Leia entered maintenance bay six to see what Talon was doing. She felt a pleased happiness from the girl, which was unprecedented and she wanted to know why. Her attention was drawn to a group of students that she quickly recognized as Green Wing. Knowing that her apprentice would be among them, she started over. That was when she noticed a bunch of droids also with them. They were older models that much was clear, but what were they doing there to begin with?

"Master Solo! You won't believe this but Talon got lucky with the droid she picked out. She fixed it up enough that it was able to get some of the others going and then they'll all work as a team to fix the rest! We'll all have a droid now!" Selar beamed happily when he saw her.

Leia looked around and saw that there were four droids grouped around one more. five of the droids were built in a very strange configuration in that they seemed to be made almost like some type of wheel. The last two were very large bipedal types with fully developed torso structures and a very menacing appearance. Those last two were even taller than she was by a good measure and she would readily bet that they almost as tall as a Wookie.

"So are those droids that were recovered from the bottom levels functional again?" Leia asked curiously.

"Mostly." Crystal answered excitedly. "Talon's droid, R4 said that some of them need a little programming work done before they get activated and Talon's R4 unit never had any legs or anything so some of the others are working on that. They're adding repulsorlifts instead of legs."

"R4 said that?" Leia demanded in disbelief.

"Well Talon told us that that's what she said." Crystal explained with a shrug.

"Talon understands Binary?" Leia asked in shocked surprise.

Crystal just nodded her head while looking back at the droids.

Leia just shook her head as she looked over at Talon. This was just one more item in a growing list of things that were unusual about her apprentice. She could feel through her Bond with Talon that the girl wasn't apprehensive or nervous about anything right now and she was glad to sense that. In her opinion, Talon needed times when she wasn't afraid of everything.

R4 wasn't communicating anything right then, but she was thinking a lot. She still didn't know everything she wanted or needed to know, but she had gotten the bare basics from the youngling organics. The problem was; the information she'd received had been excessively basic! This was not acceptable in the slightest. She had been designed, built, and programmed to repair the various systems of a fightership while in flight or even combat. The human who owned her now also appeared to be a Sith! The entire war had been orchestrated by the Sith Lord, that much had been common knowledge. So what was a youngling Sith doing among Jedi younglings? That was a conundrum that she had yet to answer.

Another concern that R4 had was the fact that these youngling Jedi wanted five Destroyer droids and two Magnaguards repaired as well. Those were droids made by the Confederacy! They could be exceedingly dangerous because they were designed and intended to kill Jedi among other organics. She had informed her new Master… Talon, if she were to go by how the youngling human was addressed by others, that they would need some programming work. She decided not to worry or frighten the younglings by telling them what the droids were originally used for. Instead, she decided to copy the programming of the R2 unit in front of her. They were robust droids that had proven to be very reliable and with very loyal programming. Once that was done and the droids made functional again, those droids would make excellent protectors for the younglings. There were a few tweaks and alterations that she would make to the Destroyers, but improved targeting software combined with additional independently targeted blasters would only improve their already devastating performance.

The repulsorlifts that were being added to her frame weren't the highest quality that she'd ever seen employed, but they were definitely reliable. R4 knew that she would have no problems adapting to them. It was an improvised solution, but one that would work out very well. Another thing that was obviously improvised was the sensor suite on her dome. It was actually a scanning unit that was comprised of four scanner types. With the new sensors she was able to see much better and in far greater detail than with old optical scanner. She could still see in the same spectrum that most humanoids did, but she could now see thermal images, with ground penetrating radar, and spectrographic images as well. Those three additions meant that she could now perform her duties with much greater ease.

The green R2 unit had improved on the crude and very basic connection between R4's visual processor and the sensor suite, so that she could now use all of the modes it had available. The work that had been done on her was extremely crude, but it had been a mere youngling who had done it. That she had become functional at all was testament to the youngling's skill. Never the less it was at once clear that she and the others would need to keep a clear watch on these younglings to ensure they stayed out of trouble.

By the time the adult human female had arrived the four R series droids had nearly completed installing the repulsorlift units she'd need for mobility. The most difficult and involved part of the installation had been the programming to operate and control the repulsorlifts. She'd handled that herself since it wasn't too difficult with most of the information being in the unit's control modules. The only real difficulty was the addition of a second motivator to spin a thirty kilo disk at high speed to provide gyroscopic stability. Using a simple gyroscope to prevent tipping or falling over would prove to be an excellent and simple solution since it would not affect changes in rotation or elevation.

Once the other R units completed the installation of the repulsorlifts, R4 tested them and discovered that she would be able to rise to a maximum height of thirty meters and travel at forty kilometers per hour. Those were very respectable mobility statistics for any type of droid.

