Rubus III was an industrial world, essentially one huge polluted ridden city that had maze-like streets. Officials here were known for taking bribes and looking the other way. In short they were corrupt but it made work for mercenaries and bounty hunters easier. It also made it easier for the seedier types to flourish as well.

One right bribe made customs inspectors look the other way. Illegal goods were easier to get here as well leaving little wonder that criminals used the world to conduct a multitude of illegal acts. One such matter had been the reason why she had followed the slaver called Ratchet to this world.

She had been hired to rescue a slave that had been procured recently. While rescuing slaves had never been an issue before this one, Sarada, had been the daughter of a well paying aristocrat that wanted her safely back.

It took a little work tracking Ratchet down but she caught up with him at last here. The minor crime lord still had Sarada as far as she could tell though had her in his possession for a few days now so a ransom was probably not on the table. More likely she was acquired for a specific client, thus far she was not unloaded with other slaves and the opportunity presented itself to get rid of her if that was the aim.

Perhaps someone here or meeting Ratchet here would be the one to take her from the crime lord, that held little relevance now.

Ratchet had been at the docking bay, a series of droids had been the bulk of his defenses along with a few organics from this race and that. Mostly Hel'corian mercenaries and Vulpas. The docking bay had been a buzz of activity with maintenance crews on hand refueling and restocking the vessel with a few defense robots from the ship serving as guards.

All in all there were six droids watching over the hanger with several other organics from this planet tending to the vessel. The boarding ramp was done and at the bottom of it was one brute of a Vulpa, green skinned, muscled and enormous complete with horns and a huge blaster rifle. His yellow eyes shifting back and forth as he surveyed those in the docking bay paying close attention to anyone near the ship from his vantage point.

ACT ONE - Annihilation


"... I hate this planet..... it stinks.... " she said softly into her comm link as she casually walked along the busy dank streets of this dark and polluted planet that was always dark, and always raining due to the mixture of chemical showers and thick pollution created by the planets massive industrial foundries. It was a disgrace, however a planet Niko knew well enough from her travels as a hired bodyguard and mercenary for those seeking protecting in the more seedy underworld and low ended business deals. To offend does she recall such negotiations breaking down into a stand off or worse a fire fight with the thugs that are usually hired as muscle to protect ageist her..... Then never ended well and recalls walking out several times with out a limb or two but at least she managed to come out on top in those situations and did her job and protect her client.... however this job was vastly different then that.

"This job stinks.... there isn't much to go on... how does the client expect me to get out with the package..." Niko said gain frustrated into her comm link as she casually scouted around the outside of the space port, using the crowd as cover in the dank streets as she tailed her target to the questionable docking bay with a oddly large amount of security. Niko passing by in the crowd as she scouted the area outside using her visual optics to transmit to her partner Proxy (PR0XY) who was busy doing his work.

"Your the one that took this job.... you knew what you were getting into...." Zyxs said back to her over the link, the slicers voice distorted and muffled, however still understandable as Proxy relayed to Niko her current opposition. "The inside is heavily guarded with defense machines and several guards, they should not pose to much of a threat however taking them head on is too risky with your current load out as well as the foot traffic inside.... your best bet would be to use the roof and stealthy repel inside from the docking bays over hang... they do not appear to have security over looking the area so you should have no opposition. There is a fire escape around the left side of the building behind the fence. The room has escape exit for emergency, I already hacked the alarm system. However it will only be down 45 seconds so you better hurry." Proxy relayed as Niko tapped her com link and replied.

"I got it... Im heading there now..." Niko replied as she followed those instruction and made her way through the crowd. Slipping along the crowd Niko reached the fence and with a simple feet of acrobatics hopped over with no issue as she used the fire escape to reach the roof top and quickly her legs carried her to the escape exit where she lipped inside the hanger with ease. "Proxy.. Im in..." Niko relayed as she carefully closed the exit and crouched by the door and awaited further instruction.



"Perfect... now... in exactly 30 seconds..... The guards will be making their rounds. That gives you time to drop from your location onto the ship blow. That is a 9860 SI Opal Star Class freighter, it is compact but much larger on the inside then it looks. The top section has a sliding door air lock meant for zero gravity. Their horribly bad about malfunctioning and opening, I already hacked it, the door for you is open... drop.... NOW!....once inside we will lose contact..... the packages is in the loading -psst- b-bay.... -pssst- w-wa -psst- fzzz.... zgnzzzz...." Proxy ordered befor she lost contact as Niko simply did as she was instructed and hopped over the railing of the over hang.

