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[IC] Clone Wars (Attack of the Revenge of the Menace)
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Dooku pressed a sequence of keys on the arm of his chair, which slid open. He placed the lightsabers inside and closed it.
"But mark my words, Casso. One day you will see. Remember our discussion today..." the Count continued, his affable manner become one of grim seriousness, "because I promise you some of the things which I have said that offend you so you will hear from the mouths of your own Masters."
A pair of bodyguard droids, carrying staves entered.
"Escort him to a detention cell. When he is secured, place his master in another. I am already behind schedule as it is."
The droids put Casso in binders, and led him out of the room, and down the spiralling hallway.
The droids stopped outside of a door, which slid open. A pair of hovering Geonosians grabbed him and rougly brought him into the circular room, where his binders were replaced with new cuffs, and he was suspended in a containment field.
The insectoid Geonosians scuttled off and the door slammed behind him. Slowly, he started to rotate within the containment field. He hoped that Master Nar was faring better than he... but it was difficult to sense him.
He could feel a headache coming on from hovering in such a strong magnetic field. This wasn't going to be a good experience.
He caught himself thinking if only I could get to that computer... oh... right.
Casso kept thinking as he slowly rotated in the cell... but the situation was not good.
If computers could laugh, this one cackled at Nar's ineptitude. He growled and cursed under his breath.
"Droid," he called over his shoulder to the droid, "Do you have access to the computer system here? It's locking me out." Why was he asking a medical droid about this? Did they have programming that could help? He didn't think so. He slammed his open palm against the console. "To hell with it," he muttered, and stepped away from the console. He'd give the droid a moment to respond in the positive (although he didn't expect it)... otherwise, he'd be heading out to find Casso, half-naked and unarmed.
"Oh, no, sir! I am not allowed to access the computer system for anything other than medical purposes! I'd be in such trouble, those Geonosians would melt down my circuits and make me into some sort of ghastly weapon!"
Nar's Lekku twitched slightly... a buggy droid could be a nuisance... but in this case it could be to his advantage.
He turned around and pointed at the droid. "You have to get on that computer and find out where they took him! He could be dying! You need to help him!"
The medical droid teetered over to the console and fiddled with the controls for about a minute.
"Well, sir... these the floor plans for the spire... I can easily provide more detail on these floors. I can also try to access more restricted information, but it may take much more time."
Nar looked at the screen. The floor plans were quite detailed, but the general makeup of the spire was:
Top Level - Communications Array
Level 6 - Command Center
Level 5 - Governor's Chambers
Level 4 - Medical Bay
Level 3 - Detention Block
Level 2 - Droid Storage and Armory
Level 1 - Power Core
Sub-Level 1 - Mechanics Assembly
Sub-Level 2 - Vulture Assembly
Sub-Level 3 - Infantry Assembly
Sub-Level 4 - Prototypes
Sub-Level 5 - Mining and Smelting
He didn't even know where to look, but it made sense to him that Casso would be held in the detention block. The Knight pondered, idly, if the geonosians expected to take many prisoners here on Bunduki.
"I expect they've taken him to the detention block; can you bring up a more detailed floor plan of it?"
The detention block was not typical of what he had seen in most cases... apparently the Geonosians were not in the habit of taking prisoners. All the cells appeared to be some form of advanced solitary confinement. The map defined them as being "containment fields" of some kind.
There was also very little in the way of security measures, as far as he could tell. Perhaps this was due to the fact that the spire had been so recently constructed. He could only assume that the Geonosians must be relying on their droids to guard their facilities.
Nar turned away, then, and didn't bother waiting for the droid to respond. Casso was in trouble, and he intended to get them both out of here, get them both back to Lady Pike and report to the Council. He rarely trusted their judgment entirely, but this was something they did need to know about, and soon.
The Jedi had a solid idea of where he was going, now, and just hoped he wouldn't run into any battle droids on the way there. He moved quietly, and quickly, but not in the open. He did his best to stay hidden.
Nar is also gonna pop his Second Wind now, because he doesn't really want to die as soon as something sees him. See? It's good that he saved it (and got shot down!)
"What are you doing?" stated the flat metallic voice of one of the battle droids.
"Oh... I... was notified that there is a prisoner in need of assitance in the detention area."
"Who gave you clearance to leave the medical bay?"
