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. :

  The lift had finally arrived, and with it came its cargo: droids. And not just any droids—these were massive, towering machines that easily stood taller than my Skew droids. Their dark, blaster-resistant plating gleamed menacingly under the faint light filtering through the cavern.

  Just as Rina had described, they looked like walking fortresses, slow but formidable.

  As I watched, still trying to wrap my head around the situation, I heard Kado swearing up a storm from the east. I winced at the string of colorful language, realizing Rina must’ve filled him in while I was preoccupied eyeing the droids.

  I glanced toward Kado and Mira’s position, tucked behind some solid cover. Kado looked ready to throw a thermal detonator at the lift just out of sheer frustration, while Mira’s expression was grim but focused, her rifle at the ready. Then I turned my attention to Davik. He was crouched with Nick-01 and Nick-02, both droids aiming their weapons at the lift. His expression was calm, determined, like this was just another battlefield for him.

  That’s when I noticed something—or rather, someone—was missing.

  “Hey, Rina,” I whispered urgently. “Where’s Arlos?”

  Without missing a beat, she replied, “I sent him on an errand after I finished decrypting the data.”

  “An errand?!” I hissed. “We’re about to fight experimental droids in a Jedi prison, and you sent him on an errand?”

  She rolled her eyes. “Relax. He’s fine. It’s something important.”

  I wanted to argue, but the sound of mechanical movement snapped my attention back to the lift.

  One of the droids stepped forward, its movements slow and deliberate. It was massive, easily twice the width of a standard IG assassin droid. Its glowing red photoreceptors scanned the area like it already knew we were here.

  “Only one’s moving,” I murmured, mostly to myself.

  “Lucky us,” Rina muttered sarcastically.

  I couldn’t argue with her. Six of these things were more than we could handle, especially with our shields already fried from the earlier EMP bursts. But if only one was moving, it gave us a chance to test its limits—and maybe figure out how to take them down before the others joined the party.

  “Everyone, hold fire,” Davik’s voice crackled softly over the comms. “Let’s see what it does first.”

  The droid took a few more steps forward, its heavy footfalls echoing ominously through the cavern. It raised one arm, and a small panel slid open, revealing a built-in blaster cannon.

  “Test its limits?” I whispered to Rina. “How about we start with: Don’t get vaporized?”

  “Good plan,” she shot back.

  The droid paused, its cannon glowing faintly as it powered up. I could feel the tension in the air, every muscle in my body coiled and ready to spring into action.

  This wasn’t going to be an easy fight.

  But we were salvagers—survivors—and we’d already made it this far. One way or another, we’d figure out a way to beat these droids.

  Jake's P.O.V. :

  The droid fired.

  The shot screamed through the cavern and hit our cover dead-on. The explosion wasn’t just loud; it was deafening. I felt the heat and force before I even registered being thrown backward, landing hard on the rocky ground a few feet away.

  My ears rang, and my whole body ached. The impact left me dizzy, but adrenaline was a powerful motivator. I scrambled behind the nearest chunk of debris that could pass for cover, ignoring the sharp pain in my side where I’d slammed into the ground.

  Rina was beside me, shaken but unhurt. Without wasting a second, we both popped up and opened fire on the droid.

  Frustration clawed at me as I watched my blaster bolts hit the thing’s armored shell without leaving so much as a scorch mark. “Blaster resistant” was a gross understatement. This thing shrugged off shots like they were mosquito bites.

  I wasn’t the only one struggling. Davik and the Nick droids were firing from their position, their bolts glancing harmlessly off its reinforced plating. Even Mira, aiming for the joints with her sniper rifle, was having no luck.

  “Shoot the joints!” Kado bellowed over the comms, swearing like a sailor while letting off his own volley of shots. “They’re its weak points—if it even has any!”

  The droid was relentless, methodically turning its attention from us to Kado and Mira’s position. I peeked out from behind cover just in time to see it begin charging another shot.

  My gut twisted as I realized where it was aiming.

  “Mira! Kado! Move!” I yelled, even though I knew they were already ahead of me.

  The droid fired, and another deafening explosion rocked the cavern. Their cover shattered into a cloud of rock and debris.

  Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

  Unlike us, Mira and Kado didn’t hunker down. They bolted, barely dodging the blast in time. But the force of the explosion still knocked them off their feet, scattering them in opposite directions.

  Mira ended up closer to Rina and me, coughing and grimacing but alive. Kado landed closer to Davik’s position, still swearing up a storm as he dragged himself behind a new piece of cover.

  The droid paused briefly after firing, its cannon cooling down.

  “Okay,” I muttered, breathing hard, “I am very glad it can’t fire continuously. Because we’d all be toast by now.”

  Rina gave me a look that screamed no kidding, but she was too focused on assessing the droid’s movements to say anything.

  The lull in its attack was our one saving grace, but I knew it wouldn’t last. We needed a new plan—fast.

  “Jake,” Rina hissed, pulling me back from my thoughts. “If the blasters aren’t working, we need to think outside the box. Got anything left in that genius brain of yours?”

  I glanced at the droid as it began repositioning, its movements slow but precise. It was like a predator sizing up its next kill.

  “Maybe,” I said, an idea forming. “But it’s going to take some time.”

  “Then make it quick,” she snapped, her gaze locked on the hulking machine. “Because this thing doesn’t look like it’s running out of ammo anytime soon.”

  Jake's P.O.V. :

  The droid shifted its focus to Davik’s group and began walking.

  Its pace was unnervingly slow—more like a casual stroll than a battle march—and somehow, that made it even more terrifying. It wasn’t in a rush because it didn’t need to be. It was like it knew it had the upper hand.

  Davik, Kado, and the Nick droids were hammering it with nonstop fire, bolts bouncing uselessly off its armored frame. Rina and I added our own shots, hoping that sheer volume might crack something.

  No luck.

  “Scatter and keep firing!” Davik barked over the comms. “Look for a weak spot!”

  The group obeyed, spreading out as they continued to unleash blaster fire. Then the droid fired its third shot.

  The cannon blast tore through the cavern, obliterating a chunk of wall directly in Davik’s path. He ducked and rolled, narrowly avoiding the debris, but it left him out in the open with nowhere to hide.

  “Damn it!” he growled, firing blindly at the approaching machine as he scrambled for new cover.

  Rina’s voice snapped me out of my panic. “Jake, come on! Think of something!”

  I forced myself to focus. My first thought was to repeat what we’d used on the IG assassin droids—the EMP machine.

  I glanced toward the spot where we’d set it up earlier, but my heart sank. The area was now buried under a pile of debris from one of the droid’s earlier explosions.

  It might still be intact, but getting to it wouldn’t be easy.

  Grinding my teeth, I yanked the EMP grenades from my belt and thrust them into Rina’s hands. “Here. You’ve got a better arm and aim than I do.”

  She blinked, startled. “You’re not wrong, but what about you?”

  “I’m going to check the EMP machine,” I said, already moving. “It’s our best shot, but if it’s fried, those grenades are Plan B. Just—don’t miss.”

  Her face hardened with determination as she nodded. “I won’t.”

  Behind me, the droid’s heavy footsteps reverberated through the cavern, each one closer than the last. I didn’t have much time.

  Scrambling over broken rocks and dodging falling debris, I made my way toward the buried EMP machine, praying to any higher power that it was still operational.

  Davik's P.O.V. :

  Well, this is a fine mess I’ve gotten myself into.

  That droid is an absolute nightmare, and I’m pretty sure it’s gunning for me specifically. My blaster fire wasn’t doing much more than annoying it—if that—and I could feel the others’ shots pelting its frame too. No effect.

  I had to keep moving, slowly working toward some kind of cover while still laying down fire. The others were doing their best, but the droid’s focus stayed locked on me. Smart bastard. It wasn’t giving me a chance to regroup.

  Now I know how those thugs felt when we sicced Skew-02 on them, except this… this was a whole new level of bad. Skew-02 could be overwhelmed with enough firepower. This thing? It was built to shrug off anything short of a direct miracle.

  Finally, I found a chunk of debris big enough to use as cover and dove behind it, putting some precious distance between me and the death machine. Thank the stars it was a slow walker. That gave me just enough breathing room to check over my gear.

