S3, 09 The Right Side of Wrong (GC) (July 12, 2016)

Corresponding text underneath each picture.

**11th July 2096: Present Day**

I was sat on one of the stools at my dining table, deep in concentration as I read up on theories of electricity and other technical stuff. Since Judas had asked me to look into Qoter’s power cuts, I thought I’d better be a little more knowledgeable about the subject! I already knew a bit, but only from what I’d taught myself by practicing and repeatedly getting things wrong!

I mean, I had built Tracks after all!

I pulled a face of bafflement as I examined a technical diagram and shook my head in wonderment at the fact *anybody* could follow it!

Across the room, my comlink began to beep from where it sat on the arm of the sofa.
Tracks was sat watching TV and scooped it up and tossed it across the room to me.

Tank: “Ta.” I thanked as I caught it. Thumbing it on, Mr. Grey appeared.

Mr. Grey: “Good morning, Chain.”

Tank: “Good morning, Mr. Grey. To what do I owe this pleasure?”

Mr. Grey: “The Brain has a task for you.”

Tank: “Of course he does. Go on?”

Mr. Grey: “One of The Brain’s informants has gone quiet and he would like you to check up on him.”

Tank: “Um, okay, sure.” I agreed, just pleased that he wasn’t asking me to kill anybody again.

Mr. Grey: “His name is Rex Harrison. I’ll send his home address over to your datapad; you can start there.”

Tank: “Okay. Any more details?”

Mr. Grey: “Mr. Harrison was leaking information to the Brain from a man named ‘The Boss’.”

Tank: “Seriously? The Brain and The Boss?”

Mr. Grey: “Comical as it may seem, The Boss is very powerful. He’s almost like a Mafia boss, with great influence over a lot of people.”

Tank: “So… basically like the Brain?” I pointed out.

Mr. Grey: “In a way.” He conceded. “The Brain and the Boss have been rivals for as long as I know about and this informant, Mr. Harrison, worked for the Boss.”

Tank: “But was leaking intel’ to the Brain, okay, I get it. Sounds like he might have been found out.”

Mr. Grey: “That is what is concerning the Brain. Check back with me once you’ve searched his home.”

Tank: “Will do. Tank out.”

**Later That Day…**

The lock mechanism clicked as I successfully hacked into the control panel and the door retreated back, sliding away into the wall. I stood there, frozen in place for a few seconds to see if there was any movement inside, but nothing happened.

Drawing my pistols, I slowly made my way into the dark apartment. Scrunching my nose up at the horrible smell, I poked my head around a side door checking the room beyond. No sign of Mr. Harrison yet. Tracks had checked the room beyond another side door, opposite the one I’d just looked through, but returned silently shaking his head.

Together we progressed further into the dirty dwelling. Judging from the state of it, nothing had been touched for quite some time and nothing had probably ever been cleaned even when things *had* been used.

We made our way into the main living area of the apartment and looked around, but there was still no sign of Harrison.

I frowned, puzzled and relaxed slightly.

Tank: “Doesn’t look like he’s here.” I commented aloud to Tracks, but just as I spoke, Tracks grunted out an “Uh-oh…”

He was stood in the adjoining kitchen area of the open plan room and he nodded to the floor by his feet, hidden behind a kitchen cupboard / worktop unit. I made my way towards him, rather apprehensively, already guessing what I was going to see.

I moved around the counter and had my suspicions confirmed. There, in a puddle of dried up blood on the floor, laying on its front was a body – presumably that of Rex Harrison.

Tracks rolled the body over with his foot so that it was on its back and I recognised him from a photo Mr. Grey had sent to me as being the right man.

Tank: “Well, that answers that one.” I commented dryly and pulled out my com’. I called for Mr. Grey and a minute or so later, he picked up.

Tank: “Hey, I found Harrison.”

Mr. Grey: “Alive or dead?”

Tank: “Unfortunately the latter.”

Mr. Grey: “Hmm… it is as we suspected then. That is most unfortunate. The Brain will be most displeased.”

Tank: “Sorry I couldn’t bring better news.”

Mr. Grey: “Are there any clues as to why he might have been killed?”

