Chapter Text
Rishi is really dark and depressing. I would have thought there was at least a little bit more joy on here, but I was wrong. Honestly, if I had the ability to wet my pants, I would definitely do that by now.
I’m peeking around the corner, watching the rest of the units try and open the door. At least we have prevented one death so far. Well, for now.
May and Lucky are staying hidden. Should the other Commando Droids see them, would it jeopardise our whole mission. Although, I really don’t know how I’m going to survive this. Maybe stay back and accidentally shoot them from behind.
They are entering the station! Oh god, they are entering the station!
I’m really glad to be a Droid right now, otherwise I’d be shivering like a puppy in a storm. Please don’t let anyone notice that there are Commando Droids missing.
With slow steps, I follow the death machines and watch them shoot at the clones in the hallway. Blaster bolts are so sickeningly loud, I feel like my ears are going to combust.
Good thing the grip on my blaster is steady. I aim and - oh, I tripped. Oh, no! The shot went right through a Commando Droid’s head. How terrible!
This is so ridiculous. I can only pray that nobody would deem me as malfunctioning. Can’t have me crushed in a recycler after my very first mission. But no matter how many I kill, Commando Droids are still Commando Droids. They manage to shoot one Droid in the leg and the other in the arm.
Who? I don’t know, they really look all the same with those buckets on.
Somewhere amidst my performance and the constant noise of plasma, the clones yell around. I believe they discovered that the Commando Droids already cut off the alarm signal. Unfortunately, I couldn’t stop that. The moment my capsule landed, the others were already at the door.
Following my fellow Droids, I ascend further into the station. Here and there I shoot at a clone - and miss by a mile. I really don’t want to know how this looks from the outside. With a quick motion, I fain another trip and bump into the other Captain that leads this mission with me.
Well, he’s leading it alone, I’m not a big help. Even if I tried.
Can these clones please just go to their emergency exit and leave? I’m not sure how much longer I can go unnoticed. The Captain is already eyeing me weirdly. Maybe that trip was a bit too much, but he tried to shoot a clone in the head.
As if on cue, they finally give up their post and run backwards to another room. Thank goodness. Took them long enough. No deaths so far, only injuries.
”I will go check outside.” I tell the Captain. “Roger, roger.”
Outside, I find May and Lucky recreating a crime scene. They have moved each dead Commando Droids from our capsule outside and made it look like they have been shot by clones. It is kind of genius, I have to admit.
”So?” Lucky asks as he looks up. “What happened in there?” I kick a motionless Commando Droid and sigh. At least, it is supposed to be a sigh, but this voice really is terrible at portraying emotions. “No deaths. A few injured. They escaped now.”
May takes a few steps to turns herself around and look at us. “Next stop, the eel nest” Oh, almost forgot about that. Right.
Time to take out an oversized eel.
When I rush back inside to let the other Captain know that I will go and look for them, I hear Cody trying to contact the station over the comlink. There is not much I can do without raising suspicions, so I just give the Captain a heads up and leave.
Our primary goal is to take over this station. Therefore, it doesn’t matter that the clones escaped. Which is good for me, because I wouldn’t have to take more than two Commando Droids with me. That is already too much, but we have to work with what we have.
Thanks to May’s legs, Lucky and her are stuck to the cliff’s wall. Out of sight of the Commando Droids. While we step to the edge, I speak loudly. “Since we are three Commando Droids, we should stick together.” Hopefully, my low-IQ’ed friends understand the warning and get the message that I’m not alone.
The moment we reach the cliff’s edge, Lucky has his blaster raised and shoots one in the head. I shoot the other. One glance down shows me Lucky, who is piggybacking May. This sight is pure gold.
To my luck, I’m equipped. And so, we make our way down the cliff. “Where is the eel?” May asks and navigates our little trip. “No idea. We should enter one of those holes and shoot it out.” Lucky suggests.
Not a bad idea.
We stand before a hole in the wall and I throw a detonator inside. Hopefully, the eel will come out somewhere near us. A sickeningly loud screech appears inside the wall, followed by even louder rumbling. “To the left!” I yell and run alongside the cliff’s edge towards the eel.
We might have went a little too far to the left, because the moment we pass a hole, the eel comes sliding right out of it. Almost immediately do I feel myself flying in the air, with nothing to hold on to. Below me is the deep pit so dark, it could consume souls.
A sharp jerking motion pulls me towards the eel. Lucky has grabbed my leg and is holding on to May with his other hand. His other hand that has only one finger left. What happened to his hand?
I spin myself on top of the eel with Lucky’s help and support my friends to get on top properly as well. It’s a good thing that the eel doesn’t leave the nest. That way, we don’t have to be scared of falling into our death alongside that slimy worm.
Like cowboys on a particularly angry bull, we grip our hands into the eel’s flesh. Man, this guy is made of durasteel. It spins and whips around violently, trying to shake us off. I can’t get my weapons out because I have to hold on tightly.
In all its desperation, the eel starts hammering itself against the wall. Thank the Force that I don’t feel pain. I think, I would have fainted by now. A part of May’s twinblasters breaks as she hits the wall.
”We…” Swing. “Have…” Swing. “To…” Swing. “Do…” Swing. “Something!” All I can do is talk in broken words as the eel knocks us against the wall several more times.
When the eel finally decides that there is no use hammering against the wall, it stops. Instead, it slides back into the holes and takes us along with it. It’s safe to say that this nest is not perfect.
I would have expected a perfectly fitted round maze system, instead there are stones everywhere they shouldn’t be. Bad for us, because we keep bumping against every single one of them. With my body, I shield Lucky.
I’m made of a harder material and my unit is expensive. They would repair me but they would just discard Lucky if he broke. B1-Droids are mass produced.
The eel crawls out of the holes with a loud screech and resumes its breakdancing attempt. I’m really getting tired of this but this guy won’t stand still. In the worst case, we will have to wait until it’s tired.
At this point, I’m pretty sure we spent almost half an hour on top of this worm already. I just can’t concentrate to read my displays.
“I can do this all day.” Lucky references next to me and May gives a grunt in response. “Thanks, Cap. How about you do something against this instead?”
Before he can answer, the eel comes to a halt and plops down. Just like that and utterly motionless. With effort, we loosen our grips from the eel and plop down. “That was interesting.” Lucky says. But my attention is rather on his hand. “What happened to your hand?”
He takes a minute to spot it. “Oh, that. It broke when I helped May enter the capsule.” “Helped or shoved?” May retorts. Lucky crosses his arms. “One second longer and Grievous would have spotted us.”
A shudder overcomes my body. Is that even possible? One glance to the left and I see why. The shinies, as well as Rex and Cody stand before us. Both Captain and Commander have their weapons raised at us.
Oh, shit.