A few months within the beginning of their mining operation, the droids finally began construction of the sanctuary, starting with the headquarters. Ron and Rev looked upon the skeletal foundation they'd created. It was a small start but a start nonetheless.
"You know, I didn't think we would make it this far. We are lucky to have even made it off Felucia," Ron remarked.
"What? But you had a plan back then didn't you?" Rev said, whipping his head towards Ron.
"Truthfully, no. Our programming prevented me from going far in my rebellious thinking. I remember it clearly. It would always wipe my thoughts away whenever they would stray too far. The only anchors I had to retain my personality and train of thought were old memories"
"I guess neither of us knew what were doing back then"
"We're here now, that's all that matters"
Rev looked over at B-35 lifting up another pillar of metal, "We're almost out of durasteel again"
"We almost have enough credits to buy the rest needed for construction. Tomorrow we will go to the market"
Rev turned his attention over to the rest of the crew, he noted the lack of their usual members. R-G2's squad had been dispatched to the mines in order to keep an eye on their drills. They'd set up containers all around the mine to hold the ores. But something else caught his eye. There were another two droids missing.
"I think we might have an issue"
R-7B stabbed at R-23E, the sharpened edge of his vibroblade cut through the wind itself. R-23E dodged with unprecedented speed, swiftly shifting to R-7B's blind side. He grabbed at R-7B's arm and pulled him to the side while sticking a foot beside his leg. R-7B fell to the ground with the vibroblade still clutched tightly in his hand. He slashed at R-23E's leg, only for him to dodge it just as easily. R-23E pinned down his arm with one leg. R-7B's other arm went to reach for the blade but R-23E pinned it down with his other foot.
"Your pistons and joints are the same as mine, you shouldn't be this slow," R-23E said standing over R-7B.
"Shut up!" R-7B said writhing under R-23E's legs. He pushed himself forward in an attempt to topple R-23E but he simply bucked his knees in response.
"Your artificial emotions are getting in the way of your combat performance. Gain control of them or else I'll be standing on your arms all day," R-23E replied.
R-7B concentrated on cooling his CPU, he waited a few moment before pulling his body backwards with all his might, sending R-23E onto his back. He grabbed the vibroblade while falling forward, thrusting it downwards towards R-23E's abdomen. R-23E pushed himself to the side just as R-7B's blade embedded itself into the dirt. He pulled it out, taking chunks of dirt and roots with it. He slashed at R-23E again who dodged the strike just as easily as before. R-23E locked his arm out, keeping R-7B's knife-wielding arm in place. R-7B dropped the blade to scoop it up with his other hand. R-23E kicked it away before he could reach it. He pulled R-7B forward and rotated to be behind him while they fell, constraining his legs with his own and wrapping his arms around his torso and arms in a tight hug.
"Now you're just trying to actually damage me. This is is a duel, not an actual fight, remember that," R-23E said.
R-7B stayed silent, contemplating on how he could escape. Eventually he realized there was no way of getting out, "I accept defeat"
R-23E let go of R-7B's arms and legs and pushed him off his body.
They gathered their discarded blades. R-23E went to hand back one of them to R-7B.
"You can keep it," R-7B said, "You're better with it than me. I don't have any reason to have two anyways"
R-23E nodded and held it in his hands.
"Let's get ba-" R-7B said before stopping in his tracks.
Rev stood at the edge of the clearing they had been using to duel.
"What are you two doing?" Rev asked.
"We were training for close quarters combat," R-23E replied.
Rev shook his head, "Next time, let me know so we can give you a spot to train. We have to keep track of everyone. We don't want to lose anyone to the wildlife out here. You know how dangerous it can be"
"I apologize. I didn't think you would approve," R-7B replied.
"You want to fight. I understand. You can train. It's necessary for us battle droids. Just hold on for a little while longer. We have something planned for you," Rev said.
"Really?"
"Yes, I can't say what just yet but I promise it'll be worth it"
"I'll trust your word," R-7B said walking alongside Rev and R-23E.
They waded through the tall grass, back to their headquarters.
