Hi, I have finally finished a new chapter! I would say it's been a while, but I always say that lol. Hope you all have had a great few months, covid has practically settled down to a flu-level threat. Still there, but one we're used to and are able to deal with swiftly. Without further ado, lets just get into this since I know many of you have already skipped this small block of text :D

Space was a wonderfully calm and serene place. As an infantry droid, B1-2389 never had much of a chance to simply sit down in a cockpit and watch the stars whizz by faster than light during hyperspace, or simply examine their still image while slowly moving through the empty abyss. A bright white light was at the centre of his vision as the ship travelled through the tunnel of light and dark.

Cass was using the quiet moment to rest her eyes in the back of the ship, leaving the droid to enjoy the view in peace.

Buttons lit their own colourful dim glow on the consoles they were on, while the outer-view filled the rest of the room in blues and whites.

The droid set himself to use the lowest amount of battery he could possibly use, and sat.
"It's beautiful." He said to no one in particular.

He continued to sit there for an hour or two longer, taking in the extraordinary view. Eventually, a light started flickering on and off with a quiet beeping noise being emitted from it. B1-2389 reactivated his systems fully to check on what was disturbing his peaceful moment.

It was an alert saying that they were about to arrive at their destination. In the serenity of the ship, B1-2389 had entirely forgotten that they were heading to a planet to hide. The droid activated the intercom.
"Wake up, Cass, we're about to arrive at our destination, and laying down while exiting hyperspace may prove to be an unenjoyable experience."

He could hear Cass groaning awake in the background, along with the loud click of the safety harness being pulled down in front of her. B1-2389 took a few more seconds to look at the wonder of the hyperspace tunnel, before begrudgingly pulling the lever to exit it.

The ship suddenly dropped in speed drastically, the B1 being pulled forward by gravity slightly, and the tunnel slowed to a stop until it was no longer a tunnel.

The click was heard again as Cass exited her seat and came into the cockpit, dreary as she had just woken up.
"Sweet dreams?" He asked, recalling that to be a human expression he heard somewhere, although from where exactly he could not remember.
"I dunno, don't remember." She answered, taking a seat in the co-pilot's chair. "So, what planet are you taking us to?"

She pointed at the planet ahead of them. It was a big planet similar in appearance to Naboo, except the greens of the land were far yellower and paler. However, it had great white clouds, clear blue oceans, and giant lakes. Overall, it looked like a good planet to take a breather in. The last few days had been exhausting, to say the least.
"That is Lothal, an inhabited outer-rim planet not under Republic jurisdiction. It was unaffected by the war through its entirety so there shouldn't be any hostility either." B1-2389 informed her. "We should be able to get some form of shelter there, as well as sustenance for you."
"That sounds great!"

The droid nodded and veered the ship down into the planet's atmosphere. It was a smooth entry through the clouds. After a few minutes of seeing nothing but white, they opened out into an open plains field.

Boulders and mountains with rounded out tops were visible amongst the landscape. They flew the ship over the land and observed it. Just like outer-space, B1-2389 found it to be beautiful. The yellowish-greens of the land, the tall mountains, and the life-forms he could barely make out in the grass, most likely munching down on the abundant green plant.

In the distance a large city could be spotted. Towers and buildings with domed roofs were found all around the area. Some store signs were bright enough to be visible from their height.

"I'll find a place to land." B1-2389 said.

A quick fly-by of the city found them a landing area quicker than they had anticipated, and before they knew it they were lowering into a spaceport hangar. The ship hissed as gas was ejected out of pipes. Its landing gear activated, whirring and squeaking as it lowered to the ground. Finally, it landed on the ground with a resounding thud.

B1-2389 spun out of his chair, falling flat on his face in doing so, before standing up and moving towards the exit. Unbeknownst to the droid, he was limping. Cass, however, noticed in a heartbeat.
"Hey, are you doing alright?" She called out to him, getting out of her chair as well.
"Yes, why do you ask?"
"You're not walking properly."

This led the droid to look down at himself, before realising he couldn't see his body because of his cloak, despite its holes from the previous battle. Taking the robes off, he realised he hadn't emerged from the battle unscathed. Multiple areas on his body had deep scorch marks, albeit cooled down, and warped metal. His right hip joint had taken a major hit, as it was slightly caved in on the side.