It was a sudden fall one that was a leap of faith however as Niko was about to hit the roof of the ship the door air lock door suddenly slide open allowing her to land inside ship. Her cbernetic inplants insured her landing was safe as she hit the floor with a rather heavy slam, yet one that would be with out notice over the sound of machinery and loading the ship, from here it was up to Niko to secure the ship and escape with the package as she looked over the plan schematic in her head as Proxys first order was to secure the control room and allow her to remote opperate the ship... next... secure the package and escape while Proxy created a diversion.

Once inside the ship her objectives had been clear. Getting to the cockpit and securing the vessel had been easy, there had been no opposition for her. The pilot wasn't present, either helping load the vessel or at some dive waiting for the ship to be loaded.

If successful she could blast off using the ship. These hangers had not been to secure, this vessel had a lot of security in the hanger but it appeared since the ship was docked there had been little reason to actually secure it and not the hanger itself.

What opposition she was bound to meet would be with the package guarding it or in the cargo bay itself loading materials. She would have to seal off the cargo bay and get the landing ramp up so no one outside boarded the vessel.

Once in space she had the option of opening the cargo bay to space jettisoning any droids there and/or organics. Even the threat of spacing them should get them to behave until she had a chance to ditch the ship.

First things first, she had to make her way to the prisoner first heading to the brig. The ship had been well lit for the organic crew though she would find that the vessel had not been entirely deserted either. She discovered one tall black droid with a sleek chassis at the brig speaking to the package in the only occupied cell cut off by a simple force field.

The controls for which had been on the wall. The droid had not seen here, it's back to the doorway as she entered. “It should not be long now Prisoner Five Nine Two. The Master should be en route now.”

“I've told you my father knows nothing!”

“That is not my concern. I was only to acquire you. The Master has been in deep space for some time and expected your capture by his return -” the droid spun around from the young woman in the cell hearing or sensing her presence firing a wrist mounted laser at her identifying her as an intruder in an instant unlike an organic foe.

The mercenary was cut off from all communication once she dropped into the ship. Proxy was radio silent and Niko was now on her own, however her objective was clear, head to the bridge, secure the controls and allow Proxy to remote control the ship and get it out of the hanger and into space, from there secure the package and eliminate any hostiles still on the ship afther take off. A simple mission, one with little risk now as Niko did simply that as she carefully made her way to the bridge as she sneaked along the corridors hastily. Niko dressed in part for her mission, clad in her light armored jet black over coat with its high collar that minorly concealed her face, as well as a similarly colored mask that covered her delicate features yet still left her vision unimpeded for the most part.

This mission Niko carried her infiltration load out with minimum weaponry and armor, mostly consisting of utility devices such as hacking uplink, and numerous tools for breaking locks located on her cybernetic enhanced arms that could easily be mistaken for armor at just a glace as well as the devices attached to her legs sporting noise canceling servos. Easily Niko's cybernetic legs could be mistaken for armor if not for the fact that her legs ended in what looked more like clawed feet then more traditional human feet. Devices for climbing, running, and even landing large falls that could easily fold and shift back into the limb enhancements for ease of moment.

Once at the control center of the ship Niko secured the cockpit, scanning the room with her info-red vision, shifting her eyes for focus as she quickly aimed her arm at the ships controls only to hear a soft. -plunk- as a small spherical device shot off the gauntlet like like cybernetics and landed on the ships controls. "Link open." Niko said softly before in the same motion turned and continued to move exiting the control room and making her way to the brig where the package would be located according to the latest data Proxy linked as Niko proceeded with caution all the while.

Surprised by the lack of a organic crew, or any crew at all as she proceeded through the well lit vessel carefully skulking along until she reached the brig where she held position. Nikos sensors over hearing the sound of a organic voice, fallowed by a more artificially one as Niko rounded the corner and lifting a cybernetic arm that was already in the motion of cycling a load out for her light hold out blaster, however be for Niko could get in range and aim her weapon in any effect her own internal sesnors lite up warning her of the coming danger.