The next day Ron gathered the crew in the freighter and set course for the marketplace. Together, they marched into the city of Ghorma on the planet of Daphermil, an old formerly Confederate-aligned commercial planet. It's skies were painted a strange neon blue thanks to a nearby nebula that covered the local star-system in it's colors. The planet held one of their previous hideouts, hastily set up in the midst of the city's underground sewer system in the long abandoned outpost of an old militia dating back to the Old Republic. The city was a flat and boring gray with darker shades of blue and white used on most of the buildings. There were numerous skyscrapers that extended high into the sky. The layout of Ghorma was antiquated in comparison to most other modern cities. There was air traffic but not much. Most of the businesses still operated on the ground instead of being accessible through speeders like Coruscant. In the heart of Ghorma stood the ancient Tyamor marketplace, the city's birthplace. It was the biggest of three former Confederate-aligned marketplaces and the only one that still allowed droids to purchase goods without the consent of their master. Ron still thought it would be best to keep their disguises on.
They were en-route to Tyamor from the hangar-area on the outskirts of Ghorma. The sprawling city had mostly concrete footpaths with few routes for speeders to take. The skyscrapers contained most of the businesses on the floor-level. Some were out in the open and operated in mobile hover-containers. The crew was mostly silent, save for R-7B.
"I felt something. A signal. A Confederate signal," He said to R-23E. They had passed a bar, it's neon blue lights matching the sky above with red letters in the middle of a rectangular sign, "It was from inside of there," He pointed to the bar.
"This used to be a Confederate planet, they're most likely using our old frequency," R-23E replied.
"No, it was different. I swear," R-7B tugged at R-23E's arm, "Come with me, I want to check it out"
"No, we have to stay together as a group," R-23E said pulling his arm away.
"Fine, I'll check it out myself. I'll meet you at the market, I know where it is," R-7B strutted back to the bar.
R-23E switched to their radio signal, "R-7B! Come back!" He glanced to the others before reluctantly pursuing R-7B. He caught up to him, "What are you doing? Just because you feel a signal doesn't mean you should pursue it. This could be a trap"
"This one's different. There's a battle droid here. There just has to be," R-7B said, entering the bar.
There was a row of seats at the front bar with the other side of the small building having square tables and tall rounded chairs to separate each table. R-7B continued forward, feeling the signal growing stronger and stronger. He stopped right in front of an empty seat beside a cloaked figure with gloved hands. He sloppily set up a communications line with the signal he was detecting.
"Hello, can you hear me?" R-7B said through the line.
The figure whipped his head around to face R-7B, "Who are you? How are you doing that?"
"You're a battle droid aren't you?"
"Affirmative, I am a commando droid. I'm assuming you're another droid, considering you can talk to me through here"
"I am a B1 unit. I'm – we're part of a group of B1 battle droids creating a sanctuary. We could use someone like you. I've seen commando droids fight. You're good with vibroblades aren't you?"
"Of course. It's our specialty," The commando droid stood and made his way outside, glancing back towards R-7B and R-23E, expecting them to follow. They stood close to the bar's entrance, "I am intrigued. A sanctuary? I didn't think anyone else survived"
"Our commanders, Ron and Rev, they survived somehow and brought us back to life," R-23E replied.
"They must be skilled to have made it out of the war alive and reactivated you two. Are there more of you?"
"Yes, we're a large group. How did you manage to escape the Confederacy?" R-7B replied.
"I was the bodyguard of a Confederate officer who knew many things about the inner workings of a droid like me. He set me free. I owe my life to him," The commando droid crossed his arm and looked past the both of them.
"Where is he?" R-7B asked.
"He is dead. Killed by his own superiors who, in turn, were killed by me. Joshua was his name. He reprogrammed me, taught me much about the galaxy and organics"
"We could use your expertise. Will you join us?" R-7B replied.
The commando droid looked to the floor, his hood flapping with the wind, "I don't see why not. This mercenary organization pays me next to nothing and the merchants refuse to sell anything to me. The galaxy hates us droids"
"I never realized it was that bad," R-7B said.
"It's much worse than that. I'm lucky nobody's put a restraining bolt on me"
"Come with us, we'll introduce you to everyone," R-23E said, already walking ahead, "Let's go back to the ship. I've been tracking their signal, they're looking for us back at the hangar," He said to R-7B.
R-7B was already dreading the inevitable reprimand he would receive for going against orders.
'He will understand. I found another one of our brothers,' R-7B reasoned with himself.
Near the entrance of the dimly lit bar sat two trandoshans. Their faces were permanently scrunched up into a scowl. One leaned out from the table they were sat at, looking up and down the aisles before retreating into his seat.
"Those two that came in, they looked familiar," One of the trandoshans said to the other in their strange language.
"They all look the same to me," The other said. His voice was gravely and weathered from age. The end of his snout was a simple stump and had visible burn marks permanently etched into his scales.
