The bright yellow sight of Maridun was like seeing an old friend again. It had been a long while since their last encounter with the planet. C-5B and C-6C in particular were glad to see the familiar sight. For a moment it felt as if nothing had changed but that feeling quickly went away as soon as it came. There were black dots sprinkled all across the boring lands of Maridun. Much more than before. Ron detected an Imperial recon ship in the area and moved to avoid it. He went to turn on their cloaking device only to remember they'd given it back to Lokah already. It was never theirs to being with. The only things they had left from the operation was the forensics device they had bought and the disruptor rifle which was now in the hands of R-23E. OOM had deemed him worthy of the weapon more than anyone else. B-35 also kept the improved wrist blaster and seemed to have taken a liking to it. He'd begun to speak more often since he'd received the upgrade. Mostly he conversed with R-7B and R-23E.
"I would like further upgrades, would the commander be capable of providing this?" He'd asked R-23E.
"Not right now but I doubt he'll deny you of an upgrade once we find a home," R-23E replied.
"Understood"
Ron retrieved the coordinates of the area where they'd first made landfall on the planet long ago. He entered the atmosphere through the northern pole to avoid detection by the Imperials. The plains of Maridun were unchanged, only the fields looked a little more saturated this time around. There was the ever constant wind flowing from one side to the other. It snaked and danced through the dried grass and flew upwards riding off the back of the rare tree.
The ship glided across the lands, disrupting the wind patterns, and landed in the same coordinates as last time.
Ron looked back into the lounge room, half-expecting to see the cargo bay of their old Separatist transport ship.
"No animals this time around or at least I'm not detecting any," Rev said.
"If there are any, they won't be a problem with our numbers," Ron said shuffling down into the cargo bay and out into the bright fields outside.
Ron made a beeline for the old mound where they'd buried the bodies of the unrecoverable B1s. He looked over the dirt until he spotted a glint of metal jutting out from the ground.
"Help me with this," Ron said, kneeling down and using his hands to dig out the bodies. It took almost half an hour. With the sun beating down on their chassis, their temperatures threatened to rise above thermal throttling levels. Between the two of them, they carried the destroyed bodies of the three B1s that they'd left behind.
Rags and R-U5 began working on them as soon as they hit the metal flooring of the bay with a clang.
The rest of the crew awaited further orders. R-G2 was still getting used to the interior of the freighter. His squad was exploring the living quarters at the very back of the ship.
"Officer Dorak had a room of his own. Do you think we'll ever be able to get our own living quarters?" C-8H asked.
"I will ask our commander. What's his name? Ron?" R-G2 said.
"That's correct," R-6Y replied.
"An organic name, strange. Do you think we should change our names?" C-J2 asked.
"It would be more efficient, but I would rather not have to reconfigure your names in my memory unit. It would take a long time. I'm the one that has to keep track of all your deaths, save for you R-6Y," R-G2 said.
"R-6Y doesn't count. He was a turret gunner not infantry like us," C-8H argued.
"Correct but, based on my recovered memories, I was also a driver and infantry before that," R-6Y replied.
"That doesn't change anything. I'm the squad leader, I have to keep all of you in check. Every droid has died at least once anyways," R-G2 said.
"Except for OOM-342, our security commander. He's lucky," C-J2 commented.
"Change your names later, I don't want to deal with that right now," R-G2 said, ignoring C-J2.
Their conversation was cut short by a call from Ron to the cargo bay.
"We will begin the search for our home today. We've recovered a Confederate map detailing a few remote locations we could use that are quite close to commercial worlds and systems. Get ready to do some exploring and perhaps some brief fighting with the wildlife or pirates," Ron announced.
The droids dispersed throughout the ship to their usual positions. Ron hopped into the cockpit and guided the ship back into the air, back towards the northern pole of Maridun, away from the Imperials.
Rev looked over the map. There were four planets marked in several sectors of the outer rim. None of them were close to each other.
