Date: 7/17/7956 C.R.C

  In orbit of Llanic

  General Anakin Skywalker's flagship; The Resolute

  To say that Anakin Skywalker has had a rough week would be a severe understatement.

  It all started with the Second Battle of Geonosis.

  The ground invasion started out pretty well, even though there were a few hiccups on the flight down to the surface. Only a few of his LAATs made it to the ground with little problem, while the extreme flak brought down dozens of other gunships. By the time they crash landed, they only had around one and a half LAAT's worth of soldiers, and no tanks. Thankfully, most of them were unhurt, and only a few had minor injuries from the crash.

  Once they were on the ground, he and Ahsoka had even managed to destroy a wall fortress that was in their way, with a little help from Rex and a couple bags full of thermal detonators. And after that they were perfectly able to make their way to Obi-Wan's group to assist in their defense.

  But then things started going wrong.

  According to intel he received after he met up with General's Obi-wan and Mundi, the same droid general he fought over Devaron was on Geonosis for some reason, most likely to stock up on droids for a new campaign. To make matters worse, his fleet had taken down General Mundi's, relatively easily, according to the survivors they later rescued.

  Apparently, 'General Blitzkrieg', as he's taken to calling himself, pulled some trick involving his flagship and a kriff-ton of proton torpedoes, and tore through Mundi's fleet like flimsy, meaning both his and Obi-Wan's fleets had to divert resources to defending and rescuing the remains of Mundi's fleet.

  With the space battle even worse at that point, there was barely any air support to assist with the waves of Geonosians. To make matters even worse, Obi-wan caught a blaster bolt right in his saber arm, which along with the injuries he sustained from the crash landing, put him out of commission for at least two days so he could heal. Once the fighting had died down, they only had two working AT-TE's, and both of them had minor to moderate damage to their armor. There weren't enough vehicles to mount an armored assault.

  The plan to destroy the shield generator went well, but it was even more costly than he expected. By the time the tanks brought down the building housing it, there were only five clones left out of the squadron that Anakin and Ahsoka took with them. After that, Obi-wan and Mundi were med-evaced. Mundi was worse off, having caught a sonic round in the leg, and would leave him walking with both a cane and a limp for around a week and a half as his leg healed.

  The sabotage of the hive factory's reactor went even worse, since they all had to wait for Master Luminara and Padawan Barris to arrive, since the padawan had memorized the catacombs beneath it. Just before Mundi and Obi-wan left to go receive medical attention, however, Luminara and Barris arrived, the younger missing a hand (just like him).

  Even with the heat of Geonosis beating down on him like Tatooine's twin suns, Anakin's blood ran cold as Luminara recounted the tale of the droid general, his HK assassin, and a single B1 pilot going head-to-head with both of them and a whole LAAT full of clones, and somehow winning.

  By some miracle, (or luck, he supposed, since Obi-wan wasn't around) Ahsoka and Anakin managed to get into the factory, but by the time they got to the reactor, there was a huge droid presence inside. After a minute or so of fighting, one of their new super tanks came in as well. Anakin and his padawan were forced to escape, but not without the tactical droid that came with the tank taunting them about their new Ultra Tactical Droid being the mastermind behind the ambush. They had to retreat and Anakin was forced to call for his Venator to bombard the factory. That led to a rather harrowing escape right across the main bridge as the facility crumbled under sustained bombardment.

  And don't even get him started on the brain worm incident. Far too many clones died to their own brothers before Ahsoka discovered their weakness to cold temperatures. Thankfully that was mostly behind them, and the planet was slowly coming under the Republic's control.

  Now that all of that was over, Chancellor Palpatine had called him back to Coruscant, so the 501st packed up and left Geonosis in the capable hands of the 212th. They had to take an alternate route to avoid a battle going on at Mon Gazza, so they were stuck in orbit of the planet Llanic for a few hours waiting on a fuel tanker ship so his Venators tanks could be filled.

  "Brooding again, Master?" Ahsoka quipped as she walked over to the window that Anakin was staring out of.

  "No. Just thinking." He replied, looking over at his young Togruta padawan.