-WARNING- The red light in Nikos own head igniting as her own biotic implants reacted accordingly to the threat and wire jacked her reflexes as she moved faster then a typical human and easily side stepped out of the way dodging the sudden blaster fire that zipped passed the mercenary in that instant, it was in this same moment that the ship would suddenly jolt to life and push for take off as Proxy remote activated the vessel to take off. The ship suddenly rocking one way then the other knocking those inside off balance most likely, Niko meanwhile was prepared for such movements as she rode the shock and movement with a sudden rush, charging directly at the droid closing the distance fast. "Target locked, close distance!"

Niko rushed in quickly, effectively, her amber orange eyes flashing yellow, then red, as she glared at the automaton, thrusting out her off hand as Niko aimed to strike the droid with the puncturing force of her cybernetic clawed hand and run her arm through its chassis and take it out quickly and effectively.

The rocking of the ship through off the aim of Ratchet who fired again after she dodged the initial attack. As she closed Ratchet flicked it's left arm producing a blade just above the wrist. The blade which it used to deflect the incoming claw.

It's feet magnetized to the deck to remain upright though the rocking of the ship through off it's momentum somewhat. For the moment it had been hard pressed to defend itself, it's movements slow since each step required a bit more effort as servos strained to brake that magnetic lock briefly.

Then it was getting use to the jostling of the ship but had been unable to go on the offense, at least not until it's chassis opened allowing a concealed blaster to fire at her.

“Your pitiful rescue attempt ends here.” Ratchet's mechanical voice intoned as it fired at her with both the wrist weapon and the one in it's torso if she gave it the space to use both. That blade used whenever she tried to get in close.

There had been some cover in the room, blasted apart by Ratchet without fail. It was clear that the weapons had been set to kill. It was next to impossible to get close to Ratchet. However, while powerful the weapon in the chassis quickly depleted it's energy cell and the wrist mounted one had a slower rate of fire allowing her to close again.

Fortunately there had been no one near but all the jostling of the ship meant that anyone in the cargo hold had either fallen out of the vessel or would be making their way to the bridge or even here.

Time seemed to be on Ratchet's side. In close quarters he had been easier to deal with. Still it was very skilled and harder to take out. Until it got the timing right it was on the defensive. When it went on the attack beating her back it had been only a fatal error on it's part that brought that blade into the wall of the ship getting it stuck, it would have gotten the weapon free but had been vulnerable for two or three seconds allowing her to rip into the thing disabling it before anyone made it here if they were coming at all.

As a cyborg Niko's techologicly augmented brain had much faster processing speed then this bucket of bolts as Rachet would find the outlaw dodging and weaving his attacks with ease, driving him back into a cornor as she whiped and lashed at the combat droid with her razor sharp talon cybernetics, however unlike Rachet, Niko was unable to move in the same way as he could as she quickly found him using his fully robotic body to take the advantage from her as Niko found her self being forced to drop back and avoid blaster fire as a hail of energy bullets came rapid firing from his wrist mounted guns.

Nikos own defensive measures kicked in as her wire jacked tendons forced her to dodge and evade, Rachet finding her movment fast and nimble as she side stepped attacks befor she found the opening she was waiting for.

The momment Rachet ran dry on ammo Niko rushing in with a sudden burst of speed, closing the gap yet agin in a mere blink of an eye as her two clawed cybernectic arms lashed out as Rachet struggled to defend, getting his arm caught on the wall as Niko first swiped high, striking what acted as the machines head, mangling the robotic dome and shattering its lensed eyes befor Niko layed a seciond attack into the machines chest, gashed open its armor and internal striking its core with her energy charged claws, shocking the system as Niko allowed the machine to crumble. Niko come out un harmed however, her cybernetic arms were scorched and damaged, her light armor burned in places, as well niks and cuts on her sholder and thighs, while Nikos right clawd hand was minorly mangled due to the crushing impact, however her cybernetic limb was still functional.

"Package secure. Niko said into her comm befor she glared at the women in the cage. "Are you the daughter?" Niko askedas she raised her right clawed hand, opening and closing her damaged armored cybernetic limb, ensure it was still functional.

“Uh … y-yes ...” The young woman answered. She was dazed at watching what was going on before her. The question confused her, who's daughter? Well, she was someone's daughter. Besides her father was a very influential man so it was easy to conclude that he was behind all this.