"Let's start with the closest one to us here," Rev said, "It's called Omura, a mostly unexplored mountainous planet. Most organics find a hard time surviving in such environments supposedly"
"A good candidate, I'll set course for it," Ron replied.
The freighter soared back into the void that was space. The nearby sun reflected off of the shiny exterior of the ship. Ron punched in the coordinates to Omura and jumped to hyperspace.
C-5B and C-6C approached their commanders in the cockpit, "You called for us?" C-5B said.
"Yes, I was curious to know what else you two remembered about this map you were tasked on recovering," Ron sent the map over to the both of them through radio signal.
"General Grievous said something about recon ships being sent to some of the locations on this map. That's all I remember," C-6C said. C-5B nodded to confirm he didn't know much else.
"Grievous...The only organic to have instilled fear in me," Ron commented, "We might run into these recon ships if they're still there. I'll have R-23E man the dorsal turret in case we have a run in with them"
"Were you two around General Grievous often?" Rev asked. He was curious to know more about the general. As much as he'd feared him, he couldn't help but respect his ferocity on the battlefield and the ease with which he killed Jedi.
"Often, I'm not sure. We met with him personally at least four times. Most of them were on Kashyyyk," C-5B explained.
"Personally?"
"Yes, we were tasked with an important objective. You see, we were made to specialize in thermodynamics. Our job was to burn down the vegetation in certain areas to use as command posts without causing an out of control fire. From our recovered memories, we discovered that we both died sometime after the first battle of Kashyyyk. Grievous was not very happy with us," C-6C said.
Ron could feel his fans whir at the mention of Grievous' rage, "I would imagine he was. In the past I'd seen him cut down squads of B1s like they were scraps of metal. What a waste he made of our brothers. It is good that he is dead"
"I miss a lot of things about our old army but Grievous isn't one of them," C-6C said.
"So you two are good with fire?" Rev asked.
"Yes, we remember most of what we were taught," C-5B replied.
"We'll keep that in mind," Ron said.
C-5B and C-6C exited back into the lounge and sat back down with C-05 who was disassembling his blaster.
The ship lurched as they exited hyperspace. Before them was a planet covered in a mixture of white and brown. The nearby star was far from Omura but close enough to melt some of the snow on the ground level. An occasional storm appeared in the furthest northern regions with clouds so thick it almost appeared to become solid. Ron juiced up the power going to his CPU in order to distinguish the floor from the mountain ridges. He lowered the ship into the atmosphere, the wind already whipping against the cockpit window.
"This looks hostile enough to keep most explorers away but it doesn't look hospitable enough for a home. The only areas to land are the plains, I'd rather not have to expose ourselves like that. What do you think?" Ron turned to Rev.
He'd been busy staring at the mountains, entranced by the enormity of them all, "I don't know. It would take a lot of resources and money to build a base here but it would be impossible for our enemies to find it without already knowing the location"
"That is a good point. I'll get close to the peaks of the mountains, see if there are any good foundations for a base"
The mountains grew larger and larger in the view of the cockpit. It wasn't until he was a couple of thousand meters away from the peak that Ron realized the true scale of the mountains. Their size made the ship seem like a small boulder. There were small sinuous paths that led to nowhere all along the sides. For the most part, rocks obstructed any landing zones. Their spiked ridges would tear up the ship like an animal clawing at its prey.
Rev leaned in closer to the window, "I think I saw movement"
Suddenly the ship began spinning out of control, throwing the entire crew along with it. Ron struggled to stay strapped into his chair. He grabbed onto his seat with one arm and pushed at the wheel with the other until the freighter finally regained it's composure. He immediately set the throttle to full speed and back into outer space.
"I think it's safe to say Omura is not a good candidate," Ron said.
"Agreed," Rev replied.
"What's next on the map?" Ron almost felt like wiping the memory from his database.
"A planet called Nuja. Largely unexplored from what I can find on the galactanet. It's mostly filled with swamps and marshes"
"Are you two going to explain why we almost crashed?" OOM asked over the radio.
