SWRPF Archive The Machine Wars - (a Star Wars/Terminator crossover)

OOC: Actually the Terminator doesn't have any skin on it. It's just the metal endoskeleton.

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[b]IC: Terminator
under the homestead - garden areas[/b]

As the room lit up from the EMP burst, the seven-foot-tall robot could be seen. It appeared to be a humanoid skeletal structure. The sleek, shiny metal was pristine, and it's eyes glowing red. And the Terminator was carrying something that resembled a minigun used on Earth.

The EMP hit the Terminator and it froze for a moment. The red eyes flickered out. It's internal systems were temporarily shut down.

The machine just stood there, motionless.

[b]TAG: all under the homestead...[/b]






I'm sure most of you know what a Terminator looks like, but, if not, here's a little image to help you visualize it:

[image=http://insidecatholic.com/Joomla/images/63/terminator.jpg]

 

OOC: *head desk* THOSE guys!!! Sorry.....

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[b]IC: Korr
[i]Ignacio homestead[/i][/b]


Kharz' shot hit right on target. Korr saw the menacing red eyes wink out and when he let his light play over the shiny skeleton, he saw the droid didn't move.

It looked like a total shut down. Good, because the metallic monster made him wonder what his carbine would have been able to do against it.

Wolf was already scrambling to get away from beneath the table he barely fit under. The wardog stood too soon, his massive back bumping up against the underside of the table, and the whole thing fell to the side, plants scattering everywhere.

"Great," Korr mumbled, "Clumsy fool. And stay away from that thing!" The last was said with more force as he pulled himself up. He didn't like the fact the droid was holding an unknown weapon, no matter how dead it was right now.

Wolf immediately sat and tried to look innocent.

Korr sighed. "Come on, let's back away and leave that... thing to the others while we scout the rest of these gardens."

Maybe he could get Kharz to loan him the EMP launcher for that, while Kharz examined the droid with the humans. If the humans gave him a chance to look it over, chances were they would try to blow it up immediately if their reaction to the protocol droid was any indication.


[b]TAG: everyone[/b]

 

IC: Fincher
garden area under the homestead

Fincher came running forward, gun in one hand, flashlight in the other. He stopped and looked at the menacing metallic monster. "It worked," he said, spinning around to look at Kharz. "That EMP gun worked."

Finch looked into the Terminator's eyes and, even though it was deactivated, it still sent shivers down his spine, almost as if death was staring back at him.

"It'll probably reactivate soon," Finch said. "Their inner CPU has the capability of rerouting power. We need to decommission this thing fast."

Fincher dragged one of the tables over behind the Terminator. Pushing all the garden equipment on to the floor, he climbed up on top of the table. Standing on the tabletop, Finch was now taller than the T-800 Terminator.

Finch ran his hand over the cranium part of the Terminator's head. There was a small panel, only a couple inches wide, embedded in the metallic head. Four small screws in each corner held the panel in place. Finch tapped it with his finger. There's no way a regular screwdriver would get that thing open. Those screws were tightened down by a machine. They would need power tools to do it. "It's microprocessor is underneath this panel. If we can get it out, it won't be able to power up, which means it's pretty much dead."

TAG: any of you in the garden area under the homestead...





OOC: I took this "microprocessor" thing right from the scene in Terminator 2 when Sarah and John Conner do just that, open up the T-800's head and pull out the microprocessor.

 

IC ~ Kharz

Kharz grinned as the menacing droid shut down. Being told that it would be temporary and that there was a rerouting system, Kharz grinned, and took his hydrospanner from his belt, and began to work the panel off, whistling as he went.

Tag ~ All

 

IC: Korr
~Ignacio homestead~


Korr watched with some astonishment as Kharz started working on the droid while, of all things, whistling. There just was no accounting for taste. But he was more than glad that someone had come along who loved tinkering with technology and was clearly very good at it.

"Would be great if you could reprogram the thing like they reprogrammed that protocol droid," he said to Kharz. "By the way, now that you're busy with Mister Shiny Metal, how about if I borrow your EMP launcher for a sec? I want to go search the rest of this underground plant lair with Wolf, to see if there are more of these things around."

Wolf didn't really act like there were, but better safe than sorry.


TAG: everyone at the underground garden

 

IC: Fincher and the T-800
garden area

Fincher climbed down off the table while Kharz went to work. He glanced around the darkened room, hoping there wasn't anything else down here...

- - -

System Error.

Rerouting Power.

Analyzing Error.

Correcting...

Problem Repaired.

Sending Data Wirelessly To Skynet.

Sending...

Data Sent.

Power Restored.

Online.

- - -

The Terminator's eyes began to glow again. The first thing it saw was humans and...another species resembling humans. It's sensors were reading something on the back of it's head. There was pressure on the microprocessor panel.

