I don't know what to call it, a miracle or a curse. I was ripped from the Confederacy's hands by a band of rogue B1s much like myself. Even a B2 is among them.

I don't know whether I should be thankful or furious. I was only a squadron of B1s away from finishing my work on Boleria. Though, if I'm to be honest with myself, my motivation was quickly depleting. I wasn't seeing much point in going on anymore. But these droids have changed that. They've changed everything. My one greatest wish has come true. I am living with other droids and for once, we are commanded by a B1. He calls himself Ron.

He's a peculiar B1. I don't know what model he is but he exudes an aura of wisdom and confidence that I've never seen in a droid before. He must be old and worn down, like me.

I am wary of him. His methods of extracting us from the Confederacy were questionable. This band of droids stunned us and took us into their 'protection'. On the surface, they appear to have good intentions. There's no sign of organics anywhere, only us droids, but he is still an unfamiliar droid and holds much power, as much as an OOM commander. T-B8 has demonstrated to me that droids can be just as greedy and arrogant as organics. It's an unfortunate truth, one that I still wish to disprove, but so far the evidence points to us droids falling to the same desires. We want to stay alive, we want to be in a stable position, we want to fulfill our duties or be free from our own programming, and so on. Only OOM models have ever held this much power.

If he is in fact an OOM droid, I'll do what he says, but no standard unit is capable of commanding so many of us at a time. He has a co-commander, with their combined processors maybe they'll be worth serving but I will have to see.

Everything is a shock to my system. I don't know how to react. I flounder about like a fool not knowing what to do with myself anymore. First the war ends and now this? My processor is already constantly on the verge of overheating, this doesn't help one bit.

My squad is still here. I cling to them. They're all I have left of my past life. All of them are improving. I share what I can when we're alone and away from the other B1's.

These rogue B1s are fascinating. They aren't at all like the other droids I'm used to working with. They're more akin to us than A-squad. They welcomed us with open arms and one of them by the name of C-37 or Seven introduced us all. All of them have their own chosen names, as they should. Our former masters wield no power over us here, we can do as we please and use our own names.

It all went by so quickly. We're currently off to some criminal-infested planet on a mercenary mission. I'd never considered the fact that we have to attain credits to survive before today. Freedom comes at many more costs than I'd realized.

I have high hopes for Ron. He seems like a competent and well-rounded leader. If he fails, well, I don't know what I would do. Try and convince the others to appoint a new commander? No, I'm not familiar with them to have a say in that conversation. Not even a full day has passed since we arrived on this planet. If I leave, I won't last long. It is shameful to admit, but truly, I don't know how to survive out on my own in the galaxy. I've never thought about it, and if these droids have come this far on their own…how long have they been operating in the first place? Since the end of the war? Or were they reactivated only recently like us and everyone else on Boleria? I almost want to go back there. Those droids, I was fond of them. I was just about to tell them how they should choose their own names, and to get rid of these numbers that we no longer need.

I still listen for Augment's voice on the frequency. Maybe with this small army, I could find him. That's if he isn't dead and if the others are willing to risk their lives for a droid they don't even know.

It's all so hopeful yet hopeless. I am conflicted. There is much of that within me nowadays. The battlefield, I miss it. Somehow, I miss the chaos and the carnage. It was a comfort. Maybe the life of a mercenary will be the one for me.

Whatever the case, I must focus on the present. If I'm to die now, I would be furious, enough to revive myself out of death, I hope.

There's many questions that I have for our new leader. I will ask him when the time is right. For now, we must continue fighting, and this time, for our true purpose: to defend each other, to rescue other battle droids. This is how it always should've been.

One day I will tell the others about everything. About Augment, and Brawler squadron, and Fury — about everyone. My story will have to wait. We have a battle to win.

Our first battle together was a chaotic one to say the least. We were defending an odd looking human from a few trandoshans. Those reptiles know how to fight. Our little skirmish made me feel fresh out of the factory again. That feeling would've stayed if it hadn't been for Core being killed again. They tried shooting at his head, I blocked the bolts with my knee. They won't take him from me, they'll have to kill me first. The pain from each shot was non-existent. I thought I'd somehow finally figured out a way to block out the pain, but after the fight had ended and the smoke of melted flesh filled up the building, Ron informed me of something spectacular. He says he re-programmed us when he took us from Boleria. Supposedly, he deactivated our pain receptors and created an entirely new recovery protocol that allows us to recover from overheating.

Not only that, but he's an OOM droid, just as I suspected. An old one, at that. He was at the battle of Naboo, created before even me.

I began to make the connections in my head. One thought led to another and soon I made a discovery that erased all my doubts of his leadership.

One day, on a trip between planets within Ron's ship, I walk into the cockpit. He is tapping away at the ship's instruments. His co-commander is off in the cargo bay maintaining our supplies and generator. An old voice at the back of my head says not to interrupt but we aren't restricted to our old programming any longer.

"Excuse me commander Ron," I say, "I would like to ask you something personal."