"There was something on that planet. Some animal I assume is what attacked us. It was not a good spot for our sanctuary," Ron explained.
"I see," OOM said, helping B-35 back onto his feet.
They came upon Nuja some minutes later. It was sickly green in color and clouds of green hovered over the entirety of the planet like a dense and inescapable fog.
"This one doesn't look that promising. Our ship will get stuck in all that water" Ron asked.
"I'll get a scan of the entire planet," Rev said, pushing at some buttons on the terminal before him.
"I just don't see any way of this place becoming our home"
Rev kept quiet until a medley of beeps indicated that the scan had finished, "There's lots of caves here. Big enough to store a whole dreadnought. Maybe we could build a base there?"
"We would have good concealment and it would be less taxing to build in comparison to Omura but I doubt there would be much for us here. I was thinking we could perhaps mine or farm the local resources of the planet we choose for credits. What else does that scan say?"
"It only says there's possible deposits of ores in the caves but not much else"
"I could lower us into a cave if they're as big as you say. We can run another scan in there but we would be putting ourselves in an unfavorable position"
"It's worth checking out, what if there's a rare ore here?"
"We'll do a quick scan and that's it," Ron hovered over the dark green expanses of the swamp below until he came upon a gigantic hole with no bottom in sight. He cautiously lowered into the center of the cave until their sensor array was close enough to the cave walls to do a full scan. Rev pushed at the same buttons again and sat back, awaiting the results of another scan.
"Ron, I'm seeing some movement above us," R-23E reported from the dorsal turret.
"Whatever it is, if it comes close shoot at it," Ron replied. He returned his attention to the terminal in front of Rev, "How long until that scan is finished?"
"Two minutes," Rev said.
Ron felt his seat vibrate as the dorsal turret began firing multiple times, "What did you see?"
"Some large animals, they looked like they were made of rocks," R-23E replied.
"Made of rocks?"
Rev's head whipped back up from looking at the terminal and watched as the wall before them began to move. The creatures were made of a tough carapace that matched the color and texture of the rocks around them and they skittered around on two legs with two giant arms that could cut a human in two waving in the air like crabs.
"This planet is not suitable either," Ron said, pulling the ship out of the cave. He contemplated firing the front blaster but the blast would most likely damage the nose of the freighter.
One of the rocky animals leaped from the wall right onto the dorsal turret. It scratched at the glass with it's arms. The other animals, began clambering onto the hull along with the first. Ron struggled to maintain control, the added weight began tilting the ship to one side. He could do nothing but watch as they landed on their side in one of the nearby swamps surrounding the cave entrance. The ship screeched to a halt with the rock beasts skittering away, frightened by the noise.
"The wildlife on these planets is beginning to irritate me," Ron commented.
Rev struggled to stay upright seeing as they were now slanted to the left, "The Confederacy must've been desperate to use these planets as bases"
"They were desperate the whole war. If it weren't for droids like us, they would've been defeated long ago," Ron said. He anchored his feet on his seat and made his way to the door, helping Rev get up on his own as well, "OOM, form a perimeter around the ship. B-35 we're going to need your strength to dig our ship out of this mud. R-G2, your squad will help him. The rest of you follow OOM's orders," he said over his radio to the entire crew.
"Roger, roger," B-35 said.
"Copy, security team form up on me," OOM commanded.
The entire crew filed out into the swamp. Their chassis quickly turned brown from all the sloshing through the mud. Their freighter wasn't buried too deep into the ground but enough to hide small portions of the lower half of the ship.
OOM set up his team on a narrow piece of land that provided a stable foothold. They faced the cave, prepared to fend off the rock creatures while C-05 formed a squad on the other end. The water went up to their knees and trapped their feet under the thick layers of mud from time to time.
B-35 marched over to the highest spot of the tilted freighter with R-G2 and his squadron close behind. They collectively leaned up against the ship and pulled up with all their might. Slowly but surely the ship began turning back onto its feet.
"Sir, I'm detecting more movement on my end of things," C-05 said.
