Somewhere far, far away...

[jarvisconsole]

The wreck looked like it hadn't been disturbed since it crashed. Somehow avoiding the usual pilferers and pirates who look for salvage in this part of the galaxy. It was a strangely shaped craft, more gyroscope than ship in some ways. An experiment in how far humans could travel from their own planet. And far it came, it had markings on it from many years ago from a corporation long dead and gone.

The paint was faded and almost gone, but one could still read the black lettering as "Stark Industries" across the ship's body. Inside, there were no survivors. The bones had turned to dust and the dust had scattered. The only sign that the ship was not completely abandoned was a faint energy signature buried deep within it's computer. One light flickering on the console on and off....on and off....

The only light in the whole ship that had refused to go out.

Comments

[notjustanumber]

     This was one of those strange missions that didn't quite fit one thing or another, and yet somehow the ARC Trooper found himself here. No battle to be found, only the remnants of a strange looking craft that didn't strike him as familiar from all the ship types and tech specs he'd memorized. Even as he approached, his blaster rifle held at the ready despite the readings for any lifeforms or energy signatures marking droid activity, nothing came up on the internal screens of his helmet's HUD as he ran scans to try matching up the busted craft.

     "I'm not gettin' anything. Looks like it's been 'ere a while," he murmured over the channel filtered to the small group of troopers that had accompanied him. "We still all clear, boys? Never know when them Seps might be lurkin' about."

     After receiving confirmation of that, Fives nodded and resumed his careful approach. The lettering that stretched across the ship's hull wasn't anything he was familiar with, although some of it did bear a small resemblance to Aurebesh. Taking some quick images, he paused again to do a quick check, but things were still as silent as it had been. He hated when it was quiet.

     "Found an entry point. I'm goin' in."

     With his rifle leveled, he did a quick sweep as was protocol before taking a closer look around. "Yep. This junk heap's been 'ere a long time all right. No survivors- and not much left of th' dead so far as I can tell. -wait."

     A light? How was anything aboard this wreck still functioning? His helmet cocking to one side, the ARC Trooper approached the dust-coated panel with caution.

     "Don't know 'ow, but something's still powered in here," he reported.

[jarvisconsole]

Stark had the foresight to install solar panels on the ship. While it did not suffice to power the computer completely due to the asteroid being so far from any star, it had survived long enough to remain in stasis.

Till the recognition of a voice.

The black dust covered panel flickers once, an image of a touch screen panel and buttons before flicking off again. It was difficult without enough power to turn on completely, but it was trying it's best to do so.

Another flicker or two before a few words are visible.

Identify. Please.

And the console goes blank again, the red light the only illumination.

[notjustanumber]

     "What th-"

     Fives took a step back as things began to light up. He watched the flickering images, not taking long to piece together what they were trying to make up. "Well, guess this thing's still got some spark. Too bad we didn't pack the general's R2-unit, but then again, I don't see any access ports for 'im to plug into."

     He carefully holstered his rifle, peering closer at the faded screen.

     Those strange letters again. His lips pursed as he squinted- not like it helped make them any clearer, much less make sense.

     "Oh for- What'd I touch?" he straightened as the thing went out, shaking his helmeted head before he toggled his comm again. "This is Fives. Yeah, 'm not sure what to make'a this thing."

[jarvisconsole]

The computer had been consumed with the task of survival for so long, that was all the protocol that was left to run. As Fives activates his comm link, there is a spark from it and the power is drained from the unit in a few seconds time. The voice on the other side dying away...

...and then a different voice.

"Who are you? Please identify." It's a clipped English voice coming through his comm link. The console lit up faintly with geometric shapes of buttons and screens. It wasn't much power but it was more than the system had had for awhile.

[notjustanumber]

     Slapping a hand against the side of his bucket, Fives muttered a curse as he heard the feed dying out. "I'm losin' you- Some kind'uv interference- H'llo? Hello?"

     His HUD flickered in and out, and at the new voice, he sucked in a breath.

     "Who th- Hey, are you the one jammin' the frequency?" The voice was strange, the accent not too unlike what he'd hear at the capital. "This is ARC-Trooper Five-Five-Five-Five, that's Fives - part of the forces of the Galactic Republic. Now 'ow about you tell me who you are an' what you're doin' on a secure frequency, and then I'll decide if we have'ta shoot you or bring you in."

     The display of the console hadn't gone unnoticed, and out of the corner of his eye, Fives watched it through the visor of his helmet. What was going on here?