Niko would find that her hand could be used but did not have much time to get back to the cockpit when the vessel was clipped by weapons fire. By the time she had gotten there the com had been blaring for a response.

The delay probably irritated whoever was in that cruiser that just fired upon her. Looking at the readings it was clear that the other vessel just intentionally missed but came close enough to her ship to rock it.

According to readings the cruiser had weapons and shields charged and just launched a single fighter probably to investigate the ship seeing how contacting her was not getting a response. She could probably outrun the cruiser, they were not built for speed, though the fighter was.

If things got heated here she had the option of trying to take out the fighter but this close to the cruiser she would have to deal with it as well. She had the option of running hoping the fighter gave chase and when she had it a sufficient distance from the cruiser she could attempt to take it out in one on one combat provided that the cruiser did not launch any other fighters.

On the plus side they might not vaporize her yet considering the package being on board. She could try contacting her allies too or answer the incoming transmission. Even contacting the planet for assistance but in that case who would the planet side with? In fact what was the deal with that ship?

Best guess it was suppose to meet up with Ratchet and was just coming into the planet when the vessel blasted off. That made the most sense since the ship was probably heading to the same hanger bay when the ship launched.

Niko merely waited for the girl to reply befor nodding her head. "Package is secure... stay put... Ill come get you once we are safe." Niko said as she turned around, leaving the girl in the cell for now as she quickly made a dash back to the cock pit where the dash board was lighting up with different warnings and lights before the ship jerked to one side then the other suddenly as out side the window enemy fire zipped by only to explode yards away from the ship as the cruiser made its warning shots.

Niko in her haste simply looked around the cockpit, she was to get the package to saftly and she knew that theses mercs would not fire, unless they did anyway which would for sure get them killed later as Niko simply switched off the comm and ignored their hailing as she took a seat be for checking if her internal comms where back up. "Proxy... you there?"

There was a moment of silence but there was soon a reply. "Yes Niko... I'm here.. you have company on your back, I'll try to shake them, however with out weapons on that freighter its going to be hard, your only hope is to let me out run them. I contacted planet authority however I would not get my hopes up, they should handle them for us so we can make our own get away Proxy said on her end as she remote controlled the ship for her side. "All I can do is get you into orbit and make a emergency jump.... however once out of the sector you will need to take control of the ship... do you understand?" Proxy would state clearly befor Niko replied. "You know I hate flying large ships, but fine, just do what you need to do, I cant fight them off if they get aboard, my arm is busted..." Niko stated giving her partner the clear as Proxy began to execute her plan.

It was reckless however Proxy ignited the engines, closed the bulk heads and opened the cargo holds, ensuring the package was safe, however all cargo in the cargo hold would be ripped from the ship the moment the speed was punched to the max, creating a screen of junk that the cruiser on their ass would have to deal with be for Proxy aimed the ship to a sudden 90 degree angle. Niko hearing the ship screech and the metal grown as the ship was being pushed to its limits as it reached escape velocity... once out in space Proxy would ignite the deep space drives and jump.... hopefully escaping this bad situation if all went according to plan.

The cruiser was slower and had to react to the screen of junk prior to her dash for escape. That fighter was quick and maneuverable weaving around that junk as it closed. Before it managed to close the distance to get a weapons lock she jumped into hyperspace. The stars becoming a blur of streaks.

Her trip in hyperspace allowed her to check out the specks of the ship, even interact with the package. When she dropped back into real space she barely had time to check her sensor readings before that fighter dropped out less than a minute later.

Shields and weapons still powered up it gained on her getting into long range by the time she was able to make her jump out of there. A lucky guess as far as determining her jump vectors and where she was likely to pop out or -

Again the fighter popped out nearby, this time a well placed shot struck her hyperdrive. Whoever the pilot was they were good and approaching with haste. However, all had not been lost yet. The fourth planet in the system was habitable and long range sensors could determine that there were satellites in orbit so it was at least space aged.

Shots hit the ship pulling her efforts from checking any databanks for more information on the world. The blasts were not at full power, it was obvious the fighter was sapping her shield strength. As the vessel grew closer those blasts were more effective hitting specific areas with pinpoint precision. Her life support and communications had not yet been targeted, getting a message to that planet would take time, a few minutes at least, either the fighter had attempted to hail her but her comm was off and jamming her would have made it impossible to contact her.

