Welcome, all, to Saving Malevolence

...because she was far too pretty a ship to die like that.


As the last three vessels in front of him exploded into little more than flashes of light, OOM-247 looked on with what could only be described as satisfaction coursing through his circuits.

"Is that all?" he asked his first officer, the pilot droid and blue painted OOM-253, who gave a nod of affirmation.

"So far as we can tell, that's the last of the pirates. Our shipping lanes should be secure," OOM-253 spoke matter-of-factly, no emotion or excitement in his standard vocoder that would tell of the achievement of three weeks of hard work.

Not long after the start of the war, both the Confederacy and the Republic had enlisted the help of pirates, or rather "privateers", to assist in the war effort. Attacking convoys and raiding shipping lanes, they'd become a bane for both navies. Nearly a month ago, OOM-247 and his crew had been tasked with finding and eliminating a group of Republic privateers that had been giving the Confederacy considerable trouble. Trying to locate the base of operations of a group that thrived on speed and stealth had proved more than a challenge, but they had eventually tracked them down to the Chommell Sector and their doom.

Pirate ships may have been a match for poorly or undefended merchant craft, but they stood no chance against a Munificent-Class Frigate.

"It's a pity," said RD-76, staring out the windows at the void where the enemy once was, "It wasn't much of a fight."

RD-76 was both the chief of security on the ship and the commander of the ship's compliment of infantry. A small quirk in his personality programing had made him to be more aggressive than the average battle droid, to the point where he said that he actually enjoyed fighting. He was also red, which clearly distinguished him as a Geonosian Battle Droid, the only one of his kind on the ship. RD-76 had been present at the battle of Geonosis—specifically, at the execution arena—and claimed to have killed a Jedi in all the chaos. In that regard, he was also the only one of his kind on the ship.

"You should be more glad of that," OOM-253 admonished him, "It could very well be us next time, blasted into space."

B1-765 only gave an undroidlike "humph" in response.

OOM-247 mostly ignored the two of him. His mission completed, he was already processing his next actions and how best to proceed. Undoubtably, they'd need to get to back fleet soon for a true reassignment, but there was still something to do first.

"Scan the wreckage," he ordered his bridge crew, "See if there's anything worth salvaging. If there is, put a tractor beam on it and get it to the main hangar." Considering how the enemy ships had been practically vaporized, he doubted that there would be. Still, standard procedure was to check, and he'd been surprised before.

A minute or so later, he found out that that would not be the case this time.

"Scans show only scraps of metal, primarily durasteel, no more than a few tons from all the crafts," the droid on the scanners informed him, "Should we pull it in?"

OOM-247 weighed that question for a moment. On one hand, a few extra tons of scrap metal could come in handy (assuming it was still of any quality), but on the other hand, they really didn't have much use for it at the time. Of course, they had time to collect it and all they'd be doing once they left was to go back to the fleet.

He was just about to order them to activate the tractor beam when a large red light went off in front of the droid sitting at comms, who immediately read a transmission before turning back to his captain.

"Sir," he told OOM-247, "We're receiving a distress call from a Confederate ship in the Ryndellia System. It says it's taken heavy damage that has knocked out its hyperdrive and that it's being pursued by three Venators. The designation of the ship is the Malevolence."

"Never heard of it," RD-76 commented.

But OOM-247 had heard of it. It wasn't something that had been widely broadcasted to the ordinary rank and file battle droid, but being the captain of a frigate had given him access to a little bit about that ship—and that little bit wasn't much. All he knew was that Malevolence was a new superweapon battleship, captained by General Grievous, that utilized an ion cannon large enough to disable entire fleets. He'd heard that the size was ridiculously larger than anything in the Confederate fleet, but specific schematics were classified. In fact, standing orders were to delete all information about the ship from his systems at the very threat of capture or disablement.

"Is that all?" he asked his comms officer.

"Yes, sir," the other droid told him, "Except for a note that the ship is moving towards friendly territory, so any jump to hyperspace should be planned accordingly. Nobody wants to jump straight into the middle of an enemy fleet."