"More of those rock creatures?" Ron questioned.
"No, they're humanoid"
Ron diverted his attention back to C-05. In the distance he could make a small group of humanoid silhouettes cast against the fog. They stood upon a small peninsula that jutted out from the mainland where there was less water.
One of them appeared to wave. They grew closer to the ship until finally one managed to escape the wall of fog. Ron's internal temperatures immediately heightened at the sight of the man's gray Confederate outfit.
"Battle droids! You bastards left us here to die!" He shouted.
Only a moment later did they begin firing, the shots plastered their freighter but managed to miss the droids below.
C-05 along with C-5B, C-6C, Rags, and R-U5 returned fire, blindly shooting into the fog.
"Turn on your infrared vision," Ron commanded, taking up a spot in the water beside C-05's squad.
"There's six of them from what I can see sir," C-05 reported.
"Take them out"
On the other side of the ship, a rumbling shook the ground, almost causing OOM to lose his footing.
"Ron, those animals are returning," He reported.
"Defend the ship. It will take some time for B-35's squad to get it upright," Ron said.
OOM turned to C-37, "Get your thermal detonators ready"
"Already done," C-37 replied.
The swamp ended in a long strip of stiff dirt that kept the water from flowing into the cave. All along the edge, the rumbling grew stronger until the crab-like rock creatures scrambled over the side. OOM's squad fired at the beasts. The bolts did no damage, nor did they slow them down.
"Use a detonator, C-37. R-23E put that rifle to good use," OOM commanded.
C-37 threw the detonator some meters in front of the rock crabs. It was a well timed throw as the bulk of the creatures skittered over the detonator just as it triggered, sending most of them flying into the air. It almost appeared as if an artillery shell had landed in front of them and had torn apart the ground. A few managed to escape the blast only to run into the shots coming from R-23E's rifle. It cleanly turned one of the animals into dust that settled into the water below and spread out in waves. He was careful not to let the rifle overheat before turning another to dust.
R-7B slapped the barrel of his blaster after firing a dozen shots into one of the beasts in hopes of finding a weak spot. He grabbed his blaster by the stock and charged forward, meeting one of the spiders head on and slamming his blaster downward onto the beast before pulling the trigger. Both the blaster and the spider cracked in half.
"Get back here, R-7B. You'll be torn apart by those things. C-37 throw another once you see the next wave come in," OOM commanded.
R-7B reluctantly waded back to OOM with the broken half of his blaster still in his hands, "You're lucky we have spare blasters from our old containers"
C-37 threw another detonator at the next wave.
"If they come close I'll just beat them," R-7B replied.
"Don't try it, you saw what it did to your weapon. Help C-37 direct his throws"
On the other side of the ship, C-05's squad had been able to eliminate two of the six Confederate soldiers. With their old blasters in hand, it only dawned on them after having used the disruptor rifles just how inaccurate they were. Even with their advanced targeting systems, they still could not land many of the bolts on target. Their shots went in all sorts of directions instead of where the barrel was pointed.
Ron moved to direct the squad closer to the Confederates but a loud rumbling behind him drew back his attention.
"The ship has been turned," B-35 reported.
"Everyone get on board. B-35, cover us while we withdraw," Ron commanded.
The droids kept up the assault as they staggered back inside the cargo bay until finally B-35 was pulled back on board by OOM.
Ron spared no time in getting them off the ground, not even letting the bay doors fully close before taking to the air. The rock crabs were still regrouping by the time the freighter had left the area and the Confederates continued to fire at them even from afar.
"We're not getting very lucky today," Rev said.
"Correct. To adjust for our unfavorable odds, on this next planet, we will not be exploring any caves or getting too close to the land," Ron replied.
"Agreed. I still think we should do a scan"
"We will do one but not close to the surface"
Ron punched in another set of coordinates and jumped back into hyperspace once more. His photo-receptors adjusted for the sudden change in brightness and color, "What can you find out about this next planet?"