The Terminator immediately reached back behind itself to grab Kharz. While holding the minigun in it's right hand, the T-800 reached back with it's left, the metallic fingers grasping at Kharz.

TAG: Kharz, Korr, others under the homestead...

 

IC: Korr
Underground garden


Korr had hardly finished his question when Wolf growled, low and deep. The wardog's attention wasn't on the rest of the room though, it was on the deactivated robot.

Except its eyes were glowing again. And an arm was moving. Backwards. To Kharz.

"Kharz, get away from it!" Korr yelled, bringing up his carbine. Not wanting to take a risk at hitting Kharz, he shot at the droids lower torso, hoping to destroy something vital. And if not, then at least distract the thing long enough to give Kharz a chance to get away.


TAG: all in the garden

 

IC: Last Bolt, Mitch Nifesta, Iillor, Dawnstrider moisture farm.


The Darth Unlucky slowly circled the huge bipedal metal robot. The thing had powerful, at least four highly articulated grasping arms, two multi-jointed legs, bi-clawed feet that had a wicked heel-spur at the back, and were big enough to stamp flat five to ten human-sized victims at once, if the thing could be persuaded to walk over to them, and if they were so dense, they were still on the ?I have a bad feeling about this? comment when it arrived.

That was the thing, although the Last Bolt hovered the ship in and out of the behemoth?s reach, teasing its attentions, it could not draw the thing away from the crushed habitat-dome.

Thick black smoke belched from somewhere behind the robot. The ?Unlucky banked and dodged away from a huge black grasper, its X-array of metal fingers snapping on empty air.

On the ground, just inside the weakening entrance tunnel to the homestead, the twi?lek smiled patiently back at the pacing Iillor, although the cramped space only allowed her to move three steps, before she had to about-face, and go the other way.

?Red Zero.? She muttered aloud. ?Red Zero; what part of high priority extraction does that ship not get??

?And what part of ?the El-Zee? is hot? do you not get, Sweetie? Don?t worry, your Uncle Mitch knows what he is doing.?

?Would you knock off the ?Uncle Mitch? routine? It is getting tiresome.?

This thing is much bigger when its standing up! The artificial intelligence? voice announced from Mitch?s wrist-communicator.

Nifesta smiled back to the scarlet-clad young woman, and gestured to the wrist-com he was holding up. ?Would you believe, he is the brains of the operation?? He joked, trying to lighten her mood.

?Yes.?

He stared, then recovered, smiling to cover the reaction. ?Ooh. Cold.? He pursed his lips for a moment, then relaxed them, keying ?transmit? on the device? tiny control plate as he raised it to his mouth. ?So what?s the story??

I can?t get it to move anywhere, Agent. Its feet are big enough, but it just wants to stand over the farm and smash it a bit more. Doesn?t seem too bright.

Behind him, the E.P.E. heard the girl stop her annoying pacing. ?Agent? Does it think you are law enforcement of some type?? She quizzed.

Cursing the computer silently, Nifesta turned to her
, ?Your Uncle Mitch is not just any cop, Sweetie, but,? He paused for effect, ?the ?Gun Handed God of Cops?.?

He could tell she wasn?t buying it. Those subtle facial tics that one learns to recognise over time. At length, he suggested, ?Alright, get off the floor now; you?ll get your dress all dirty. It wasn?t that funny. Besides, I can see your knickers.?

There was no value in revealing his full name and allegiance before he caught up with his own timeline. And there were probably thousands of twi?leks named ?Mitch? out there.
Besides, this would be over inside the hour. Save her, drop her off at Mos- He frowned to himself.

?Gun Handed God of Cops?? Sarcasm dripped off her words as he bent down, grabbed her under one bare arm and hauled her onto her feet.
?Hey!?

The twi?lek held her arm with the strength of four beings, while he brushed her down, and the activity cheered him enough to move the situation forward. He rubbed his hands happily. ?Right, as one wroshyr said his mates, lets get the flock out of here.?

?I think you mean ?herd?.?

?You might be Judicial Forces, kiddo, but you don?t know every fra-, every thing. Wroshyrs are a species of avian on Kashyyyk.?

Iillor stopped pacing. ?You can swear in front of me, y?know. I?m old enough? In fact, I probably know more than you.?

?And if I hear them, y

 

IC ~ Kharz

Kharz leapt off of the droid's back, cursing as he landed. It had reactivated too quickly, but he had managed to get part of the panel off, and grabbed his Ion gun, and shot the droid, aiming for under the panel. He hated it when things similar to this happened.

Tag ~ All present

 

IC: Sofia "Sparrow" Mason
Ignacio Homestead

As soon as the Terminator started showing signs of "life" again Sofia grabbed her gun. She reacted as quick as she could, aiming for the eyes. If she could blind it that might buy them some time for another EMP round to be let off.
"Get away form it! Move!"

