A/N:Warning, there's some gory fight scenes in the later half of this chapter.


The Scout came upon Akiva, a planet covered with great bodies of water and a seemingly unending forest. A mix of blue and green that Ron and OOM found nostalgic. The whiff of nostalgia quickly dissipated at the sight of the industrial city that came into view.

OOM was back in his position behind Rev's seat in the cockpit, "Are you sure a Separatist foundry of all places is a good idea for a hideout?"

Ron kept his focus on their destination ahead of them, "Under normal circumstances, no. But on this planet, yes. The path leading to the foundry is infested with dangerous animals from what my database tells me"

"Interesting. A natural blockade. You know a thing or two about strategy. Maybe you're not as inept as you seem"

"Would you stop with that already? The only droid that's smarter than any of us here is a tactical droid," The more OOM blabbered on, the more he regretted saving him in the first place. He hadn't realized just how much trouble OOM-342 was going to be. Though, he couldn't help but appreciate an extra commander to have around. No doubt, OOM had just as much experience under his belt as he did. They were both OOM droids after all, no matter how different they behaved.

"Right," OOM said unconvinced.

As The Scout grew closer and closer to the city, the more Ron realized that something wasn't right. Above the city were great plumes of smoke but the source wasn't any factory but instead fires. They were scattered about the entirety of the city. Not only that but he swore he could've seen some blaster fire whizzing about between the buildings. They were hard to miss after spending so many years helplessly watching as countless bolts whizzed by his head.

"Looks like we're going into hostile territory again," Rev commented.

"I will have to land the ship outside the city. I wonder what's happening down there," Ron said.

Without their connection to the galactanet they were practically blind. The galaxy was changing at a rapid pace. Much too fast for a group of droids who had been liberated from their masters only months earlier. Nothing else other than the galactanet could help them predict how the organics of the galaxy would react to the formation of the Empire.

"For every planet we visit, the more dangerous this operation becomes. Are we not trying to survive? It seems to me you're only trying to get us all killed," OOM said.

"I wasn't expecting this planet to be so dangerous. My database tells me it was a peaceful planet with a low crime rate. It was under Separatists authority, I assume that's why there is chaos in the city," Ron replied.

"I will see if our troops have any knowledge on establishing a connection with the galactanet. Your database is obviously outdated," OOM said.

Ron felt his processor heat up, "I know it's outdated. Our connection to the outside world was cut somehow by a protocol executed on this ship. That's part of the reason why we're here, to get a new ship and establish a hideout"

"I see," OOM shifted his eyes to Ron, "Next time why don't you brief me about the situation in full? As I have said before, I am your security commander, I need to know what's going on"

"Noted, I was too preoccupied with our main goal. I will debrief you once we land"

The Scout neared Myrra, the capital city of Akiva. With every kilometer they neared, the more chaotic it looked. Some buildings had sustained great damage, mainly in the form of collapsed walls that exposed the interior. Only the factories remained unchanged. Whoever were the combatants of the battle being fought below were conscious of the fact that the factories were the lifeline of the city. Without them, there would be no source of income for its residents.

Myrra was completely enclosed by forests and rivers on all sides, making it a formidable city to invade. Yet, the attackers seemed to have gotten through or perhaps they had come from the inside. Whatever the case, Ron made note of the natural defenses around the perimeter of the city.

'Those defenses work both ways,' he thought. He steered The Scout past one part of the river on the eastern side of the city and landed in a clearing populated mostly by wide and thick bushes rather than trees like the rest of the forest.

With a loud thud, The Scout made contact with the dirt below. The droids in the cargo bay reflexively prepared themselves for combat. Some lined up in proper combat formation, others simply prepared their blasters. Rev made his way first into the cargo bay, immediately noticing the group's behavior. He looked to the side and found Rags with his own blaster at the ready.

"We're not going into battle, get out of formation," Rev ordered.

"I thought I heard the commander say something about hostile territory," C-05 said.

"Yes, the city is hostile but not out here. You can all relax"

At Rev's command, the group dispersed into a more fluid formation but with their blasters still at the ready.

"Relax? I've never heard that word before," Rags said, he went silent for a moment as he searched for the definition of the word in his database, "What a strange concept. Why do you want us to do that?"