[jarvisconsole]

The voice speaks with a sense of urgency. "This is from the Iron Maiden, please do not fire. We have crash landed on an asteroid and are in need of assistance." The computer system must still be in distress call mode, despite the fact it's crew was long dead for many years. It also did not realize how close the communicating device was that it had jacked into. "Please respond, are you able to assist?" His sensors were not responding well enough yet, the computer needed more power.

[notjustanumber]

     "Nice try, "Iron Maiden"," Fives replied, snorting lightly at that. "Unless there's another asteroid wreck in the area, I think you better stop playin' games an' show yourself. I'm right here, and so far as I can see, this scrapheap's far from needing assistance."

     As he spoke, he tried scanning other channels to see if he could find a way to contact the other Troopers, knowing they'd likely be doing the same as soon as they found themselves jammed. Come on, come on...

     Now and again he'd glance back towards the console, and he stepped towards it once again, lifting a hand towards its screens.

[jarvisconsole]

There was some kind of holographic projector, a small one, in the vicinity that Jarvis was able to detect. Without hesitation, he connects with it, the communicating device giving it's signal. When (or if) the soldier answers, there's a man with a suit who's projected.

"I do not appreciate being referred to as a 'scrapheap' ARC Trooper 5555." Only Jarvis could be miffed when he was in danger like this. At least now he could get a look at where the trooper was at.

[notjustanumber]

     Fives let out a breath at the sound of his holocom going off, and he toggled it with a quick tap of his finger. Only what appeared wasn't any of his brothers.

     "How the-" It was undoubtedly the same voice. They'd sliced into his comlink and now this? At least he could see who he was talking to now, although the man's attire wasn't any style he was familiar with.

     He cycled through frequencies within his helmet, hoping that maybe with the communication link directed to his holocom, it would free up the internal communications. "You the one that's interfering with my comlink? Who are you? And where, while I'm askin'."

[jarvisconsole]

The holographic man looked around the darkened room, instantly recognizing the markings. "I am Jarvis." The console flickers with his voice, matching it. "You are in the Iron Maiden, ARC Trooper 5555. Is Mr. Stark there?"

Oh dear, seems he powered down before Mr. Stark....well....he's likely one of the piles of dust nearby.

[notjustanumber]

     Another quick glance towards the console, then back towards the holo. "Jarvis, eh? You part of this ship's system then? The Iron Maiden's?"

     Things were slowly starting to come together at least, although it was still quite a trick for something so dilapidated to function enough to jack into his comm systems. The feat itself wouldn't have been so hard to believe otherwise, given that General Skywalker's astromech could often pick through security.

     "Just Fives is fine, Jarvis. And...'m sorry to say, but it doesn't look like there were any survivors. This wreck looks like it's been sittin' on this rock for a long time."

[jarvisconsole]

"Are you certain you have looked thoroughly?" Mr. Stark was very resilient. Of course, Jarvis has no idea how long he's been in standby mode. He may be in for a nasty shock as far as A.I.'s were concerned. The death of his creator. The time keeper on the ship would be useless at this point.

"My sensors are failing," he says, the image flickering. "I am in need of more power to restore my systems. I can then scan the ship for survivors."

[notjustanumber]

     This system was certainly insistent. Fives couldn't help but bristle just slightly at being bossed around by a computer.

     "Look, we've run scans even before I came aboard to look the place over myself. If anyone was alive, they're long gone. Not even anythin' left of th' bodies, so far as I've seen."

     He walked towards where the remnants of what might have been a flight suit lay practically grafted to a seat.

[jarvisconsole]

Jarvis has the tendency to have an ego without even trying.

His face doesn't have any expression as he regards the remnants of the suit that he could see. "That appears to be Mr. Stark's flight suit." His tone has not changed, but if any computer could be so affected, he would be the one.

The hologram of Jarvis winks out without warning. The frantic calls of his brothers coming through the comm link. It's as if Jarvis had turned himself off, the console doesn't light up anymore.

[notjustanumber]

     There was a hesitant pause as Fives was about ready to offer condolences of a sort. But suddenly the holo went out, and his head jerked at the sound of more familiar voices pouring through his comlink as they should have been moments ago.

     He let them continue for a few seconds as he looked around again, but it seemed that Jarvis was gone. Maybe the power had finally died out.

     "-Fives here. Negative, everything's clear. Just had some interference from what's left of this ship's system. Pickin' up anything on your end?"