Niko cringed in her seat as the ship hit light speed, her teeth clenching as she was forced back into the cushions of her seat just before the initial jump sent here far away from the ship tailing them into orbit as the cockpit dome erupted into streaks of star lines signaling their successful escape. Niko would let out a sigh of relief as the pressure was off her cybernetically enhanced body allowing her to sit up out of the pilots set and check instruments. Out of habit she checked her contact, Proxy didn't respond yet she knew that already, she was out of range afther getting the packaged, now she just needed to deliver the girl she had stowed away safely in the cell once the ship dropped out of hyperspace at its preset coordinates.

The cargo ship wasn't in hyperspace space for long as once the ship dropped into real space Niko went about checking instruments, checking location, radar, and trackers, everything seemed fine as she would steer the vessel to the next hyper jump point Proxy designated before suddenly the consol flashed red and a enemy ship was on radar. "WHAT!" Niko exclaimed as she quickly moved to take controls only to suddenly lurch forward in her seat as she felt the entire ship rock and jolt as what fast interceptor behind her was already on her ass. "F-fuck!" Niko shouted with irritation as buckled, she hated piloting large ships, and hated space ship combat even more as she simply tried to punch the engines at full power and get to the planet..... however it was far out or range..... Niko cursed herself as she realized one of her only choices were to either stall for time.... or surrender, either way she wasn't going to be the first to make that call as she punched engines to max, directing the ship to streak at full speed twords the planet.

Instruments would tell her that a sleek fighter had been hot on her trail. It's military grade equipment made it superior in just about every way to her ship save for it's range. It's speed was far greater but if it had been capable of jumping into hyperspace it was unlikely that it could go farther than a system, in essence one emergency jump to get to a safe planet. The fighters were launched from capital ships and were transported between systems on them deployed for a star battle.

But this fighter had not launched from a capital ship. Her drives had been targeted limiting her choices as it got closer with each passing second. Still the com remained silent as it closed. In fact it opened up again rocking the vessel as shields absorbed the brunt of the attack.

But these attacks were precise targeting her engines. At the same time the weapons had been dialed down as to keep from overwhelming her vessel. Either her pursuer wanted to recover the girl she had or just liked playing with her. He was at short range now, her shields had failed from that precise shooting. In any event he was good with his weapons, even bled away most of his speed as to not overshoot her if she suddenly cut throttle. He got no closer than he now was slowing when necessary to keep that short distance between the vessels.

She might make it to the planet after all but it would take great flying if he wasn't incline in vaporizing her. Her com board lit up as the pilot now made contact with her.

LAND AT THE COORDINATES PROVIDED.

The voice was computerized indicating that the pilot synthesized their voice or that the pilot was an AI or droid.

Niko cursed herself as she piloted the cargo ship closer to the planet ahead, feeling the entire vessel rock and jolt as she continued to take mazer fire from the closely tailing ship closing in behinder quickly. Hyber drive was already down, the ship was being pelted in the rear, draining her shields, striking her engines and schorcing armored plating off the hull with each warning shot the interceptor tracking her made on the defenseless vessel. Niko was weighing her options, considering if she should bail on the objective, make it to an escape pod. No that was a bad idea, if she did that then the enemy spacecraft would just target the escape pod, she could try and flee? No... she was already doing that and it wasn't working. Niko was racking her brain at the possibilities she had available to her and none of them were optimal as she simply cursed her situation up until the moment the control console lit up with a brilliant array of lights, signaling she was being hailed by the craft that was threatening to blow her engines....

Niko begrudgingly answered the call as she cybernetic hand reached out and tapped the command board's com switch, signaling the ship she was reading them loud and clear. Niko herself didn't say a word as the computerized voice spoke through the com, her eyes going wide at the thought that a droid or AI was responsible for tracking her thought hyper space.... it made since given the packages security... she wasn't surprised, no she was more relieved now as she simply signed quietly and relaxed in her seat... "Thank goodness.... it's only a machine..." Niko said quietly, hardly audible enough for the coms audio sensors to register as she simply adjusted her self in her seat and aloud the piloting A.I on the other end of the call make its demands and send over the coordinates for where it expected her to land.