B1-2389 experimentally moved it, only to find that it didn't move past a certain point, around about 50 degrees. A portion of the metal above the hole was warped inwards, preventing it from moving further than he was trying to.
"I guess I'm not alright."

Cass examined the damage from where she was standing. She didn't need to take a closer look to tell that her wallet was going to die by the end of her repairs. She sighed.
"We'll find a place to hunker down then get you some parts."
"Thank you, Cass!"
"Don't thank me, you should be apologising! Not only do I need to pay for your replacement parts, I need to buy new tools since we left everything back in my apartment! Silly droid."
"We had no time."
"I know!" She sighed once again. She knew that it was unreasonable to be so annoyed at the situation she was in, but she needed to vent her newfound frustrations on something. She was starting anew on a distant planet, all because she decided to repair a random B1 outside her home.
No point regretting doing so now, and at least the droid could help protect her.
"Let me handle the talking." She whispered to the droid.

B1-2389 nodded and picked up his tattered cloak. Despite it no longer being a good disguise, he felt like if he were detached from it for too long it'd disappear. After all that he'd been through, it gave a sense of comfort. Metaphorically of course since he couldn't 'feel' the coat.

They lowered the ramp and stepped foot on the new land. The owner of the hanger eagerly awaited them, obviously wanting their payment. They were a male Gotal, a scruffy beard and wrinkly skin told them that he was a rather old person. That or a very stressed one, although given that he was grinning from ear to ear, that didn't seem to be the case.

"Good day, we'd like to find an inn to stay in, would you happen to know one close by?"
"Why you're in luck, along with keeping ships safe, we accommodate people in rooms over here!" He grinned eagerly.
"And what would the price be for each in republic credits?" Cass was almost afraid of what the price would be, given the greediness the man seemed to radiate from his very being. The man frowned.
"We don't take republic credits. Aren't you Separatist anyways, why would you have Republic credits?" His words shocked Cass on two fronts. Not only did they not accept the only currency she owned, even though she had none on her and hadn't remembered that significant detail, but she was being accused of being a Separatist!
"No, why would you think that?" Cass frowned. There was no way she'd ever even associate with a Separatist with all the deaths they caused, they were corrupt warmongers who'd left the Republic and accused it of corruption- her eyes widened in shock as she looked to her right and realised that she had in fact, associated with a Separatist. The Separatist in question idly standing beside her whilst staring ahead.

After a few moments of silence, B1-2389 cocked his head. Why were they staring at him? Was there something on his face? Is he allowed to speak now? Perhaps the Gotal was referring to him about being a Separatist?
"Uh, did I do something?"

Cass smacked her palm to her forehead while the owner of the hangar grew disinterested with the situation at hand.
"Are you able to pay, or not?" He asked, his wrinkles growing in numbers. B1-2389 turned to Cass.
"Do we have anything?" He asked her in an attempt at whispering, although his robotic voice still was audible to the Gotal.

Cass stood in silence as she pondered their options. They had no form of acceptable currency. She could sell B1-2389, but she scrapped that idea as soon as it appeared. It didn't feel right selling him, despite the fact he was a droid. He'd helped her quite a bit, albeit after causing some problems. She did, however, have something else she could sell.
"I have a clone blaster." She announced.
"Are you threatening me?" He asked incredulously . Cass, realising her poor choice of words, quickly backpedalled.
"No no, what I meant was that I had one to sell in exchange for stay!" This quickly calmed him down, and he returned to his usual state.
"Well then, in that case could you be more specific? What model of blaster is it?"

At this Cass sweatdropped. How was she supposed to know what kind of gun it is? It's a rifle, you pull the trigger and it fires, how's she supposed to tell the difference between them! After a few seconds of silence she was about to say she didn't know, but B1-2389 answered for her.
"It is a DC-15A Standard Issue Carbine Rifle, freshly made as well by the look of it."