Tank: “Nothing that I’ve seen. Let’s see…” I commentated as I knelt on the tiled floor beside the corpse. I leaned in and examined the body, searching for the wound that had killed him. “It seems that he was stabbed. Right through the heart, actually. There’s an exit wound too, so it must have been a pretty long blade. Nothing to indicate a reason though.”

Mr. Grey: “Mmm… a shame. We shall simply have to assume that he was found out then. I shall pass this on to The Brain. Good work, Chain.”

And with that he ended the transmission.
Wow! He’d almost said ‘thank you’!

I stood up, slipped my comlink back into my belt and sighed.

Tank: “Come on, buddy. Let’s get out’a this place.”

Tracks grunted an agreement and together we headed back to the main door.

Just as we got there, I pulled my comlink back out again, ready to send an anonymous tip to the police that they’d find a dead body here, however, as I had it in my hand, it began to beep.

Tank: “Uh… again?” I muttered, expecting it to be Mr. Grey, however, when I turned it on, Judas appeared, looking, well, terrified!

Judas: “Tank!”

Tank: “Hey, what’s up?”

Judas: “We need help!” he shouted urgently.

Tank: “What’s going on?”

Judas: “The senate is under attack!”

Tank: “What?!” I asked, shocked.

Judas: “Robots! Damned robots are attacking the building!”

Tank: “What about security?”

Judas: “They’re doing their best, but I don’t think it’s enough! I have no idea how many droids are down there, but I know they’ve made their way inside! It’s only a matter of time before they get up here!”

Tank: “Okay, stay there. I’m on my way!”

Judas: “Hurry!”

A few hours later and Tracks and I were in the Viper, hurtling back towards Regentis. We had just reached the capital city’s edges and were now zooming past all of the other space traffic and towering buildings, heading in the direction of the senate building.

On the way, I’d tried to create a plan of action, but truth be told, all I could think about was Riley and making sure that she was safe!

As we grew near, I could see that something was wrong. There were security ships circling and hovering outside and smoke could be seen pouring from somewhere near the base of the building.

As The Viper was well known and I had full access authorisation from Judas, the security ships didn’t question me as I set us down on our usual landing pad. The second we had touched down, I flung open the canopy and leapt out, pistols drawn. I barrelled through the nearby entrance to the building itself, Tracks hot on my heels, and started through the maze of corridors.

I could hear sporadic gunfire echoing along the halls, but wasn’t sure which direction it was coming from. As we ran, we kept passing deactivated robots in pieces on the floor. I wasn’t that interested in finding out where the battle currently was, I was just here to evacuate Judas and Riley, however, a few minutes later, just as Tracks and I stepped out of an elevator, we stumbled right into a firefight.

Ahead of us, a squad of Imperial guards were facing off against what could only be described as a rabble of robots. There were only a handful of the bots left standing now, most were strewn in parts along the length of the corridor and as I reached the guards, another robot fell.

I took a few shots at an oncoming miss-matching C-130 model and took out it’s legs in a shower of sparks. Just moments later, the guards succeeded in taking down the last of them.

I glanced at Tracks.

Tank: “You don’t have a problem with this, right?” I asked, semi-seriously, but thankfully he just whirred and shook his head.

Tank: “Good.” I muttered and started off jogging along the corridor.

As we passed the remains of the robots, I noticed that not a single one of them was an entire unit – they were all made up of spare parts, kind of like Tracks. That in itself was very odd.

Several minutes later and without any further altercations, I arrived at Judas’s office. The reception desk was empty so I just jogged straight through.

Tank: “Judas?” I called out as I reached his closed office door. “Check the rest of the rooms.” I commanded and Tracks nodded and set off.

Judas: “Tank!” came a relived cry from within and a few seconds later, the door opened up to reveal the Governor, Riley and several other members of staff, including the receptionist.

Judas: “Quick! Come in!” he urged, attempting to pull me inside.

Tank: “No, I can get you out of here.” I explained.

Judas: “What… all of us?” he asked and glanced over his shoulder at the rest of his staff and of course, the answer was no. I could only fit a few people in *The Viper*.

