Watching the console before us, I knew what had to be done. Nodding at my Master, I readied myself as he reached out and, after a few clicks, turned off the signal.
Almost immediately after it happened, a metallic clank interrupted us, echoing through the corridors... and then the sudden warning of the Force. As I brought it up, I also realized I wasn't really hearing the clanking. I was feeling it through the Force, watching as the magnetized frame of the intruders headed towards us in the eerie, dark vacuum, now illuminated in our lightsabers' glowing light.
I watched, calming myself with our Jedi techniques, as multiple droids emerged from the darkness. Their rusted, skeletal frames glowed faintly from deteriorating power cells spurring them on, but their blasters were still functional as they began shooting at us. Deflecting their bolts, I ran their frames through my memories, trying to identify them. They weren't standard B1 battle droids—these were something else. Probably a BX-series commando droid... and some hulking B2 super battle droids. Whichever they really were, their photoreceptors flickered erratically like fireflies struggling to stay lit, their programming probably running haywire as their aim was... horrendous. This also made it hard to protect myself because even with the Force, there was so little time to perceive what they were going to do next. While standing there, waiting for my Master's instructions, I continued observing them... Trying to see if there were any clues on them or not; as for why they were activating themselves... why now? But I got nothing. Their paint was faded, their chassis battered, looking exactly like how they should. Lost and now found in a derelict ship.
"There are more coming," Master said suddenly, his blue blade swinging to his left, deflecting one of the bolts directly back at the B1 battle droid, blasting its weapon arm into bits.
"I think we should leave, Master," I advised, not wanting to get caught by an onslaught of rusting machinery and ground into a meat paste.
The droids appearing from different rooms tried to move with their usual mechanical precision, though their degraded frames and fractured programming caused them to stagger at times, twitching as if struggling against the corruption of time. As we began backing out, heading back towards the ship, some of them managed to flank us, appearing from blasted open holes or the crosssections of other corridors.
Just as one tried to ambush me, I pivoted, slicing cleanly through the sneaky commando droid, its head spiraling away as its body collapsed in a heap of sparking wires. But, from the same hole, a super battle droid advanced forward, trampling its fallen comrade, its wrist-mounted blaster hammering out heavy bolts directly at my face. Thanks to the almost zero gravity, it was easy to flip over it, cutting it down as I landed, cleaving it in two. But even then... the droids kept coming, swarming from every possible side corridor as if drawn by the conflict. Did all of them just wake up?! Like that? What the Force was going on...?
I could swear I was smelling the scorched metal and ozone as blaster bolts ricocheted off the walls where I just stood, dodging, following my Master as we were now running. This was turning bad, real fast. I felt how my heart pounded as I moved, my training taking over, instinctually reacting, letting my senses be driven by the Force. With another swing, I deflected a bolt back into a droid's photoreceptor, causing it to explode in a shower of sparks, killing another standing next to it. Then, another commando droid lunged at me with a vibroblade of all things, its movements jerky but still precise enough to be a threat. I hurriedly parried the strike, driving my saber through its chest and kicking it back into the advancing line of droids right behind him.
"Master!"
"Just go! I will bring up the rear!"
Ben fought with calm precision, his blue blade a blur as he cut through the droids with much more ease. He deflected a barrage of blaster fire, sending bolts back into their sources with deadly accuracy... I should have picked up another form besides Makashi, I thought... but then I heard my Master's call.
"Kael, watch your flank!" he called out.
I spun around just in time to block a strike from another bastardly commando droid that had slipped behind me. The droid's electroblade clashed against my saber, the force of the impact driving me back a step while the electricity numbed my grip on my saber. With gritted teeth, I unleashed the Force with two hands, pushing it back and sending the droid crashing into a wall. Then, followed up with a quick slash, I severed its head from its body.
Something was... not right with this ambus. But to learn what, I needed a source... So, amidst the chaos, trusting the Force, my eyes locked onto something strange.
A single commando droid stood at the edge of the battle, its movements much more hesitant. Unlike the others, it didn't fire—it simply observed, its head twitching slightly as if struggling against something internal. Its armor was severely damaged, and a large gash in its chest exposed sparking circuits. For a moment, I felt something from it. Not through the Force—droids weren't living beings—but there was something around it. It was akin to an echo.
And then a blaster bolt struck the droid in the side, reflected from my Master's blade. It stumbled, twitching violently... prompting me to act.
Quickly, I moved to reach it, to stop the others from cutting it down—but it was too late. Another commando droid, to get to us, simply slashed through its chassis with a vibrosword, and the strange droid collapsed, its head rolling away... Right to my hand as I grabbed it through the force.
I don't know why, but I indeed scooped it up, slicing the other attacker apart with a quick stroke of my saber. Honestly, I didn't know why, but something about the way the droid had acted unsettled me. Maybe I could deduce something from its head, but I knew that we needed to know more.
"Kael!" Ben called out. "We need to move! Come!"
"Yes!" I answered and turned just as the entire ship shuddered under our feet. And it shuddered violently.
Even with the low power, the emergency lights flickered erratically, and an ominous groan echoed through the halls. Then... The Venator had begun to tilt, the structure shifting beneath our feet, throwing us off-balance.
