Disclaimer: Star Wars and all of it's Intellectual Properties is owned by George Lucas and Walt Disney, This fictional work and all of it's original characters are however mine.

  Jake's P.O.V. :

  Skew-02’s shields were down, the unmistakable sparks and whines of overloading energy shields still echoing in my ears as we scrambled toward the center. Mira led the charge, her eyes darting between the scans and the terrain ahead, making sure we didn’t run blindly into another ambush.

  I had no doubt we’d reached the center of the cavern the moment we saw it. The space opened up into a wide, elevated area surrounded by jagged rocks and boulders that provided natural cover. But the true centerpiece was what could only be described as a structure—or maybe a room, though it wasn’t enclosed.

  It was something else entirely.

  It had an open layout, almost like a wide pavilion, and in its center—of course—was yet another pedestal. My internal groan was instant. Seriously, what is it with ancient structures and pedestals?

  While I was busy taking it all in, Davik had already snapped into action, directing us into defensible positions like we were a squad of commandos. He barked orders with an air of authority, and, to my surprise, no one questioned him—not even Rina, who usually had some comment at the ready.

  “Rina, Kado—flank left! Jake, Mira—cover the center! Arlos, you’re with me on the right!” Davik’s voice cut through the chaos like a vibroblade.

  “Got it!” I shouted, dragging Skew-01 into position near a makeshift barricade of rocks. Its shielding flickered slightly, still holding strong despite the punishment it had taken earlier.

  Mira, ever practical, recalled the last scout droid to our position. Good call. With those invisible droids still lurking, it was better to have our last eye in the sky close by instead of wandering into another deathtrap.

  Meanwhile, Rina was already poking around near a panel she’d spotted on one of the structure’s outer walls. Her quick, nimble fingers danced over the console, but Kado, ever the cautious one, sidled up to her.

  “What are you doing?” Kado asked, his tone a mix of curiosity and wariness.

  “Looking for answers,” Rina replied without looking up. “If there’s anything in here—logs, schematics, even a hint of what this place was used for—it could help.”

  As much as I wanted to hover over her shoulder and see what she found, I had my hands full—literally.

  “Kado,” I called out, half-joking but mostly serious, “remember when I said my Skew droids were glorified pack mules?”

  He raised an eyebrow. “I remember you complaining about it, yeah.”

  “Well, lucky for us, I’m a brilliant complainer. I built hardpoints on their backs for carrying supplies,” I said, tapping Skew-01’s chassis. “Right now, they’re hauling a treasure trove of mechanical parts I can use.”

  “Not decorations or figurines this time?” Kado teased, but there was a glint of relief in his eyes.

  “Don’t tempt me,” I muttered, already opening one of the containers mounted on Skew-01’s back. I pulled out a handful of tools and spare components, my mind racing through the possibilities. If I can rig up something to counter those cloaking droids, we might stand a chance.

  While I worked, Mira updated us on the scout droid’s findings. The scans painted a grim picture: multiple heat signatures moving in unpredictable patterns, likely more of those assassin droids. Her calm tone belied the urgency of the situation, but the information was invaluable.

  Arlos, to his credit, stuck close to Davik, his blaster gripped tightly in trembling hands. His face was pale, his eyes darting nervously, but he stood his ground. Fear didn’t stop him from doing his part, and I couldn’t help but feel a pang of admiration for him.

  “Stay sharp!” Davik barked, his gaze scanning the edges of the platform. “If they hit us here, we’ll be ready!”

  As I tinkered, I stole a glance at the pedestal. What secrets was it hiding this time? Ancient tech, hidden traps, or maybe—just maybe—something that could turn the tide in our favor?

  But first, we had to survive long enough to find out.

  Jake's P.O.V. :

  The sound of Mira’s warning echoed in my ears as I crouched behind cover, Skew-01 positioned beside me like an ever-watchful sentinel. The air grew heavy with the tension of incoming blaster fire, each shot a reminder that we were being hunted. It didn’t help that Skew-02 was now operating without its energy shield, effectively turning it into a walking target.