TAG: any

OOC: Just warning I'm having computer issues atm.

 

IC: Fincher, T-800
Ignacio homestead - garden areas

The Terminator's fist closed, but Kharz had already dodged out of the way. It's other hand was lifting the minigun, getting ready to fire, when it was hit. It was so quick, that they hit almost simultaneously.

Korr's carbine to the torso, Kharz' ion to the partially open microprocessor panel, and Sparrow's Earth bullets to the eyes. The T-800 sensed damage in it's lower torso, then in it's head, then it's "eyes" went blank and it couldn't see anything.

As the machine grasped the minigun with both hands, it's microprocessor began to give out. The ion blast had damaged it enough that it was unable to run...essentially killing the Terminator.

Fincher, aiming his machine gun toward it, watched the T-800 shut down. The machine just stood there, lifeless.

Looking around at the team, Finch asked, "Everyone okay? Did anybody get hurt?"

TAG: all under the Ignacio homestead...

 

IC: Ewlla Iillor, Dawnstrider homestead.
Location: Tatooine

Conflicting thoughts and emotions were running through the young Corellian?s head, ten to the dozen, as she waited for the twi?lek to initiate the charge for safety. He was
holding her firmly by the wrist, but looking outside for his ship.

She had felt humiliation earlier at having to disrobe, and give in to his demands that she don this too bright civilian attire. Only, he had not demanded. Only presented the option, but it had been far from the easy choice he apparently thought it was.

She had carried her navy blue Forces uniform, like a jedi carried her lightsabre. It gave her her authority, a sense of belonging to and being part of, something important. Something that could trace it?s formation back a thousand years, to the Army of Light, at the end of the Great Sith Wars.

The Judicial Forces of the Galactic Republic. Her!

But after slipping into the silken frock, she had expected safe passage to be fairly instant, not this interminable delay while his ship tried to draw the robot away from the farm.

She didn?t even know this stranger?s name. He seemed comfortable with ?Mitch?, though he paired it with ?Uncle?, and kept referring to himself as her Uncle Mitch.

Standing behind and to the left of him, she studied the white alien?s profile. He was taller and broader than her, of course, a thin robe of tan fabric concealing much of his form, but he looked to be taller than most average heighted humanoid males.

The way his large fist was closed around her wrist so that she could not move away, and yet his attention was away from her, seemed all too familiar. Shopping with her folks when she had been a youngling all those years ago.

He seemed an odd fellow for Jedi Kibeena to entrust her safety to, after telling her over the comlink that he was coming for her.
She was beginning to doubt that too, though she could hardly begin to explain why the knight had not come himself.

This guy?s insistence that she dress in a feminine style that pleased him, raised suspicions that he might be a slaver or a pimp, perhaps affiliated with the Hutt presence on this world
Was he going to get her stoned on death sticks and then roll her out to his paying clientele?

?Ready?? The twi?lek suddenly enquired, looking back down at her. She could see herself reflected in the black one-piece eye-shield he had donned, easily preferable to those deep crimson eyes that looked like two fresh stab wounds brimming with arterial blood. So not a nice effect.

She looked past his shoulder, spotting the landed Consular.
She, of course recognised the diplomatic vessel, painted dark red to signify an neutral diplomatic vessel out of Coruscant.

Those things were supposed to be unarmed, which she thought was pretty stupid, so did not object to the weapons? emplacements that she could see on the side of this one.

She nodded her readiness.

?Good girl. On three.?

She felt the humanoid?s forearm tense, and deciding there was no time for anything more, glared at the back of his head.

?One. Two. THREE!?

The twi?lek started running, his robes flapping against her knees and into her face as she stayed with him, half running, half being towed, her boots pumping at the shifting yellow sands underfoot.

Fifty metres, sixty metres, then from ahead, the loud staccato retort of blaster fire from the Last Bolt?s guns, something heavy and black crashing to her left and almost throwing her off course.

Instead of concentrating on where she was supposed to be going, she looked round past the metal mass at the already smoking, already retracting telescopic arm for which the new wreckage had been the grasper.

She had spotted enough of the Harvester before to run for her life, but now she saw it in full, and though she kept running, kept on course by Uncle Mitch?s guiding hand, she knew he was no slaver or pimp. Neither type would have looked at that fragging thing and come in after her. Credits be damned.

She wouldn?t have, that

 

OOC: I'm off for two weeks, going to exchange the desert sand for forest and lakes. And just when things were heating up Dubya, I thought it better not to post now, so you can completely decide what to do with Korr and Wolf for the coming weeks.

Have a load of fun!

 

OOC: No problem, Seremela. I'll take good care of them.




IC: Miyano, Thornton, Dunlop
above ground - Ignacio homestead

There was the sounds of blaster fire and explosions that echoed over the sand dunes. The three Earth humans that remained topside frantically looked around, weapons at the ready.