"It was... the Jedi."
Nar's blood froze. Stupid droid! His lekku involuntarily tightened around his neck as he cursed himself.
"He means Dooku." said the second battle droid. It was all Nar could do not to let out a sigh of relief.
"All right, get in there and get out of our way, scrapheap."
"Oh yes..." stammered the medical droid, "of course."
Nar waited until the Battle Droids were well out of earshot. That doddering medical droid wasn't too good at following directions, but it had given him a distraction that he hadn't counted on.
He didn't expect the geonosians had many prisoners yet, and assumed they would use a logical progression of cell use, but wasn't sure of that. They were, after all, bugs at best, and the architecture he'd seen so far hadn't really suggested any real logic -- at least, not logic that a twi'lek could follow.
Nar was in a rush, and although it didn't show (in fact, Nar did a very good job of keeping down and out of sight, even in open areas), he had as much trouble keeping himself aware of what was happening around him as he hoped the droids and geonosians had noticing him.
Stealth (1d20+7=26)
He reached out to it with the Force, probing it with his mind... there was a circuit there that looked promising, that lead to
His head throbbed violently. The magnetic field was wearing on him. He had lost his concentration. Swallowing the brief flash of frustration he had, he tried again to guide himself through the control panel with the Force.
"Halt. What is your business?"
"I am... here to see to a prisoner of my master, Count Dooku."
"Very well."
The droid keyed in a security sequence on the door, which began to open. Nar doubted he would be so fortunate in such a negotiation. Luckily, he had not been spotted...
And then he leapt out of his cover to smash the droid to bits with his bare hands.
Nar grasped the droid's skeletal head (although he hadn't recognized it as such, being unfamiliar with the anatomy of neimodians) at the apex of his leap and swung his legs forward, hard, bringing his feet to smash into the droid's torso. The skull-like head was torn free as the droid's body slammed against the wall; Nar was only narrowly able to catch himself on the way down, but from there, darted into the detention block, passing the automatic door just narrowly as it came to a close.
Then, he dropped the droid head, and continued on his way. Casso couldn't be far, now.
Initiative (1d20+11=23)
Surprise Round:
Move Action: Stand All Up Next To the Droid
Real Round:
Standard Action: Unarmed Attack; Unarmed Damage + Battle Strike (1d20+12=32, 1d3+1+3d6=15)
"Oh my!" it gasped, "I... see that you made it in... sir... well... it seems that only one cell is occupied, so I assume it must be your associate."
The droid opened the door, and sure enough, there was Nar's young padawan... floating helplessly several fleet from the floor in a containment field, rotating slowly. The Twi'Lek could feel the disruptive presence of the device.
"Be cautious sir... though these containment fields seem harmless to organics, I expect that there may be some long-term effects if continuous cell disruption were to continue. You see, the amplitude of--"
Nar shot the droid a sharp look.
"Oh. Yes. Well, I took the liberty of downloading the plans to this facility in the interest of... being able to find my way here. I regret to inform you that these containment fields are certainly detrimental to droids. I'm afraid that I cannot step into this room without taking a considerable risk to my safety."
The controls to the containment field appeared to be on the stone wall near the door.
Nar looked Casso over briefly, and then made his way over to the console. "Let me just get you down from there," he said. "Shouldn't be too hard."
The near-naked Jedi messed around with the computer, although it was painfully obvious to Casso that Nar had very little idea what he was doing... what might've taken a skilled user ten seconds took Nar just over a minute as he jumped through hoops (and, once, got caught in a loop!) Finally, though, the field died down.
"My robes are still in the medical bay," he noted, not for any real reason. He didn't appreciate that Casso was better dressed than him again. This twi'lek just lacked for fashion sense, it seemed.
"I'd ask you what happened after I was shoved away into that bacta tank," Nar said, "but I don't think we've got time to spare. We need to get out of here... but I'd rather not leave without our weapons."
As an aside, he mumbled; "I don't want to build another one. Two's enough." He grinned.
"They'd hurt their own medic?" Nar asked, actually pretty curious. "We're going to governor's chambers. You, go back to the medical bay and wait for us there, alright? We'll be back. I need to get my robes, anyway."