"No reason to overheat your CPUs getting ready for a battle that might not even happen. We're not in a war anymore," Rev reasoned.

"Right, I forget"

"Don't forget you have to watch your battery too, we have to ration our oil here"

"My battery…" Rags checked his power. He was still getting used to checking his own systems instead of having his commanders order him to recharge once they noticed his power went too low, "I need to recharge, do I have permission?"

"Go ahead. I think everyone else might need a recharge soon too"

Rags hurriedly hooked himself up to the generator, "This generator has four ports, I think it can handle the stress of four droids using it," he said, patting the generator's top side.

Ron strode into the cargo bay with OOM close behind him, "You all can go outside the ship but don't stray too far. Standby for now"

Outside, the air was thick and heavy. All around the ship were dense fields of grass and bushes that extended to about knee-length for the tall droids. Their audio receptors were filled with a constant buzzing from the insects that had begun to investigate the ship and its passengers.

Ron brought OOM over to the front of the ship, away from any prying ears, "I will tell you the truth. I am having doubts about continuing the operation here, but we must re-establish a connection to the galactanet and find a new ship if we want to survive. We'll be easily picked off if we head into the core right now. My plan for the time being is to form a small squadron of four and clear a path to the foundry where we can begin setting up a temporary hideout while everyone else stays here to guard the ship," Ron explained.

"And what exactly do you wish to accomplish with this hideout?" OOM asked.

"I only want somewhere to fall back to if we need it. The Empire is looking for us and we'll need these hideouts if they form a search party to look for our ship. It's clearly of Separatist design"

OOM mulled over the situation, likening it to the time he escorted a Separatist diplomat across enemy territory. His team had been forced to use less conventional means of transportation to escape the prying eyes of the Republic, "I believe I can be of use in finding a replacement. Any cargo ship could be a good candidate. I have some experience using them to hide escorts that I had been tasked with protecting"

"I'll be sure to look out for any I find around here. There should be plenty in the area with all those factories in the city"

OOM glanced back at the rest of the droids, "And I assume you want me to guard the ship?"

"Yes, it is our most important asset. It has all our resources which is not at all ideal. I plan to change that once we establish a base here"

"I'm not sure it's any better to store some of our most precious resources in a city that is in turmoil. You do know that rhydonium is explosive right?"

"I know that, yes. I chose this planet because of this city. I do not want the Empire to track us down to a planet that could potentially be a good spot for us to call home. Once we have the Empire off of our trail, we will begin our search"

OOM nodded, "I see your reasoning," his CPU floundered at the fact that Ron had finally shown some logic behind his orders for once. Slowly but surely he picked away at Ron's plans in his head, going through what would compel a droid like himself to put so much effort into surviving. They were droids made to follow orders, it was as simple as that. With no commander they should've shut themselves off but Ron still fought and with a desperation he had never seen in any droid before. OOM glanced back at the rest of the squad in wonder of what compelled all of them to keep going, "Let's get back to our troops"

Rev looked over just as Ron came back, "I've asked around and everyone needs a recharge. I have four of them using the generator at a time. I hope you don't need them for anything right now, it's gonna take awhile"

Ron looked over his own power, "No, we can wait. We're not in a hurry. I myself have to recharge anyhow"

Off in the distance, sounds of explosions and blaster fire boomed into the air. The droids could feel the shakes as the ground shook from the battle happening nearby.

OOM immediately began scanning the perimeter, ensuring that the area was fully secure. He turned to retrieve his small security crew. R-23E was still limping around with the injury he sustained. Thankfully it caused no pain for him but it was a nuisance as his knee refused to move.

"R-23E, you're still injured. Did the mechanic not repair you?" OOM asked.

"No sir, he said he couldn't do much about it without a welding gun," R-23E said.

"Understood, I will see to it that we retrieve one," OOM marched over to Ron to inform him of the situation.

"Do you think we'll finally get to do something this time? It gets a little boring just standing around here all day," C-37 said to R-56V sitting beside him. Both were recharging on the generator.

"I don't know, we are close to a battle. Commander said we're getting a new ship so maybe we'll infiltrate the city to get one," R-56V responded.