  Despite the chaos around me, my mind was laser-focused on the task at hand. I held up a small panel of components for the others to see, shouting above the blaster fire, “Alright, here’s the plan! I’m building an EMP device that can temporarily disable electronics within a 100-meter radius. It’ll disrupt their cloaking and hopefully give us a chance to retaliate!”

  The group’s attention flicked toward me, their expressions a mixture of hope and apprehension. I continued, my words quick and clipped, “But there’s a catch! EMP shielding on the open market is strong enough to withstand something like this unless it’s in direct contact. Our gear and droids are shielded, but not perfectly. The energy shields you’re all using will tank most of the pulse, but it’ll drain them and leave you vulnerable—at least temporarily I hope.”

  Rina, who was peeking out from behind cover while firing a few shots, turned her head just enough to yell back, “So, it’s a trade-off? We’re banking on knocking them out before we get overwhelmed?”

  Stolen novel; please report.

  “Exactly,” I confirmed. “The EMP device will fire in short bursts, maxing out its range at 100 meters. I can get four uses out of it before the whole thing burns out. After that, it’s toast.”

  “That’s not much to work with!” Davik growled, popping off a precise shot that grazed one of the shimmering forms. “You got a backup plan?”

  “I’ll also rig up some EMP grenades—low-powered but effective in a smaller radius,” I said, fiddling with a capacitor. “And…” I hesitated for half a second before adding, “...a low-powered EMP gun. Not as strong as the main device, but it’ll target a single enemy at close range.”

  I barely got the words out before Davik’s head snapped toward me, his wide grin visible even through the chaotic dimness of the firefight. “I’ll take that gun,” he said, his voice practically dripping with excitement.

  “Called it,” I muttered under my breath, already knowing that arguing would be pointless. Davik and his relentless enthusiasm for specialized weapons could be as unstoppable as a stampeding bantha.

  Before anyone else could comment, Mira’s voice cut through the noise again, sharp and panicked. “Incoming droids! They’re here!”

  Blaster bolts started flying in earnest, forcing all of us to duck behind whatever cover we could find. The unmistakable shimmer of cloaked droids moving among the shadows sent a shiver down my spine.

  “I hope your plan’s as good as you think it is, Jake!” Kado shouted, his blaster firing in controlled bursts. “Because we don’t have much choice right now!”

  Arlos, his voice shaky but resolute, added, “If this EMP affects our shields, what about Skew-02? It doesn’t even have shields anymore!”

  “Hopefully, the EMP will only disable it temporarily,” I said, crouching lower as another blaster bolt whizzed past. “Worst case? It burns out a few circuits—replaceable ones, if we’re lucky.”

  “If we’re lucky?” Arlos muttered, but his attention quickly returned to the fight as another barrage of fire forced him to duck.

  I worked as quickly as I could, the tools in my hands practically a blur. The main EMP device was coming together, but I knew the real challenge would be balancing its power. Too weak, and it wouldn’t penetrate the cloaking fields. Too strong, and it might fry our own systems beyond repair.

  Skew-01 stood guard as I assembled the final components, its energy shield flickering but holding steady for now. Meanwhile, the others kept the enemy at bay, firing in coordinated bursts while Mira fed us updates on enemy positions.

  “Almost there!” I shouted, sweat dripping down my face as I tightened the last connector. The EMP device was rough and utilitarian, nothing like the polished tech I’d designed back on Tatooine. But it would do the job—at least, I hoped it would.

  “Here!” I called out, tossing the completed device to Kado, who caught it with surprising ease. “Place it in the middle of our formation! I’ll trigger it remotely when we’re ready!”

  “On it!” Kado replied, moving quickly despite the blaster fire streaking around him.

  As I turned my attention back to my makeshift workstation, I began assembling the EMP grenades. They were simpler in design, each one a single-use pulse meant for close-range encounters. I handed the first completed grenade to Rina, who gave me a quick nod of thanks before returning to her position.

  “Here’s the EMP gun!” I called out a minute later, holding up the final piece of equipment. Davik was by my side in an instant, his grin back in full force as he took the weapon from my hands.

  “Nice work, kid,” he said, testing the weight of the gun before taking aim at one of the shimmering forms. With a pull of the trigger, the gun emitted a low hum, followed by a concentrated pulse of energy. The shimmer faded instantly, revealing one of the assassin droids in full detail before it collapsed to the ground, its systems fried.