"What the hell was that?" Miyano asked.

"Don't know," Thornton responded, pulling the binoculars up to her face. "I don't see anything."

Dunlop began to walk around to the other side of the homestead, when he saw a plume of dust mixed with smoke in the opposite direction. He pointed, "Something happened over there."

The other two came running over to have a look. The protocol droid followed. All they could see was the smoke rising up waaaaay off in the distance, beyond the rolling sand dunes.

"Fincher," Miyano spoke into his radio headset. "Fincher, we've got a problem up here." All he heard was static. He couldn't communicate with his team leader.

TAG: no one, possibly Sith-I-5...

 

IC: Harvester, Mitch Nifesta, Ewlla Iillor, Last Bolt, Dawnstrider moisture farm.

Initiating self-diagnostic...

Multiple breaches and system failures detected...

Cascading power failu-

Power re-routed...

System crash in fourteen seconds...

Crash-dump memory core to Skynet.

System crash in seven seconds...

Initialise Moto-Terminators...

System crash in five seconds...

Twi?lek and human snapped their heads round to look at the fallen Harvester, seeing little more than it?s huge feet, partially obscured by what was left of the farmhouse, and the nearside of the thing?s left calf.

?Now what?? The ensign muttered, now sitting back on her haunches to allow the twi?lek to sit up.

?Now that?s a noise I?ve not heard in an age;? he commented with a nostalgic tone.

The cacophany that had attracted them increased ten-fold, then two black shapes sprang into the air, apparently from the visible feet, and what detail that Iillor could see as the pale blue sky became their backdrop, told her these were vehicles of some kind.

One blurred out of her sight-line, whilst it?s mate stopped dead in the air.

While she pondered how it had achieved that, she felt Mitch grab her by the wrist and pull her towards and over himself.
Some hero! She thought caustically to herself, recognising her new career as a meat shield.

?Get behind me!? he ordered, now sitting up to put himself between her and the now landed bike, which noisily tossed up a plume of sand to it?s rear as it wheeled round to face them with malevolent looking red headlights not a million light years from the way the twi?lek looked without his sunglasses on.

?I th-thought-? She began, but Mitch was a short-lived swirl of cloak, that, when it settled, he was up on one knee, had turned almost a hundred and eighty degrees from his ship, and was holding the longest, blasted rifle she had ever seen.
She fancied that it was longer than she was tall!

It spoke, the barrel bouncing up as it loosed a yellow energy packet, instantly punching a neat hole right between the red headlamps. The bike paused, then fell over.

The twi?lek rose over her, and freed up a hand for her to grasp, so he could pull her up. ?Come on, this is rapidly getting out of hand.?

Over their heads, the twin slug-blasers hanging down the side of the second bike, blazed noisily away, firing in the only direction it could ? out into the desert.

?Quit your whining!? Mitch called up to it as he took the initiative, grabbing her by the wrist and hauling her to her feet. ?I?ll put you down in a moment.?

Looking from him to the floating bike and back again, Ewlla realised why Jedi Kibeena had sent him after all. Still, she could not believe it. ?You are a jedi??

?No. But I have some in me.? It was a dangerous statement, but Nifesta reckoned he would be pretty safe making it, as long as no other clues came her way. He headed quickly towards his ship, hauling her after him, the open ramp tantalisingly close. ?Come on. R-E-B-N.?

?R-?

?Rapid Exit By Nifesta.?

Although she was going as fast as she could, and not looking around this time, even though she could hear a sound like an approaching aircraft, the twi?lek suddenly stopped, turned towards her and ducked his pasty white head and braintails in front of her, and the next thing she knew, she was looking down the back of his cloak at the yellow blur that was the ground, conscious both of his arm hugging the back of her knees, and his shoulder bouncing into her midriff, winding her repeatedly.
She knew what was coming as soon as felt the acid of her breakfast scorch the back of her throat, but could not help herself!

She had no idea how fast he was going with her over his shoulder, but the back of her thighs were getting cooled.

Sand gave way to the welcome slatted metal that could only be the entry ramp into his craft, and she felt the scratchy fabric of his sle

 

IC: Fincher, Korr, Wolf
under the homestead

Fincher began pulling each of the Terminator's fingers back and slipped the minigun from it's clutches. The machine's microprocessor was fried, so there was no way it was coming back to life. It just stood there like a metal sculpture...a very creepy sculpture.

The minigun was heavy. Finch had to adjust his footing slightly so he could hoist it up into his arms. "This may come in handy later on," he said to his team.

Wolf began sniffing around, as if he had found a scent.

"What is it? What did you find?" Korr asked the animal.

As the wolf creature wandered deeper into the dimly lit room, Finch said, "You may wanna keep track of him. You saw what almost happened last time." He glanced at the deactivated T-800.