"Well whatever we do, I just hope I can blow something up again. It's been one hundred and fifteen days since I've blown something up"

R-56V looked over at C-37 in awe, "You've been tracking the days?"

"Affirmative, that's not against protocol is it?"

"We're not following protocol anymore or at least that's what I've heard our security commander say," C-05 said, butting in.

"That's right," R-7B said, he was seated the furthest away from the rest of the droids recharging, "OOM-342 told me himself, we're not following protocol anymore. He said we're surviving"

"Well, if we're not following protocol, I'm sure our commander wouldn't mind me blowing up a wall or two," C-37 said looking over to Ron.

"What's his unit number anyways?" R-56V said.

"I think he goes by Ron," R-7B said.

C-37's head tilted in confusion, "Ron? Like an organic's name?"

"Yes, like an organic. Our Co-commander's name is Rev, I guess they like having a name instead of a unit number. It is easier to say a name than a number. It's more…efficient," R-7B commented.

"Having an organic name is not a bad idea, we are going to be around them a lot more now," C-05 said.

"Maybe we should all make the switch to names," R-56V said.

Their conversation was cut short as Ron entered back into the ship, "Everyone form up on me! You four recharging stay there"

The droids quickly fell in line in front of him while Rev and OOM stood by his side.

"After everyone has recharged, I will need two of you to help me and Rev clear a path to the foundry"

C-37 immediately shot his hand up, "I volunteer sir"

Ron nodded, "Alright that's one"

R-7B lifted his hand up, "I can help"

"Good, the rest of you will guard the ship with OOM being your commander while I am gone. We are close to a city under siege, everyone must be alert from now on"

The group dispersed with OOM directing those that had already recharged into defensive positions hidden in the bushes surrounding the ship while setting up communications with all of them.

Ron awaited for the rest of the droids to slowly recharge. Even with four at a time, it still took some time. The generator could only work so fast. Over the course of two hours, the rest of the droids fully recharged. The nearby sun had begun to settle over the horizon.

Once everyone's batteries were checked and OOM was notified of their leave, Ron and Rev led C-37 and R-7B to the front of the ship.

"Set your blasters to kill, I'll lead the way," Ron said.

The group made their way out into the wilderness, cutting through the rest of the bushes before making it into the main forest ahead. The cold damp air was a much needed relief for their internals. The cool air propelled them forward, feeding their hungry systems with greater power efficiency. After a couple of minutes of walking they came upon the river that surrounded the city. The crashing torrents of water whipped past them, threatening to lash out with small splashes that came a little too close for comfort.

Their shells were resistant to water but not enough to fully swim in the river. The current was much too powerful anyhow.

"Search for something to help us cross," Ron ordered, he held Rev back, "Stay here, we'll keep a lookout while they search"

"Why don't we just look for a part of the river that's calmer?" Rev asked.

"I don't want to stray too far from the ship, besides, this strong current serves as a good defensive measure"

R-7B and C-37 both came back with logs of a variety of lengths.

"Good job, we'll put them together," Ron said.

One by one they carefully set each log along a line of rocks inside the river that served as natural anchor points. Cautiously, they made their way across, mindful of the ripping current below. A little pond wouldn't damage their internals but the crashing torrent of a killer river certainly would.

Another field lay before them, this time with no trees but instead giant boulders that jut out from the dirt below. Ron led the group in a straight line, using the giant rocks as cover from the city border ahead. There was no wall or other form of protection, the entire entrance of the city was left open. To the left of their position, far off and away was the main bridge that was used for travelers to enter the city. It was nearly completely destroyed with the only remains being jagged edges where the main body had once been.

'Looks like someone blew it up…,' C-37 thought.

The group came upon the first building, half of it was missing. Ron gestured for the group to stop. He checked his map for the path to the city's catacombs which eventually led to the foundry below. The map indicated an entrance close to one of the factories on the eastern side of the city, close to their position. He transmitted the location to the rest of the group.

"Stay low and follow me. Do not engage on sight, we do not know the situation," Ron said. The group had switched to their internal communications line to speak with one another.

"Roger," R-7B and C-37 responded.

"If we find any organics in our way I can try talking to them. I'm sure they've seen a battle droid before," Rev said.

