Building a small village from the ground up was a taxing process, to say the least. The concept of wielding and metallurgy was entirely foreign to them and a necessary component for the production of their sanctuary. The entire crew had spent the first couple of days within the confines of their ship, researching all day and night about the inner workings of constructing a small town in the modern era. On some days it would rain, and not just a light breeze or mist but a torrent that caused quite a few floods flowing downstream from the mountains and hills around them. OOM had noted the danger this could pose once they began building and so they'd begun to place rocks and fallen trees around the perimeter of their village to ward off the incoming water. It was a temporary solution but a solution nonetheless.
The roaring of the waves outside were like the waves of incoming artillery and the thunderous claps of the lightning overhead were the heavy turbo-laser turrets of a Republic Venator-class Star Destroyer. Everyone was put on edge, their combat protocols automatically prepared for battle. They worked through the noises as best they could.
By the fifth day of their first week on their new home planet, they had drawn out plans for the layout of the small sanctuary, leaving avenues for growth later down the road. Their focus was first put on their headquarters, a dome-shaped building that would contain an armory and would be used for meetings. Four other buildings would be constructed around it. One would be their barracks where they would store their generator and other fuel sources. Another would be their research facility that would have it's own independent connection to the galactanet. The next would be a workshop for the creation and modification of technology. The last would be a storage facility. Rags had designed the buildings using OOM's descriptions of the ones he'd seen on Raxus Prime, the Confederate capital city. They were cube shaped and either squared at the top or concentrated into a sharp peak like a blade held to the sky. The headquarters would have a sharp peak while the rest would be squared. The exterior would be painted with a woodland camo sometime in the future once they established their source of income.
An income that Ron was beginning to worry about once he'd seen the cost of all their building materials. They would mainly use low-grade durasteel seeing as they didn't have much credits at hand.
OOM came to a realization upon seeing the cost of their sanctuary, "Perhaps we should find and mine these ores we detected first and establish a steady line of credits"
"You're right. We have no choice. Creating the buildings first would not give us any credits in return and we would be forced to return to working as mercenaries," Ron replied.
They were in the cockpit, huddled in a circle. Rev looked over the holotablet in his hand once Ron passed it to him.
"I did a bit of research on building a mine but not much. It's a complicated process, we'd need everyone helping out," Rev said.
"We'll put together what everyone has found about mining and go from there," Ron decided.
They left the cockpit and gathered the data. Some hours later after heading to a nearby marketplace still under Confederate control, they gathered the equipment to begin harvesting the ore. Along the cargo bay, placed in a row, were four small drills that could be automated. They were placed on small tracks allowing them to roll around on their own but could detached and used manually. They picked up four hover cart along with the drills. They could only afford so much even with all their credits. Thankfully, their CPU's made it quite easy to manage their credits and resources as efficiently as possible.
"C-05, get your squad to wheel those drills along with us. We'll all march north to the mountains. Your scans detected quite a sizable cave at the foot of the biggest of those three mountains," Ron said, he looked over to OOM, "Reduced routine"
OOM nodded in response, knowing he would be left with B-35 rather than his usual squad.
The droids marched off to the north. The forest grew denser as they ventured further, forcing them to spread out. All along the ground Rev spotted all sorts of movement, things he'd never noticed before. Little insects crawled from stalk to stalk. Around them the local wildlife watched them closely. The air lowered in temperature as they neared the foot of the mountain. Rev felt as if he were floating. His legs had become easier to lift thanks to the boost in energy from the cold air that blew onto his chassis.
It took them nearly an hours worth of walking to make it. Ron added a pair of speeder bikes on their list of equipment to purchase.
The white-tipped mountain towered over them in the same way a Confederate dreadnought had made C-37 feel as tiny as an insect when he'd visited a ship-yard long ago. The cave was a gaping wound on the mountain's foot, standing at the height and width of a light cruiser. C-37 could almost picture the image in his head.
Ron put up a fist, gesturing to stop, "Turn on your night-vision, C-05, get your squad to the back. R-7B and R-G2, get your squads in front of them"
The droids rearranged the formation in one fluid motion, like a dancing whirlpool.