Tank: “No, I’m sorry. But I can take you and Riley…”

Judas: “No.” he interjected. “I won’t leave my staff behind.” He said firmly.

Tank: “But Judas…” I tried to reason but again, he cut me off.

Judas: “No. I will stay here until the all clear is given. You can act as our guard.”

However, it turned out that that wasn’t necessary. Judas’ com’ began beeping and he activated it.

Captain: “All clear, sir. We’ve taken out the last of them. My men are doing a sweep of the building now but we’re 99% sure we’ve got them all.”

Judas: “Oh thank goodness.” He sighed. “Well done, Captain. Inform me once the sweep is complete.”

Captain: “Yessir.” He saluted and ended the link.

Judas: “Okay everybody, it’s over. It’s all over now.” He turned and announced to the gathered personnel.

There were mutterings and exclamations of relief and gratitude and people slowly started to trickle out of the room.
I stood to one side and let them pass. Judas leant against the doorframe and let out a huge sigh of relief as he put his head back.

Judas: “Thank you, Tank!” he acknowledged, turning to look at me. “Once again, you have rushed to my aid!” he joked, but I could see something in his expression which suggested that he wasn’t happy with the situation.

The last of the staff members left the room and Judas smiled sympathetically at them as they thanked him. Now, just Judas, Riley and myself remained and we made our way into the room. Riley dropped with a sigh onto the leather sofa and I plonked myself down on one of the chairs.

Judas flopped into his desk chair and rubbed his face with his hands, letting out a groan.

Judas: “What is going on with the world these days?” he asked exasperated but with a hint of humour. “First we have complete and total power outages and now robot attacks? What the heck is going on?” he shook his head.

Tank: “I have no idea.” I shrugged.

Riley: “Do you think they’re linked?” she asked.

Judas: “Who knows!”

Riley looked to me but again, I just shrugged. I had no clue!

Judas: “Once again, you come gallivanting across the galaxy to rescue me!” he said, looking to me.

Tank: “Don’t worry about it.” I smiled. “Besides, it seemed like your security had it under control! I barely did anything!”

Judas: “Yes… yes… I’m sorry about that. I just…. I should have trusted them to do their duties, but…. The first sign of trouble and I call on you. I’m sorry, Tank.” He apologised.

Tank: “It’s okay! Honestly! I’m just glad you’re safe.” I replied but shone a smile at Riley, silently letting her know I meant her too. She returned the gesture and I knew she was okay.

Judas: “Yes, but it’s not good of me to rely on your services. I mean, what happens if you’re on the other side of the system? You’d never get here in time! I… I’m sorry. I suppose… I suppose I just panicked.”

Tank: “Hey.” I started and looked him in the eye. “It’s fine. Honestly.” I assured with a smile and after hesitating, the governor returned one uncertainly. “Come on. Why don’t you take the afternoon off? Let’s get out of here. Give you a change of scenery.” I suggested.

Riley: “Coffee?” she suggested, reading my mind.

Tank: “Great idea.” I grinned.

Just then, my own miss-matched droid appeared in the doorway, grumbling away, presumably because nobody had told him that I’d found Judas and everything was okay.

Judas cried out in alarm and dropped to the floor behind his desk.

I frowned, confused but then burst out laughing, realising what had happened.

Tank: “Judas! Judas, come out!” I said through my laughs. “This is Tracks!” I explained, realising that Judas had never actually met my droid before and so to have him turn up after everything that had just happened, probably hadn’t been the best timing!
Riley was laughing too and carefully, Judas poked his head out over his desk.

Tank: “Come on out!” I chuckled. “Judas, this is Tracks. Tracks, Judas.” I introduced and Tracks tipped his hat like some old-fashioned cowboy from Earth – where he’d picked that up I had no idea!

Riley: “Come on.” She encouraged. “Coffee!”

A short while later and Riley, Judas and I walked into Riley and my usual little café. I’d told Tracks to take the Viper back home and said that I’d meet him there later.

On the way, Judas had grown used to Tracks and had commented upon how ‘marvellous’ he was. I couldn’t help but smiled when anybody complemented my droid. I was proud of him! I just wished more people had been able to see him when he was freshly assembled and fully working! And speaking for that matter!