The Gotal stroked his beard.
"I'll give you a week's stay with that blaster. Does that sound good to you?"
Cass opened her mouth to accept, however her B1 companion interrupted her yet again.
"But this is a military model blaster, surely it's worth more than just a week of stay?"
"This also includes the stay of the ship here ." The Innkeeper said in finality.
"But-"
"Yes, that's perfect, thank you!" Cass interrupted the droid this time, shooting him a stern look. The Gotal nodded, obviously happy to be over with the argument and be paid.

After Cass went and retrieved the blaster from inside the ship, they were led upstairs to their room. It was not as modern as the buildings in Coruscant, but it was clean and had the necessities for living. A kitchen, a laundry room, a room for relaxing, a table for eating, and a small holo for watching entertainment and news (although it's debatable whether that's a necessity). There was, however, no charging port for B1-2389.
He'd have to charge in the ship, or she'd have to somehow find a way to implement one in the apartment room, which would have been far too expensive if you weren't already not-allowed to modify rooms in apartments.
"Well, looks like this is going to be home for a while." She said, mostly to herself as she sat down. B1-2389 watched, unknowing of what to do in a regular room. He didn't need to rest, unless he was charging his battery, and didn't need to eat either. He felt rather useless.
Cass noticed this.
"Hey B1, could you go down to the ship and see if there is anything that could be useful? I'm going to use the shower here and freshen up, the ones in the prison didn't exactly have the best water or soap."
Given a mission, the droid perked up.
"Roger Roger!" He yelled heartily, giving her a salute.
"Keep it down though, I don't think the neighbours would appreciate your high-pitched voice interrupting their nice quiet

A few days passed. Cass had offered to work at the hangar in order to make cash, with her skills as a mechanic she'd be a great help as well.
She had been able to repair B1-2389's body, although visible patchmarks could be seen on his body. That didn't matter to him though, being able to run and move fluidly without worry of damaging himself any further was a relief.
Cass could not find the right parts or tools to patch the hole in his head however, due to the unique shaping of it. Even though it was a hazard, he found it to be a good reminder that he is now different to the way he was before. Apparently, some organics also did something similar to this called "scarring" in which injuries from battle heal incorrectly and remain visible on the body. Instead, Cass walled off any circuitry that may have been a hazard previously, meaning he would not have to worry about rainy days affecting his eye. It would be fixed eventually, but for now, he was to make do.

Currently, he was sweeping the administration office. Since Cass had been employed here, B1-2389 decided that he may as well help as well. It does bring extra pay too, although it's also paid to Cass. Since droids can't really go off on their own, and he didn't have any way to store the credits. He didn't care though, he had nothing to buy anyways.

He'd finished sweeping the room when he heard shouting from in the hallway. Curious, he stepped outside to find Cass and the Gotal, who they'd come to learn was named Kokagg Foc, arguing with one another.
"You can't just use any spare old parts when fixing a ship! I saw those new ones you had shipped in, unless you let me use them to fix the client's cruiser I'll tell them to find someplace else to get their ship fixed!" Cass yelled.
"I'm not going to waste those parts on just anyone! It would be a loss of profit. I need to use those old parts anyway to free up space." retorted Kokagg.
"They're rustier than the toilet pipes in this blasted place!"

B1-2389 sighed. This was a common occurrence nowadays. Cass's moralistic views opposing Kokagg's purely business agenda. With him being the boss, Cass lost these arguments frequently.
The two stared at each other standoffishly, the tension being so thick that not even a lightsaber could cut through it. B1-2389 was about to step towards them when Kokagg finally spoke.
"If you truly want to use newer parts, then go find someone who'll sell some. This would be coming out of YOUR salary by the way." Kokagg grinned, believing to have won the argument.
"Deal. Luckily, I won't be needing many parts." Cass fired back without any hesitation. "B1, you're coming with me."
"But I still need to sweep the hallway-" He was cut short by her cold stare. Sighing, he dropped the broom, giving a quick apology to the completely befuddled Kokagg, and followed Cass. Because his robes were tattered beyond belief he kept it safely hung up in Cass's apartment. She held onto his blaster-pistol as she had pockets while he did not, although he had pleaded with her to let him carry it around in his hand, she rebutted saying that it would most likely scare people if a battle droid was walking around armed.