"Not good." Ben's face darkened. "The droids—this was their failsafe! They destabilized the orbit."
"I think you are right, Master," I groaned as I checked my helmet's sensor readings. "The ship is locked into a terminal descent. It's going to crash into the moon!"
"Hurry! Ben exhaled sharply. "We need to get out of here. Now! R2, come in! Start the ship!"
"Aroo!" came the nervous answer, and we could hear him as he rolled up to our ship's ramp, ready to welcome us back with a prepared ship.
There was only one thing to do: We ran. Using the Force, our speed was quicker than any of the droids would be, our sabers illuminating the dark corridors as the ship lurched violently, sending debris tumbling from the ceiling. Even as a Jedi, getting back was not easy. The droids, being erratic and uncontrolled, flailed in confusion as the ship began rolling around them, making them tumble and fall. Then, just like that, the emergency lights flickered out entirely, plunging the halls into total darkness apart from the glow of our blades.
Sadly... thanks to the state the Venator was in, the way was blocked ahead of us—wreckage had collapsed the original passage we came in.
"Master?" I asked while I took a calming breath. "Alternative route?"
"Already found one." Ben nodded. "Service tunnel. This way!"
We sprinted through the failing ship, ducking through tight maintenance corridors and cutting our way in if we had to. By now, the vessel constantly groaned as its descent continually accelerated, gravity pulling it downward. The moon's surface was visible now through the shattered viewport glass we passed by. Looking at a barren, lifeless expanse rushing toward us was... not what I had in mind for today.
Luckily, after cutting a hole into one of the rusted walls, we finally reached an auxiliary docking hatch leading back to the main hangar, where we touched down. Without hesitation, we leaped inside, sealing the airlock behind us just as the Venator shook once again, the moon's surface way too close to us.
"All green!" I yelled as I scrambled to the cockpit, taking the controls. "Punching it now!"
Thanks to R2's preparation, the engines roared to life, propelling us away and out as the massive warship plummeted behind us. It was a bit too close to my taste, slipping out from the enormous carrier's hangar and turning our ship just so we could witness its final moments. Only a second later, the Venator slammed into the moon's surface, erupting into a silent explosion of metal and dust.
"Haaaah!" I let out a breath, leaning back in the pilot's seat, my hand going to the severed droid head attached to my utility belt before unsealing my helmet. "That was too close!"
"Good job, my Padawan." Ben looked at me, making me blush a little, noticing he was glancing at the head I brought back with me. "You took that for a reason."
"Yes, Master." I nodded slowly, hearing R2 beeping something, probably asking about what happened. "Something was different about this one."
"I noticed it." Ben studied it for a moment, then nodded at me. "Maybe you'll find out why."
"Maybe..." I answered, furrowing my brows.
"Kael?" He asked, but his gaze was not on me, but... looking out of the cockpit into our ship's belly.
"R2?" I asked, trying to focus, closing my eyes. "Did anything get on the ship?"
"Dwooo?"
"The ramp was down while you prepared the ship to go," Ben said, making R2 beep again, his antennas extending from its frame, scanning.
"Dwoo..."
I didn't need to understand its answer to know we had a stowaway. The feeling I was getting was not organic—it was danger-sense ringing alarm bells in my head. This can only mean that a droid was on board our ship, hitching a ride with us.
Wordlessly, following Master out, we headed to the middle of our ship, sabers at the ready. The feeling was getting stronger... leading us to the sole, small cargo hold in the back. With a nod, Master told me to get ready, and then he used the Force to open the door.
What greeted me was a bright flash of red as a blaster bolt headed my way just so I could deflect it at the last minute, back at the assailant. Its weapon exploded as I managed to hit the bolt back directly at it. I couldn't see what it was yet as Master moved next, slicing the head of this droid and letting it fall to the ground. It was over under a second...
"Come. Look at this." Master waved at me, and as I got close, I couldn't help but whistle, raising an eyebrow.
"It looks like it was cobbled together from different parts," I muttered, noticing how the droid had multiple different limbs. B1, B2, and BX battle droid parts are all put together in a grotesque yet artistic way.
"I don't recognize the head, though," Master added, and true enough, looking at it... I didn't either.
The droid's head was angular and sleek, its surface a similar patchwork of worn metal plates that hinted at its age and the multiple hastily repairs that were done on it. The optical sensors were exposed, twin red lenses set deep within a narrow, almost predatory visor, making it into horizontal slits. Its faceplate was devoid of any human-like features, giving it an unsettling, utilitarian appearance. Along the sides of its head, I noticed faint grooves and recessed panels that suggested hidden mechanisms under its plating. At the same time, single, partial remains of a serial number were etched near the base of its neck, something that had been partially scratched away and now slightly burned as Master cut it off from the cobbled-together body it was put on. There was something unnervingly efficient about its design... And it stood out from the other parts. The head just... didn't fit onto the rest.
"I think..." I picked it up, looking at my Master, "I will examine this one too."
"Mhm." He nodded, looking at the droid's deactivated head unit, "Make sure you don't let it tap into any computers, though."
"You think...?" I asked, but Ben just shrugged.
"I don't. But... an unknown droid sneaking onto our ship? Amidst chaos? I don't believe in such coincidences."
"Yes... you are right, Master. Me neither."