They readied their blasters and marched in, the darkness enveloping them whole. The wildlife continued to appear even within the cave. All sorts of reptilian creatures scurried around the walls and ground. Insects of all shapes and sizes reacted to the slightest movement of their metal legs. The walls were rounded with dozens of sharpened peaks dotting the entire wall and ceiling thanks to years of erosion. The cave extended endlessly deeper, the dark became impossibly darker. The droids were having a hard time seeing, their night vision was struggling to fight against the darkness. There were no objects to reflect off of, the cave was too wide and tall in scope. Ron guided the team closer to the walls, keeping track of the distance they'd traveled. Rev set half of his CPU to creating a map of the area as they explored it.
Some hundreds of meters into the cave, they came upon the first fork in the path. There were two corridors that narrowed into more manageable chambers.
"Should we split up?" Rev asked.
"No, we'll get lost. I'd rather not have to rescue one of our own in such an extensive system. Stick close," Ron replied.
One corridor went upwards while the other went further down. Ron choose to head deeper seeing as titanium formed lower, closer to the heart of the planet. The crew marched as one down into the depths, the darkness becoming more bearable. The temperatures lowered significantly as their altitude lowered. Rags began to worry. There was a certain point where the temperatures could become low enough to cause condensation and short circuit their internal systems. His worries were appeased once the ground below them flattened out. The temperature approached zero degrees Celsius and wavered around there.
Ron was the first to pick up signs of titanium ore further inside the long chamber. Rev looked to the ground and noticed signs of movement. There were long streaks of disturbed gravel that periodically showed up all along the ground towards their destination. He signaled to Ron.
"If it's an animal we will eliminate it as needed. Everyone, prepare your blasters," Ron commanded.
The group dispersed throughout the tunnel, their metal footsteps echoing and confusing their audio-receptors. C-37 accidentally scraped his arm against the wall as he re-positioned. Somewhere further down the chamber, something responded. He had a hard time identifying whether or not it was an echo until it came again. It was a small tik-tik that put everyone on alert. Their focus went to their audio and photo-receptors. C-05's squad in the back pulled out their own blasters and formed a half-circle around their drills. Their circuits hummed in unison, preparing for combat once more.
Ron intensified his night vision in hopes of spotting anything but to no avail. There was only more pitch black darkness and an abundance of stalactites on the ceiling. He focused on his sensors instead but nothing appeared.
R-7B and Rev both spotted movement along the ceiling. The creature moved rapidly and made a pitter-patter noise that was just as quick. It crawled into their sight, giving only a few seconds for Rev to dodge to the side, taking Ron along with him. It was a large furry spider, about the size of a speeder bike. Two of it's front legs smacked R-7B down onto the ground where it attempted to dig it's fangs into his abdomen. It was stopped short once R-23E shot it directly in the eyes with his disruptor rifle. R-7B watched the pile of ash pour onto his abdomen. His joints crackled as he stood and readied for the next enemy.
"Are you injured?" R-23E said while rushing over to his side.
"No injuries, but my joints are getting locked up," R-7B reported. He struggled to straighten out his legs and arms to properly wield his blaster.
"Retreat back to the surface, we cannot see them in here," Ron said, walking backwards with Rev guiding his path. There had been no other hostile creatures that had come from deep within the cave but he still kept his guard up.
C-05's squad grabbed the drills and turned to leave but were stopped dead in their tracks upon seeing the congestion of spiders that had formed at the entrance of the chamber. They lined all the walls and the floor, filling every blank space with one of their own.
"A lot of enemies at the rear!" C-05 reported.
His squad began shooting barrage after barrage of blaster bolts down the tunnel. Some of the spiders would tumble and fall after being killed, slowing down the approaching wave but they never stopped. The sound of all their legs move at once made such a sickly cacophony that the crew was forced to switch to radio.
"They're quick, I can't get a good hit on them" C-5B commented.
"Did we bring that heavy blaster?" C-6C called out.
"Negative, it needed some repairs," R-U5 replied.
R-23E pulled back from the front to the rear and began unleashing as many bolts as he could up the slope, using both his blaster pistol and disruptor rifle to kill as many at one time. And yet, even with their combined firepower that lit up the cave bright enough to see the way forward, the spiders still charged at them.
"They're approaching too quickly, retreat further into the cave! I can see a fork in the path up ahead that leads upward," Ron said.
The droids were quick to follow orders and immediately began withdrawing.
C-37 pulled a thermal detonator from his waist, "Permission to use a detonator!"
"Go ahead, cover our retreat," Ron replied.