"Roger... All clear, signal received.... I am standing down and lowering shields...... moving to coordinates as instructed...." Niko said with a calmness in her voice as she flipped switches on the command board, powered down defensive shields and carefully steered the ship to where she was instructed to go. Niko meanwhile testing her damaged cybernetic limbs as she prepared for what was to come. Both arms were scorched from blaster fire, her right hand slightly mangled from her previous attack on a security drone.... yet her arms and hands were still functional. The fingers on the right hand however were a bit less responsive due to the damage as she flexed and stretched her metallic digits, moving one finger at a time to ensure they all worked properly.

Niko before landing would begin to prepare, multi tasking as she piloted the cargo craft down to the planet as she reached up to the pocket of her coat and reached inside to retrieve a cylindrical device from a holster inside her jacked. The device was short, had a circular metalic tip, many would be able to identify it as a integrated stun gun ment for security droids as Niko would rotate the sun gun expertly in her palm before a soft whining of mechanical gears and motors flared as the device would slowly begin to graft itself into the palm of her left hand, twisting and locking into sockets on her arm as Niko would wait patiently for a clear single to read the device synced properly in her own H.U.D before she would test the new device she installed into her arm by opening and closing her left hand and opening her palm to let out a loud -ZAP- of electrical shock.

The coordinates set her down on a volcanic island. Oxygen levels were higher then normal here with gravity being close to standard. The island was rocky, sensors would tell her that two of the three volcanoes were dormant with the third having had recently erupted.

The ground here was rocky and there were trees bare of any leaves that had jutted out from the landscape here and there. There were no signs that there was anything alive out there outside of the large insects that she saw on occasion fluttering about.

A short while later the fighter landed behind her. Her instruments determined that it had a weapons lock though at this close of a range an explosion would be damaging. However, the fighter still had intact shields. Seconds turned to minutes before anything happened.

Again she was contacted.

OPEN YOUR SHIP.

Still nothing once the command was given. Uncertainty blossomed or perhaps it was confused, if it were a machine it must have been debating as to what to do. The fighter couldn't take a passenger so either it was waiting for someone else or planning on taking her ship.

After a few more minutes her ship rocked hit by an ion cannon which cut power. It would take several minutes for systems to come back online though she probably didn't have that long. The fighter opened and the sole occupant leaped down to the ground, weapons powered up on it's massive frame.

The thing had to be seven feet tall with vicious looking clamps instead of hands. A war machine, certainly no cheaply made drone. From the rear of the ship it approached with haste, rockets projecting it a foot or so off the ground as it came forth scanning the open vessel before it.

In any case it had disabled her ship to make it impossible to simply power up and flee. However, instead of having her exit the vessel it boarded her own for whatever reason. Unclear as to what prompted it's thinking it's electronic voice called out in a booming fashion as it advanced toward the cockpit.

COME OUT OF THE COCKPIT HANDS UP.

Niko followed her instructions, doing as the computerized voice on the other end asked of her as she took the ship into the the closest planet atmosphere where she quickly discovered where this machine following her was asking her to set down. To her surprise it was a newly forming volcanic island somewhere on the planet far away from any major settlements or cities, truly a place far out and secluded where nobody would bother them. "How obvious..." Niko said to herself, realizing what was going on as she tested her left hand before returning it to the console where she continued to manipulate the command board as she steered the ship through thick atmosphere and eventually down to the here she was told to land.

Niko landed the cargo ship down on the edge of a coast on what her sensors said was even enough terrain, settling it down as gently as she could, however she was no expert in cargo crafts so the landing was a bit bumpy. Once Niko managed that she waited for her next set of instructions, which was to open the ship. Niko compiled but as soon as she did she got out of the pilots seat and instantly moved out of the cockpit where and began to move down the corridors to the holding cell to check her package. Niko peaking through a window on the door before she would feel the ship suddenly rock violently followed by a sharp painful pinch on her body as she dropped to her knee and wienced as the lights on board the ship flickered before everything on board went dark, only to moments later be illuminated by red chemical emergency lights.