"The Governor's Chambers are two floors up," the twi'lek noted, "And we'll have to be careful on our way. I'm not the finest martial artist there is, you know." More quietly, he thought aloud; "If only Phow Ji hadn't fallen -- I could've learned a lot from him, I think."
...
Before committing to leaving the cell block entirely, Nar did survey the immediate area for a weapon. "Come on, anything," he thought.
And of course... there were the remains of the battle droid outside, likely still holding its blaster carbine. But his padawan was usually a bit more accurate with such uncivilized devices.
Blaster Carbine: 3d8 energy ranged weapon, folded stock, counts as a pistol.
When Nar and Casso move into the halls, make stealth and perception checks. The droid will give you a +5 bonus for distraction while you move up to the medical bay. Roll again for the next level after the droid goes back to the Medical Bay.
"Shall we?" He remembered the last time he had said that, not so very long ago, out in the cold. Hopefully, things went a little better this time.
"Let's get going. Stay low and quiet, and... well, I never got the droid's designation, but it's not terribly stupid. It'll keep the attention off of us." From where the pair stood at the threshold of the winding stairways and the catwalk, the Knight thought maybe he saw somethin' moving up ahead.
"Let's go," he whispered rashly to Casso, and started on his way back to recover the weapons he'd worked so hard to put together.
Stealth (1d20+12=25)
He held the carbine one-handed like it was a sporting blaster, and slunk behind his Master.
Perception 17
Use the Force 26
(1d20+2=17, 1d20+7=17, 1d20+10=26)
"What are you doing in the hallway, junkpile?" it growled at the medical droid in a low, metallic register.
"Oh, I was just... examining the prisoner in--"
"Well get out of my way, I'm taking the other one to join him."
"I don't think you should go in there yet, there's a --"
"Get out of my way. Dooku's not here to protect you this time."
"Yes but you see --"
The Bodyguard Droid began scanning the area... and his head turned to view the spot where Nar and Casso sat in the shadows. Apparently, its vision was sharp enough to rival a Twi'Lek.
"You!" it shouted, "surrender your weapons and come out of there!"
Force Point to Initiative (2d6.takeHighest(1)=6) <-- hell yeah
Initiative Total = 28!
His attack went wide but still caught the droid off guard; the Knight was sure he knew what would be coming next, and he was ready for it.
Standard: Fight Defensively/Melee Defense +5; Damage. (1d20+6=19, 1d6+5=10) Nar's Reflex Defense becomes 28 until end of turn.
This was no ordinary battle droid, as Nar noted while he evaded its attacks and negated its strikes with well-placed parries. It was extremely well programmed with its weapon... and the phrik alloy seemed to confirm the suspicion that this was a machine made specifically to fight Jedi.
Swift: Activates electrostaff
Standard:Attack Rolls (1d20+3=16, 1d20+3=18)
Nar ducked out of the way of a swing that came in hard over his head and his train of thought was halted. He was back in the moment, swinging the plasteel pipe carefully but quickly to stave off the droid's attacks. He didn't think the pipe would hold up long against the phrik metal.
Few opportunities came up for Nar to land any appreciable damage, and even when they did, he was wary about taking an opening that might leave himself open.
"Hit it!" Nar spat, and hoped Casso would understand.
Swift: Use the Force; Battle Strike (1d20+17=29)
Standard: Melee Defense: +5 Defense / -5 Attack (1d20+7=11) miss, Nar's Reflex Defense becomes 28, Battle Strike is wasted.
The medical droid, it seemed, had fallen over while attempting retreat, and was a short distance away on its back, unable to stand.
Swift: drop carbine
Standard: unarmed attack (1d20+7=16) +2 flanking = success! 1d6+3=6 damage.
The droid had brought his staff up to parry one of Nar's blows, but hadn't considered that the Jedi wasn't swinging at itself... the pipe sounded out a loud ring as it banged into the electrostaff, and as the droid stumbled back against the force into Casso, Nar let the pipe drop out of his grasp.
With his free hand, he grabbed the electrostaff by its handle and wrenched it out of the droid's grasp.
Standard Action: Disarm Attempt (1d20+8=28)
Disarm (1d20+8=23)
It was sloppy and awkward, but Nar was able to make it work. Sort of.
Dancing backwards, Casso was silently thankful for the martial arts training he had received. Who knew where this would be going if he couldn't fight without a lightsaber?
yeeeehaw