After Cass double checked what parts needed major replacements, the two had headed off.
She had changed into clothing more suitable for the climate of the area, wearing a large hat with a veil covering the back of her head, a small poncho with diamond patterns that she had declared fashionable the day after they arrived, and some type of pants down to her ankles that the droid could not name.

B1-2389 had not had much of a chance to take a look at what the outside looked like. The buildings appeared as though they were made of sandstone, some had bright neon words showing the names of stores and public houses. Others had simple signs.

The sun was blaring, interfering with his optics. He could see Cass visibly sweating, even with the large hat she was wearing. Lothal was one of the more temperate planets in the galaxy, however today was an especially hot day.

They were walking towards the market-place, where more uncommon items were more likely to be sold. According to Cass anyways. The droid thought that it would've been a better idea to search for a proper store, surely the orderliness of a true business would have better items than a market stall?

As they got closer to their destination, more and more people could be spotted making their way around. The droid realised that this planet did not have a specific species that was most common here. He could spot the insectoid faces of the Aqualish, the hammer headed Ithorians, the short Ugnaughts with their piglike noses, the long snouted Rodians that appeared to have entire galaxies in their eyes, and finally the Gotal, who he'd already met one of. There were also others of other races such as humans, a few scaly Trandoshans, and the B1 droid could have sworn he'd even spotted a Zabrak.
All in all, it was a very diverse place, with all these people living in harmony despite their many physical differences.

Diverse fruits were sold at certain stalls, rich spices in others. He could see a controlled smoke coming from one place indicating a campfire of some sort. Cooking perhaps?

A sudden uproar of laughter and clapping came from beside him. The droid quickly turned to see a butcher cutting up a large hanging piece of meat, showing how fast he could fillet it whilst it was hung.
"Mmm, can you smell all of that? It's so good!" Cass exclaimed beside him.
"Um, no I cannot smell it, but I can see the food and I suppose it looks visually appealing." He replied to her, confused as to why she'd ask a droid if it could smell something.
"Oh, right. I forget that I spend most of my time nowadays with a sentient computer, although calling you one may be a bit insulting..to computers." She teased.
"Hey! At least I'm not a walking back of meat! Also, I doubt a computer would be able to process and think about all this stuff" He retorted, not catching her joking manner.
She burst out laughing, tears in her eyes. Organics are weird, he thought.

The droid noticed people around eyed him strangely, although that was to be expected. He still wished they'd stop. If only his cloak wasn't heavily damaged. Perhaps…
"Hey Cass, is there any way we could fix that cloak of mine?"
"You mean that big old tattered cloth you carry around? I'm not too sure. It would probably be less expensive to just buy a new one if I'm being honest."
"Oh.." He said disappointed. He wasn't sure why he'd grown so attached to it. Perhaps it was because it was technically the first thing he 'owned' other than his old standard E-5 blaster. Although, he did steal it so it wasn't legally owned.

The two continued manoeuvring around the market stalls. People walked up to them offering food, pendants, carpets, and clothes but Cass politely turned them all down. This series of interactions repeated numerous times until they finally found what they were looking for.

A merchant was currently attempting to sell his ship parts and other electrical components to a young couple, who clearly wanted nothing to do with him or his parts.
They walked up to him as the couple walked off, leaving behind the dejected merchant. However, he quickly returned to a charismatic smile as soon as the two approached him.
"Why good afternoon! Lovely weather we're having!" He said.
"Good afternoon, although I don't really agree with the weather." Cass replied, making small talk with the man.
"Ahh, I see you're new here! Yes, it is hotter than usual around here, but the locals are used to heat spikes and I visit often enough to sell that I may as well consider myself one of them." He laughed. "Now, I assume you haven't come to me just to chat, right?"
"Of course not, I'd like to buy some ship parts, if you have them."

"Well, take a look and tell me what you'll need. If I have it, and you have the credits, then it's yours!" He gave a final smile before turning to a Trandoshian who'd walked past, clearly heading to someone else selling meat, and proceeded to hassle him to try and get him to purchase something from him.

