Star Wars: Immortal Devotion - Short Stories (Character Intros/One Shots)

"Protocol 14" (Part 4)

RA-7E booted to life, a faint blue light flickered into his two bulbous eye-like broadband photoreceptors. His chipped, white plating reflected the dim luminous panels lining the walls of the cargo hold he was seemingly stored in.

Someone had replaced his damaged photoreceptors, but who?

He attempted to move his arms, but they were still unresponsive. Surprisingly, however, when he ran a full diagnostic scan, it revealed that both of his arms had been completely replaced since the last time he had checked. The reason they weren't moving was actually the result of a rusted restraining bolt he found attached to his lower abdomen.

Fortunately, his synthetic compound eyes gave him a wide range of vision, and he was quickly able to take in most of his surroundings without swiveling his neck. He was attached to a rack in the middle of a darkened room, crates and spare parts lining one side of the room, and deactivated droids RA-7E recognized from the Prospector's manifest, include the small and annoying " mouse droid," along the other.

The only prominent light source came from a door directly in front of him, and he wondered where he was. Most of his more advanced systems were still unresponsive, so he could not discern his location anymore.

Were they still somewhere near Devaron? How much time had passed since he had last been activated?

Suddenly two organics entered through the doorway, one was a Melbu and the other a Rodian. Both were clad in red and gold, bearing an insignia that RA-7E couldn't initially make out.

They were clearly pirates, but what pirate crew had the means and motivation to attack the Empire?

Initially, RA-7E assumed they were with the Kanjiklub based on their garb, but once they drew close enough he was able to see the skull and jaw logo of the Red Fleet. Devaron was most definitely outside of their sphere of influence, as was most of the inner and mid-rim, so something strange was definitely happening.

At this point, though, he really didn't care. As images of the final moments of the prior attack began to surface in his memory core, he remembered that the only thing he cared about now was survival.

He would need to strategize a way to make it out of here in one piece.

"Why isn't this one stowed away properly? We're about to make the jump," the Melbu said through his heavy breathing mask.

"The 'doc' said he literally just finished with it. It was on the verge of being irreparable, but he said the info in its memory banks should be well worth the cost of repairs. In fact, we may already have a buyer for the whole lot. Your one lucky droid, my friend," the Rodian said, rapping the back of his green hand on RA-7E's chestplate.

A second later he paused, squinted his eyes, and he pressed his long ear sprouts up against the droid's plating. RA-7E knew he had just discovered that the droid was actually still active.

"Would you listen to that," the pirate said motioning to his partner, "he's still on. He's probably heard everything we've said."

The insectoid Melbu laughed and walked up to RA-7E, meeting him composite eye to composite eye. "Well droid, if you can hear me, we're gonna take good care of ya. If you really are an Imperial tactical droid, you're worth a whole heap of credits. So don't you worry, you're gonna get the king's treatment until we get you hooked up with your buyer."

RA-7E felt a sense of something he could only explain as relief as all of his processors began to slow down and cool off. He knew he wouldn't have time to strategize now, but the next time he woke up, he would immediately began plotting. He was going to discover his purpose, no matter what it took. He was no longer bound by any manufacturer's safeguards or failsafes, and he would use that to his full advantage.

The Melbu reached around behind the droid's head.

Just you wait, galaxy... RA-7E has been given a second chance, and he isn't going to squander it. He was going to survive.

"Goodnight," the Melbu laughed softly.

Click.