"Should we start calculating the jump to hyperspace, sir?" OOM-253 asked. The two of them had been serving together long enough that the pilot droid could already tell that something was off, even though OOM-247 hadn't said anything.

"Affirmative," he told his first officer, "The Ryndellia System is not far from our current location. I don't know what we can do against three Jedi cruisers, but we need to see if we can offer any aide to that vessel."

RD-76 cocked his head in a vaguely avian way. "I don't understand why," he spoke, "Is there something important about this 'Malevolence'?"

OOM-247 gave a nod as the ship began its jump, pressing a signal on his captain's chair to summon his chief engineer as well as all other officers. If Malevolence was damaged, then perhaps his engineers could help. As for the others, it was probably best that he let them know what he did before they arrived, even if that was practically nothing…


Despite now knowing what they were dealing with, nothing could truly prepare OOM-247's crew for the sight that awaited them as they exited hyperspace.

"That's one massive cruiser killer," OOM-253 said, a bit of awe leaking through his vocoder.

"Look at the guns on that thing," RD-76 exclaimed, his attention immediately turned towards the battleship's armament.

The Malevolence truly was a magnificent sight—or rather it would be if it wasn't on fire. The massive circular structure on its side that OOM-247 assumed was the ion cannon was spouting massive flames and looking almost ready to fall off the ship. Smaller fires also ravaged the vessel, and it looked like the occasional explosion still rocked the hull. Despite this, the Malevolence was still holding, a true testament to the strength of Confederate engineering.

Of course, it helped that the battleship wasn't being fired upon. Looking behind the Malevolence, OOM-247 could see the three Venator-Class cruisers pursuing it. That they weren't firing, however, was surprising; they were in range and could easily be bombarding the ship's rear. Instead, they were just following the Malevolence, slowly and silently closing the distance between them.

"Hail them," OOM-247 ordered, his voice snapping his crew back to attention. For being 'emotionless' droids programs solely for war, they sure seemed to get distracted easily.

"Roger, roger," his comms officer said, then a few seconds later, "Communications are open," giving him the go-ahead.

"This is Captain OOM-247 of the Undeterred," he spoke, "We've received your distress call and are here to render any services we can."

A few moments later the holographic interface finally flickered to life and OOM-247 found himself looking at another command battle droid, presumably only the acting commander of the vessel as it was extremely unlikely that a ship this size would be captained by a droid.

"My apologies for the wait," the other commander said, "General Grievous is currently off the bridge and, as you can see, we are undergoing no shortage of difficulties over here."

"Yes, we can see that," OOM-247 replied in a manner which some organics might consider 'sarcastic', "How can we help? I have several of my ship's engineers standing by to assist in repairs. I take it your hyperdrive is still inoperable?"

"Affirmative," the command droid said, "…although damage isn't as extensive as first feared. Send your crew over, I'm positive they can help in at least some capacity."

"Good," OOM-247 said, giving a motion with his hand to another one of his comm officers to send his crew over, "I must ask, though, what's the situation with those Jedi cruisers? Why aren't they attacking?"

"We have a hostage onboard," the droid on the Malevolence explained, "A senator that strayed into the sector. The Republic isn't attacking because they don't want to kill her. Unfortunately, reports indicate that two Jedi have boarded our ship to rescue her. That's why General Grievous is off the bridge; he's dealing with the Jedi himself."

"Interesting…" OOM-247 said, processing what he'd been told. Apparently, the situation on the Malevolence was even more mixed up then it looked. "Keep me informed of any developments," he told the other droid, "…and of anything else you might need."

"Roger, roger," the droid said, then was gone.

Before he could even turn around in his captain's chair, RD-76 was upon him.

"Permission to go aboard Malevolence with the engineers, sir?" the red battle droid asked, "I'd like the chance to increase my number of Jedi kills."

The Geonosian droid always spoke of his desire to kill another Jedi, so the request came as no surprise to OOM-247. He'd been planning to have him escort the engineers anyway, so he allowed RD-76 to go ahead. If there were Jedi on board, then he was the droid that OOM-247 would want protecting his crew.