  The EMP burst from earlier had fried most of it, but when my hand brushed against the EMP gun Jake gave me, I almost smiled. Almost.

  Quick inspection: the gun still worked—barely. But it looked damaged, sparking slightly at the seams. Great. The thing might fry itself or worse, blow up in my hands if I wasn’t careful. But it was something, and something was better than nothing.

  I peeked around the corner of my cover to see the droid’s weapon arm swiveling in my direction. The glowing energy build-up in its barrel told me all I needed to know.

  It was powering up another shot, and I had seconds to act.

  So I did the only thing that came to mind.

  I aimed the EMP gun and fired at its weapon arm.

  The shot hit dead-on, a small burst of electrical energy rippling across the droid’s arm. The glow of its cannon dissipated, and the arm jerked slightly to the side as if swatting at a fly.

  It worked!

  …Sort of.

  The cannon didn’t fire, but it also wasn’t damaged enough to take it out of commission. The droid recalibrated its aim with a slow precision that made my stomach drop.

  “Well,” I muttered to myself, “guess that’s one way to get its attention.”

  And oh, did I have its attention now.

  Davik's P.O.V. :

  The droid’s weapon arm re-engaged, and the ominous glow began to build again. Just as I braced myself for another shot, something dropped beside the droid—a small metallic object. Before I could fully process what it was, the explosion came, not fiery but electrical, the same kind of sphere-like shockwave as when Jake’s EMP machine activated.

  The droid was the epicenter of the light show, its joints jerking violently as arcs of electricity danced across its frame. It looked like it was being electrocuted, and for the first time, it seemed vulnerable.

  “Move while it’s down!” Rina’s voice cut through the chaos.

  I didn’t need to be told twice. I sprinted toward Rina and Mira’s position, keeping an eye on the droid to make sure it stayed incapacitated. As I got closer, something caught my eye—a small, recessed panel on the back of the droid, partially exposed by its convulsions.

  I reached Rina’s position and ducked behind cover. My breath was ragged, but at least I was still in one piece. Mira was nearby, scanning the surroundings, while Rina was already back to fiddling with her equipment.

  “Where’s Jake?” I asked between breaths.

  “Trying to dig the EMP machine out of the debris,” Rina replied without looking up. “We just need to buy him time.”

  Great. That wasn’t exactly encouraging.

  “How many grenades do you have left?” I asked.

  “Two.”

  That wasn’t what I wanted to hear. “Two?” I muttered. “That’s… depressing.”

  “We’ll make do,” Rina said, her tone leaving no room for debate.

  I motioned to Mira and called her over. “What’s the situation with the droids?”

  “The nick droids regrouped with Kado,” Mira answered.

  “And Skew-02?”

  Rina glanced up. “With Arlos.”

  "And where is Arlos?" I asked.

  Rina answered. "On an errand."

  “On what kind of errand?” I asked skeptically.

  “The ‘turn the tables’ kind.”

  She didn’t elaborate, and I decided not to push. If she had a plan, we didn’t have time to waste questioning it.

  I switched to the shortwave comm and called Kado. “Kado, you there?”

  After a tense moment, his voice crackled back. “Yeah, still kicking. What’s the situation?”

  “I’ve got a plan,” I said. “We’re going to need the nick droids.”

  “What for?”

  “There’s a control panel on the back of that thing. Rina’s EMP grenades can temporarily disable it, but we’ll need the nick droids to help us get to the panel and buy Jake enough time to get the machine working again.”

  Kado didn’t respond right away, but I could hear him muttering to himself before he finally said, “All right. Give me a minute to coordinate.”

  “Make it quick,” I urged. “That thing won’t stay down forever.”

  I turned back to Rina and Mira. “Let’s hope Jake hurries. We’re going to need every advantage we can get.”

  AUTHOR'S NOTES:

  77 Chapters are available on my patreon

  you can support me and become a patron

  P A T R E O N . C O M / TofferPlays

  (but only if you want to, okay?)

  This fanfic is also on:

  SpaceBattles

  SufficientVelocity

  RoyalRoad

  ArchiveOfOurOwn