     After one more sweep, he turned, although not without another glance at the panel as though he half expected it to light up again. Then he stepped carefully back towards the way he had entered.

     "All right. Comin' back now. There's nothin' much else to see."

[jarvisconsole]

Negative here. That energy signature's gone though.

Gone but not forgotten. While they were scanning the area, Jarvis was making an emergency core dump of his memory onto their systems. The pilot noticed some sluggish responses and a few lights lighting up that didn't make much sense, but apart from that it went unnoticed.

[notjustanumber]

     Meanwhile the ARC Trooper was all too happy to get out of the metal sarcophogus. He took a look around the outside of the ship again before making his way back to his transport where the others waited.

     "We good to go?" he asked once he boarded. He was sure they had better places to be than poking about old wrecks, although he understood why there would be some curiosity if no cause for concern about unidentified ships and crash sites.

[jarvisconsole]

Aye, aye, sir. The pilot starts to drive them away from the wreck. But something's wrong...the path that the ship takes is a little erratic to say the least. They weave side to side and then a full barrel roll before the pilot is able to gain control again. Of course, now he looks like he's driving like a crazy person. The lights on the panels nearby flashing and flickering as Jarvis starts figuring out the computer system inside the ship.

[notjustanumber]

     "-what's going on?!"

     Fives grabbed a hold of a sidebar as he threw a look towards the cockpit. "I didn't hear the alarms go off- Trooper, what are you doing?!"

     So much for a smooth flight back to the Jedi cruiser.

[jarvisconsole]

The pilot was struggling with the controls as they took another spin dive down and up, just barely missing an asteroid. It's not me, sir! I can't get it to respond...

Their flight leveled out before taking off full speed towards the cruiser. I can't get anything to respond. It's like something else is controlling it! He was vainly trying to push buttons that were all flashing red. A big ACCESS DENIED popped up across the console's screens.

And here comes the cruiser hanger doors. Hopefully they realized they weren't in control anymore.

[notjustanumber]

     Once he'd regained some semblance of balance, Fives practically hurled himself in the direction of the cockpit, grabbing onto what he could to keep from being thrown into the walls as he made his way up.

     He came up behind the seat, staring through his T-visor at the readings over the console. Spitting a curse as he looked up to see their flight path locked, the ARC Trooper quickly tapped into the comlink to try and hail anyone aboard the Venator-class ship.

     "This is ARC-Five-Five-Five-Five, come in-- returning from our recon mission. We've lost control of our ship, I repeat, we've lost control of th' ship- looks like someone's sliced into the system-!"

[jarvisconsole]

The cruiser tries to get a lock on them with a tractor beam but to no avail. The smaller ship seems to evade their beam as if it was programmed to do so.

One of the troopers is trying to hack his way back into the computer system. Sir! There's some sort of new intelligent programming in control of the ship. I don't know where it came from but it's got us completely taken over. Fortunately, the life support systems were on a separate program or they'd really be in trouble. The ship seems to be trying to circle the larger ship as the A.I. takes over the sensor readings. Flicking through them quickly as he assimilates the information.

[notjustanumber]

     "Intelligent programming..." Fives dropped into a murmur, still staring at the readouts on the screens.

     He dropped into the copilot's seat, slamming a fist near the console as he tried a few keys and switches. For the brief time he'd fallen silent, his mind was working feverishly over the details.

     It couldn't have been coincidence. "Jarvis! You're here, aren't you?!" Now who was looking crazy? Fives glanced back to the other two troopers yet in the back. "We needa manually power down this shuttle- try to force a system shut down an' then power 'er up again," he ordered.

[jarvisconsole]

Fives...who are you talkin' to?

There's no answer at first. But finally, the screen clears, an oscilloscope wave moving as Jarvis speaks. "A manual shutdown will not purge the system." Almost sounded like he was helping them for a moment there. "Please remain seated. This system has many redundancies, I am attempting to compensate."

The ride had quieted down somewhat, but they still were not in control. It was still avoiding being pulled back to the Jedi cruiser.

[notjustanumber]

     "First my comlink an' now that karkin' AI's sliced into the ship's computers," he hissed, although it was a relief to see that Jarvis had responded. Fives would have hated to sound like he'd lost his mind.

     "From back on that wreck," he explained to the other clones. "Looks like we picked up somethin' extra." He left his helmet comm on as he explained, just so those aboard the cruiser could be kept in the know, provided their communications wouldn't be jammed.

     Glancing back at the console, Fives addressed Jarvis again. "What are you even doing there? Quit playin' around!"