As RD-76 left to catch the shuttle that would take him over, OOM-247 turned to the rest of his bridge crew. "Pull us up alongside them on their starboard side," he ordered, "Try to keep us close. I don't want those cruisers trying to fire on us, which they just might start doing since the hostage isn't on our ship."

"Roger, roger," OOM-253 said, already inputting the navigation orders into the computer.

A few minutes later, OOM-247 watched a shuttle leave his own hanger and head towards the Malevolence. The tiny shuttle practically disappeared as it neared the battleship, Malevolence's sheer size dwarfing it. Of course, Malevolence would make any ship look small. The Munificent-Class frigate he commanded was nothing compared to it, and even the Venators in the distance came nowhere near matching its size. It almost made him wonder if the few droids that he sent over could truly make any sort of difference on a ship that size.

Another minute passed, then his comms activated again. Audio only this time; it was from RD-76.

"We've just landed," the red droid informed him, "We're going to make our way towards the engine room and the hyperdrive."

"Very good," OOM-247 said, "Keep me informed."

"Roger, roger."

He turned his attention back the battleship, still aflame, then back to the Venators that continued to close in on them. That Jedi were on board the Malevolence was a bad sign; they were not known for their incompetence. In OOM-247's experience, Jedi usually prevailed in whatever they tried. If they were trying to rescue a senator, then it was only a matter of time before they would be off that ship and the enemy cruisers would begin firing again. The thought didn't exactly bring a warm and fuzzy feeling to his circuits.

"Do you think RD-76 will get a chance at one of the Jedi?" OOM-253 asked, partially mirroring some of his own processing.

"It's a large ship," OOM-247 answered, "…but if any droid can find them and get a shot off, it's RD-76."

As if on cue, the comms beeped and the red droid was talking again. "Sir, we just made contact! One Jedi, and one human I can only presume to be the senator. We exchanged fire, but they fled down a hallway, sealing the doors behind them." He spoke faster and a bit more frantically than usual, the 'excitement' of battle getting to him.

"Calm down," OOM-247 ordered, "What's the general situation over there?"

"Transmissions indicate that one Jedi is being dealt with at the main engine room, where we were headed. There was no word on this one, who seems to be heading away from the engine room, almost towards the direction of the bridge. Should we follow them, or should we proceed to the engines?" RD-76 looked eager to do the former, but OOM-247 wasn't as keen to send his engineer's chasing after a Jedi when there was work to be done.

"Let me check with the Malevolence," he told the red droid. Pressing a button, the hologram of the battle droid currently in charge of the battleship sprang up. "My engineers have encountered a Jedi on their way to the engine. Is there a different part of the ship where they could be more useful?"

The command battle droid on the Malevolence turned away and seemed to look something over before turning back to him. "The majority of our repair crews are already at work at either the engines or the hangars. Some of the consoles on the bridge have sort circuited and there are a few more technical errors up here, so send them here and they can work on this until the General arrives to handle things."

"Roger, roger," OOM-247 said, turning off that transmission and turning his attention back to the audio of RD-76, which had remained on. "Did you hear that?" he asked.

"Affirmative," the Geonosian-built droid confirmed, "We're already en route."

"If you encounter that Jedi again, raise your tally," he instructed his officer, who no doubt was hoping as much as a droid could hope that that would happen.

RD-76 gave a 'roger, roger', then the transmission ended once more.

OOM-247 looked out at the Malevolence, then back to the pursuing cruisers. It was somewhat frustrating, to use the organic emotion, to be on his own ship as all of the action occurred over there. He knew that it would be easier to direct his crew if he was there himself, but he was needed on the Undeterred. It was his job and duty to lead his ship, even if at present that meant relative inaction.

Minutes passed by with no new developments. The Malevolence flew on, the Venators pursued, and all he could do was watch. At least it looked like the fires on board the battleship were beginning to die down; already the ship didn't look near as bad as when they'd arrived.

Approximately ten minutes after his last contact with RD-76, he decided to hail Malevolence again. With Jedi on board, he knew the situation could change very quickly, and he needed an update.

Unfortunately, one was not to be had, and in a far more ominous way than he was expecting.

"Sir, Malevolence is not responding to our hails," his comms officer reported, "I don't know why."