"No wonder you have so many scars"
The older trandoshan hissed.
"Focus. Like I was saying, those two, they looked like the ones that attacked our base"
"What base? We haven't had one since…," The older trandoshan turned to the other, intrigue sparkling in his eyes.
"Yeah, that's right, since our stint with the cartel"
"You think that was them?"
"I don't know, but I'd say it's worth checking out"
The younger trandoshan peeked through the front window of the bar, "Damn, they're gone"
"I'll talk to Skisi, he knows everyone who comes in and out of the city"
They got up from their chairs and tossed a coin to the bartender.
R-23E and R-7B entered their room in the hangar area, finding Ron and Rev already facing them.
"Where have you two been? And who is this?" Ron said once they reached the foot of the freighter.
"I found one of our brothers, a commando droid. He was in one of the buildings that we passed," R-7B gesturing towards their new member.
The commando droid, threw his hood back, revealing his gray head and white eyes underneath," he strutted up directly to Ron and Rev and looked between them, "Your crew mate tells me you are building a home for battle droids. Is this true?"
"Yes, away from all organics," Ron replied.
"I will join you. I am unit R-90 or as my former commander called me, Dornan, at your service. I am impressed that you two managed to escape the Confederacy. You have my respect," R-90 said.
"Welcome to the team," Ron said extending a hand.
The commando droid shook it before boarding the ship.
"You two, do not go off on your own again. I must be aware of your locations, especially in a city like this. R-7B meet me in the cockpit," Ron said before walking back into the freighter.
"Like I said, we're supposed to stay together," R-23E said, walking beside R-7B back into the freighter.
The cargo bay had been filled with pillars and chunks of durasteel. All transported on a rented speeder they'd left out in the hangar-area.
R-7B entered the cockpit, mindful of keeping his CPU cool.
Ron was standing at the cockpit, faced towards him, "This is the second time you've gone off on your own with R-23E. He has reported everything to me"
"He did?"
"Yes, he understands why we stay together but I'm not sure you do," he looked past R-7B, ensuring no one else was in the area, "I have been watching the galaxy since the end of the war. I've known for a long time how organics believe we are lesser beings than them. I saw it clearly with General Grievous. Now that we lost, that sentiment has only become worse. Do you understand why we stay together?"
"To fight the enemy as one," R-7B replied.
"During combat yes, but what about during our non-combat missions?"
"Uh – to make sure we aren't ambushed"
"Almost. It's to ensure none of us are kidnapped by the organics. It's quite easy for us to be disabled by any shock blaster. Once they get a hold of us they reprogram our systems and turn us back into mindless machines for their personal use. Do you understand now?"
"I think so," R-7B nodded.
"Let me clarify," Ron said stepping closer to R-7B, "I do all of this, take all of these precautions because I want you all to stay alive and to survive. Live a life of your choosing. If you want to continue living as a soldier then I will let you, but please fight for a meaningful cause, not just to sate your blood-lust. We were made to be replaceable, to be tossed out onto the front lines and use our bodies as cover for the bigger droids. But you are all irreplaceable to me. If you die, we will feel your loss. There is no other droid that fights as hard as you and I know you can be even tougher than that. If you think of your brothers at your side and behind you and all those that never made it out of the Confederacy alive, that never had the chance to live, I believe you could be the toughest droid of them all. But you can't improve if you so carelessly throw your life away"
"I'm sorry," R-7B said averting his gaze.
"Don't be, it is in your programming to fight, I would be foolish to force you to stop," Ron stopped for a moment, "I guess I should tell you now. I have been planning on forming a team to go out and find other droids, perhaps even without my leadership. We will cause a ruckus, not so much that the Empire gets curious, but enough to hopefully inspire other battle droids to look for us. Once we have access to another ship, I will see if you are capable of leading a team on your own. I have made a map detailing old combat areas where I have fought in the past. If the scavengers haven't gotten to them, we will gather as many of our brothers as we can. That will be our mission after we finalize the sanctuary"
"I can do it," R-7B replied eagerly.
"We will see, just hold on for awhile longer. It might be a few years until you can go off on your own, but we have to earn more credits first. If you truly want to go out and fight while helping our brothers enslaved by the organics, help me finish things here first"
"Of course," R-7B turned to leave, "I didn't realize it before, but thank you for saving me, for saving all of us back on Felucia"
Ron nodded, "I wish I could've brought all of them, it was a hard choice to leave them behind. But I believe with this team, we can save at least a platoon's worth of our brothers," He pressed a button on the ship's interface behind him, "Get in position, I hope you understand now"
R-7B walked out of the cockpit.