  "Is it about that droid that fought Master Luminara and Barris?"

  "...Yeah. I have a bad feeling about this 'General Blitzkrieg' droid. I think we'll be seeing much more of it in the future."

  "What makes you think that?"

  "We've already fought it once before back at Devaron, and now here on Geonosis it's in the same factory almost at the same time we are? Once is a random occurrence, twice is a coincidence, and if we meet that droid again, well... three times is just suspicious."

  "You mean like how Master Obi-wan and General Grievous almost always end up on the same planets, and the same battlefields, and almost always end up fighting each other?" Ahsoka asked all in one breath.

  "...Exactly, Snips. Exactly."

  —

  Date: 7/17/7956 C.R.C

  Providence-Class Dreadnought: The Finest Hour

  En-route to the marshy moon of Pantora

  Leaving Geonosis with my full fleet was not as easy as I expected.

  In the process of breaking out of Geonosian space, we were intercepted by no less than seven GAR patrol fleets. We were forced to go off course and into Hutt Space for a while to throw the Republic ships off our trail with how muddied hyperspace signatures get in there. From Tatooine, we then passed through Milarian and ended up passing by a CIS fleet at Herdessa while we finished repairs and rearmed all the torpedo tubes on the Finest Hour.

  After Herdessa, we passed through Mon Gazza, which was just a massive spice mine with a space battle going on around it that we avoided. After Mon Gazza, we made our way down onto the Llanic spice run, almost getting caught by a patrolling GAR scout in the process. Thankfully we kept them off our trail, and kept quietly traveling down the spice run. At one point during the trip after Lona had already gone to bed, I had also retired to my quarters. I had started feeling a bit tired mentally, so I climbed into my bed and entered sleep mode to see if that would help.

  Until I was woken up by my admiral.

  "General, your presence is required on the bridge in about ten minutes. We're coming up on Pantora."

  A soft synthetic sigh left my vocalizer as I onlined my photoreceptors, feeling mentally recharged after being 'awake' since I first came online two months previously (which honestly freaked me out for the first two weeks when I just didn't feel tired at all.). I cast the blanket off of my body (not that I really needed it, being a machine and all) and got to my feet.

  I walked into my repair bay and had a maintenance scan performed, topping off my power core in the process. Then after plugging in to my desk and sorting through a few reports, I threw my cloak on, left my quarters, and started making my way to the bridge.

  As had become usual during my treks through the Finest Hour, any patrolling B1s or B2s that crossed my path would stop and salute me as I walked past them. I would nod at them in response, and they would continue their patrol. As I walked onto the bridge, I was greeted by Lona, a steaming cup of caff in her hand as she lounged in my command chair.

  If my photoreceptors could move I would have rolled them at her blatant dismissal of my authority. Instead, I walked up beside the chair and lightly bopped her on the montral, getting a yelp from my Head Engineer.

  "Ow. Hey, boss." The blue-skinned Togruta said, before taking a long sip from the cup.

  "Morning, Lona." I greeted, leaning slightly against the command chair. "So, since you're sitting in my chair, how's the fleet?"

  Lona clicked a few buttons on the armrest, opening up a few holographic reports. "All operating at 100%. The last of the repairs were finished while both of us were asleep. By the way, do you actually need to sleep or what?"

  "I think I do, because I feel mentally refreshed and my mind feels much sharper now. And that was only four and a half hours in sleep mode. So, I suppose I do need to rest every once in a while to de-stress myself and let my mind rest."

  "I guess that checks off another thing on my mental list of things that you still do as a force ghost in a machine. Plus some of the… questionable decisions you've made in the past could be equated to sleep deprivation."

  "What makes you think I'm a spirit of the force shoved inside a machine, though?"

  Lona looked over at me and stared into my optics for a moment. "Back in the temple, force ghosts were basically just a rumor, but if I had to guess, you would probably be a good representation of what a force ghost could be. I mean, I can't tell anything about you in the force, but you do have a vaguely human presence now, despite being a droid. It's actually a little easier to feel you in the force since I've been around you for long enough.

