Long ago, in a galaxy far away...

[PurpleXVI]

"They've got jack shit out there for us to make use of," Argon reported to Sorkuk on his return, dropping himself back into the flight seat with a theatrical sigh, "None of the droids in the hallways visit the private bays, and there are security cams all over the place, we couldn't even abduct one at night. What did you come up with?"

[Kazilan]

"It looks like the best bet is the vent cleaning droids. They're small and easy to program."

Sorkuk called up the droid's specs on a display so Argon could examine them.

"The security bots would also be easy to reprogram, but harder to get onto a ship. Unless there were a security emergency, in which case we might be able to get away with it. What do you think?"

[PurpleXVI]

"Vent-cleaning droids, eh?" Argon rubbed his chin as he checked the specs, "But wouldn't that require us to get into the vents and wrestle one of them out? And a security emergency... If Barney hasn't gotten himself arrested yet, he's one all on his own. Hang on a moment."

The tech fetched his ion pistol and then returned, "This thing could probably knock one of those vent-cleaners out and make it easy to retrieve, but problems remain, they've probably got some sort of central control that tracks problems with the droids, so we'd have to refit it and get it back in the vents fast. Secondly, there's the entire matter of getting into one of the damn vents without getting spotted."

He tapped his forehead for a few moments, "I think I can make an educated guess at which parts would need replacing after a stunning blast, so here's a thought: I prepare the necessary replacement parts and pass them on to you, you grab my gun and climb into the vents to bag one of the little bastards, do the necessary replacing if you can, otherwise drag it back here and I'll do it. I'll pre-program the circuit boards so it'll be remote controllable. While you're looking around in the vent, I'll try to find their central droid control on their network. If it looks ready to send out an alert I'll warn you or, if things are about to go to hell in a handbasket, try to knock it out. Sound like a deal?"

[Kazilan]

Sorkuk nodded at Argon's suggestion.

"I don't like the idea of rummaging around in a vent, but I suppose I'm more likely to fit. I should be able to do the repairs to the droid myself. So long as you keep an eye on the security network."

The Bothan scratched at the fur on his neck for a moment as he considered the plan.

"Firing a blaster may make too much noise, lets see if we can modify it to fire silently."

Sorkuk will get to work with Argon immediately in modifying a circuit board and silencing the blaster, as well as gathering equipment for his jaunt in the vents (of highest importance is something to detect security traps), assuming there isn't a distraction.

[Caleb808]

Barney rolls his eyes at having to explain himself. "Playing dumb, huh? It's a combination between a Filthy Lopez and a Corellian Creamsicle, but you already knew that. Now are you gonna shake my laffy taffy or not?"

The trandoshan now felt that he was just wasting his time with the meek group, but it sure was fun antagonizing them.

[ 03-31-2007, 07:22 AM: Message edited by: Caleb808 ]

[Man Who Fights Like Woman]

Argon, Sorkuk
The preparation work of the two went off without a hitch. Their modifications to the board were done excellently, and they were able to create a great makeshift suppressor for the ion blaster. Their likely replacement parts were laid out on a cloth covering a table to avoid any of them getting dusty or the small parts getting lost and falling on the floor.

Outside in the hangar, a vent was about eight feet off the ground, just low enough for Argon to be able to lift Sorkuk in. Argon was more than able to lift Sorkuk up, but when he got up there the Bothan had difficulty pulling himself into the vent. At first he dangled, kicking his legs uselessly in a vain attempt to get himself into the small passageway. Slowly he calmed down enough for Argon to grab both of his feet and push him up forcefully, and with Sorkuk's pulling, he was able to slide into the vent, thigh with some difficulty.

Sorkuk
Once inside the vent, Sorkuk was immeidately glad that he wasn't claustrophobic. If he were, the cramped space would have sent him into shock the minute he was inside. The section he was in was no more than three feet wide and three feet tall, so luckily he didn't have to suck himself in a little bit to fit comfortably. His arms had to be held in front of him from the minute he got in as soon as he had the pistol in hand though, otherwise he may have gotten stuck.

It was a very clean area, though. The cleaning droids obviously did a very good job. He could faintly hear one operating, though in which direction wasn't very clear due to the echo. A minute or so after he started moving he reached an intersection, where he was able to more easily discern the origin of the sound. Following that wasn't very difficult because he could face the direction it was actually coming from, though the sound was still faint.

After fifteen minutes of crawling through the vents, Sorkuk finally found one of the droids. On the surface, it was more or less a series of conveyor belts with cleaning solutions constantly being restored on them from some source on the inside. The side facing him didn't have any of this solution on it, so it's likely that it was only created through contact. Sorkuk didn't waste time shooting it with Argon's ion pistol, since it was the only thing in the vent and filled the entirety of the space and he couldn't possibly miss.