Korr followed behind Wolf. "Hey, come on. Get back here." Further into the gardens, Korr's glowrod revealed two humans shackled together. "Hey! There's people over here," he called back to the others.

A man and a young girl were back-to-back and shackled together. They both appeared to be breathing, but they were too weak to even react to the new visitors.

TAG: team under the homestead...

---

[b]IC: Miyano, Thornton, Dunlop, TC-5O3
above ground, outside the homestead[/b]

"Uh, guys," Thornton said to her companions, "there's some big monstrosity heading this way." Through the binoculars she could see some spaceship-type thing heading away from the rising smoke and toward their position.

"Monstrosity?" Miyano repeated.

"Hopefully it's another friendly alien," Dunlop commented, worried that it might be some new Terminator hunter-killer machine.

The protocol droid walked a little way ahead of their position, closer to the approaching craft. "It appears to be some sort of [i]Consular[/i]-class ship."

The three Earth humans turned to look at the droid.

"They're Republic starships, most likely friendly," the droid added, knowing that these humans had no clue what he was talking about.

"Since the machine - sorry, [i]droid[/i] - recognizes it," Miyano started, "it's probably not a Terminator."

All three of them breathed a sigh of relief.

[b]TAG: Sith-I-5...[/b]

 

IC ~ Kharz

Kharz smirked as the droid went down. He wasn't pleased that he had essentially fried it's internal systems, but was sure he could recreate them, without the original programming, and perhaps give it a personality. Kharz grabbed his toolkit, and began working on the droid, perched upon it's shoulders, pleased hat nothing would happen this time.

"R3!" He called out to his little astromech, "R3, could you fetch me my repair kit!" The little asromech would've frowned if it could, but simply whistled rudely as it brought the heavy kit down the stairs, dragging it along with his small tow cable. Kharz smiled and thanked he droid, sending him back up, and reading the little memo the droid gave him.

"Korr, we've got a consular class coming our way, now, knowing this planet and the lowlifes that come through it, I'd say it isn't a pleasent diplomat, so be ready." Kharz said, turning his attention back to the hulk of a droid, if anything he could use it as an assistant in the shop.

Tag ~ All present

 

IC: Ewlla Iillor, Mitch Nifesta, command deck of the Darth Unlucky.
Location: Parked a two hundred metres from the Ignacio moisture farm


Ewlla Iillor was worried for her safety again. It seemed to be a constant of her day!
She, perched more than sat, at one of those small circular entertainment holotable that was so popular on mid-sized starships. The shiny top was all grey and black chequerboard, emanating from the centre of the table.

To her right, maybe two metres away, a single turbolift cylinder that dropped from here, through two interim decks, to the slug-ridden one where that speeder-bike thing had tried very hard to annihilate them.
In the opposite side of the table, an open plan walkway moved left of her, through maybe three other compartments, ending at the cockpit.

She wasn?t allowed beyond the holotable; ?Not for children,? he had said.

From what she had managed to gather, the twi?lek had, in his head, created a distinct familial connection between them, with him as the grown-up, and her as the child.

Ewlla knew she had been wrong about his intention to use her as a meat shield, as well as the slaver and pimp jobs she had given him, but this time, she reckoned sufficient clues were coming her way, and all she had to do was pluck them out of the air, like a Tatooine sand-frog catching unwary rodents.

Her theory had been slowly building from when Mitch had hauled her off the floor of the farmhouse and brushed her down, then held her wrist whilst waiting the best time to evac? the house.

That part of her forearm, he had noticed and Force-healed himself, but it was still slightly discoloured, and tender to the touch.

All that was on the table now, were a light sprinkling of sand, that she had painstaking pulled out of her hair; a crinkled tube of ultra-strength sun-lotion, since the twi?lek wouldn?t let her change out of the exposing outfit; and lastly, warming her bare arms with it?s proximity, a green mug of steaming hot chocolate. Some of the initial froth had gone, but thanks to the condenser plate on which it sat, it was not going to cool anytime soon.

She didn?t even like hot chocolate. But Mitch had told her to drink it, because apparently, hot infusions were good for trauma.

?I?ll tell you what else is good for trauma,? The ensign muttered to herself, shifting uncomfortably. ?ice.?

The twi?lek himself could be heard at the far end of the hallway, doing noisy construction work. Sounded to her like he was filing something down, whilst also sounding rather pleased with himself, recounting his statements outside, back to himself.
?R-E-B-N! Heh-heh, rapid exit by Nifesta! Ah, frang; she knows my entire name!?

Ewlla fancied she had heard the sound of him slapping his forehead, but could not be certain, but then she heard his distinctive footfalls coming closer, and it sounded like he was hurrying.