  "But what exactly you are is still confusing, and all I've got to work with is just rumors and speculation that might not even be right. Kriff, the reason I can't tell what your intentions are through the force could be a multitude of things, including the body you inhabit. You could even be an entirely new species of biotechnological life and I wouldn't be able to tell!"

  "General, Head Engineer, if you two are done with your pleasantries, we still need a plan on how we are to deal with Pantora." Admiral Omen interrupted as he walked over.

  25, having gained a larger amount of individuality thanks to his age, his voice, his yellow glowing photoreceptors, and my software patch, had come to me with a request shortly after we left Geonosis. He asked me if he could further customize himself while on the way to Pantora so that organics would take him more seriously.

  I agreed, given that besides the voice and photoreceptors he was just a stock OOM battle droid. But now he stands out among the rank and file, and has even chosen his own name -Omen, referencing his OOM model- to differentiate himself further from his old designation.

  His body was a bit bulkier, due to the white and silver armor and advanced hydraulics that now adorn his frame, giving him a more filled out humanoid look. His photoreceptors now glow a brighter yellow, having been retrofitted with optics from the HK line. On top of his head was a crest that stretched across his processor access panel, similar to a B1 that I read about named Coppertop. His hands were different as well, having four fingers instead of three, like my own.

  Taking a few design tips from me, he had blue accents painted across his chest, but he took his own tastes into account as well, and he now wears a dark gray duster with a black interior. I have to say, I may need to update my own wardrobe to include a duster as well when I'm not wearing my cloak, considering how much Omen's 'cool factor' went up when we first saw him when he finished his customizations.

  "Omen's right, what is the plan?" Lona asked. "This isn't really like Telos, because you aren't answering a call for aid, or Devaron, where you were working with a bounty hunter who's doing most of the work. This is a Republic planet that's been on the Republic's side since systems started seceding."

  "Well I'm not planning on invading the planet with our whole fleet if that's what you're wondering. This is a job for diplomacy, and a little bit of -eugh- …political manipulation." I replied.

  "What do you mean by that?"

  "What I mean is Senator Chuchi is young, just three weeks ago turning sixteen cycles old. And according to the research I've done on her, she is emotional, timid, and could potentially be swayed should we show her just what the Republic has been doing, and why the Confederacy exists in the first place. The Chairman, Notluwiski Papanoida, might be harder, given his age and experience in the political arena, but he cares immensely for his daughters, and for his people, which leads me to the plan. Answer me this, what biome is Pantora?"

  "Uh… Marshes, why?"

  "Exactly. Marshes, swamps and large bodies of water and unstable land that have very little ability to grow large amounts of crops. In fact, the only reason the population of Pantora managed to surpass a billion last year without starvation being rampant is because of its connections to the wider galaxy and -more notably- to the agriworlds. Marshes also mean that creating any sort of new infrastructure is extremely hard for them, even if they've had thousands of years to adjust their building methods.

  "Their construction workers have to have years or even decades of training and experience to build properly here, and even then because of 'human' error, their homes may potentially still topple into the swampland. But with droids… all we need to do is upload a few programs, and suddenly, we have an entire army of master construction workers, engineers, laborers, electricians, civil workers, miners, farmers, mechanics, you name it."

  "So what you're saying is you're going to do the same thing you did on Telos, here on Pantora?" Omen asked.

  "Exactly, Omen. Just like with Telos, I'm going to throw our droids at the problems Pantora has until the citizens of the planet are living better than they ever had with the Republic. And, once we're done, the people will be so enamored by the Confederacy's aid that the Pantoran Assembly will have no choice but to join us.; Otherwise they'll all be impeached and replaced with those who will bend to the public's collective will."

  "Wow. That's… actually a pretty good plan." Lona admitted.

  "Why thank you, I do try. It's actually my plan to convince most mid and outer rim worlds to join or rejoin the CIS. You see, the whole problem with outer rim worlds is that they have all the raw materials they could ever need, but they don't have the infrastructure, technology, or sometimes even the know-how necessary to make anything with it.

