[Sith War IX] Hunt for a blackbird.
Peter Hanely
new advisary.
R5-P1 took a faster, less ethical, approach to the search.
It'd cracked into nearly half the security monitors on and around RASSM,
and set off
more than a few alarms. Thank the black hat for insecure home systems
to use as
proxies. At last, after a few hours of steady search, a black bird
shaped ship was
spotted. It has its quary. One problem. The ship had no network
presence whatsoever.
That could be fixed.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A swarm of nanites emerged from a nearly invisable crack near Chateau
des Ordinateurs,
looking like so much smoke. Out they flew, coming in time to their
target. Every crack and
crevice was probed seaking entry. Sealed tight. Oh well. Transporters
were rare in this
sector, and even when available, rarely used when opening a door would
do. In time
someone would come along and open a hatch, and a few bugs would sneak
in, map the
control system, and interface.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Jedi Hacker, meanwhile, was fussing with an interigation chamber.
The universal
field cage was interfering with the holographic projectors.
<excessive technobabble snipped>
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Summary: R5-P1 has aranged to 'hijack' Daniel O. Millers ship.
--
The Jedi Hacker
"A Jedi uses the code for queries and filters, never for cracks."
Sith warriers, please read:
http://www.calweb.com/~hanelyp/SW/Chateau_des_Ordinateurs.html
Daniel O. Miller
> A swarm of nanites emerged from a nearly invisable crack near Chateau
> des Ordinateurs, looking like so much smoke. Out they flew, coming in
> time to their target. Every crack and crevice was probed seaking entry.
> Sealed tight. Oh well. Transporters were rare in this sector, and even
> when available, rarely used when opening a door would do. In time
> someone would come along and open a hatch, and a few bugs would sneak
> in, map the control system, and interface.
[I had planned something much more grandiose, but this will have to do for
now since Hack-Boy is bugging me for a plot point. -ed]
Dan'l ran back to his ship when he saw the smoke. There must be a fire.
Odd that he couldn't smell it, he was downwind.
There was definitely smoke around his ship, but he couldn't tell what it
was coming from. A short circuit maybe? There was a fire extinguisher
just inside the hatch. He popped the pressure seal and climbed in.
As he was reaching for the fire extinguisher the smoke swept *into* the
ship, past him and up the hallway into the cockpit. Dan'l got a glimmer
of what was afoot. He swore, dropped the fire extinguisher, and headed
the other way down the hallway to the hold. He was a proper paranoid and
had some insurance against such insults.
He was far, far too late. But he also didn't yet realize that it didn't
matter.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
R5-P1 suddenly knew, in the way that machines do, that its nanites were
into the Maltesium Falcon. Gleefully it switched over to full control of
the swarm.
It sent them into the cockpit. Surely there would be a way to take over
the ship's control system. Its first target was the control column.
Thousands of nanites raced into the decking, looking for the strain gages
or load cells that it must surely run on. After all, that was how all
modern ships worked.
Instead the nanites found springs and cables. Pi couldn't figure out the
cables. Surely no one in their right mind would use carbon fiber for
electrical cable? The droid sent more nanites racing along the cable to
where it ended, at the valve of a hydraulic actuator.
It set the entire swarm trying to move the cable or control column or
valves. No dice. All together the swarm massed about a gram, and they
could find nothing to push against either.
Pi thought about having the swarm sever the cable. The nanites were much
better at destruction than anything else. But the droid held off. First,
it was looking for a way to control, not destroy. And second, blowing
things up was what its teenage hormone freak sidekick was always doing,
and Pi wanted to set a good example.
Maybe the radio? Transistors and potentiometers. A classic Ham setup.
Pi wondered if there was a Porkinite connection. Then Pi wondered if that
pun would go over well, as it didn't seem very good.
Guidance? Gyroscopes and a compass. Great Maker, it was wonder this guy
ever found his way off the ground. Propulsion? More cables and valves.