She tried to look relaxed and nonchalant as he appeared. Dark welding goggles covered both eyes, and he wore a thick brown synthleather apron and gloves, all three looking faded and scratched, like they had seen some significant wear. One hand held a vibro-sander, a hand-held device with a power plant and mechanics all intended to spin a coarse metal sanding disc.

?You need to forget my name.? The self-proclaimed God of Cops insisted without preamble. ?If it gets out in this timeline, it could destroy two thirds of the galaxy!?

Universe. The Last Bolt put in.

The girl?s heart lifted as she sensed she might be in control for the first time since visiting Tilly?s farm. She put on a smile. ?Nif-, no, Mitch Nifesta is it? That sounds better.? In her delight at this apparent turn of fortunes, she apparently forgot the first rule of ?Humouring the Nutters?.

?You will forget my name.?

?Sorry, mind tricks don?t work on me.? She tapped her temple with a forefinger to emphasise the

 

IC: Fincher, Korr
under the homestead

Fincher had set the bulky minigun down and examined the two shackled humans. They both had a pulse. He put a hand under the young girl's chin and tipped her head upward a bit. He saw her eyes flutter open for a brief moment. "Damn it. She's just a kid. Can't be any older then ten."

Finch stood up. "Can you use your ray gun and fry these shackles?" he asked Korr.

"Ray gun?" Korr lifted his weapon. "You mean this?"

Finch put his arms around the girl and pulled her away from the man with which she was back-to-back. The shackles wouldn't allow her to be pulled any more than a few inches from the man. "Gotta take dead aim."

"Don't worry," Korr responded, aiming directly between the humans. He fired and blew the shackles to pieces.

"Perfect," Fincher said. "We've gotta get these two outta here. We've gotta nurse them back to health. They could give us information on exactly what happened." Finch saw Kharz working on the T-800's head. "We've gotta get them topside."

Kharz then turned and said, "Korr, we've got a consular class coming our way, now, knowing this planet and the lowlifes that come through it, I'd say it isn't a pleasent diplomat, so be ready."

Isn't a pleasant diplomat? Finch didn't like the sound of that.

TAG: group under the homestead...

---

[b]IC: Miyano, Thornton, Dunlop, TC-5O3
outside the homestead[/b]

After waiting a while, the people finally exited the spacecraft. Even though the droid said it was a friendly ship, the Earth humans were still a bit wary. There hands were resting on their weapons.

A rather large, white-skinned humanoid creature came out of the craft, followed by a rather attractive human female...showing some bare legs.

The big white guy waved and said, [i]?Good day to you, gentle-beings. The Gun Handed God of Cops, at your service.?[/i]

"Oh!" The protocol droid turned back to the three humans. "They appear to be quite friendly." Raising an arm as if to wave back, the droid said, "And good day to you, sir. I am TC-5O3."

The three Earth humans let the droid do the introductions. First of all, he's from this planet, so he'd be better at greeting the newcomers. Secondly, if the newcomers attack...it's better if the droid goes first...

"What brings you to the Ignacio moisture farm?" 5O3 asked the large twi'lek.

[b]TAG: Sithy, and possibly Kharz' astromech...[/b]

 

IC: Mitch Nifesta, The Last Bolt, Ewlla Iillor, Ignacio moisture farm
Location: Tatooine


Mitch looked on as the protocol droid commented to the three beings behind it, that he seemed ?friendly?, and then it turned back to politely waved in response. ?And good day to you, sir. I am TC-5O3.?

The twi?lek remained keenly aware of the three almost silhouettes standing between the droid and the stone dome of the slightly sunken homestead.
They seemed to be warily staying back while the droid interacted with him. So be it.

?What brings you to the Ignacio moisture farm??

Remembering how annoyingly logical, protocol droids could be, Mitch bypassed his ready quip that his starship had brought him, instead answering, ?My information is that you are investigating some droid trouble out here? We, that is, myself and? He gestured behind him at the red-clad young woman at the top of the ramp. ?the little version, can certainly report ?droid trouble?. Dawnstrider farm, out to the west.?

* * * *

Inside the ship, and watching both twi?lek and human on it?s external visual scanners, the Last Bolt noted the female raise her blaster and point it at Agent Nifesta?s back.

Right then, it decided, its? policy of non-interference, ended. Quickly, it established a link with the spare SGIS wrist-communicator it had seen Mitch pass to her outside the armoury.

Ensign Iillor? I need to talk to you. Somewhere private.

* * * *

Standing on the top of the ramp, still in relative shade from the heat of the day, Ewlla could see the red spot of her weapon?s laser sight play over the twi?lek?s back, while he talked with the people at the farm.

She almost jumped into the hull when the computer?s voice came out of her wrist-com!

Lowering the gun and turning off the sight to save power, she brought the communicator up to where she could speak into it. The chunky device had a wide wristband of faded pink, and a strong silver buckle that fastened under her wrist.