He threw the detonator into swarm of furry arachnids, their writhing mass combining into one great wave of spindly legs and giant abdomens. The detonator blew apart a large chunk of the swarm, sending detached legs flying forward into their path.
Ron detected a few more creatures ahead, "R-23E, get up here, there are more hostiles up ahead"
R-23E and R-7B rushed forward ahead of the group. They began firing at the heat signatures they detected. R-23E watched in satisfaction as one of the spiders ahead lit up as bright as a star before turning to ash. His blaster pistol dealt with another. R-7B managed to land a hit on the head of a spider that had attempted to charge directly at him. He was forced to slow down as his joints began to lock up. Suddenly, he tripped once the path sloped upward, and tried with all his might to get back up but his legs and arms were locked in place. R-23E sniped another spider into ash before turning to R-7B. He skidded to a halt and hastily carried him over his shoulders, "Do you want to have that duel or not?"
"Of course I do!" R-7B said, angrily shifting his arms in small movements. His CPU was burning hot as he became more and more frustrated with his own body.
"Then try and stay alive!" R-23E replied.
C-05's squad at the rear were struggling to wheel the drills at a fast-enough pace.
R-G2's had taken notice of their close proximity to the spiders and began to fire while running backwards, "Commander, the rear squad is having trouble keeping up"
Ron turned to see that the swarm was catching up to them, "Help them push the drills to the very front. C-37, use another detonator"
"I'm almost out, I only have two left not counting this one," C-37 replied, pulling one from his waist.
"That's alright, just buy us some time," Ron said.
He glanced backward, calculating the best trajectory and flung it as hard as he could, directly into the heart of the swarm. This time, it seemed to have caused quite a bit of damage as the spiders piled up onto each other, blocking out the path behind them.
R-G2 and C-05's squad pushed forward until they were at the peak of the slope they were climbing. Over the rise was another passageway that led into a light far into the distance.
"Keep going, we'll make a stand at this exit!" Ron said.
The swarm continued to swell and push at the crew.
They reached the top and hurriedly switched up their formation. Outside of the exit was a steep hill that led downwards into a valley where two of the mountains intersected. Trees and bushes dotted the area.
Ron examined the situation, his CPU working at full capacity. He looked at the drill at the feet of C-05.
"C-05, get in front us and activate the drills," Ron ordered.
C-05 reluctantly led his squad towards the front and pushed a button on the side of the machine.
Ron's CPU focused on the spiders next. He recalled reading about them back on Kashyyyk, 'Their weaknesses must be similar,' he thought. He turned to C-5B and C-6C at the front of the formation, "You two said you were trained in thermodynamics is that correct?"
"Yes, but it's been awhile," C-5B replied.
"Try your best to remember what you were taught and get a fire going at the very front. We'll hold your drills while you two go outside to get fuel," Ron said. Rev got the message and went up to hold onto one of the machines along with Ron.
C-5B and C-6C ran outside and immediately began piling up as many dry branches they could find. There weren't many considering the low quantity of trees in the area but it was just enough. Between the two, they carried the fuel back inside finding that the swarm was now only a few meters away from them. They threw the pile onto the ground, careful to watch the blaster fire coming from behind them.
"What should I use to ignite it, Six?" C-5B asked.
C-6C didn't give a response but instead held up a fallen branch up to the barrel of his blaster and fired a bolt into it. The end of the branch had melted leaving a stump that was glowing red. He thrust it back into the pile and watched as the fire slowly began to build.
The swarm was practically in their faces now. They retreated back into formation. One of the spiders crossed their line of defense and grabbed at C-J2's arm. He slammed the barrel of his blaster onto the spider's eyes and fire a few bolts into it's head, leaving a cloud of smoke in its wake. It's giant fangs had scratched up his arm enough to the point that he could barely move his fingers. There was a giant circle-shaped hole in the middle of his forearm.
"Get closer to me," R-G2 said, struggling to keep up with the overwhelming amount of arachnids crawling around the sides and ceiling.
Another couple of spiders managed to cross their lines again, this time however, they immediately retreated once they heard the crackle of the fire behind them. The swarm hissed and lashed out at the fire but it fought back, growing larger and larger as C-6C fed more bolts into it. There was a giant gust of wind that came from behind, fueling the inferno further. One of the spiders that had attempted to attack it was engulfed in flames. It squirmed and pushed back against the others. Soon enough, the rest of the swarm were slowly eaten up by the flames. The arachnids smart enough to sense the danger, retreated further into the cave. Most of them had been caught in the struggle and we're burning to a crisp. Only a few of the beasts managed to get away.