The B1 watched as Cass examined the items he had. They didn't seem too out of the ordinary, leaving the B1 to continue wondering why she had stated that going to a merchant in a marketplace would be better. After contemplating for a bit, the droid decided to finally ask.
"Cass, why are we buying parts in a marketplace rather than a store?"
Cass stopped looking through the clutter of parts and turned to face him.
"Well, in a place like the outer-rim, shops would tend to get their more valuable things from travelling sellers. Even back on Coruscant in the lower levels, I used to go to marketplaces to buy my parts as they'd be cheaper than the set up shops down there, and there would be more of a variety and even rarer items if I was quick enough."
"Ohhhh, that makes much more sense now." The B1 droid exclaimed. After watching Cass search through the crate for a few more seconds he decided to help her by starting on another crate.

"Found one!" She called, only a few seconds after he came to help.

"Oh, nice." B1-2389 called back slightly dejectedly, he'd hoped to have found one himself in an effort to help. He shook his head and went back to searching. There were still other parts they needed to find like….he had forgotten what the parts they needed looked like.

He could ask Cass what they looked like, but she had none on hand so he most likely wouldn't understand. The droid lowered his head and moved away from the crates.
Deciding he wasn't going to be of much use in the search for parts he decided to take another look around.
"Hey, I'm going to walk around for a bit. I'll be back so keep looking for the parts."
"Huh? Why?" But she asked too late as he was already heading off. Confused as to why he left she let out an exasperated sigh and continued her search.

B1-2389 weaved through the bustling crowd, which proved to be difficult despite his skinny framing. Meat stalls and fruit stalls were the predominant ones scattered throughout the area. Of course, the droid couldn't care less about those. He wasn't sure what he was looking for, he had no credits anyways.

Suddenly, from the corner of vision, the droid spotted something. A clothing stall. He made his way over through it, slightly pushing others in his way.
"Sorry, sorry. Excuse me. Coming through!" He called out apologies as he sifted through the many people, some giving him angry looks as he pushed through them while others were just baffled.

He pushed through the last few people, standing still in front of the stall. He put the fabric in between his cold fingers. Although the droid couldn't feel texture, it moved freely in his hands indicating to him that it was a soft fabric.
"What are you lookin' at, droid?" A voice snapped his attention back into the real world. He found himself face to face with the store owner, an elderly looking human woman. She had many wrinkles and grey hair, as well as being very skinny. Perhaps even more so than the droid.
"This is a nice cloak." B1-2389 replied.
"Good to know, now scoot you Separatist trash can. You're in the way of real customers." She grunted at him.

Something snapped in him when she'd insulted the Separatist Alliance, and himself. He'd have gladly moved out of the way, but her words seem to have left an impression on him. Feelings he didn't know he had bubbled to the surface.
"The Separatists aren't trash, and neither am I!" He boldly exclaimed, making many closeby quiet as they sensed a commotion about to start. "The Republic didn't care about outer-rim planets like this one, all they cared about was money and power. The CIS was fighting against the tyranny of the Republic and to give planets like this independence!"
"The Separatists destroyed every planet they liberated!" She screamed at him.
"That is completely false!"
"What's wrong, ma?" A middle aged man, seemingly this woman's son, approached her from behind the stall whilst putting his hands on her shoulders. "This droid bothering you?"
"It's one of those stupid Separatist war-machines, just look at that horrible face!" She wailed angrily. "He started shouting out propaganda!"
"I did not! I was simply proving the innocence of the Separatist Alliance and why we fought against the tyrannical Republic."

"See!" She pointed accusingly at the droid.

The crowd had gained in numbers, however neither side seemed to be rooting for anyone. They simply stared and waited for something to happen.

Suddenly the man from before walked up to B1-2389. His fist was tightly clenched and a grimace spread across his face. He reeled his arm back and twisted his hips. The only sounds that could be heard were the older women still shouting obscenities about the droid and his beliefs.

And then, he struck forward. The energy gained from the previous motion was all put towards the launch of his balled fist. In just under a second, he made contact with the droid's face. A loud clank resounded in the still air…followed by the man's yell of pain.