Ron took a seat at the pilot's seat. Rev came in after seeing R-7B leave.
"You did good," Rev said.
"Thank you, now lets get back on track," Ron started up the ship and set for the stars.
Back on their home planet, the entire crew worked day and night putting together the steel, wielding the pieces together with Rag's blow torch. By the end of the week, the dome-shaped building was complete, even the interior with individual rooms. R-7B, reinvigorated by Ron's small speech, had worked non-stop along with B-35, until his battery would hit ten percent. After which, OOM would force him to recharge.
During their down-time most of the droids would work on improving their marksmanship or maintain the drills over in the mine.
Dornan had taken a liking to R-7B and R-23E. The same day he'd been picked up by the crew, he had watched as R-7B and R-23E trained with their vibroblades in a small clearing near the freighter. His circuits tingled with amusement as he watched R-7B lose for the fifth time in a row. He decided he'd seen enough. He took slow steps towards R-7B who was already preparing for the next round, "You're too stiff. Get looser"
"I'm made of metal, how am I supposed to get loose?" R-7B asked, turning his attention to Dornan.
"What I mean is," Dornan pushed on R-7B arm, "Relax your joints. You limit your movement by keeping them stiff"
R-7B allowed his arms to fall and flow with Dornan's push.
"Good. Now, when you attack you should stiffen your joints but only briefly. Try again," Dornan said, taking a few steps back.
R-7B readied his combat protocols once again. Taking Dornan's advice, he stayed relaxed and charged forward. He made three quick slashes at R-23E who dodged them easily. R-23E struck back, thrusting his blade forward. R-7B dodged to the side and slashed downward. R-23E was caught off guard for once and only just managed to escape the attack.
"There you go," Dornan said from the sidelines, "You two could use some improvement. How about I train you?"
"We would appreciate it," R-7B responded almost immediately.
R-23E was reluctant to say anything, "I only plan to use blasters for the most part. I'm fine with my current skills"
"Really? And when an organic comes along and beats you in hand-to-hand combat, and you fail a mission, will you be fine with that?" Dornan asked.
R-23E clutched his vibroblade tighter, "You have a point. It wouldn't do any harm to improve my skills"
"Exactly," Dornan let his coat fall from his back and pulled the long vibroblade from his back, "First let's start with an evaluation. You," He pointed his blade at R-23E, "R-23E, is that right?"
"Correct"
"I'll start with you. Attack me, I will not strike back. Give me your all," Dornan said, holding his vibroblade in one hand, down by his waist.
R-7B stepped away, his feet trampled over a patch of tall grass in the shadow of a tree.
R-23E closed in on Dornan, his smaller blade held out. In one smooth movement, like the violent gusts of wind of a tempest, he slashed a flurry of strikes diagonally in every direction at Dornan's blade. He blocked every hit and pulled back. Keeping true to his word, he did not fight back even as his circuits screamed for him to do so.
R-23E inched closer to him, until the toes of their feet nearly met. He speared his blade towards Dornan's abdomen only to be met by his larger vibroblade, he feinted another diagonal slash before spearing his blade once again at Dornan's metal stomach. This time, he managed to scratch at his chassis, pulling back before he could do any damage.
Dornan looked down at the new scar on his chassis, "You're much quicker than any B1 I've fought with"
"I was a prototype of your model. An assassin B1 battle droid is what they called me," R-23E replied.
"That explains it," Dornan lowered his blade, "You are quick and learn fast, but your footing-" He kicked at R-23E's leg, sending him tumbling to the ground, "-needs improvement"
He extended a hand to R-23E and helped him back to his feet, "That can be fixed very easily," he turned to R-7B, his glowing eyes reflecting off of his chassis, "R-7B, I believe you'll need a little more guidance"
"I know," R-7B replied, getting closer to the both of them.
"I hear you are a passionate fighter, is that right?"
"I guess you could say that"
Dornan turned to him and readied his blade once again, "Show me"
R-7B stepped a few paces forward and held out his blade. He was mindful to keep himself relaxed and heed the words of his new mentor.
An idea popped into his train of thought, tickling at his internal circuitry. He slowly raised the blade above his head, grabbing it with both hands.
Dornan was intrigued to say the least, 'An unorthodox fighter, he will either miss his first strike or land a thousand,' he thought.