When the adult human female, whom the Jedi younglings addressed as 'Master Solo', while the Sith youngling named Talon addressed her as 'Master Leia', voiced praise and approval to all of the younglings for their efforts, R4 decided to begin the activation of the other droids as well. Since the one named Talon, her new master, was able to understand the binary language, she spoke in hypersonic frequencies to the other droids. Instructing them on the removal of the receiving modules that would allow others to modify their programming. She also insisted that the memory cores be completely erased so that no remains of previous programming would remain to threaten the younglings who now owned them. That was in addition to using the logic circuits of the remains of the B2 Battle droids that lay nearby. She also instructed them to add in vocabulators so the droids would be able to communicate even if it was only in Binary.

R4 had decided that the two Magnaguards would remain almost unchanged except that their programming would be altered so that they would be completely loyal to whichever youngling had chosen it. She could see that a lot of work had been performed on them to make them appear physically ready for activation, but both droids had clearly sustained serious damage from a lightsaber. She was thinking about exactly what modifications to make when her attention was to a sound from above.

"That's the lunch chime! Come on people let's go eat. I want everyone who has a functional droid to have it stay here a keep fixing the others." Selar said excitedly.

"Maybe when we get done eating a few more will be fixed." Karlaani said happily.

"That's possible." Chargon said before she continued with a look of disgust. "But somehow I doubt it. Those droids are really different and that means they won't be easy to fix."

"Maybe… but I'm betting those R series droids will know how to do it and if they don't; I'm sure they'll come up with something. Look at the way they're modifying Talon's droid. They know what they're doing." Selar said confidently.

"Even if it takes those droids several more days, all of you still need to get something to eat." Leia said to the group. "Especially you Talon. I am not going to listen to Master Cilghal gripe at me for Force only knows how long because you aren't eating properly. That is one Jedi that I do not want to get angry!"

"Yes Master Leia." Talon answered before starting for the cafeteria.

Talon's attention was drawn to a series of beeps and other sounds made by R4.

"This is the Jedi Temple. Everyone here is a Jedi… at least I think they are." Talon said as she answered the droid's question.

"Not everyone here is a Jedi Talon. My husband isn't and he never will be because he can't sense the Force. There are a few people like that here, but not many." Leia told Talon.

R4 issued another series of beeps and chirps.

"I was a Sith because that is what everyone was on Korriban. Then I came here and now I'm an Apprentice to Jedi Master Leia." Talon answered the droid.

"R4? I'm not sure what you said to her because I don't understand Binary. In fact I only know of three people who can understand that language. My father, Anakin Skywalker, my nephew Ben Skywalker, and my Apprentice Talon. Talon may have been raised as a Sith, but she isn't one now. She's a Jedi… she has a way to go before she becomes a Jedi Knight, but I intend to see that happen. Does that explain anything to you?" Leia said as she spoke to the droid.

R4 emitted a long series of excited sounds while swiveling her dome back and forth to look at both Talon and Leia.

Talon's mouth fell open as she listened to the droid. Then she turned to her Master to ask the questions that were burning in her mind.

"Was Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker really known as 'The Hero with no fear'? Would it be possible for you to get in touch with Master Kenobi for her? She says that's who she originally belonged to." Talon asked quickly.

"Yes, Talon… during the Clone Wars my father was called 'The Hero with no fear'. Unfortunately, Jedi Master Obi-wan Kenobi is dead. He died many years ago, but I think he would be pleased to know that such a faithful droid is back in the service of the Jedi Order." Leia answered both Talon and R4. "Now… enough distractions. I'm not about to be harangued by Master Cilghal because you didn't eat when you're supposed to, so let's go." She added firmly.

Leia followed the group of students to the cafeteria. Everyone got their trays and gathered at one table, just out of curiosity she decided to join them if they'd let her. She was somewhat surprised that she was waved over as soon as she turned around with her tray.

"So what type of droid does everyone have?" Leia asked once she sat down.

"Well… Pleena chose a green R2-D6, Risaa chose a yellow R5-D4, Karlaani picked a red R5-S4, Deilaani got a blue R5-D2, and Talon took the red R4-P17, but we won't know what the others are until they get activated. Crystal and Chargon chose the two humanoid models, but the others are strange. There's a lot of extra parts though! Probably enough to make a few more out of those parts." Selar explained easily. "So far only the R units have been reactivated though." Before he seasoned his Nerf casserole.

"Well, I'm sure you're right about those astromech droids repairing the others; it'll just take some time that's all." Leia replied before taking a bite of her own food.

"Well all I can say is the one I picked has to be some kind of battle droid!" Crystal said excitedly.

"Why do you say that? It's humanoid so it could be some kind of protocol droid." Selar asked.

"If it was only a protocol droid then somebody wouldn't have cut it up with a lightsaber! That thing's got a lot of scratches and dings on it. That's why it has to be some kind of battle droid!" Crystal retorted quickly.