"It's called Anatola. It's an ocean planet with some islands"
"Not very concealing"
"No but I think we could do something at the very bottom of the ocean"
"Maybe," A warning popped up in Ron's system log, "All that water...scan yourself for any damage from the moisture"
Rev did so and found some indications of some wear in the joints of his legs, "I guess we should get used to dealing with rust"
"We'll plan for it," He switched to their radio, "OOM, have everyone scan themselves for any water damage"
"Copy that," OOM lingered on the line, "I should tell you that R-7B broke his blaster trying to fight those creatures with his hands"
"I will keep an eye on him," Ron said.
Rev felt for his own blaster on his back, "R-7B has been acting strange recently. I'll have to talk to him"
"He is a vital squad member. He fights with a ferocity I have not seen in many droids. Ensure he doesn't do anything too destructive. We need droids like him to protect our home"
"Will do"
Their photo-receptors were confused for a brief millisecond as the blue from hyperspace never quite went away thanks to the dark blue hue from the ocean planet before them.
"I've never visited an ocean planet before," Ron commented, "This will be interesting to see at the very least"
"On second thought, I don't think this planet would serve very well for our base," Rev said. A strange electric sensation had come over him the second he'd seen the vast ocean of Anatola. There was something eery about it.
"I'll hover over the islands below for a short time, do not worry. Get that scan prepared," Ron said while dipping the freighter into the atmosphere.
Rev reluctantly pressed at a few buttons and listened to the hum of the ship's systems as the scan began. There was a strong wind that fought against them. The surface of the ocean extended endlessly at all sides and for a brief moment, Rev thought he caught signs of movement on the surface. He relayed the information to Ron.
"I'll get us a little higher," Ron said, pulling on the wheel.
Off in the distance, several tan and green spotted islands appeared. They were long, thin strips of land that were wide enough to accommodate several ships. All along the coastlines of each island were flocks of bird that circled around the beaches.
"It would be costly to develop technology for an underwater base. I don't think this will do but let's see if there's any resources to harvest here," Ron commented, looking over to Rev who was frozen staring at his hands, "Rev?"
He looked up, "I don't think this planet would be a good option, let's get out of here"
"Why? Let's just do a scan"
"No, pull up"
"Are you alright?"
"There's some sort of interference messing with my systems. Just pull up," Rev reached for the wheel himself.
"Alright, if you say so," Ron said, blocking Rev's hand with his body. Only a moment later, he felt the same interference. Not only that, but it seemed to be growing. Pushing up through his legs, all the way to his photo-receptors, "You're right, I can feel it. What is that?"
He concentrated his system's focus to his audio receptors, attempting to hear past the hum of the freighter's engine. On the lowest frequency he could adjust to, he heard a deep rumbling that was growing in volume.
"I don't know and I don't want to know. Please just get us out here," Rev kept his photo-receptors on his hands.
There was a blip that appeared on the radar, directly below their position.
"Oh, I see," Ron pushed the throttle to max capacity. He was glad he couldn't see the ocean below as he watched the blip on the radar grow twice in size. A rumbling roar erupted from somewhere below, shaking the ship and disturbing the clouds around them. The noise simultaneously grew and faded away. Once they made it past the atmosphere, Ron looked over to Rev and shook his shoulder, "Your sensors saved us"
Rev lifted his head for the first time since they entered the planet, "I think we can cross out any ocean planets from the list"
He looked over the Confederate map himself, "Do not worry, that was the one and only ocean planet"
He set course for the next planet, glancing over to Rev who was struggling to keep his head up, "Tell me about the next one"
Rev fumbled with the map on his holotablet, "It doesn't have a name. All that's known about it is that there's a variety of biomes across the entire planet but its mostly filled with forests. Nobody has explored the surface yet"
"It sounds hospitable but I will be cautious nonetheless"
Upon first sight, Ron had already started a scan of the surface. It was a mostly green planet with some oceans scattered about the entirety of it and an assortment of colors splattered about the furthest poles.