Ron peeked around the corner of the wall they were using as cover, "That won't be necessary, I'd rather avoid any communications with organics on this planet," he turned back to Rev, "They may have seen a battle droid before but we don't know if they will be hostile to us or not"

Rev couldn't help but agree. Their encounter on Maridun immediately came to mind. He thought it a shame that organics were so hostile towards droids now, thanks to the Separatists. There was potential for great allies in them.

"Let's stay on the outskirts, there's too much open space between these buildings," Ron said. He backpedaled back to where they had come from out in the fields, hugging the wall that guarded one of the city's buildings to their left. Every building seemed to be loosely guarded by such walls with great gaps in-between them.

Ron scanned the perimeter with his thermal vision. There were no indications of life in the area other than the occasional insect.

On the opposite end of the city were more buildings of various heights. All of which appeared to be damaged in some way or another. The group hurried across the large open field that lay between the current building and the next. Once the group made their way back into cover, they carried on to the next gap between the buildings. Repeating the same tactics, they made their way deep into the city, far from where they had started. Luckily, Ron had experience keeping track of their position even without a GPS. He'd kept count of the buildings they'd crossed. Even though they had come in from the entrance, a location they could easily identify, it still helped to keep track of the small details. It had saved him in previous lives before.

In the next gap, a thick stone entryway had been carved into the ground. A large stone dome covered in moss stood tall, covering the entryway from any possible intruders.

Ron peeked around the wall out into the streets, "This should be it," Adjacent to their position was a three-story building with the top level having been nearly completely destroyed. He used his thermal vision to survey the area and was pleased to find no signs of organic life. Just as he switched off his thermal vision, the ground shook. An enormous crash erupted from somewhere to their right, further down the path. Soon after, a cacophony of blaster fire arose from the silence like a great torrent of water.

"Now should be a good time to go for it," Rev said.

"Agreed, let's go," Ron and the others formed up on the back side of the dome entrance, "Rev, help me clear the door, you two stay here and cover our flank"

"Roger," C-37 and R-7B said.

Ron and Rev cleared the area around the entrance. They were out in the wide open with no form of cover to protect them from the nearby buildings. The one thing Ron had always hated about urban warfare was the fact that an attack could come from anywhere. There were nearly an incalculable number of different scenarios that could arise in such an open area with so many windows and crevices and other avenues for attack. It nearly made his CPU overheat just thinking about it.

On the front of the thick stone dome was an archaic metal gate. A telltale sign that the structure was far older than the rest of the city and perhaps even predated it by some hundred years. Ron swung the gate open with a loud creak. Thankfully, the blasters being fired in the distance managed to mask most of the sound. Ron entered first, sweeping the room for enemies. Rev covered him from behind.

"It's all clear, regroup on me," Ron ordered C-37 and R-7B.

Once the entire group was in, Rev closed the metal gate, scanning the area for any enemies on the outside.

"There are wild animals down here, expect a fight," Ron said, leading the way down.

The catacombs were completely enshrouded in darkness, forcing the droids to switch to their night vision. The walls were covered in great veins of roots from the plants above and made slippery from the centuries of moss that had formed onto the stone walls. Thankfully, the ground was the only surface not made of stone but instead dirt, otherwise the droids would've had a hard time maintaining a grip on the floor. The tunnels were only wide enough to give enough space for two of them to space out.

Ron gave the gesture to stop, "I have made an error, I never asked for your unit numbers," it was standard procedure for a squad commander to identify the unit numbers of their squad mates before heading into combat. Clearly, Ron had been too engrossed in their objectives to have ever even thought about following such procedures. Even though they had been created by the Separatists, such procedures were still a necessity apart from war.

"I am R-7B"

"C-37 reporting sir"

Ron nodded, taking a moment to note their appearances.

R-7B appeared to have taken a great deal of damage. His face was littered with scars that revealed the gray metal of his face below. He was still in his green and brown camouflage from Felucia. The rest of his body bore even more scars. One ran from the middle of his abdomen all the way to his foot. From the looks of it, R-7B certainly knew a thing or two about surviving a tough situation.

C-37's camouflage was peeling off around his abdomen. The rest of his body was also littered with scars but were few in number in comparison to R-7B. Instead of metal scars, the right side of his abdomen was permanently marked black from a burn. Seemingly it had come from a large blast considering the width of the mark.