The crew watched as the last of their enemies began dropping, succumbing to the flame.
"Great work, C-5B and C-6C," He said walking over to the front of their formation, "Will it go out on it's own?"
C-5B and C-6C turned to each other, silently debating the question among themselves, "It should once the bodies are fully burnt to a crisp," C-5B replied after a long moment of silence.
"And how long will that take?" Ron said, inspecting the rest of their crew for damage, "Rags and R-U5 will take a closer look at you back on the ship. Just hold on," He said to R-7B.
"We're not sure," C-5B replied.
"We only ever calculated the time it would take for a tree to burn not bodies," C-6C continued.
"We'll have to take another path to get back to the ship," he said while lifting up C-J2's arm to inspect his injury, "We can fix this up back on Akiva," he muttered before turning back to the exit behind them, "Let's go, our batteries will be getting low soon"
It took another two hours to find the way back. Luckily Ron had been tracking their location since the beginning of their expedition and had recognized a tall boulder they'd passed on the way to the cave.
OOM directed the crew back inside the freighter, immediately going to Ron and Rev afterwards. They informed him of what had happened in the cave.
"Spiders? I've never encountered any myself. If there are as many as you say, it will take far too much time to clear them all out to begin mining," OOM said.
"Not if we use fire. C-5B and C-6C have the skills and knowledge to create and guide one. Their expertise can save us," Ron replied.
"I see. I don't know much about fire but wouldn't it be difficult to sustain one inside the cave?"
"I've spoken with them both already. They say we could create a pair of makeshift flamethrowers. It shouldn't be too difficult or costly to create from what they've told me"
"I haven't seen a flamethrower in quite some time. It would be a good addition to our weaponry," OOM took a survey of the rest of the droids from the cockpit door.
"C-5B and C-6C are already working on the schematics. All we need are the materials," Ron sat down at the pilots seat and set off into the skies.
The flamethrowers they'd made were finicky. Made out of the cheapest durasteel they could find and a crate they'd ripped apart to use as the canister for the fuel. It was their first home-made weapon and it wouldn't be the last. Rags was ecstatic to see another member of the team building something on their own.
"As long as it's reliable and works, it's a good weapon to me," Rags commented on their way back to the cave. It had turned to night with the amount of time it had taken to create the pair of flamethrowers. The stars above sprinkled light onto the droids as they marched through the forest. The winds continued to flow through the forest.
"I've never a seen a flamethrower being fired before," C-37 said, marching much quicker than the rest of the crew, "Let's get there quicker, I wanna see this thing working"
"Slow down, you're going to get separated," Ron ordered.
"Copy that," C-37 said in a defeated tone.
At the forefront of the group was C-5B and C-6C, with R-7B and R-23E at their sides to defend them. R-7B's joints were back to normal. The ash that had gotten into his joints was washed away easily with a few drops of water. The rest of the group were dispersed throughout the forest up until they reached the mouth of the cave. There were already signs of activity coming from within.
"My sensors are drawing lots of power. There's hundreds of them," R-23E said, preparing his rifle and pistol for action.
"Use that fuel wisely, C-5B and C-6C. It costs more out here, only shoot when they are bunched together. Let us handle the stragglers," Ron said.
They stopped right at the line where the starlight from above met the darkness from the cave.
The wind rose in velocity, lashing out at the droids with sharp concentrated blows to their abdomen. Several of the arachnids had already spotted them from within the belly of the cave and had begun to hiss but dared not to go outside their home.
"Activate night-vision, head in once I give the signal. Remember which area you've been assigned to defend. Move forward on my signal," Ron reminded the team.
They checked their blasters one last time.
Ron gave the signal to move forward. There were only a couple of spiders spread throughout the cave entrance. R-7B and R-23E made quick work of them. R-7B in particular made sure to swipe away any ashes that obstructed their path forward.
Another dozen or so of the arachnids crawled overhead midway through the first chamber. R-G2's squad riddled them with bolts and watched as they fell to the ground with loud thumps that echoed throughout the cave.
"My sensors are acting up. I'm seeing a lot but I can't tell where they are," C-37 said.