The ship beeped as the scan completed, "This is looking promising," Ron said as Rev relayed the results, "There is an abundance of ores. A lot of wildlife but I believe it will be manageable"
"There's seasonal changes to the weather too. We'd have to work around that," Rev replied, his sensors were slowly beginning to complete re-calibration.
"Let's see if there's any clearings we can use as a landing area," Ron's head slowly scanned the view from one side to the other. He slowed their velocity and turned to Rev, "I think this could be it"
Their freighter hovered the ground and made a soft thud on the grass below. They were in the thick of a dense forest with no end in sight. Hills rolled the trees upward in some parts, forming a valley. The clearing where they had landed was positioned at the southern end of the valley, just before the foot of one of the hills. There were a variety of animals skittering around, eyeing the giant metal beast that had disturbed their environment.
Ron gathered up the crew in the cargo bay, "I have not yet decided if this will be the location of our sanctuary or not, but it is promising. I would like for you all to give me your personal opinion of where we should create our home after we explore a small portion of this area"
The droids signaled their response. The familiar humming of their collective radio signals brought a comforting sense of unity to them all. To Ron, it was almost reminiscent of the power he'd felt marching as one with his brothers back on Geonosis.
"OOM, you will stay here as usual. The rest of you will explore the area to analyze the environment. We need more scans of the ground and flora before I can make my final decision," Ron's photo-receptors swept the room, attempting to gauge the crew's reaction, "Move out, return to the ship in ten minutes"
The droids dispersed around the landing zone. All of them moved in different directions to cover the most area. The animals in the area had taken an interest in them. Some of the birds watched curiously from afar. A group of four-legged furry creatures hid behind a bush to avoid contact with C-5B and C-6C. They were the only ones to have gone further up hill. There was a natural path that had formed out of the path of a centuries old glacier. It had deformed and split the ground in two, leaving a scar along the base of the hill up to the very top. Their pistons hissed and jerked against the grass below until they came upon the apex. The nearby sun had only just begun to set past the horizon, sending rays of light running through the entire forest. Their chassis reflected the light and appeared to glow.
"What are you thinking of doing once we build this sanctuary?" C-5B asked, his CPU began a visual scan of the area.
"Not sure. Fighting and burning down trees is all we've ever done. Probably one of those two things," C-6C replied.
"As long as we're doing it together. I was thinking maybe we could upgrade our weapons like that technology seller we helped. Once we have the credits, we can put something together. Rags and R-U5 could help us"
"That would be fine. We could build flamethrowers for our blasters, we have the knowledge to do it"
"Sounds like a good idea," C-5B gestured for C-6C to follow him back down the hill.
R-7B trudged along deep into the forest until he was at the lowest level. Behind him, R-23E struggled to keep up.
"Slow down," R-23E said.
R-7B stopped in his tracks and turned back towards him, "This place is the perfect spot for a duel"
In the middle of the field of trees that covered the sun overhead, there was a small circular patch of grass. A hole in the trees formed around the patch of grass, illuminating the spot in contrast with the shadows around them.
"Is that what you're thinking about?"
"Yes, I think we should have one here right now," He pulled out a small vibroblade, "Ever since I've learned about it, I've wanted to experience it myself. Two warriors fighting one-on-one," He tossed another blade to R-23E who caught it in one hands.
"Have you ever used a blade before?" R-23E twirled the blade around his three metal fingers, getting a feel for it in his hands.
"No, but we could learn. Our fists can only do so much damage in close-quarter combat. A vibroblade can cut through armor if it is sharp enough," R-7B clutched the blade tighter in his hand.
"I prefer a blaster," R-23E tossed the knife back to R-7B.
R-7B strapped the knives back onto his waist, "They serve their purpose in long range combat just as blades do at close-range. I want to learn more about them. Obviously, you don't share my interest," He continued his march deeper into the forest.