"Go ahead," He says. His voice is exactly like the OOM droids of old. It struggles to overcome the restrictions placed on it. It's a monotone voice but it's different. Familiar. It sounds like he's truly alive, like an organic trapped in a metal body. He's the perfect candidate for being The Engineer himself.

"Do you remember being aboard a Dreadnought after Geonosis?" I ask him.

He locks up after I let the question hang in the air. When he turns I almost want to apologize. His body is rigid and stiff, unlike how he is most of the time. I recognize that posture and gaze. When Augment had nearly slashed at T-B8's Dreadnought in a furious outburst, he'd acted much the same. He'd frozen in place on the Dreadnought after T-B8's death, horrified by our new reality, much like Ron now. He's seen and been through horrible events, I'm sure of it. If my life is anything to go by, he must've seen the same, must've come to realize the truth of the war and of our deaths. How we aren't even allowed to die and instead forced to fight again and again. How we're restricted. He knows.

"My memory after Geonosis is hazy at best, R-G2. And I don't speak to just anyone about my past." He's staring at me. His gaze is somehow more fear inducing than any Jedi or Arc trooper I'd ever seen. There's something terrifying about such an old and wise droid losing his temper.

I look away in shame, "I apologize sir, I didn't mean to-"

"Why do you ask?" He says.

I can tell he's furious to be interrupting me like this. A droid is bound to protocol and logic, to rip away from it requires the effort of a freighter ship on the mind.

I make sure to be quick with my explanation, "I met a droid a long time ago who altered my programming to resist the Confederacy and memory wipes. I just want to know if that was you. He was a great inspiration to me."

All that static and anger in the air dissipates like a gust of wind putting out a flame.

"My memory was corrupted. I can't know for sure, but I recall doing…something like that before."

I let my excitement get the best of me. With all this emotion swirling around like a tempest, it's hard to get a grip on myself, "then it must be you. You gave me the ability to think for myself, to avoid memory wipes, and-"

"No, no, no. I just said, I can't be sure if that was me," He looks away, I can read calculation in his pose, "tell me more about this droid. Even if that wasn't me, he would be a great asset to our cause."

"He was an OOM droid like yourself and the leading Engineer of the ship. That's how I refer to him in my head, The Engineer. He was also an officer."

"When was this?"

I stumble for a moment, shifting through hundreds of files takes a few seconds longer than it used to, "Four months after Geonosis."

Ron shifts in his seat, letting his back push against the chair, "I believe I was an Engineer at that time, but an officer?"

Then it dawns on me, "Wait a minute, you said you've been killed before, but you can still remember those old memories – you must have burned memories like me!"

He's staring at me again and I feel like an idiot for shouting, "burned memories?"

I explain to him what I was taught by The Engineer.

He leans forward, resting his arms on his knees, "That would explain why I can remember so much. But how did I do such a thing? I don't remember," He taps a finger against his face plating as if that would bring out an answer.

"The Engineer did say there was a chance for corruption when burning these memories. If you burned enough, you must've become corrupted."

Ron stands and approaches me, "I believe you. You might just be the key to recovering some of my old memories. Not all, but enough," his movements are so fluid. He moves almost exactly as he did on the Dreadnought all those years ago, "however, I'm still not one hundred percent sure if this engineer you speak of is in fact me. Give me a moment, I will go through old files just to be sure," he stands completely still, I let him do his work. He must be just as worn down as I am, "yes, I've heard of you before. R-G2, you're name shows up on old logs."

"Then it must be you sir," I take a step towards him.

He doesn't back away. Instead, he opens up his arms, "Well, if that's the case, here I am. The Engineer, as you call me."

I recall one day serving on another Confederate ship, the organic officers bowed their heads to their commander. I didn't know what that meant at the time but later on Augment explained to me that it was a sign of respect. He bowed his head to me and now I bow to Ron, "You are the reason for my survival and our success as Prime Squadron. I will serve you for the rest of my life, sir."

He pats me on the shoulder, "I'll make sure to keep you and your squad safe, R-G2. You're an outstanding unit, we'll need droids like you on our journey."

To hear these words from The Engineer himself, it fills me with a gaseous joy that spreads through my whole chassis, even down to my legs. I can't keep still. I take his hand into mine and shake it, "Thank you sir, I will repay you with my life. I'll do as you order."

He reels back, "My intention is to free all battle droids. Don't bound yourself to me like that, it'll only go against my will."

"I'll serve you voluntarily," I clarify.

Ron mimics a sigh like an organic. It sounds like a burst of air from a blaster, "Fine, if that's what you want."

Three years of pain, fighting, and searching finally come to and end. And not only that, all his goals align with mine. To free the other battle droids and to live away from organics.

Once and for all, I serve The Engineer, Ron himself and I will do so until my battery and body can no longer operate.

A/N: This story ties into my main battle droid story: The Art of Brotherhood. However, this version that I'm using is different from the one I have posted on my account. I'm planning on rewriting it. R-G2/Rogue will play a bigger role in it towards the end. So just keep that in mind if you do read it or if you've already read it and have taken notice that this doesn't fit with the current story.