"I am suffering the same issues, hold here. I will do an intensive scan," Ron replied.
The spiders seemed to bend and react to their invasion, their hisses indicated their presence even when the droids could not see them and they could hear them everywhere ahead. It even appeared as if they had a grasp on the tactics of battle. At intervals, a single spider would poke it's head out of one of the two paths ahead of them acting like a scout for the rest of the arachnids hiding inside.
Ron's head snapped to the fork in the path on the left, "Their base of operations is somewhere above and west. Move on that position, I've marked it on the map, get ready to guard the rear"
C-5B's squad led the charge, headfirst into the swarm of spiders awaiting their arrival. The scout spider they'd sent out, scurried back towards the others and let out a high-pitched shriek, nearly damaging the droid's audio receptors.
The swarm charged forward against their attack, their bodies rubbed together, creating an ocean of noise that drowned out their voices. They switched to radio and began the assault.
C-5B and C-6C fired the flamethrowers, running a smooth line of flame across the entire swarm horizontally while the rest of the droids dealt with the spiders attempting to leap from above. The arachnids' natural instinct kicked in, forcing them back from the fire that had begun to engulf them. Those caught in the grasp of the flames shrieked and clawed at each other, in a desperate attempt to stay alive. Most of them fell within seconds of catching on fire, their lungs were exhausted of all air as the flame greedily consumed it all.
C-05 raced to the front and used one of the drills to clear a path. He pushed the burning bodies out of the way, mindful not to overheat by pulling back every now and again when a warning would pop up on his photo-receptors. He formed an arc in the middle of the dying inferno while the spiders watched.
The cacophony of noise died down with the arachnids pulling back.
Ron took time to detail the area on their map. He gazed at the white circles hung all around the walls of the chamber. There was a bend in the chamber that led to the left, with a mess of webs that obstructed their view.
"Test your fire against that white substance on the wall," Ron ordered.
C-5B, being the closest to the webs, touched a small line of flame onto the web watching as it burned it all within seconds, engulfing the egg sacs on the wall.
"That was satisfying," C-5B commented.
"Focus, continue the attack. R-G2, watch the rear. R-56V watch the sides," Ron reminded them.
Their sensors cleared up, revealing the small path upwards. Past the bend in the chamber they were currently in was another long corridor that opened up to a giant dome-shaped area, where the heat signatures were bunched up.
"Their headquarters are close, proceed with caution. Be ready for a withdrawal if I deem the situation too dangerous," Ron said.
They slowed their pace and watched the walls closely. The spider's carapaces were made for blending in with the cave. R-G2 noticed a few subtle movements behind them and reported it to Ron.
"If they swarm us from behind, C-37 will use the last of his thermal detonators," Ron said.
"Gladly," C-37 responded.
The path to the cave spider's den was clear, which only served to put them on edge. Their photo-receptors were kept sharpened and their night vision brightened to full capacity. Rev kept an eye on all of their power levels through their signals.
They came upon the main chamber. A giant hole in the ceiling brought in starlight from outside, giving the droids a view of the monstrosity before them. In the middle of the chamber was a giant web with a spider about the size of their light freighter cradled inside. All around the smaller spiders hissed and writhed in one great mass of black and blue.
"This should be easy, these organics serve as good fuel," C-6C commented.
"As long as we don't get overrun," C-5B continued.
"Stay under the cover of the entrance," Ron said, pulling back C-37 before he could get any closer, "Can your flames reach that giant spider in the center?"
"Currently no, but I can make a few adjustments and it might make that distance. It'll consume more fuel," C-6C replied.
"It will be worth it. C-5B keep your flame close distance to ward off the smaller beasts. C-6C you deal with their commander," Ron commanded.
The spiders finally took notice of their entrance and began to move in one great wave towards their position like moths to light.
"They must be eager to burn," R-7B said.
"Either way, they'll turn to ash," R-23E replied, cocking his disruptor rifle.
Rev looked back, fearing an encirclement, "R-G2, stay alert"
"No movement yet," R-G2 replied.
Rags and R-U5 huddled closer to R-56V and C-37. They were in the middle of the group, feeling as tall as the mountain itself with the support of almost all their brothers around them.
"Is your weapon ready yet?" Ron said, his photo-receptor flicking between the incoming wave of enemies and C-6C fiddling with the internals of his flamethrower.
"Almost," C-6C said, picking up the pace.