'Perhaps he was an ordinance handler,' Ron thought. He made a note to ask C-37 about it later.

Ron gestured to continue forward. It was eerily quiet. The sounds of distant water drops falling onto the dirt below echoed throughout the tunnels.

Ron searched through the map he had stored in his database and routed the path to the foundry to his navigation systems. He shared the way-point with the others.

"That's deep into the catacombs, how long do you think it's gonna take to get there?" Rev asked.

Ron calculated the distance, "I would say thirty minutes or so"

"And we're going to store our fuel in here?"

"Yes, I don't see a problem," Ron looked back to where they'd come from, "Other than our tracks and the entrance being in the wide open, which we will deal with later"

"I just don't think it's a great idea to store explosives down here"

"Explosives?" C-37 said.

"Well the rhydonium is explosive," Rev said.

"Oh," C-37 said disappointed.

"I'd rather it be down here than on the ship," Ron replied

They came upon the first separation of paths. There were three corridors that lead left, right, and straight ahead. Ron pushed forward, following the map's directions.

After some time, he began noticing small signs of life. Less moss and vines grew on the wall as they neared their destination. On the dirt below, some of the plants had been stomped out.

"Stay alert," Ron reminded the group.

About fifteen minutes away from the foundry, the first indications of Separatists activity popped up in the form of metal walls that replaced the previous ancient stone architecture. Off in the distance of the tunnels, Rev made out small twitches of movement that slowly crept up at the corners of the path ahead.

Ron glanced over his shoulder, "C-37, keep a lookout on our flank"

"Roger," C-37 said, turning around to walk backwards.

Somewhere further down the path a loud hiss echoed down the tunnel. Ron stopped the group, waiting a few moments in silence. His night vision didn't allow him to see that far ahead. Unsatisfied with the lack of any further noises, he fired a single bolt down the hallway, illuminating the rest of the tunnel. A large shape darted across from one side of the tunnel to the other and disappeared down one of the left-facing paths, out of their view.

Suddenly, all around their position, dozens of pitter-patters began echoing from both behind and ahead.

"R-7B watch the flank with C-37, hold position," Ron ordered.

R-7B followed orders intensifying his night vision. He began seeing more and more twitches of movement behind them.

"I really wish I had a thermal detonator right now," C-37 said.

Ron overclocked his CPU as he thought through all possible scenarios for the incoming attack, "Alright, listen carefully. C-37, shoot at a slower rate than R-7B, that way one of you can cover the other while you cool down your blaster. Rev you shoot slow, I'll shoot fast"

"Got it," Rev replied, preparing his combat module.

The pitter-patters began increasing in frequency and volume. The shapes grew closer with them.

Eventually one of them neared close enough for Ron to make out what the animals looked like. They were bipedal humanoids with pale skin and no nose unlike most other humanoids he'd seen throughout his life. One of the creatures ahead let out a loud shriek. Seemingly, that had been the signal for attack. The rest of the creatures rushed towards the group.

Ron let out his first volley of blaster fire. The bolts illuminated the hallway revealing the dozens of pale humanoids sprinting their way. Blaster fire met flesh and soon the beasts began dropping like flies. Ron thanked his makers for not giving him a sense of smell, the stench of burning flesh must've been enough to make an organic vomit. The creatures scrunched up their faces in disgust as they ran over the burning bodies of their own kind below.

Blaster's hissed as Ron and R-7B cooled their weapons. C-37 hit one of the organics in the head, liquidating its eye and causing it to fall back onto the rest of the pack, creating a squirming pile of pale skin and bones on the ground.

'Now I really wish I had a thermal detonator right now,' C-37 thought. He begrudgingly let out a flurry of blaster bolts onto the group, killing the majority of the downed animals. Even then, more of the humanoids came rushing from further back where the group had come from. Another shriek arose from behind them.

"They keep coming," R-7B reported, his circuits alight with excitement. A hard-fought battle was what he lived for. In all his lives, the same joy always gradually overwhelmed him, irking him into battle. This time was no different. In fact, that excitement nearly felt unending now that he finally knew what he was fighting for.

"Let's push forward, keep them away from the rear," Ron said.