?I am not coming back into the ship.? She told it, studying the twi?lek for some sign that he was listening in to this. After all, he had a wrist-com too.
By now, she had learned that the Last Bolt was some kind of autonomous computer programme, not the name of the ship.

Well, at least somewhere secluded.

?Uncle Mitch?? She called down innocently.

?Yes, Sweetie?? Nifesta sent back, keeping his attention on the four. None of them looked like moisture farm material.

?Aunt Bolt says, don?t forget to make sure that it speaks Bocce.? She pronounced the binary computer language as ?Bochy?.

This drew his gaze back to her, hairless eyebrows furrowed in puzzlement.
?What the hell is Bocce??

?Uh, never mind!? Ewlla responded gaily, starting down the ramp. ?I?m visiting their kitchen, if that?s alright..?

Turning from the strangers, then looking back and following his ward?s progress, was slowly turning him a full three-hundred-and-sixty degrees. ?If their pipes are working, make sure to get yourself a glass of water. You?ll have gotten dehydrated earlier, and you did not drink anything aboard the ?Unlucky.?

The ensign deliberated over his words, but could find no meaning other than consideration in them. She finally responded when she drew level with the twi?lek: ?I promise, Uncle Mitch.?

?That?s alright, isn?t it?? He asked the droid.

Tag: Dubya Scott, any others

 

IC: Miyano, Thornton, Dunlop, 5O3
Above ground - Ignacio homestead

The three Earth humans watched as the large white creature, calling himself the "God of Cops", or something along those lines, spoke into some kind of wrist communicator. Dunlop, the old man on the team, suddenly had a flashback to the old Dick Tracy that he knew from long ago.

"Well," the droid started, "of course you can use our kitchen. We are always willing to lend a hand to someone in need."

Miyano stepped up to the droid and put his hand on his shoulder, trying to stop 5O3 from talking. "Actually," the young human began, "we've got a little situation down there." He nodded toward the homestead. "It's not safe down there."

"Wait a minute," the woman Michelle Thornton interrupted. "You said there's `droid trouble` at another farm nearby?" She recalled hearing explosions and seeing smoke rising in the west. "What exactly did this `droid` look like?"

TAG: Sithy, Kharz' astromech, any others...

 

IC: Ewlla Iillor, Mitch Nifesta, Ignacio farm.

Passing the twi?lek, then the droid, on the way to the farmhouse, Ewlla heard it give her consent.

?Well, of course you can use our kitchen. We are always willing to lend a hand to those in need.?

One of the silhouettes stepped forward to join the droid, putting a hand on its shoulder, revealing himself to be a young human male with a round face. He looked kind of paramilitary. ?Actually, we?ve got a little situation down there.? He nodded back towards the homestead. ?It?s not safe down there.?

?We can help.? Ewlla heard herself blurt, then felt her face getting hot as the twi?lek looked sharply up at her. Well don?t go calling yourself the ?God of Cops? if you are not willing to help people. She thought caustically.

?I can help.? Nifesta ground out, and she had the feeling he was directing the comment to both her and the militia-men, his next statement was just for her. ?You can stay up here and keep lookout.?

?But, the Last Bolt can do that!? She protested, indicating the ship; noticing, but unable to stop, that she actually was slipping into the young girl persona. She dropped her arm.

?Wait a minute.? A female voice broke into the tiff.

Ewlla and Mitch simultaneously gazed towards the woman they would come to know as Michelle.

?You said there?s ?droid trouble? at a farm nearby? What exactly did this ?droid? look like??

With one hand holding the E-5 down by her right hip, the young Corellian only had one hand with which to demonstrate the sheer size of the huge Harvester. ?It was fragg-? She started.

?Ensign.?

Though it was said quietly, the use of her new rank caught her attention, and she stopped, hand over her head, and looked at the twi?lek.

?Report properly. And show them what we have on the ship.? Eyes hidden by the smoked welding goggles, Mitch Nifesta looked into the face of the closest human to him, Dunlop, and indicated his be-frocked companion. ?She stays out here.? Head down, he side-stepped the droid and walked to the homestead like he owned the place. ?Show me what you?ve got.?

To her own surprise, as he moved towards the farm, Ewlla felt safer with the twi?lek taking charge, and didn?t feel so shown up by his ordering her about.

She looked towards the young woman who had spoken, and quickly pulled her hand down to cease her impression of a ronto.
?Fifty metres high, black metal. Four grasping telescopic arms, and a shoulder mounted energy weapon of some type. Oh yes, and after we put it down-?

We?

Iillor ignored her wrist-com. ?-two speeder-bikes launched from its feet.?

She was relieved at the presence of another female, although she reminded her of her friend Tilly, and she could feel tears forming. ?Sorry,? she apologised as she drew her forearm roughly across her face, ?something in my eye.?