Once it was knocked out, he was able to cross the short distance remaining to grab it by the side of the belt. Hefting it was no problem, even as he was going backwards through the vents. At the first intersection he came to he went a little bit past it so that he could be pushing it and going forwards rather than dragging it and moving backwards. It took roughly another fifteen minutes to get back to the opening, where he saw an eight foot uncushioned drop and two security guards at the door heading out of the hangar.

Argon
The human was having a much more relaxed time. While Sorkuk was scurrying through the vents like a rat, he was sitting in the pilot's chair, sipping lum and watching the security operations. He saw quite clearly, about fifteen mintues after he got back to the chair from helping Sorkuk into the vent, one of the blue dots go out. Predictably, this was the cleaning droid that the Bothan had knocked out.

For some laughs he turned on the audio so that he could listen to the security personnel chatter. "What's going on?" he heard one of them ask. "Just a technical malfunction," another replied. "Give it a few minutes to come back on, it's nothing big." Argon chuckled at that, as they seemed clueless to what was really going on. Five minutes later though, they started again. "Still hasn't come online," said the first voice, "begin investigative protocols, maybe it fell out or something. Check the vent access points."

Argon bolted up in his chair at that. There was an open vent right next to them, and he could no longer reach it to replace the panel. He knew there was no use in panicking, and twelve minutes later when three security guards walked in, all he did was remain sitting in the pilot's seat so that he could disconnect the uplink to the port's security. Two of the security officers split off to watch the bay door, while a third one ascended the ramp. He was holding a datapad, and held it up to his face as he spoke.

"Good afternoon, I'm Sergeant Karlson of Rasbon Port Authority. Would you mind giving me a tour of your ship real fast? It's showing three crew members here, but I only see one... why is that?" It was likely he already knew about the vent.

Barney
Fortunately, the Trandoshan wasn't being accosted by security at this point. He saw the three guards going to every third hangar, stay for a few minutes, and then leave, apparently satisfied. The men in orange still seemed oblivious to what he was asking, and took a quick pause to look at what he guessed was their notes. Their apparent leader stepped up to him, looked up at his face, and put an arm around his shoulder. "Would you-a like to come, ah, to our house and, ah, discuss tings further?"

[PurpleXVI]

"Absolutely, sergeant," said Argon, and complied calmly, making a quick adjustment to his datapad which was actually that of yanking the receiving volume to max, so Sorkuk could hear every word said by him or the security guards, "I'm just the pilot here, I'm afraid, so I don't know too much about what the others are up to," he knew they didn't have anything too illegal on board, nothing that would be worse than a few fines, so he complied with everything and opened any compartments they asked about, especially if they were going to look through Barney or Sorkuk's stuff, "The other two guys are a Trandoshan and a Bothan, it's my first time working with them, I think the big guy's just a bodyguard and the furry fella takes care of the business."

He finished the tour, "I'm mostly stuck here, walking around the starport to pass the time, can't leave for long in case they need us to go somewhere fast. Trandoshan left a while ago, and the Bothan just a few minutes back, can I ask you gentlemen what this is all about? Some of the ship's systems interfering with something?"

[Caleb808]

"No, let's just do it right here." Barney replies, removing his clothes on the spot. The orange freaks were starting to catch on and actually seemed to be receptive to his solicitations, which was a little unnerving, but it seemed his actions still weren't noticeable enough. However, being a large, naked, purple Trandoshan in the middle of the street should get the job done.

[Kazilan]

Sorkuk froze as the guards appeared below. With the vent hanging open, it was only a matter of time until one of them stuck his head in. The Bothan slowly began to creep away from the opening, headed for a different vent that would give him access to a neighboring hangar. If Argon hadn't found a way to get rid of security by then, he would have to take his chances opening and exiting from an alternate route.

[Man Who Fights Like Woman]

(ooc: apologies for delay)

Argon
The security guard continued staring at Argon, obviously not convinced. "Well, would you mind if I stay here and wait for the rest of your crew to show up? I'd like to ask them a few questions too. We just had a vital cleaning droid go out of service in the ducts, and we couldn't help but notice that the vent entrance in this hangar is open. While we're waiting, would you mind telling me why that is?"

Barney
When the large, purple Trandoshan disrobed, the men in the orange robes promptly scattered. They wanted nothing to do with such a delinquient, and began shouting in some strange language he couldn't understand. A nearby security guard shouted "Hostile movement!" and called for back-up. Soon there were ten security guards on the scene, armed with stun batons. The one who had shouted was looking very intently at Barney, and asking him, "Sir, please put your clothes back on before we have to resort to force."

Sorkuk
Fortunately, the height of the vent made it unlikely that they were going to be poking their heads in any time soon. The nearest vent was three hangars away, he had seen it on his long trip to find the cleaning droid. It was three hangars back so the guards had already been past it, he could tell from the conversation the guard was having with Argon, and the vent cover was kicked off fairly easily. It was still a seven foot fall though, and he still had to bring the cleaning droid down with him.