Corporal Gregory Sands had been in the Dornean system for four days now as he waited for the modifications to the Speedy Gonzalez to be completed. While the Dornean navy couldn't spare much the General had authorized for some work to be made to the port Cargo bay: A retractable hanger door and ray shielding to accommodate the three Droid tri fighters they were selling to him. And a small auxiliary cargo lift so if needed I could recover or launch the fighters without opening a massive hole in the Speed's armor. Also joining his forces were a pair of Droidicas and another pair of Super battle droids.
The hanger door and the droids were a token of appreciation for his part in the battle the Tri's had to be paid for but at a significant discount of four thousand credits which was a steal considering the broken horn had five of them going for 10K each. The discount would continue as long as I remained friendly and close-lipped on Dornean affairs outside the system. Gregory readily agreed seeing the benefits to keeping his mouth shut.
The rest of the time had been spent exploring everywhere he was allowed and even partaking in wargames with Dornean troops in the five head to head battles his team had won the first four before being approached and offered a deal in exchange for the combat programing he had installed into his droids they would give me a pair of dwarf Spider Droids to which I readily agreed the fifth round with the newly reprogramed Dornean droids wasn't so easy before my last B2 droid hit their last pair of B1s with ultra-low level wrist blaster shots.
The last day of modifications and painting had arrived. All forty-seven combat droids had also been painted the same black and red. The three Tri fighters had been repainted the same solid black with red highlights as the Speedy it was time to depart. My droids loaded, fighters docked and ready General A'baht and Greg met again at the base of the ramp.
Grasping my forearm in what reminded me of an ancient Roman and Greek forearm handshake.
"So, what's your plan moving forward where are you going now?" the General asked.
Smirking "ive been thinking on it as I whipped your troops in the war games." we both laughed before I continued "I think I'll be heading back to Lothal for now do some work here and there make some money or get paid in droids for now if you ever need me call."
Almost as soon as they left the hanger the dreadnought that was hanging by the door powered up now fully repaired and detached to join the rest of the ships on patrol ohhhhhhhhhh Greg thinks looking over the thick armor and its bristling cannons and battery's I want one of those as the hyperspace levers were pushed forward propelling them back to Lothal.
The hour passed quickly for Greg who continued learning the controls and other ship systems. Even safely landing on the planet surface with a small sparky bump. As the new droids went through the simulated combat testing that made Greg feel better allowing the droids to practice their new tactics now supported by the Droidicas and dwarfs, he busied himself looking through the historical database of the local area before an ad about a charity dealing with the disasters and refugees from Anaxes.
That sounds familiar Greg thinks and he looks at the system map before it hits him Fort Anaxes.The base was abandoned by the empire a year after the war was over and from what he remembers there was a lot of stuff just left behind before a grin spread over him.
The trip took over two hours Greg charting and piloting the entire trip. Dropping out of hyperspace felt a little rougher here than it did at Lothal and Dornea and it was immediately apparent why the planet was gone obliterated forming a ring of asteroids and debris a good chunk of them caught in the huge asteroid that had been partially hollowed and turned into a republic staging ground during the clone wars.
The first thing that caught Greg's eye was the massive planetary shield generator and a row of closed hangers down the length of the runway. As the Speedy moved closer he noticed something was sitting in front of the partially open hanger door was a small shuttle with two people walking back towards a stack of crates. About the same time I noticed them they noticed me.
They both took off running taking cover behind the crates and then Greg realized when he was and who he was looking at. Landing off to the side of the Phantom Greg walked down followed by five of my Supers the other two had the vast majority of their combat programs removed and navigational and piloting code installed them would be a primary flight crew.
As he walked down around the Phantom removing his helmet he saw Hera and Sabine aiming their pistols at him. Holding his hands up Greg laughed "well funny running into you here long way from Lothal isn't it?"
The look of wary and hostility faded followed by confusion and then recollection in Sabine's eyes first "Greg?! Is that you?" at my grin and nod she holstered her two pistols followed a moment later by Hera. Tilting her head to look at the Speedy and the droids, "Well looks like you're doing better. What are you doing here?"
Without looking back at the droids and ship I replied "Yeah I am and just here to do some salvage work maybe sell some stuff to the Dornean's or the Broken horn. You ladies look to be doing a little worse though."
They looked at each other "the Dornean's? How did you manage that? And what do you mean worse?"
Greg bounced a moment enjoying the light gravity as he answered telling them a shortened version of the Dornea battle. Keeping things vague to keep from breaking my promise to A'baht ending with saving the son of the general in charge of the Dornean defense navy and being granted trading rights "And as to why you're looking worse…" I pointed to the spilt fuel puddle expanding from under the Phantom.
Hera and Sabine both looked at where I was pointing and cursed as Hera ran inside a moment later we heard the engines power up and the shuttle begin to lift off only for the engine to sputter and drop like a rock. She came out saying "they had landed with almost a full tank."
Looking around and noticing the heavy durasteel crates next to the runway into my wrist comm I said "Able, Bravo, and Charlie squads deploy and move the durasteel crates next to the little shuttle here. All squad leaders move to lift the shuttle onto the crates for repairs." from the comlink and the supers their voice box's rang out "Roger"
Marching down the ramp came over a dozen B1s of the indicated squads along with the pair of remaining Supers from the cockpit. As Hera and Sabine watched shocked the B1s picked up two crates and moved them to the Phantom and then the seven Supers lifting the Phantom high enough for the other droids to push the crates underneath. Both women were surprised to see there was more than enough room for repairs to be made.
"If you need any help with repairs I have fifty pit model repair droids." I looked at the open bay "Otherwise im heading inside to see what I can find." hitting a button on his wrist twenty more B1s marched down the ramp followed by the pair of Droidicas rolling down from the port cargo area the Dwarfs spiders lift descended to guard the ship.
The small army moved forward to secure the wreaks inside… to be continued
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