Riley and Judas went and sat at the table that Riley and I usually sit at, and I queued up to give our orders.

Once the barrister had taken it, I went and joined the others, sitting on the sofa-bench beside Riley, opposite the Governor.

Tank: “Well!” I began. “What an eventful day!”

Judas: “You can say that again!”

Tank: “Well! What an eventful day!” I repeated with a grin and Riley laughed. Judas smirked and shook his head.

Judas: “Should have expected that.”

Tank: “Yup!”

Riley: “I wonder if there’s ever going to be a time when nobody is trying to kill you?” she pondered, semi-seriously and Judas shrugged.

Judas: “Who knows. I am rather important after all!” he grinned as a waiter arrived with our orders. We all thanked him and took our drinks.

Judas: “Well, here’s to being safe and to having friends you can count on!” he said, raising his mug.

Tank: “Hear hear.”

Riley: “Cheers.”

We all drank to the toast but when we lowered our mugs, Judas looked like he had something he wanted to say.

Tank: “What’s up?”
He looked at me for a few seconds, silently pondering something and then pulled out his datapad. I frowned and exchanged a look with Riley who clearly didn’t know what he was doing either.

Tank: “You okay?” I asked him.

Judas: “Yeah… yeah, I’m fine. Once again, thanks to you.” He replied, looking back up, having sorted whatever it was that he’d been doing.

Tank: “Hey, we’ve been over this. It’s fine!”

Judas: “Oh I know! I know that, but… I want you to have this.” He said, sliding his datapad across the table to me.

Tank: “What, your datapad?”

Judas: “No, dummy.” He said and pointed at the screen. It was showing a rotating image of an engine. I frowned, reading the text and my eyes widened when I realised it was actually one of the newly developed warp drives!

Tank: “Whoa! No! I can’t take that!”

Judas: “Well, I don’t need it! Somebody may as well have it! ROBKAT engineering gave it to me as a gift. One of the first off the line a few months back. But I don’t have a personal ship and I’d already arranged for the Governor’s shuttle to be fitted with one, so that’s just sitting in a crate gathering dust. You may as well take it!” he explained.

Tank: “But they’re so expensive!” I exclaimed.

Judas: “Yeah, but this one was free, so don’t worry about it! Tank…” he continued, seeing my reluctance. “You’ve saved my life on more than one occasion now. I want you to have it. There’s only so many times I can say ‘thank you’.”

I’d loved the idea of warp drives ever since they announced that they were being co-designed by Collective engineers. But they were so expensive, I was never going to be able to afford one! So to be offered one for free was… well, amazing! But it was just such a big gift! I wasn’t sure…

Judas: “Besides, if you take it, it means that even if you *are* at the other side of the system when I call for help, you’ll be able to get to me in half the time!” he joked and I smirked before slowly nodding.

Tank: “Okay. Thank you.” I said sincerely.

Judas: “You are more than welcome, my friend.” He replied warmly.

I had no idea how long we’d been sat there, but we’d all had several drinks each. We’d been having a whale of a time, for once, all three of us forgetting our worries and just enjoying each other’s company. It was nice to properly relax.

That was until Judas’ comlink wouldn’t stop beeping. He’d already ignored it several times but could do so no longer. He pulled it out and placed it on the table in front of him. Riley and I both attempted to persuade him not to answer it but he said he had to and flicked it on.

Judas: “Judas Boan.” He greeted officially as a hologram of somebody flickered into life.

Captain: “Sir! Are you injured? Are you safe? Where are you?” the captain of the guards questioned, clearly worried.

Judas: “Relax, captain. I’m fine. I just took a walk, that’s all. Needed some fresh air after all that, you know.”

Captain: “Are you sure?”

Judas: “Yes, captain, I’m sure. Don’t worry. I’m coming back now. You can debrief me then.”

Captain: “Yessir!” he saluted.

Judas: “Boan out.” He finished and ended the link.

Judas: “Sorry, kids, but I’m going to have to bail.” He told us with a fake sad face. “Don’t worry about coming back today, Riley. Have the rest of the afternoon off.”