"Try all standard frequencies," he ordered. Perhaps this was a fluke.

"I already am," the other droid informed him, "There's no indication that they're even receiving it, but I can say for certain that we aren't being jammed."

"Keep trying," he told the battle droid, then reopened his comm with RD-76. This one worked fine, as he immediately heard his security officer's vocoder.

"What's the matter, captain?" the red droid asked.

"Progress report," OOM-247 said. If he couldn't get information from the droids on the bridge, he'd get it from his own.

"We're almost to the bridge," RD-76 told him, "Some of the door and turbolift systems are failing or sporadic, which is making it take a bit longer than expected."

"Have you encountered the Jedi?"

"Negative, unfortunately," the red droid, genuine disappointment seeming to be in his vocoder.

"Well, hurry to the bridge," OOM-247 ordered, "We seem to have lost contact—"

"Sir!" OOM-253 interrupted, "We're detecting a vessel disengaging from Malevolence, it appears to have been moored to an emergency airlock."

"It must be the Jedi's!" OOM-247 realized aloud, "Quick, bring all available guns to bear! Turbolasers, point defense, even our flaks!"

"Sir, we cannot fire anything without risk of hitting the Malevolence," OOM-253 told him, "If they get close to us we can fire our point defenses without any problems, but I wouldn't expect them to."

"Can we bring our ship about in time to fire before they're out of range?"

"Negative," OOM-253 said with a shake of his head after a quick check.

Already the ship was picking up speed, pulling away from the battleship. There would be little that the Undeterred could do to catch it.

"What's the status of our fighters?" OOM-247 asked, his options rapidly diminishing. They had four squadrons of vulture droids on board, which might be able to catch the republic ship if they were launched immediately.

"They are fueled and ready to go," his first officer informed him, "…however, Malevolence has already launched several squadrons to intercept, which will likely make contact before ours could. It's unlikely that ours could close the gap fast enough to make any difference."

"Very well." That was all OOM-247 could really say as that organic emotion of 'frustration' seemed to consume him again. Once more, all he could do was watch as the action happened in a place where he could only watch from a distance.

"It appears that the enemy is launching fighters and bombers of their own," OOM-253 informed him after several more seconds had passed, "Unclear if they're to attack or simply protect the fleeing craft."

Before he could even begin to truly process that, another matter demanded his attention. His comm with RD-76 went off, bring concerning news.

"We've reached the bridge," his security officer informed him, "…and there's no one here."

"No one?" OOM-247 asked. That was certainly unexpected.

"Affirmative," RD-76 told him, "We arrived a few minutes ago, accompanied by some pilot droids that were just coming on to their shifts, and the bridge was empty. We've searched for any signs of the crew, but there's no indication of where they went. One of the pilot droids figures that the hyperdrive must be repaired and ready to go and he wants to begin calculating a jump, but that doesn't explain where the crew has gone."

"No, it doesn't," OOM-247 agreed, "Is ET-42 there?"

"I'm here, Captain," the droid in question answered.

ET-42 was the chief engineer of the Undeterred and was the longest serving droid on the ship. Despite wanting him to stay on board in case of an emergency, OOM-247 had decided to send him to the Malevolence to lead to repairs. Visibly, ET-42 had some of the most faded orange markings that OOM-247 had ever seen, although that didn't matter when they only had audio communications.

"Give the systems a once-over," he ordered, "make sure everything is working properly before you try anything."

"Roger, roger," the engineer told him, and he could immediately hear the droid getting to work.

"Just taking precautions, captain?" RD-76 asked over the comms.

"Affirmative," OOM-247 answered, "You said earlier that the Jedi was going in the direction of the bridge. It's possible that that could be related to the disappearance of the bridge crew. If that's the case, then I would expect tampering with our systems."

"Hyperdrive checks out," he heard ET-42 say over the comms, "Checking engine systems, now." He heard a banging coming from the Malevolence, and he could about visualize the orange-marked droid under a panel or terminal checking connections. He'd done it many times before on the Undeterred.

Several seconds passed as he heard his chief engineer giving commands to his subordinates. "Engines are operating within acceptable parameters," he finally said.