Leia felt her breath catch in her throat and her hand paused half way to her mouth as she realized what that could mean. "Crystal… you should be very careful about reactivating that droid! If it did originate from the Clone Wars, then it would have been built and programmed to kill everyone!" She said sternly.

"Chargon picked the other one just like it!" Karlaani said nervously.

"I'm not worried about it!" Crystal said brightly. "That's probably the reason R4 said that she needs to do some programming work on those droids before they get activated!"

"That makes sense." Karlaani admitted reluctantly. "I can't help but wonder what those other droids are… anyone got a guess?"

"If they really are from the Clone Wars then there's no telling. Those droids could be anything from some kind of maintenance tech to one of the ship's crew… we won't know until they get activated." Vara said with a smirk.

"Wait a minute! You mean a bunch of us could wind up with nothing more than a glorified hyperdrive monitor?" Krenn demanded disgustedly as he slammed his fork down.

"I'm just saying that it's possible." Vara said with a shrug. "I've never seen a droid like that before… has anyone else?"

Almost everyone at the table shook their head in answer to the Togruta's question. The sole exception to that was Talon.

"We didn't have very many droids on Korriban. There were only six. So we were told to take very good care of them. Since we didn't have the ability to replace one if we had to, those droids were even more valuable than most of the Masters. If a droid got damaged even a little bit by something someone did, then Darth Magus would kill who ever caused the droid to have that damage. The droids were a valuable resource that was not ever to be wasted!" Talon said softly without taking her eyes off the table. "I never saw that many droids until I came here."

Crystal swallowed hard and almost choked before she was able to ask the question on her mind. "You mean those droids were considered more valuable than you were?" She demanded in disbelief.

"Any one of those droids were deemed more valuable than a hundred Masters. Darth Magus made it very clear to all of us… it wouldn't matter how many were involved, who it was, or what their rank was… they would all be killed for causing damage to a droid." Talon answered plainly.

"Well that's just not true here Talon!" Krenn said angrily. "Think about it for a moment. If a droid was that valuable here… then would we have found all those wrecked droids and parts down in the bottom levels?"

Talon shook her head slowly.

"He's right Talon. Those droids would've gotten fixed a long time ago and we'd never have found them!" Chargon told her.

"So what are you going to do with your droid?" Pleena asked trying to alter the subject a bit.

"My droid?" Talon asked in confusion.

"Yeah Talon your droid! You picked her, you fixed her, so R4 belongs to you now! So what do you plan to do with her?" Chargon said firmly.

"I… I don't know." Talon said in complete confusion. "I would never have thought that I could have a droid. I don't even know what I could do with a droid."

"Well Talon… Master Hamner did say that you needed to learn more about Anakin Skywalker and what kind of Jedi he was before his fall and from what little I know, he and General Kenobi were teamed together for most of the war, so R4 would probably know quite a bit about what kind of Knight he was. You could learn about him from her." Leia suggested. "To be honest, I'd like to know a bit more about what kind of man my father was myself."

"I'm not sure if we should tell Master Solusar about R4 or not! If she finds out about R4 belonging to Master Kenobi, then Talon might never see that droid again for years!" Crystal complained sourly.

"Crystal's right! Master Solusar would find a translator and probably die of old age before anyone saw them again." Vara said with a snort of laughter.

"Vara… that's not funny!" Leia chided softly while struggling not to laugh herself. "Even if it could very well be true."

"What if R4 put everything on a datapad for her? Then she could take all the time she wants." Crystal suggested.

Break

R4 was quite pleased with herself and with the rest of the R series droids as well. Working as a team on the five Destroyer droids had been easy. Old logic circuits and transceivers were removed by R5-D2, while R2-D6 replaced those with the vastly improved logic circuits of a B2 Super Battle Droid. The one removing the logic circuits also wiped the memory cores completely so that she could then follow R2 and install the greatly superior programming inherent to the R2 series along with a vocabulator. R5-D4 came behind her and installed four more independently targetable blasters and R5-S4 installed the improved targeting protocols needed to operate six blasters simultaneously. Then each of them installed a second power plant from the B2 series that was strictly for the shields. One very important aspect of the additional blaster cannons was that the arms they were mounted to could be used to put the droid back upright if it were to somehow fall over. They were provided with power chargers and left alone until the younglings returned to activate them

The two Magnaguard droids were not so easy to repair. Both had been heavily damaged by the lightsaber attacks which disabled them. While it was clear that the younglings had worked diligently to repair that damage, they had done a very poor job of it. Those welds would break apart at a hint of stress! The physical damage had to be completely redone. Once the physical damage was repaired, the difficult part was modifying the loyalty programs. R5-S4 took care of that since he was designed for programming as well as repairs. Once she finished that, it was a simple matter to install a blaster cannon on the backside of each forearm. There was still power left in their cores, but they still needed a charge.

With all seven droids now fully repaired and modified for safe use by the younglings of the Jedi Order, R4 hovered back to the place of her activation and powered down to wait.