to learn from them.  From what they did.  And it became obvious that what they trained me to believe was at odds with what they wanted me to do.  But too many of my brothers never got to learn that lesson and they continued to believe the masters were right in all they said and did.

We were tools.  Pawns.

We were used.  All of us.

[Clonehead]

Sweet addition Doc. you are getting deep with that last part.

[Tamer]

Geesh, sign me up for that book deal Doc. Awesome