"I am curious, but now's not the time to duel. We could be attacked out here. Once we get this sanctuary up, you can duel with me all you want, but you'll lose. I'm already used to using a blade. I was an assassin, a prototype of the commando droids. You are just infantry"
R-7B shook his head, a gesture he'd picked up from Rev, "My recovered memories tell me otherwise. I was once a turret gunner. I will defeat you. You will see"
R-56V, C-37, and C-05 trudged along a makeshift path to the west of their landing area.
There was a sprawling ecosystem of bushes filled with berries that had flourished in the shade of a giant tree. The rays from the setting sun sprinkled through the thicket in a shower of light.
"What are these colorful circles?" C-05 said plucking one.
"I still have a connection to the galactanet, let me see if I can find anything," R-56V replied.
"They look like small thermal detonators. They would be good for a trap…," C-37 commented.
"They're called berries and can be eaten by organics," R-56V said.
"I've never seen anything like them," C-05 said, holding one in the tips of his fingers.
"Take a scan, maybe we can sell them"
"So they're edible? I wish I could taste one," C-37 said, popping one in his fingers. He wiped the juices off of his hand onto the leaves of a bush.
"Tell R-U5 and Rags to make us a mouth if you really want to," C-05 collected a bunch and cradled them in the palm of his hand, being careful not to pop them.
"That'd be a waste of our credits. I'll ask them to help me with creating more thermal detonators. Maybe even a new type of detonator...," C-37 looked off into the distance as several ideas popped unto his head.
"Let's get back, I think we've done enough scanning," R-56V replied.
Ron watched as the droids slowly trickled back into their view. R-G2's squad had opted to stay back and help run maintenance on their freighter. Rags and R-U5 were still inside, busy with studying and developing their own temporary cloaking device based on the one Lokah had given them for a short time.
R-7B and R-23E were the last to return and just on time.
Ron rallied the crew back on-board. Spending some time going over the scans with Rev.
"Fruits, wild animals to hunt and sell. Plenty of solid ground, high vantage points…" Ron said looking at R-23E's scan.
"And there's indications of some titanium underground," Rev added as he went over C-05's report.
Ron stood and gestured for Rev to follow. The crew awaited his response in the lounge area.
"I have made my decision. We will be using this planet for our sanctuary," Ron watched as the crew stirred, "Do you all believe this is will be a suitable location?"
"It has plenty of strategically advantageous locations for a defense," OOM noted. C-05 nodded in agreement.
"There's lots of resources for us to sell. I'd say this planet is perfect," C-5B continued.
"Then this will be our home. It does not have a name but we can come up with one as we go along. Your scans indicate there is a solid area for us to begin building the sanctuary east from here. It appears to be a plain surrounded by mountains. It should be good for a defense. There is still much work to do but I promise to you all, you will be able to live a life of your choosing without the worry of fighting a war. And for those who wish to keep fighting, you may join our defense force," Ron said, looking to R-7B in particular, "I have more plans for those who wish to continue acting as soldiers but that will be for another time. Get to your positions"
The trip over to the location was quick. Upon first sight of the hilly location and the white-tipped mountains in the distance, Ron knew this would be the spot. In the area was also a dense forest with a river running through it, forming a semi-circle that ran through the location in the southern side. The hills around were wide enough to accommodate vehicles and other defense units.
"This location is suitable. These scans also show a possible vein of titanium in the mountains up north," Ron commented.
"How would we conceal our bases? It's out in the open," Rev replied.
"Perhaps we can plant some trees in between our bases. There's much room for experimentation," Ron said before heading out.
He ordered them to disperse and get another scan of the area. He looked to Rev and OOM beside him. He looked to the entire crew, the satisfying hum of their collective radio signals intensified, "Get Rags and R-U5 out here. It's time to start planning"
A/N: This site went down when I posted the last chapter and it seems like it messed something up so I hope nothing happens this time. Right now I'm planning for this story to end at around thirty one chapters. So only six more chapters to go. I've also got some side stories planned as I said before. They'll be short, not over 100k words like this one and they'll focus on some of the battle droids Ron's team recovers after building the sanctuary. Thanks for reading. This month and the previous two have been the most active for the story so welcome to all the new readers.