Riley: “Thank you, sir.” She smiled gratefully.

Judas: “Right, back to the real world!” he sighed, reaching over and we shook hands.

Tank: “See you soon, mate.”

Judas: “A delight, as always, Miss. Rinse.” He bowed his head at Riley, who just smirked in return.

Riley: “Go.” She smiled and nodded to the door. “Your planet awaits.”

Judas: “Indeed it does. Indeed is does.”

And with that, the Governor left the coffee shop.

Riley and I watched him go and as soon as we’d seen him vanish around a corner, we were all over each other. Well, as much as being in a public place allowed.

We shared a good, long kiss. I didn’t think I had any worries left after all the laughing we’d done over the past couple of hours, but my spirits rose even higher at the touch of Riley’s lips.

Our lips broke apart, but we kept hold of each other, both grinning.

Tank: “I’ve missed that.”

Riley: “Mmm, me too.” She agreed and we kissed again.

Tank: “We haven’t had a coffee date for far too long!”

Riley: “I know, right!”

Tank: “I blame your dad.” I joked, seems how she’d been spending a lot of time with him recently. However, that was clearly the wrong thing to say as she looked like I’d struck a nerve. “So when do I get to meet him?” I joked anyway.

Riley pulled away and shook her head.

Riley: “I don’t know… I’m not sure…”

Tank: “What? Not sure I’d like him? I’m sure I will!” I smirked, teasing, but Riley’s face remained serious.

Riley: “… that he’d like you.” She finished.

Tank: “Oh…”

Riley: “I’m not sure it would be such a good idea.”

Tank: “Eh… I’m sure it would be fine! But if you don’t want to, that’s also fine!” I assured quickly.

Riley: “No, no! If you really want to, I suppose I could ask…”

Tank: “Well, I was only joking but…”

Riley: “No, it’s fine. I’ll ask if he wants to meet you.”

Tank: “Well… okay then.” I replied uncertainly.

Tank: “Anyway… now you have the afternoon off, what do you think we could do with it?” I smiled, trying to get us back onto a cheerier subject.

Riley: “I don’t know! I suppose you could help me do my laundry?”

Tank: “Oh… Really?” I asked, not overly thrilled by that idea.

Riley: “Yeah, I could do with a hand changing the bed sheets.” She continued with a smirk and I finally cottoned on!

Tank: “Sounds good to me!” I grinned.

**Elsewhere…**

The door swung wide open and bounced back off the wall with a clang that echoed around the mostly empty warehouse.

Darkblade entered the room with a stolen computer in his arms. He made his way over to where he’d set up the rest of the equipment he’d been stealing and dropped the new acquisition onto the desk. He flicked on a nearby switch and all of the previously set-up equipment hummed into life, the light from the screens providing the majority of the light in the area. A little filtered in through the dirty, grimy windows set in the roof, high above, but down here in the slums of the city, with the skyscrapers towering miles overheard, little light made its way down here.

Blanketed in shadows, Darkblade moved back to his new computer and began checking over the equipment. He had always been used to working in darkness, so the lack of light didn’t faze him in the slightest.

Muttering to himself, he meticulously checked over all of the cables and tech before plugging it in and wiring it up to the rest of his set up. With every movement, his shadow flapped across the floor and nearby walls like a giant bat.

He’d been busy recently, ‘acquiring’ all of this tech and setting it all up. Not only were there computers here, but also databanks and decryption modules and all sorts of other high-tech, expensive equipment.

Groaning, he yanked off his helmet and set it to one side on the desk. He plugged in a power cable and instantly the screen on his new monitor whirred into life and lit him up. This was the last piece of the set up that he needed.

Now he could set to work properly.

Now he could begin hunting Rockwell for good…

**BONUS PICTURES**

An image of the set for the kitchen.

Another photo. I was really pleased with the way the kitchen turned out!

Another image of the kitchen set.

The set for the entrance to Darkblade's base.

As my series is going to be jumping around though time, I will include a date on each episode and add it to the timeline at the end of each episode so that you can follow it.

TIMELINE