Tag: Dunlop, Michelle, others

 

IC: Eddie Miyano, Michelle Thornton, Paul Dunlop, TC-5O3
Ignacio farm - above ground

"Old man" Dunlop, standing back and not saying anything, could see that the woman with the bare legs didn't necessarily get along too well with this God of Cops. He could tell just by her actions and how she spoke to him.

?She stays out here,? the God of Cops said, indicating the woman. ?Show me what you?ve got.? Dunlop was kind of surprised he was being ordered around by this guy. As the twi'lek headed for the homestead, Dunlop glanced at the ship in which he had arrived...then looked at the smoke rising from the neighboring homestead. Maybe this creature was the ultimate cop. It was like something out of one of those old action films he remembered watching before Judgement Day when the Terminator's took over.

Without responding verbally, Dunlop followed the twi'lek toward the homestead. Maybe this cop already had the Terminator situation under control.

Miyano and Thornton heard the woman's description of the droid they encountered. ?Fifty metres high, black metal. Four grasping telescopic arms, and a shoulder mounted energy weapon of some type. Oh yes, and after we put it down-? there was a pause, ?-two speeder-bikes launched from its feet.?

The two Earth humans looked at each other. They were thinking the exact same thing...

"A Harvester," Michelle said, recognizing the description of the robot.

Miyano swore. "It's worse than we thought. We've gotta get Fincher."

Michelle noticed the woman wiping her eyes. And behind her, the rather large guns on their spaceship. "Did you use that thing to take it down?" she asked, pointing at the Darth Unlucky.

TAG: Nifesta, Iillor, Kharz' R3 droid...

---

[b]IC: Fincher, Korr, Wolf
under Ignacio homestead[/b]

Fincher glanced at the minigun he had left on the floor. "Can somebody grab that. It'll come in handy." He was carrying the adult male they rescued over his shoulder. Korr, on the other hand, was carrying the little girl in his arms.

Finch looked at Kharz. "You're welcome to keep fiddling with that thing, but we're takin' these two up top."

He and Korr left the garden areas and headed back up toward the surface.

[b]TAG: Kharz, Sofia, Screamer, anyone else...[/b]

 

IC: Ewlla Iillor, Mitch Nifesta, Ignacio moisture farm.


Ewlla watched the older of the three, silently follow the twi?lek inside. From his expression, she could tell he was not overly delighted at getting ordered about.

Welcome to my world. She thought, before listening to the other two humans react.

?A Harvester.? Said the woman, her whole demeanour, one of recognition.

The young man said something that Ewlla did not recognise, but if she was any judge of the way it was said, it was a baaad word. She'd have to remember it. ?It's worse than we thought. We've gotta get Fincher.? He added.

The woman looked at her, then past her towards the ship. ?Did you use that thing to take it down??

Ewlla followed her gaze. ?It kind of did that by itself. The onboard computer, uh, Last Bolt, provided cover fire whilst Unc-, uh, Bossy Boots in there,? She nodded after Nifesta and Dunlop, ?was rescuing me.?

Thank you!

She looked towards the woman. ?If he starts referring to himself as your Uncle Mitch, my advice is to run.? Her gaze alighted on the large rifle cradled in Michelle's hands. ?Or, you could shoot him. Sooo, you called the thing I described, a Harvester? It didn?t look like any agri-bot I have ever seen. ?

As she looked at the two, it began to dawn on her that TC-503?s chestplate was riddled with slug-thrower holes. She looked from the damage, to their assault weapons, and back again.
She quickly made the connection between the rumours of malfunctioning killer droids, the damaged droid, and the 'Moisture Farm Militia' facing her.

She'd only just graduated into the Judicial Forces, and she was already looking down on the local yokels.

She smiled. ?Pardon me if I'm jumping to conclusions here, but which o' you airheads did that to him??

* * * *

Mitch Nifesta sensed the man follow him inside as he ducked into the welcome cool of the sun-baked dome.

?So, do you have a name?? The twi?lek asked conversationally of the silent Dunlop as he preceeded the human deeper into the habitat. So far, it looked the twin of the Dawnstrider farmhouse. Or a number? He continued silently. How about a mono-syllabic grunt?

Tag: Eddie Miyano, Michelle Thornton, Dunlop, anyone we meet inside

 

IC: Sofia "Sparrow" Mason
Beneath Ignacio Homestead


"These poor people."

She knelt down and picked up the hefty minigun as best as she could. She followed Korr and Finch, a slight lump in her throat at the sight of the small limp child in Finch's arms.

"I've got some of my basic medical supplies, but I didn't exactly expect to end up on a desert planet when we set out this morning."

She tried to smile at her own joke, but failed. There was just something about this attack on a family which cut a bit too close to the past for her. She shifted the minigun to get a better grip on it and shook her head slightly to shake off the thought.

"But the sooner we get these two out of here the better."

TAG: any under homestead.