He clutched his hand, now red at the knuckles, and cursed. The B1 droid could only look on in amusement. What did he think would happen after hitting metal?
"Damn you." He growled at the droid. "Why couldn't you have just shut down like you were supposed to?"
"What are you talking about?" B1-2389 asked. "Did you think a single punch would deactivate me?
"All of you battle droids were given a shut-down order and are supposed to be melting down in factories, the war is over, get lost!"

The droid stood silent. His comrades were all shut-down? He knew that they probably wouldn't be treated fairly now that the war had ended, and they had lost, but to be forced into a sleep and melted down into a pile of molten metal? That was a fate worse than being shot down in battle. All those droids, dying in a way they were not designed to be. Unable to achieve their purpose.

While B1-2389 was deep in thought, the man clenched his fists once-more. He snorted loudly like a bull and dug his feet into the floor. The crowd stared as they realised what he was about to do.

With a mighty cry, he lunged towards the droid, arms out-stretched as though he was preparing to strangle it. The B1 was jolted awake when he felt a powerful blow to his front and found himself tumbling backwards. The back of his body skidded across the concrete floor as the man picked himself back up off the floor. He found himself staring at the looming figure of his attacker closing in on him.

He tried getting back up but he was stomped down once more. Some in the crowd began reprimanding the man while the others stood by and watched. B1-2389 tried getting up again and again, but continued to find himself shoved down into the floor over and over. What a silly end, being stomped to death by a regular man. Maybe it shouldn't have been too surprising that we lost, the droid began to think. A wave of sadness overtook him. All he wanted to do during the war was to follow orders, stomp out the Republic's slave forces, and liberate worlds from their tyranny. Well, that was what he was programmed to do anyway.

He heard a crack in his wrist as the hard sole of the man's boot came down upon it. From his peripheral vision, the droid thought he could see someone coming forward, but he didn't care enough to move his head and look. It would just get stepped on too if he did that anyway. His body hurt all over as some parts started letting the pressure affect it. If there was anyone the droid really hated, it's the one that had the great idea to give droids the ability to feel pain, especially battle droids.
"Sorry Cass, I guess I am a silly droid." He whispered to himself. Having already given up, he prepared to be shut down.
"Get off him!" A voice shouted out. The droid woke up from his deprecating self-talk. He knew that voice.

The man took a right hook to the chin before stumbling backwards, the crowd gave an audible wince to that. He heard footsteps come towards him, and a large hat cast a shadow on him. A hand outstretched towards him. He finally turned his head.
"Cass!" He exclaimed.
"Don't sound so happy, I'm really mad at you for running off and getting yourself into this." She yelled at him.
"Sorry!" He cheerfully replied. She couldn't help but let out a small smile at his antics. She then returned to her angry demeanour and sternly turned to the attacker.
"Back off, I don't know why this fight started but it stops now!"
"That's a Separatist droid!" The old woman yelled back, as though that made everything right.
"I know, and quite frankly I don't give a crap!" Cass retorted. "The war is over, right now he isn't fighting anyone so kriff off!"

The elder woman and her son looked shocked at having been told off, as though it was the first time anyone spoke to them like this. Cass turned around.
"As for the rest of you, next time don't just stand there and actually do something. I'm sick and tired of people just watching fights happen that they know should be stopped." The crowd looked guiltily at their feet and at each other, none daring to look the angry woman in the eyes. "Let's go B1."

B1-2389 took a final look at the two. He'd given up against them, didn't even put up a fight. He just watched and let it happen. But Cass beat them, all with a single punch and some words. He looked at her in a renowned light.
"You should be a senator." He said out of the blue.
"Huh, definitely not. There's no way I'm becoming one of those pompous debaters. A workbench is where I belong, not a lectern or podium."
"I think you'd make a good one though.."

The unlikely duo walked off, leaving the crowd to disperse and the two cloth stall owners to get back behind their counter. No one went to their stall.
"Oh by the way, did you manage to get all the parts you wanted?" B1-2389 asked.
"Not all of them, I got a little worried when a certain someone just left and didn't come back." She gave a mock glare to the droid.
"Oh, right. Sorry." The droid looked down at his feet. "Should we go back and search for the rest?"
"Nah, we have enough parts and I'm missing more credits than I thought I would already."