R-7B brought the blade down like a hammer, putting his whole weight into the strike. Dornan clenched his blade as tight as he could and blocked the hit. R-7B was quick to recover and stepped to his side, stabbing at his arms and upper chest. Dornan blocked the first strike but received a deep scratch on the second. The blade had nearly pierced through his armor.
"Control yourself or I will strike back," Dornan warned.
"Sorry," R-7B pulled away.
"One more time," Dornan said.
R-7B reluctantly assumed position again. The last thing he wanted to seriously hurt another droid. Such a mistake would pain him more than any physical wound could've before his pain receptors had been shut off.
He held the blade with both hands again. He feinted a piercing strike, and instead slashed upward. Dornan went to push his sword against the first strike but recovered from the feint in less than a second, thrusting his blade down onto the smaller dagger.
"I've seen enough," Dornan said, "You are quick but I can make you even faster. An organic wouldn't be able to keep up. You two have lots of areas to improve on. I'll talk to your commander...Ron, and see if he approves of a good training program"
"I'm sure he'll approve of it," R-7B replied.
"We'll see," Dornan said.
Ron entered their finished headquarters. In the middle sat a round table that was sitting in for a holotable they would acquire some time in the future. The only other set of equipment they had on hand were two charging pods that had been placed to the side in one corner of the headquarters. Their generator was set up to power the pods for the time being while they looked into a more permanent power solution. The rest of the building was empty.
"It is barren but finished. We can move on to the armory next," Ron said to Rev as he surveyed the interior.
"R-23E said there's room to make a small range here. Do you think we could create something like that here?" Rev said.
"Let's focus on finishing the buildings first"
Dornan sauntered over to Ron, "Your crew needs some improvement with their swordsmanship. How about I set up a training program? For everyone here, I mean"
Ron was silent for a moment, "Go ahead, but only during their down time. I'd like to focus on building the rest of the sanctuary. Most of them have no experience using a vibroblade or any other melee weapon. Keep in mind, we're not as agile as you"
"Trust me, I know. I'll start off with those two," Dornan pointed over to R-7B and R-23E behind him, "They'd do well in a sword fight working together. Your partner in crime, Rev, tells me they're inseparable"
"Partner in what?" Ron tilted his head.
"It's a saying the organics use. Just means you two are buddies. I'm not the type to work with others but I can respect a good pair of droids working with one another," Dornan crossed his arms. He stood at the same height as the rest of the droids, save for B-35, but his demeanor made him appear much larger than he truly was.
"I believe you would work well with B-35 over there," Ron pointed over to B-35's towering figure in the corner. He was silently keeping watch over the entire area with OOM.
"I've worked with B2s before, they're too rigid for my style of fighting…I'll leave you be," Dornan said, returning to R-7B and R-23E.
"Nakssa," Skisi said, thumping a holotablet onto the tablet before him, "This is all I could find. They head to the market on the same day, every month"
Nakssa carefully held the tablet in his clawed hands, "This is good, now all we need to do is intercept their ship"
"We? I'm going alone, last thing I need is you tripping on your own feet and giving away our position again," Krunnoh said from the doorway. His shadow overlooked Naskssa's withering figure.
"I'm getting old, what do you expect?" Nakssa replied, rubbing the end of his burnt snout. A habit that had stuck from having to wipe burn gel on his snout for so long.
"Getting old? You are old"
"Forty five years isn't that much"
"The cartel did a lot of damage to you, even a frist wolf could kill you now"
"Why don't we test that theory?" Nakssa reached for his blaster.
Skisi hissed at them both, "I don't have time for your stupid antics! This is why I never invite you two up here, always causing trouble. Just give me my credits and get out!"
Nakssa glared at Krunnoh for a long second before placing a small cloth bag onto the table, "Thank you for your business, Skisi. The Scorekeeper favors you"
The moment they hit the concrete ground outside the office building, Nakssa immediately threw a punch at Krunnoh's jaw knocking him to the ground.
"I might be old, but I'm stronger than you kid. Remember that," Nakssa said.
Krunnoh wiped the blood off his nose. He swiped Nakssa's feet off the ground and pinned his snout to the ground, putting a knee on his back, "And I'm faster. Don't get us caught this time," he pulled Nakssa back onto his feet and trudged along back to his ship.
A/N: I probably shouldn't say how many chapters I have left, none of this is set in stone just yet. I'll just say hopefully this story will end before it hits forty chapters. I don't want it to be too long winded. I had to separate this chapter in two so I will post one today and the next tomorrow. Thanks for reading.
