May 08, 2010

601. The Heist - Trychon

Spickolly worked diligently at his multiple consoles. A 'vibrojack' as he referred it was a malignant slicer program that took complete control of a system. He'd never heard or dealt with one that took control of an entire Republic ship before, but there were certain advantages that it presented him. The main functionality of this ship or any one like it in the Republic was preserved on a hard-coded computer core, which could not be altered. The Captain's codes were among the few preserved functions of the ship.

Using it, he would be able to shut the system down entirely and reinitialize it with only the core functions active. It would limit the ship's higher functions, including all major computer aided activities such as targeting and aided piloting, but it was better than the situation as it was. He chuckled to himself, knowing that the Captain didn't have to give him his code. He'd figured it out some time ago, but he didn't intend to let on to that.

He took a deep breath and initiated the shut down. He watched carefully as code crossed his screen to make sure that things went as he'd planned them. Nothing seemed amiss though, as it shouldn't. Within a minute, the ship was regaining power and core functionality.

He keyed his comm and got ahold of the Captain. "Heh. Alright, man... you're all set. You have to do without much computer power, but at least you're not blastin' your friends no more, am I right? Huhuh."

Spickolly heard the Moklam's taking a slow breath on the other side of the comm connection. The Captain often did that when he was trying to control his temper, and Spickolly had noticed it often. "No, Mr. Spickolly... that really isn't enough. I appreciate the fact that I am no longer going to be court martialed for destroying allied ships, however I'm likely to receive the same end if we're unable to effectively stop this madness that's going on right in front of me. We need our computers. Do you understand? Did you find the problem? I need you to remove it and get my ship working!"

The civilian slicer shook his head emphatically against the idea, despite the fact that nobody could see him do so. "Oh, heh, heh. I really don't recommend we do that, Mr. Captain. This program is like that other one... you know dude... the one we thought we'd zapped? It doesn't seem to follow any normal protocols, like the dude who made it taught himself how to cut programs from scratch. Heh heh. That's unreal. I can find the program and shut it off... but I don't want to just make it mad again."

Moklam's reply was short. He knew it had to be the Sith. That only made it that much more important that his ship get involved in the unfolding battle and quickly. "Do. Your. Job!"

Spickolly sighed. "Ok, dude. You're the bossman, bossman."

Using the information he'd pulled prior to resetting the computers on the vessel, he found the rogue program and cut in some gibberish code that should serve to break it and loop it on itself, hoping that it was a safer bet then trying to delete it entirely. After several minutes of this, satisfied that he'd given it his best effort, he began logging into the reboot again using the Captain's code.

His comm was beeping incessantly, with the Captain berating him for taking so long. He didn't feel like explaining that it was quicker the first time because he'd already entered the Captain's own overrides multiple times before contacting him, so he merely didn't answer.

When he was ready, he contacted the bridge and told them to prepare. He entered the codes one last time, and the system was online complete with targeting, sensors and all of its normal functions. Spickolly held his breath.

------------

On the bridge, Captain Moklam slammed his personal comm down, hopeful he was done with it for the day.

"All hands prepare to engage! Launch the remainder of our fighters for Hoth's sake, and communicate with the other ships to return to formation. We're done playing here! It's time to show those Sith bastards that the Republic is not to be trifled with!"

He surveyed the sensor data running across his personal screen. Their fighters had taken heavy losses with the support of the freighters in the enemy group. They still had a small numerical advantage, and the support was losing its effectiveness with the dogfight at full tilt. With the rest of the Unity's fighter support added, the advantage would be theirs once again.

He watched as the other ships went on after the largest enemy ship in attack formation, and ignored the incoming complaints from their respective Captains. He didn't blame them, but now was not the time. He took another deep breath as he continued to watch his orders executed. It was time to teach the Sith a lesson.

He could nearly feel the veins in his forehead returning to normal from their bulged state. He was going to take care of this problem once and for all. He didn't need the Jedi's help to rid the galaxy of this scum. They'd bit off more than they could chew this time.

Then he screamed as he watched his controls start to flicker again.

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