Ron and Rev marched down the path, mindful of their blaster's cool-down period. The humanoids kept up the assault, throwing more bodies their way. Forming piles of pale skin that blocked their path.

"Watch your step, I will let you know when we get close to a pile," Ron said.

After another volley of bolts flew down the path striking three of the incoming animals, one of the humanoids let out another shriek, this time at a much higher pitch.

The animals all skidded to a halt and backed off, scurrying back into the recesses of the catacombs like womp rats.

"That's not good," Ron said.

"What do you mean? They're retreating, even an animal has to know when it's been defeated," Rev said.

"They retreated, yes, but they have superior numbers. Not only that, but they know these tunnels much better than we do, even with our map"

"You saw them, they didn't even know how to deal with a blaster"

"Let's proceed with caution anyhow. Especially on those intersections," Ron turned back to R-7B and C-37, "Keep watching the flank, if we need your help on the front side I'll let you two know"

The group moved forward cautiously with Ron calling out any piles of bodies they passed. They came upon one of the intersections and carefully marched through it, their circuits letting out a sigh of relief after passing through the area unharmed.

Their brief respite was short lived. Within minutes after having passed the last attack, the same pitter-patters of bare feet stomping on dirt began echoing from their front side.

"Hold position and get ready for another attack," Ron ordered.

The droids collectively dug their heels into the dirt and awaited the incoming wave of attackers. Slowly but surely the pale humanoids made their way back into sight. Something was different this time. They wore pieces of beige-colored armor that was poorly strewn together.

'That looks familiar,' Ron thought, 'Is that...' he let out one shot at the armor to test his theory. Sure enough it stopped the bolt, only temporarily knocking the humanoid off balance.

Ron felt his CPU heat up at the realization, "They're using our own armor against us"

"What?" Rev said.

"Never-mind, just hit the gaps in their armor"

Ron was having a hard time getting his focus back on his targeting modules. The thought of an organic using their own armor was enough to get his entire system to heat up.

Rev noticed his poor aim. A rather unusual error coming from him. He made up for Ron's wild shots with his own hits. Soon enough, the first two humanoids leading the charge dropped as soon as the bolts hit their target. But just as before, they kept coming. This time, however, they only seemed to be charging from the front.

"R-7B, help us in the front, my targeting modules are malfunctioning," Ron said.

R-7B whipped around and let out a volley of bolts towards the attackers, killing another two in the process while Rev scored his own set of kills.

The attackers were advancing much quicker and further this time around thanks to their improvised armor. There was only a foot between them. The piles of dead bodies on the floor helped slow down their pace enough to just about hold off the wave of creatures charging their way. As the bodies piled higher and higher, nearly blocking the path, the humanoids backed off once more. This time they only retreated back into one of the intersections up ahead.

Another shriek echoed from somewhere in the tunnel. There was too much noise to truly pinpoint its location.

"They're on our flank," C-37 reported, letting out a volley of blaster fire.

Ron cooled his systems back down to a sustainable temperature and re-calibrated his targeting modules, "R-7B help C-37 cover our flank, my systems are back to normal"

"Roger," R-7B whipped back around and began laying down fire.

Even with the added help, the attackers kept pushing forward, their armor preventing enough hits to make gains in territory. Only four of the incoming attackers on their flank had been eliminated. The rest began sprinting forward, waving large metal clubs in front of their body to deflect any incoming shots.

The attackers from the front had begun another assault, leaping over their dead brothers below, erratically waving large pieces of beige metal in a desperate attempt to deflect any incoming shots.

"Do you two back there have any experience in hand-to-hand combat?" Ron asked hurriedly.

"No sir," C-37 replied.

"I have some," R-7B said, blasting another humanoid in the process.

"Teach C-37 the basics as fast as you can," Ron ordered.

"Roger," R-7B said. He continued firing, "There's not much to it. These organics are fleshy and soft. Their skin rips easily, and their bones can be crushed with the force of your hand. Just put the force of your whole body behind your punches. Slam your fist down onto their heads, that usually works," he explained.

"Got it, seems simple enough," C-37 replied.

Ron gave Rev his own quick lesson, "Do you remember when we were on patrol on Geonosis and that muthra spider attacked us?"

