Unexpected

chapter thirty-six: beginnings

As Elara and her friend ran back through the catacombs, Galen stared down at the comlink in his hand. His thumb grazes over the green light as it blinks and he takes a deep breath.

"Erso."A voice calls through the metal hallway.

Galen clenches his jaw as he drops the device and crushes it with his heel. He hides the trashed communicator within the rubbish pile of droids just before the General arrives.

"Playing with your failed toys again?" The winded voice asks.

"General Grievous." Galen swallows his nerves. "I assume you're here for the new battalion of specialized droids."

"That is correct." He steps closer.

Galen holds his hands behind his back as his sister's words replay in his head. If he's going to fight for the greater good, he'll need to do it from the inside. Having that comlink was too much of a risk.

"I just need to make a few more adjustments to their central programming. They should be ready before nightfall." Galen informs the General.

Grievous huffs. "The Count does not like to be kept waiting."

"I assure you that everything will be ready on time." Galen continues. "Please, make yourself comfortable. I'll get them finished right away."

Grievous nods and shows himself through the small factory as Galen goes his own way. He quickly scribbles a note on a loose leaf of paper and folds it up before securing it to a small detonator-type device.

"Roger!" Galen calls, leading to a reprogrammed battle droid to enter the room. "I need you to go into town. There's a couple that will be leaving—a short girl with long brown hair and a taller man with short, darker brown hair." He explains. "This needs to make it into one of their bags before they leave. They'll be heading for the soonest transport. Take Clank with you."

"Yes sir." The droid nods, taking the small device. He heads off in search of his fellow reprogrammed droid before heading straight for the transport station.

Being stuffed down in the catacombs in a small factory can get pretty lonely. Having so many droids at his disposal, Galen decided to reprogram a few of them to help him out and keep him company. Roger and Clank were the only two remaining reprogrammed droids, the others were torn apart by the native Uugteen that dwelled in the catacombs surrounding the factory.

Once the two droids are raised safely out of the building and pass the ray shield in the jungle, Galen returns to the other droids to finish their alterations.

*

"Are you sure that was them?" Clank asks after dropping the package into the man's bag.

"It had to be. Everyone else here is, well, alien-looking." Roger points.

"I hope you're right about this." Clank says.

"Come on, let's get back before those pale monsters show up." Roger says before heading back into the trees.

*

The transport finally lands on Coruscant and Elara lifts her head off of Fives's shoulder. She stands from her seat and gathers her things before leading Fives off of the ship to meet a hopeful Padmé and a very unhappy Rex.

"How was it? Are you feeling better?" Padmé asks as she examines the girl.

"I feel just fine." Elara forces a small smile. "Thank you for allowing me this trip."

Padmé smiles widely. "Of course! Oh, I'm so glad you're feeling like yourself again." The Senator bombards Elara with how worried she was this past month.