They left the marketplace after a short while, the sounds of bustling crowds and festivities deafened as they went further and further. B1-2389 could hear the clanking of his feet now.
"Hey Cass, do you dislike the Separatists?"
Cass frowned at this.
"Well…they committed many bad things throughout the war and caused many deaths-"
"So did the Republic." B1-2389 interrupted.
"I wasn't done talking!" She shot back. "Ahem, anyway, as I was saying. They did many bad things, but I don't know how much of that was propaganda, and how much was not told to us about what The Republic did. You don't seem like the mindless killer robots I saw in the holo-vids so I guess not everything I know about them is true. I guess I'm on the fence about how I feel about them right now since I don't know all the specifics, never was too into politics anyways." She gave him a small smile. That was good enough for him. He felt…happy that she didn't care that he had opposing views to her.

They took a left turn, nearing Kokagg's place.
"You're a good friend Cass." He replied after a while.
"Pretty sure I'm your only friend." She gave a well-meaning smirk.
"Ah, well…there's Kokagg?" He tried. She burst out into laughter, taking a stop to grab her knees.
"Ha, I can't really imagine him with friends." She wiped a tear from her eye. A figure appeared behind her.
"Well that's plain rude, I'll have you know I have quite a few friends." Kokagg suddenly said, a nonchalant tone made it seem like he wasn't particularly offended.

Cass jumped to the side in panic, arms out as if preparing to fight.
"Where the kark did you come from?!" She spluttered, worried her words might affect her pay.
"You know, I've noticed that you swear quite a bit." He replied. "And, I came from the market. I was running out of food in the fridge."
"Oh, right. That makes sense." She smiled nervously.
"I heard you two caused quite a commotion." He gave a small smirk. "Wish I was there to see it. Not much excitement happens around here."
"You're probably indoors exploiting customers when stuff like that happens." Cass whispered under her breath.
"I heard that." He told her, shocking her once more. "Gotal are notorious for their good eyes and ears."

The B1 watched the two of them bicker. If he had talked back to his generals like that, he'd probably not have been walking with them at that moment. Especially if it was General Grievous.
"Um, sir?" He called for Kokagg's attention. "Why didn't you react in an aggressive way towards me when we first met, are you by chance a Separatist supporter?"
"Uh, no." He chuckled. "Don't really care for all the Republic and Separatist crap that's been going on out there. Not many here do, unless they're from off-world. We haven't so much as gotten a speck of dust from one of the ships that were fighting. The two I believe you encountered were a family from Dantooine, who immigrated after the Separatists invaded."
"That explains their aggression to B1 here." Cass nodded. B1-2389 wanted to protest and say that it was necessary for the effort against the Republic but decided against it.

A rat scuttled away as the trio passed a trash alley. They were approaching the entrance to the compound. Cass and B1-2389's stolen Republic ship could be seen parked inside to the side.
"So, did you get those parts you were nagging me about?" Kokagg asked.
"The important ones." Cass swiftly replied. Kokagg sighed.
"All that effort and arguing and you still didn't get everything you wanted?" He shook his head and chuckled. "Take the parts you couldn't get from the new ones" Cass's mouth gaped.
"Really? After all that now you let me get those parts?"
"The parts you couldn't get, don't argue and act all incredulous now or I may change my mind. Especially after those comments you made about me earlier." He said in a more serious tone, but a warm smile was still plastered on his face. Cass gave a small smile back. If B1-2389 could smile, he would've as well. Things don't seem to be too bad. He could get used to a life like this.

And here we are at the end of the chapter. I didn't want to do a pov switch to Drift this chapter because I wanted to focus on B1-2389 and Cass's new home in Lothal. Hope you guys aren't disappointed by this. Just in-case you're worried about this breaking canon, I've checked Wookiepedia and other sources and it says that Lothal was untouched by the war and was conquered by the Empire a bit after the war ended, so everything is fine here. I hope the droid racism was handled well, this will be a big shocker to our droid friend as he realises there are more perspectives than his black and white programming, and how others see him and the Separatists as the bad guys.
And we also now have a new OC, Kokagg. How do you like him thus far?
I'll see you all next chapter, in which stuff will happen and thing will be written (crazy, I know.)