  “Got one!” Davik yelled, his voice filled with exhilaration.

  “Great!” I shouted back. “Now let’s see if this plan actually works!”

  With the EMP device in position and my makeshift arsenal distributed among the crew, we braced ourselves for the next wave. The droids were relentless, their cloaking fields making them nearly impossible to track. But now, we had a chance—a small, fleeting chance—to turn the tide.

  I activated the EMP device for the first time, its pulse spreading out in a visible ripple. The lights on the droids around us flickered and dimmed, their cloaking fields dropping momentarily.

  “Now! Hit them while they’re exposed!” I shouted, adrenaline surging as we launched our counterattack.

  Jake's P.O.V. :

  The EMP worked—kind of. Seeing the enemy droids as IG assassin droids initially threw me off. They were infamous for their ruthlessness, adaptability, and precision as assassins, not security enforcers. I couldn’t wrap my head around why someone would waste an IG droid’s capabilities on guarding a vault. But as I watched them move in perfect synchronization, I realized just how perfect they were for this role. Cloaking technology on a combat-ready platform? Yeah, that’s exactly the kind of nightmare we’d stumbled into.

  The EMP burst disrupted them, but not as much as I’d hoped. Some droids froze entirely, jerking erratically like they were trying to regain control. Others had their stealth systems knocked offline but continued to function as terrifyingly efficient threats. A few were rendered useless, sparking violently, moving in random directions, or shooting blindly.

  We’d managed to briefly turn the tide, but the moment didn’t last long. Several droids re-engaged their cloaking systems after just a minute. The cloaking wasn’t as seamless now—I could catch flickers of movement, subtle distortions in the air. But it was enough to make targeting them difficult again.

  And then there was the aftermath of the EMP on our gear. Our blasters fired erratically for the first few seconds after the burst. Mira had wisely powered down some essential systems beforehand, but there wasn’t much else we could spare. Turning off the personal shields wasn’t an option either, not with how fast these droids moved. Those shields were the only thing standing between us and vaporization, and even with the EMP protection they offered, their functionality had been compromised. If we were hit with another EMP, they’d fail entirely.

  I glanced at Skew-02 and winced. The sturdy droid had taken the brunt of the assault and was in a pitiful state. Its left arm was gone, obliterated in a small explosion. Sparks flew from the mangled stump of its left leg, which had completely ceased to function. The only thing keeping it upright was the fact that it had wedged its back against a wall. It was a wreck—but still standing, still trying to protect us.

  I could feel the seconds crawling by as the EMP machine cooled down, mocking me with its agonizing three-minute reset time. Three minutes felt like an eternity when we were pinned down by relentless IG droids.

  Davik shouted something, and I realized he was using the EMP gun to good effect. Every shot from it disrupted a droid’s cloaking for several seconds, allowing us to focus fire. But the energy reserves on that thing wouldn’t last forever, and we couldn’t just rely on Davik.

  “This isn’t sustainable!” Mira yelled from her position, ducking as a bolt scorched the cover near her head.

  She was right. We couldn’t stay here, not with the enemy droids reengaging their stealth systems and our shields on the verge of collapse.

  Rina called out from the panel she’d been slicing. “I’ve almost got something—maybe access to their systems or shutdown codes, hopefully! But I need more time!”

  Time. The one thing we didn’t have. My mind raced as I considered our options. If we could just buy Rina a few more minutes, maybe we’d stand a chance. But the droids weren’t going to let up, and my EMP machine wouldn’t be ready for another two minutes.

  I did wonder how the panel was unaffected by the EMP burst, but my thoughts were interrupted by a stray bolt, but priorities right now include surviving - be a tech nerd later.

  I fired another burst from my gauntlet blaster, hitting one of the flickering droids square in the torso. It staggered, sparks flying, and I yelled to Davik, “We have to hold this position! Buy Rina the time she needs!”

  Davik gave a sharp nod, barking orders to the others to tighten their formation. Kado and Arlos fell back to protect Rina while Mira and I kept firing at anything that moved—or shimmered.

  I just hoped the droids’ programming didn’t adapt faster than we could survive.

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