That was genius, and Pi copied the design for future reference. Making a
nuclear ion drive with no microprocessors was an amazing feat. The
hyperdrive he couldn't even figure out, but he copied it anyway for future
analysis.
The had to be something in the ship to talk to. Pi sent the nanites back
into the hold. They found little in the way of cargo, but Dan'l was
rummaging around in a large trunk full of analog electrical components.
"Whereisit whereisit whereisit - ah HA!" Dan'l rose up, and in his hand
was a project box with wires hanging off. There was a button on it.
Dan'l stabbed the button and charging capacitors whined into ranges
inaudible to human ears. He grinned madly. "Eat EMP death, Hack-Weenie!"
Pi flung the swarm at the box, but there was nothing it could do. Its
last impression of the nanites was them trying desperately to saw through
a heavy-guage wire. Then the nanites and everything else for a 100-meter
radius went dead.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dan'l whistled as he vacuumed the ship...
[Not so short after all. All's well that ends well I guess. -ed]
Daniel O. Miller
"Does this look familiar? Do you know what it is? Neither do I! I made
it last night in my sleep. Apparently I used gindrogac - highly unstable!
I put a button on it, yes? I wish to press it, but I'm not sure what will
happen if I do..." - Gune
Rainbow Heron
<dmil...@ridgenet.net> wrote:
>A classic Ham setup. Pi wondered if there was a Porkinite connection.
LOLOLOLOL!!!!!!!!!!
>Then Pi wondered if that pun would go over well, as it didn't seem very good.
It was GREAT!!!!
>Dan'l whistled as he vacuumed the ship...
<thunderous applause>
Loved that one Dan'l!!!!!!!
<ng sig was wondering if that's the same box/transmitter thingy from
The Matrix?>
>[Not so short after all. All's well that ends well I guess. -ed]
Uh-oh, I hope we don't have twins going...
-Rainbow Heron
(sig checks to see that -ed. is still locked in the bathroom)
For a moment there I thought someone posted something about N'Sync and
here I was, just seconds away from posting my 3-part epic. WHEW!
==========================================
http://web.infoave.net/~rkanderson/rassm/swc.htm
Rainbow Heron's Sith War Characters Page
==========================================
Jell-o jigglers are like Gak
...except they don't make that fart noise.
Simon H. Lee
magazine, I think, where they were touting a Russian computer "Faster than
a Pentium!" running entirely on vacuum tubes.
--
__ (-o-) <*> A L L D O N E! B Y E B Y E!
(__ * _ _ _ _
__)|| | |(_)| \ "Mmm... unexplained bacon."
Peter Hanely
Summary?
Next time, R5-P1 will be sending the larger replicators.
They're EMP shielded, as is all the hackers macroscopic equipment after
the pikachu
attack.
Daniel O. Miller
> Next time, R5-P1 will be sending the larger replicators.
> They're EMP shielded, as is all the hackers macroscopic equipment after
> the pikachu
> attack.
You wouldn't be so hackney-prone as to pull the same stunt twice, would
you?
Daniel O. Miller
> Summary?
Nanites defeated.
Rainbow Heron
PLEASE IGNORE THE FOLLOWING REPOST- my computer has started acting up
again. Unfortunately, there are more of these, and believe you me I
hate this too. Major PITA and great inconvenience to everyone...think
I'll put my computer in detention for a while... >:-P~
================================================
On Tue, 19 Feb 2002 22:35:37 -0800, "Daniel O. Miller"
<dmil...@ridgenet.net> wrote:
>A classic Ham setup. Pi wondered if there was a Porkinite connection.
LOLOLOLOL!!!!!!!!!!
>Then Pi wondered if that pun would go over well, as it didn't seem very good.
It was GREAT!!!!
>Dan'l whistled as he vacuumed the ship...
<thunderous applause>
Loved that one Dan'l!!!!!!!
<ng sig was wondering if that's the same box/transmitter thingy from
The Matrix?>
>[Not so short after all. All's well that ends well I guess. -ed]
Uh-oh, I hope we don't have twins going...