"Is that all," OOM-247 heard another voice ask on the other side, presumably one of the Malevolence's pilots.

"Just let me check the navicomputer," he heard ET-42 say. There was a pause for several seconds, then "Uh-oh,"

"What's wrong," OOM-247 asked. He could hear buttons being pressed and more banging on the comms.

"The navicomputer has been tampered with," his chief engineer informed him, "engaging the hyperdrive would have flown us straight into a moon."

OOM-247 suddenly felt very lucky that his crew had been redirected to the bridge. From what he heard, it sounded like the pilot droids would have engaged the hyperdrive had they not, which would have caused the battleship's destruction.

Even though they caught it, though, there was still the matter at hand, "Can you fix it?" he asked his engineer.

"I believe so," ET-42 answered, "…but it may take a while. I'm unfamiliar with the Malevolence's systems."

"Do what you have to," he ordered.

"Roger, roger."

"Sir," OOM-253 said, "The enemy vessel has reached the cruisers and safety. Now they appear to be preparing to fire." A flash of blue light suddenly emanated from the closest of the Venators, flying towards the Malevolence and impacting its shield with another flash of blue. "Correction," OOM-253 amended, "They are firing."

Had he been an organic, OOM-247 probably would have cursed as he saw more burst of energy flying towards the battleship. If they couldn't get out of the system soon, the Malevolence was finished and the Undeterred would be in danger of following it.

"We have a problem," he heard ET-42 say through the open comm.

"I know," OOM-247 responded, "You're in serious danger of taking more damage to your hull and hyperdrive over there."

"No, a different problem," the engineer told him, "The Jedi changed the codes to access the navicomputer so I can't get in to recalibrate it. It's still set to fly us into a moon should we try to use the hyperdrive."

"Is there any other way in?"

"The captain of the ship may have an override code, otherwise I'll have to shut the entire system down to have it auto reset." His engineer paused, "I don't think that's a good idea, though."

OOM-247 turned to his comms officer. "Get me General Grievous."

It took several seconds, but soon the holographic image of the Cyborg leader materialized in front of him.

"What do you want," the general growled. He appeared to be sitting inside a ship, so OOM-247 could only assume that he had been leading the attack on the Republic ship that had left the ship.

"The navicomputer on board the Malevolence has been compromised," he informed him, "We need your access codes if we're to reset it and escape."

The general growled again and pressed a few buttons on his ship's consol. "Transmitting codes now," he said, "Rendezvous at sector 4. We have a base there where we can enact repairs."

"Roger, roger," OOM-247 said as the communication winked out. He turned his attention back to the open comm to Malevolence. "Have you received the codes?" he asked.

"One moment…there!" ET-42 exclaimed, "I'm inserting the codes now." A moment passed and OOM-247 saw the battleship shudder from another hit from a Venator. "We have another problem," the engineer spoke again, "The codes aren't working."

"Try them again!" came his immediate order.

"I already have," ET-42 said, "Still no effect."

"Hail General Grievous."

A pause.

"No response, sir," his comm officer reported.

"It appears he already jumped to hyperspace," OOM-253 reported.

OOM-247 let out a mechanical hiss and shook his head. "Anything changed over there?" he asked.

"Negative," he heard RD-76 say, "No change."

"You'll have to shut it down, then," OOM-247 instructed, "Can you do that?"

"Affirmative," ET-42 said, "…but all of the navigation and propulsion systems are connected. Engines to hyperdrive, hyperdrive to navicomputer…they were never meant to be truly shut down individually, so I'll have to shut it all down to get to it. And if the engines go down—"

"…Those Venators will close and start to do extreme damage," OOM-247 finished, the implications becoming obvious, "Is there any other way?"

"Negative."

"Are shields connected to the rest?" OOM-247 asked. If those had to go down, then it was better not to try.

"Let me check," ET-42 said, then a second later, "Negative."

That was good. At least the ship would be partially protected.

"A suggestion," RD-76 proposed, and OOM-247 told him to go ahead, "Even damaged, Malevolence still has plenty of firepower. If we turn and fight, we may be able to take them."