"Yes," Rev said, blasting another humanoid. Their shots were less and less effective as the humanoids all took up the strategy of waving around their clubs and pieces of armor in the hopes of deflecting their bolts.

"It's the same concept here, except these things will be a little more difficult to fight"

The humanoids pushed further and further into their defenses until finally one clubbed the blaster out of Ron's hands.

He retaliated with a quick punch to its mouth, breaking its jaw and knocking it back into the pack of bodies behind him.

Rev used the butt of his blaster to swing into the throat of a humanoid that had swung its club towards him and missed. His blaster landed with a loud crunch, leading the humanoid to drop to the floor immediately, flailing around as it grasped at its neck.

R-7B decided that his blaster was useless the second one of the creatures made it closer than a foot in front of them and lunged forward. The humanoid leading the charge, swung downward onto R-7B. He caught the creature's arm as it came down. Using his opposing arm, he slammed his fist down onto its head, crushing its skull open and releasing a stream of blood and brain matter onto the dirt below.

C-37 joined R-7B at his side. Stepping in front of one of the creatures who was about to strike at R-7B, he deflected the swing with his arm. The metal club sent sparks flying as it slid off his armor. He slammed the mouth of his blaster into the creature's stomach and let out a volley of blaster bolts as he thrust it upward. The humanoid crumbled to the floor. The flesh from its stomach, now liquidated, streamed onto the floor along with its blood. A mix of white and red.

R-7B took the opportunity to lay down more fire after recovering his blaster. He shot two more of the creatures in the head. Their liquidated brains streamed out of their ears like a river of meat.

More of the creatures kept coming, their swings and punches becoming more and more desperate as they felt the blood of their kin on their feet. Ron managed to get a hold of his blaster once more. He parried the swing of a club with his own blaster, causing it to stumble back. He pushed the creature onto its back and put a bolt between its eyes. After retreating for a moment, the humanoids pushed together in one final attack.

A group of four rushed Ron and Rev from the front. R-7B and C-37 were in no better of a position as another five rushed towards them. Some threw down their armor to use as a platform to step over the bodies of their dead brothers on the ground.

C-37 made quick work of those who decided to relinquish their armor leaving only four out of the five. R-7B grabbed the foot of one of the bodies and with all his might, threw it onto the group storming their position. All of them fell to the ground. R-7B let out a burst into the fallen creatures, killing two in the process. The armor on the last two creature's deflected his shots. C-37 attempted to make up for R-7B's mistake but fared no better. As the humanoids recovered onto their feet, they sprinted forward, putting all force behind their blasters, they slammed the butt of their weapons into the creature's necks and stomach. Both fell to the ground once more but not without letting out a kick that knocked C-37 to the ground. R-7B eliminated them both with one wave of blaster bolts.

Meanwhile, Ron and Rev wrestled with the last group of four beasts. While two of the creatures pinned down the both of them, the other two beat at their heads, sending sparks flying. One of the swings hit Ron hard enough to cause his head to recoil backwards. That gave him an idea. As the creature swung again, he dodged and let his head fall backwards before slamming it forward into the humanoid holding him down, sending a burst of blood into the air as his sharp nose dug into the beast's neck. He turned to the pale humanoid that had been clubbing at his head. With a loud crack, he kicked the creature in the chest, sending it down onto the floor. The last two beasts had taken notice of his escape and turned towards him giving Rev the chance to retaliate. He slammed his fist down onto one of the humanoids, crushing its skull. Ron grabbed at the other's arm as it swung downward and thrust a hard kick into its stomach, tearing at its skin. It crashed down onto the floor in agony, clenching its stomach to relieve the pain as best it could.

Ron grabbed his blaster and shot the last two in the head.

"Is that it?" R-7B asked.

"I think so," Ron replied. He looked over to the other two droids, their chassis covered in gore and blood, "We'll need to cleanup after this"

"No kidding," C-37 commented, looking down at his body.

Ron looked over his own body, "Is anybody damaged?"

"Don't think so," Rev said, flicking pieces of skin off his chassis. He looked over to Ron. His head was full of scratch marks he'd sustained from the animal's constant clubbing to the head, "You have some damage to your head"

Ron touched his face, "How bad is it?"

"It's only a few scratches"

"Good, that's something a new coat of finish can fix up," he turned to the other two, "How about you two?"