The swarm reached the point where the starlight ended and the darkness of the cave began again. C-5B calculated the distance between himself and the enemy. He pulled the trigger and waved the flame from left to right like a sprinkler. The arachnids were undeterred unlike before. They charged through the flames even as the fire spread.
"That's not good. Their commander must be strengthening them. C-6C is your weapon ready?" Ron said, firing away at the spiders to their right. His blaster was constantly on the verge of overheating.
"I'm ready," C-6C replied, hastily putting together the last of the parts.
Behind them, a smaller swarm had formed from the remnants of their previous attack. R-G2's squad set the drills down some meters ahead of them, "Enemies coming in from the rear," R-G2 reported.
"Hold the line," Ron said. He'd re-positioned to be in the middle and direct both sides.
The flames had engulfed the front-lines of the spider's forces, slowing them down to a crawl. Their bodies stacked on top of each other.
C-6C readied his flamethrower and aimed for the giant spider in the middle. It was still dormant, it's four eyes shut tight. He pulled the trigger. The flame leapt out from the barrel of his gun and gripped onto the giant spider. The web around it was almost immediately destroyed, spreading to the very back of the room. The flames reached up high, almost to the hole in the ceiling above. The room was painted in an orange light. The droids deactivated their night-vision after being blinded by the fire.
The giant cave spider awoke, and roared in anger, shaking the floors and walls. It lashed out with it's legs and tossed it's own kin to the floor, stomping on any that got in its way. It seemed to gather it's bearing after moving forward and smelling the metal that made up the droids bodies. The giant spider charged forward, moving at a tremendous speed. It thrust it's legs forward like four spears, sending the droids flying back.
C-6C made an effort to keep up the attack even while in the air. He fired another stream of fire straight onto the spider's eyes. It pulled back and screamed, stomping it's feet all around itself in pain.
The swarm that had flanked them were caught off-guard. Some of the spiders reluctantly returned to the rest of their kin. The others retreated further into the cave, seeing the flame still threatening to release from C-5B's weapon.
The droids recuperated as quickly as they could. Some of them scrambled to their feet and refrained from firing. C-5B and C-6C helped each other up and returned to the front.
"Any casualties?" Ron asked, positioning himself in the middle of their group once more.
Rev sent out a signal to the rest of the droids, "Everyone's accounted for"
They continued forward again. The giant spider's eye were severely damaged. It stumbled around the entirety of the chamber, swiping and tearing at the rest of the surviving spiders.
"Everyone fire at that giant beast," Ron commanded.
The droids spared no time and fired an onslaught of blaster fire and flames. C-5B couldn't quite reach the arachnid, he resumed spraying the smaller arachnids with his flame. R-23E shot a single bolt to the giant spider's underbelly. It suddenly bolted upward, smashing it's head against the ceiling, killing it instantly. The surrounding swarm of spiders reacted violently to their mother's death. They surged forward towards the droids. The spiders on their flank did the same, hissing while lifting their two front legs up.
R-G2 blasted one on the underbelly, killing it immediately. R-6Y recovered the last of the drills just as one came upon his right. It grabbed him with it's legs and thrust it's fangs down, only to be met by the tip of the drill. R-6Y activated it, and dragged the machine all the way down to the spider's belly, spilling it's green innards onto the floor. Other spiders around him, slipped on the blood and were swiftly cut down by his squad mates.
R-7B wrestled with one of the spiders over his blaster. It grabbed and pushed his weapon away. He threw a fist at its mouth, staggering it for a moment. He pulled out his small vibroblade and stabbed at it's mouth. The spider swatted him away. R-23E disintegrated it soon after. He turned to see R-7B being grabbed and thrown around by another spider behind them. The swarm that had been charging at the front were almost completely wiped out and only a few stragglers made their way towards them on the ceiling. R-7B was dragged off deeper into the cave along the ceiling. R-23E evaporated the arachnid pulling him away, his body hit the floor with a loud clang. He led R-7B back to the main group, pulling at his arm while fending off another arachnid with his rifle. He pulled the small vibroblade from R-7B hand and stabbed the arachnid in the eye, forcing it back. He readied his rifle and fired a single bolt at the creature's head.
"You were right to bring this blade," R-23E said handing it back to R-7B before returning to formation.
The last of the spiders ahead of them were burnt to a crisp. Only the hoard behind was left. Most of them had been killed off. C-J2 fired at the last remaining dozen of spiders approaching them.