"No," OOM-247 said, unsurprised about the red droid's suggestion to fight, "Enemy reinforcements are likely already on their way. We can't afford to lose any time fighting. ET-42, do what you have to."

"Roger, roger," the chief engineer said, "Powering systems down now."

From where he stood on the bridge of the Undeterred, OOM-247 could see the engines of the Malevolence flicker and dim. Soon, practically all light was gone from them. With them offline, the Malevolence would begin to slow, allowing the pursuing cruisers to close to a more lethal range. Already more and more fire was being directed towards the battleship, and OOM-247 knew that, damaged as she was, she wouldn't be able to take it for long.

"RD-76, transmit me a schematic of the Malevolence," he ordered, drawing questioning glances from his own bridge crew. A few seconds later and a layout of the ship was downloaded for the Undeterred.

"What do you need that for?" OOM-253 asked. It was a rather odd request at the time, but OOM-247 had a plan.

"We're doing no good here, but we can still help the Malevolence," he explained, "If she takes enough damage, her engines or hyperdrive may become damaged again." He looked at the schematic, determining what he needed to do. "Move us to the stern of the Malevolence," he ordered, "…and put us right in the center behind her engines, where the hyperdrive is located. We'll take the damage for her."

"Roger, roger," OOM-253 said, getting to work turning the ship. So far the enemy cruisers had more or less ignored the Undeterred, focused instead on the larger prize, but now OOM-247 was putting his ship right in the line of fire.

The first blast hit them a few seconds later, shaking the frigate. OOM-247 wasn't concerned; one hit wouldn't destroy them. Of course, they'd be taking many more hits…

"Sir," OOM-253 said, "I don't think I need to tell you that we do not have the shields or hull integrity to withstand an extended barrage. We won't be able to hold up under a full assault from all three ships for long."

"I am well aware of this," he told his first officer, "We should only have to bear it for a little while." He turned back to his comm. "How are things over there?" he asked his chief engineer.

"Power has to be out at least a minute for auto reset to take place, then it will have to reboot," ET-42 told him, "It will still be a while."

The Undeterred shook again, the fire from the enemy ships growing stronger.

"Full power to aft shields," OOM-247 ordered.

A chorus of "roger, roger" came in response as his crew carried out his orders. For now it appeared that the enemy was simply firing at the Malevolence and he was only in the way. So long as that continued to be the case, they should be fine.

"The auto reset should be ready," ET-42 said over the comms, "I'm powering systems back on."

"Very good," OOM-247 said, right before the Undeterred shook violently, throwing several of his officers from their stations.

"The enemy is focusing fire on us," OOM-253 informed him.

"They must have figured out what we were doing!" he exclaimed, "Regardless, hold our position."

"Systems are coming online," ET-42 said, "Navicomputer is resetting itself and recalibrating."

"How long until you can jump?" he asked the engineer.

"Approximately thirty seconds until we can begin hyperspace calculations, and another thirty until we can jump. It could be more or less; I'm unfamiliar with these systems." The engineer's voice carried a hint of the stress that his circuits were under with this operation.

He turned to OOM-253. "Can we last that long?"

"Unknown," his first officer said.

The ship shook again.

"Unlikely," he corrected himself, "…at least under present conditions."

"Rear shields are beginning to fail," another of his officers informed him, "They're already down to twenty percent."

"Angle us ninety degrees bilge to deck," he ordered, "Put our armor towards them and put full power to topside shields! And begin calculating our own jump!"

"Roger, roger," OOM-253 said, turning the ship again. It was possible that putting the top of the ship and the armor towards the enemy could gain them a few seconds, even if that also meant making them a bigger target.

"Navicomputer is reset," ET-42 said from the battleship, "We're calculating the jump to hyperspace now."

"Starboard shields are failing," one of his crew informed him, "We're taking damage to the armor."

The Undeterred shuttered, lights flashing all over the bridge. Outside the ship, the light from the incoming fire would have been blinding to any organic officer.

"Starboard shields are completely out, and port shields are down to five percent," one droid yelled.

"Armor is failing," called another, "We're taking damage to the primary hull!"

"Hyperspace course plotted," OOM-253 called out, "We can jump as soon as Malevolence is out of the way."