Niko reached up with her clawed hand to gently cup her head, her cybernetics felt heavy suddenly and her eyes were unfocused, the H.U.D displays she usually noted on the corners of her vision were flickering, and her heart was now racing inside of her chest. "I-Ion... charges... Fuck.... their ship opened fire.... that bastard...." Niko said with a hint of annoyance as she was brought to her knees for the moment as her bodies cybernetic implants were all running diagnostics and attempting to reboot, wasting her time as Niko tried to manually lift herself to her feet but without the motor assist her body and limbs were to heavy as she was forced to wait.

Niko's nerves crept in as she heard the heavy metal slam echo somewhere with in the ship, she knew that sounds, the droid pursuer just boarded and was on its way to the cockpit. Niko already know why as she simply cursed herself, sensing the machine growing closer and closer down the corridor leading to the cockpit until she noticed the hulking movement of something down the hall forcing Niko to in a hurry suddenly pull herself around a corner and hide herself, using the strength of her one body moved. If anyone saw her the slight would look almost pathetic given the fast nimbleness she showed when she hijacked the ship before as she dragged herself up onto wobbly legs using limbs and hands that hardly responded as she staggered on her cybernetic legs that now felt like stilts before she managed to wobble over to a corner and collapsed onto her butt as she hurriedly struggled to pull herself behind cover and huddle there as the boarding droid would pass her location on its way to the cockpit to apprehend the thief....

Niko would let out a sigh as the machine passed where she was hiding as she nervously peaked around the corner to see the automatons back to her before she would blink her her eyes to have the H.U.D of her cybernetic eyes to show her the percentage at which her prosthetics were rebooting. "Come on..... 90.....95......99......yes! 100%...." Niko whispered to herself before her eyes would do a light flash of colors, red, yellow, then green, before returning to the normal azur as Niko would then lift her arms this time with far less effort before she would wiggle her fingers then do the same to her legs and toes as she would quickly return to her feet and turn to the edge of the corner where she was hidden to peak once again at the machine that was advancing towards the cockpit, advancing to where it thought she was as Niko would hear it speak a simple demand, but little did it know the thief it was ready to subdue was not where it thought she was....

"I'm not in the cockpit.... Stupid tin can..." Niko said as she would suddenly rush in from behind it, catching the machine off guard as she would quickly swipe her left hand at the back of what passed for its neck and quickly grasp the metal spin before she would close her mighty cybernetic claws around the metal plates, digging her fingers into machines neck before she would suddenly discharge a sudden powerful current of electrical energy directly into its the machines primary bundle of circuits with enough energy to short out its main processors and possibly disable it so she could collect the package, transfer to the machines ship and then get the hell out of here.

She went unnoticed by the machine, it's focus on the cockpit. It had set down on the decking powerful legs striding over metallic plates, it's head close to the ceiling so it really didn't have much clearance to use the rockets nor could it make tight turns in the confines of the ship.

As it was the machine was larger than she had initially believed as she moved up on it. Seven and a half feet tall, it paused there at the door and when no one came out a chest plate slid open allowing a cable to escape, the end of which had a manipulator that unsealed the door by accessing a panel near the door where someone could simply open it with a palm unless it had been locked from within.

It had no organic components so it would take a few moments to override the door which it had been doing under the assumption that it was locked since the pilot had not complied and exited. It's head jerked up, sensors detected her but it was too late. It managed to half twist it's body and she had to leap up to reach it's shoulder where she applied to zapping ion charge to it.

Like a bull it still fought to buck her off of it's back even reaching back with a clamp. The first charge had slowed it. It had to be shielded from ion attacks though it did not appear to be as one of the state of the art expensive war machine. A second shock brought it to a knee, the cable went inert falling to the ground and that clamp sagged. Still it moved but such movements had been feeble.

After a third shock it stopped and she heard it powering down, that voice fading as it spoke.

DESIGNATION TIN MAN …

Then it shut down, still on a knee. She scrambled for the package, even got to the fighter where she encountered a problem. It was designed for one. Though the seat was large to house the machine she saw that there were no controls. There were several readouts for this system and that but no switches, buttons or controls other than a socket that something plugged into. The droid probably plugged into it.

In any case the droid wasn't taking a passenger along. It was unlikely that she could either, it would be cramped at best. Her package seemed to conclude this going wide eyed. Not realizing what was going on but knowing it was not good if they fled the ship. She may have concluded that she was going to be left behind if Niko made a break for it.

As it was the droid was still out of it but in her ship compounding the matter further.