"I'm okay…I think," C-37 said.

"You look fine to me," Rev said.

R-7B ran diagnostics on his systems, "I'm undamaged"

Ron scanned the area for any enemies left in hiding,"Outstanding, zero casualties. I'll see to it that we all get cleaned up before we leave this planet. I do hope this foundry has some oil left over"

R-7B ignored the rest of the mess left on his body, "Can we do that again?" he said with a tinge of excitement.

"No, even if we could, there's none of those creatures left to kill. Not in this part of the catacombs at least. My sensors aren't picking up anything," Ron said, "Recover your blasters and let's keep moving. My battery is starting to run a little low from all that hand to hand combat, let's be quick about this"

At the mention of their batteries, the rest of the droids kicked into gear and recovered within seconds, following Ron to their destination.

After another fifteen minutes or so of walking, the group came upon the entrance to the foundry. An artificially constructed metal archway indicated the beginning of the Separatist building.

"Let's clear the area. Be on the lookout for any charging pods," Ron ordered.

The group dispersed into the room the entirety of which was copper-plated with scraps of machinery littered about the area. On the sides were various conveyor belts with droids still on them. Most of the deactivated droids were missing substantial pieces of their armor thanks to the creatures they had encountered in the catacombs. Their bare metal frameworks were the only thing left of their original body. On the opposite end of the area was a dilapidated security gate that had collapsed in on itself, leaving only a gap in the middle for entry. To the right of the gate was a wide window with the glass completely shattered.

Ron looked over at the droids still standing at the conveyor belts, "Perhaps we could rebuild them. We've wiped out the brutes that took them apart after all"

Rev looked over to Ron, conscious of the many strange behaviors he'd been exhibiting lately, 'Maybe those hits he took to the head knocked some of his bolts loose,' he thought. Walking over to Ron, he put a hand on his shoulder, "I think you need a recharge"

"Perhaps I do," Ron said looking over to him.

A short burst of white noise from their radio muddied their hearing as C-37 reported in, "Looks like I found a recharge station. It's pretty hidden"

"We're heading over," Ron said immediately.

Tucked into one of the corners of the room were a pair of recharging pods. Luckily they appeared to be undamaged thanks to their hidden location.

"Good job, you two go ahead and charge first. We'll keep watch," Ron said.

"Gladly, I haven't seen one of these in a while," C-37 said, hopping into one of the pods.

Rev stopped R-7B from stepping into the pod, "How about you go ahead Ron, I'll keep watch with R-7B here"

Ron looked between Rev and R-7B, internally fighting with himself, 'A good leader would let his squad members recharge first,' he thought, 'Although, it does seem that I have overworked my CPU,' thinking back to their encounter, he scolded himself for letting his shots get so inaccurate. Their life was on the line and he had allowed his systems to get worked up over a simple detail: The armor of their own bodies on that of an organic, "Fine, I will be quick," he begrudgingly walked over to the pod and hooked himself up, letting his systems idle into sleep mode.

"Look around for anything to help us clean up, I'll keep watch here," Rev ordered.

"Roger," R-7B faltered for a moment, glancing back at Rev as if to ask him something but he shrugged it off and continued on his way.

Rev scanned the area with his sensors before turning his attention back to the rest of their squad above ground, "OOM, we've cleared a path to the factory. How are things going up there?"

There was no response. In fact, in place of the usual silence of the radio, there was instead a constant white noise.

'Strange, must be interference,' he thought.

Unbeknownst to Rev, their signal had gone out the instant they'd ventured underground.

Above ground, OOM was dealing with his own share of problems…


A/N: This is my first time doing an actual fight scene. I've been reading a Warhammer book (The first of the Horus heresy, I just got into the series) to give me some inspiration. I've been interested in reading more of these super gory action books. If you've got any book recommendations that have some good fight scenes please do write them in the reviews or DM me. Also, I watched that Mandalorian episode (S3E3) with the battle droids. It's my favorite episode of the season obviously. I like the idea of them living out the rest of their lives chilling on some planet in the middle of nowhere while working for organics. The only thing I dislike are the voices they continue to use. That version of their voices has never boded well with me. Anyways, I don't want these to be too long-winded, thanks for reading.