"ET-42! Status!" OOM-247 yelled. Undeterred was on the verge of destruction.

"Just a few more seconds…" the engineer said.

"We don't have a few mor—"

"There!" ET-42 exclaimed, "Course plotted. Jumping to hyperspace now!"

Less than a second later, the Malevolence made its jump, disappearing from sight.

"Follow them!" OOM-247 ordered, OOM-253 was already adjusting course for the jump.

The Undeterred shook one more time, then the stars seemed to stretch out in front of them as they made their escape. OOM-247 sunk back into his chair as the colors and swirls of hyperspace travel became the only thing around them. The Malevolence had survived, and so had they.


OOM-247 stood alone in front of the two most powerful people in the Confederacy of Independent Systems. Had he been organic, he probably would have been terrified to be in their presence. As a droid, however, he was completely at ease.

"This is a rather…interesting report that you've presented," Count Dooku told him, holding a datapad that no doubt contained a description of the events that he and his crew just gone through. Behind him, General Grievous stood leaning forward with hands clasped behind him, still dwarfing the older human.

"It is the truth, sir," OOM-247 confirmed, "Crew on both the Malevolence and the Undeterred can confirm it."

"Still, it is difficult to believe that battle droids could have handled that situation in the way that you claim." It was Grievous who spoke this time, eyes narrowing slightly.

"Regardless, we did," OOM-247 answered his challenge, "The proof is the battleship outside of this station."

It was hard for either of them to refute that. After escaping back into separatist space, OOM-247 and his crew aboard the Malevolence had brought both it and the Undeterred back to the secret base in sector four. Both ships were currently undergoing extensive repairs which he had been overseeing until his summons to this meeting within the station they were moored at. He'd been expecting to be debriefed from the events, but he had not been expecting to be challenged on them.

"No one is doubting that the ships arrived here safely," Count Dooku said calmly, "It's just that battle droids, such as yourself, don't normally show such initiative in battle. It was unusual to see a report showcasing such fore-thinking and competence among yourself and your officers."

"With all due respect, sir," OOM-247 said, "We are programed to be independent thinkers. As such, I would not expect it to be so surprising when we think for ourselves."

Count Dooku gave a thin smile. "No, I suppose we shouldn't be."

Behind him, General Grievous just gave a scoff.

"Is that all, sir?" OOM-247 asked.

"Not quite," Count Dooku said, "…tell me, what fleet are you assigned to?"

"The fourth, sir," he answered, "We were only in the area due to an assignment that involved tracking and destroying pirates who've been harassing our shipping."

"Ah," Dooku said, "Well, I'm afraid that you won't be returning to your fleet. Once your ship is repaired, I want you to proceed to Ryloth to support Mar Tuuk's blockade."

"Roger, roger," OOM-247 said with a nod. Such transfers were not unusual, especially with the current state of the war.

"We'll be keeping an eye on you," Count Dooku said as he dismissed him, "Perhaps you may surprise us again."

OOM-247 hoped, as much as a droid could hope, that he would.


A/N: For those unfamiliar with my previous work, this is technically a prequel to Who's in Charge, which also features OOM-247. Of course, that doesn't necessarily have to be read to understand this work at all (in fact, this one is far longer and probably tells more about the droids). Anyway, I always loved the Malevolence; she was such a pretty and powerful ship, and the way she was destroyed just didn't do her any justice (seriously, go back and watch Destroy Malevolence again; it's kinda ridiculous that the tampering wasn't caught). Considering the awesome power that Fanfiction has bestowed upon me to change fictional history, I decided to remedy that. You're welcome.

A Note on Droid Sentience: Droids have been shown throughout Star Wars to both show incredible problem solving skills and demonstrate emotions and feelings. Battle droids may not be portrayed so much as having the former, but they definitely still have the latter (it was in the episode Destroy Malevolence where we see the heartbreaking moment of a battle droid yelling out "we're gonna die" right before the battleship is destroyed. There was clearly fear in his voice). As such it's hard to truly discount them as being non-sentient, and nigh impossible to say that they're emotionless. I'm not planning to be done with OOM-247 here, and I intend to explore these concepts as we go on.