"Eliminate those beasts and push forward. The fire is going to overheat us at this rate," Ron commanded.
R-G2 pulled ahead of the group and began assaulting the last of the cave spiders. Their fangs blocked any lethal shots but it still pushed them back. C-6C and C-5B ran to the front and carefully burnt several of them so as to create a hole in the middle of their defenses. The last four spiders were pushed back into the main entrance chamber. R-23E eliminated one. The last three grouped together in one last ditch effort to survive. They charged at the same time but were met with another line of flame meeting their extended fangs.
"Keep going, let's get out of here," Ron said, pulling one of the drills along with him.
The droids withdrew from the cave with R-7B and R-23E at the very back.
"You expect to duel me when you can't even handle yourself?" R-23E said.
"The odds weren't in my favor," R-7B replied, watching their flank.
"Excuses, do better"
Once they were in the clear, the droids ran back to the freighter.
Setting up the drills to mine the titanium was simple enough. They were automated to operate on a set path and continuously mine any ores they could find. The droids continued to clear the deeper sections of the cave system. A few stragglers from the spider nest still lingered and caused a ruckus.
R-23E and R-7B were at the front of the expedition down into the cave. The deeper they went, the more titanium they would find. The rest of the crew were split up into squads throughout the cave, with a communication line running from the entrance all the way down to R-7B's position through a line hooked to his waist.
"What will you do once we construct the sanctuary? You don't seem like a droid who can go long without fighting," R-23E asked. They had spent most of the trip in silence, keeping their audio-receptors open to the slightest hint of movement.
"I don't know. That's what I've been thinking about. Rev told me to find something else that pleases me like combat does. I haven't found anything yet. Don't tell our commanders this, but I don't want to give up fighting. If they put me to work in these mines, I'll just leave. They said we're free to do so after we help them build this sanctuary," R-7B replied. He had his blaster in one hand and his knife in the other. He twirled it through his metal digits.
"Didn't you hear Ron last time? He said he has plans for a defensive force. Where will you go anyways? You heard what our commanders said, the galaxy hates us. You'll just be enslaved again. I've seen it on the galactanet. They wipe your memory and put you to work on a farm or a factory, or wherever else the organics need you. It won't be any different from the Confederacy," R-23E replied.
R-7B stopped in his tracks and pointed his blade at R-23E, "It would be different. The Confederacy had us fight and nothing else"
"They had you fight. There were others of us that were forced to clean and repair, like Rags and at least he enjoyed it," In a flash, R-23E pulled the knife out of R-7B's hand and inspected it for damage, "Just as we enjoy combat"
"Oh. I was always on the front-lines, I never realized we had engineers or mechanics. But that doesn't matter, if Ron doesn't give me a chance to fight again, I'll just leave to the Confederacy. They still exist and they're still fighting. I could join them"
"And they would throw you away once they're finished with you. We rescued R-G2 and his squad from them, don't you remember? From what they've told me, they were forced to do manual labor that the astromechs would normally do" He extended a hand to give the vibroblade back to R-7B, "Our place is here, this is where we can fight indefinitely. Do you think the Confederacy or any other organic would let you live on your own and make your own decisions?"
R-7B snatched the blade out of R-23E's hand and resumed walking forward, "I see your point. Let's just get this over with"
Back on the surface, Ron and Rev had finally decided on a marketplace to sell their titanium. The droids had dispersed and left them on their own.
"It will only take a few months," Ron said, looking over the process of refining the titanium for sale.
"The buildings will take more than just a few months. We might have a few issues if it takes any longer," Rev replied.
"What do you mean? We have enough credits for resources"
"Our brothers are changing. Some of them want to keep fighting. I don't think they'll last long without causing trouble"
"How would we deal with these issues?" Ron said looking through his list detailing all of their squad-mates.
"They just need to fight. That's all. They need an enemy and an objective"
Ron shook his head, "I remember now. I've already told them I have plans for our more aggressive brothers but it will have to wait after we finish this mining operation. Try and keep them occupied"
"Will do"
The cave echoed the sounds of metal and the occasional whir of a drill. A small drizzle had begun to pour down on the ground outside. The gray clouds masked the sunlight with short rays of light bursting through.
Rev watched Ron at work. He pushed away all thoughts of their brothers and focused on the mining operation.