  "This forces them to sell their hard-earned materials to the core for glorified pocket change. And then afterwards, they have to buy the completed products from the megacorporation's in the core. All at an insanely marked up price and made from the very raw materials that they sold to them in the first place. It's a simple cheap labor and high profit system, benefiting no one but the already rich higher-ups of the megacorporation's, and the politicians in the core worlds."

  "Well, all of this airing out of the galaxy's socio-economic problems aside, how are we going to get down to Pantora's surface for negotiations without being blasted out of the sky?" Omen asked, glancing over at the navigation B1 who was trying to get his attention. "Because I believe we are about to drop out of hyperspace."

  "I will deal with that myself." I replied. "Just keep our comm frequency open and our weapons on standby."

  The swirling corona of light slowed to a stop as the hyperdrive wound down, revealing the brownish moon of Pantora, which took up most of the bridge windows. However, taking up a slightly smaller amount of space, mostly in our way, was a Pantoran planetary defense fleet made up entirely of pre-war ships, some over a century old.

  "General, we're being hailed by the Pantoran flagship." The communications B1 reported.

  "Answer it." I ordered. "Lona, out of my chair, I need to be suitably intimidating to get my point across."

  "Yeah, yeah." Lona grumbled, standing up and moving over to the side.

  I sat down in my command chair, cloak wafting out behind me, giving me a suitably intimidating look. A hologram popped up in front of the three of us, displaying a middle aged Pantoran in an officer's uniform. A short white beard so thick it'd have to be trimmed with a chisel adorned his gruff face, on which a perpetual scowl seemed to be his default expression.

  "Separatist fleet, you are in Republic space, turn around and leave immediately, or we will open fire." The man said.

  "That meatbag's got bearings of titanium to say that with a straight face when his fleet's half our size and half a century older." Omen quietly remarked.

  "Greetings, I am General Blitzkrieg of the Confederacy of Independent Systems. I have come to negotiate with the Pantoran government. I ask to speak with your senator and your chairman." I explained, ignoring Omen's quiet comments and Lona's attempt to cover up her giggles.

  "I don't care who you are or what you want, droid. You have thirty seconds to vacate Pantoran space or you will be fired upon."

  "I take it back, this guy's just a stubborn idiot." Omen quietly remarked again.

  "Your fleet is outnumbered two to one, and is hopelessly out of date. I can outmatch you on any playing field and overrun your army with countless battle droids with tactics that will make you second-guess your Every. Single. Move. Do you really think insulting me is a good idea?" I asked, my voice calm and measured to cover up my annoyance at this man. "I will only say this once more, I have come to negotiate Pantora's addition to the CIS. Whether or not you and your defense fleet are in one piece while that happens is up to you. I'm sure the people on your bridge no doubt listening to this have families, and it would be sad for them to never have their loved ones return because of one man's ignorance."

  Throughout my threat, a flurry of emotions too small for the human eye to see crossed the man's face, from anger, to uncertainty, to concern, to outright fear. To any normal sentient, they would have seen the same stoic visage of the man, but I had been running a new facial recognition software in my optics that could show micro expressions on a person. It only works for humans and near-human sentients at the moment, but it being only a prototype means that successive versions will work on other beings.

  "...Fine. We are standing down. I am old enough to know when I am outmatched." The officer begrudgingly said, anger and shame prevalent thanks to my scans.

  "Thank you for your cooperation." I replied. "I am asking for an audience with Chairman Papanoida as soon as possible."

  "I'll get you your kriffing audience. Just… don't destroy us. We need this fleet to keep us safe from the nearby pirates."

  The connection cut, and I leaned back in my chair, thinking hard on everything I'd need to do to secure the Pantoran's loyalty. I gazed out the main window at the moon below. Pantora was mostly marshland, but there were areas where the ground was much more solid according to a few planetary scans I did. They would be perfect for starting new construction projects.

  "So, when are you getting your new five-fingered hands, anyway?" Lona asked as she leaned on my command chair.

  "As soon as my maintenance bay finishes fabricating them and disassembling all of my older model hands for parts, so tomorrow, I believe. The actuators in particular need to be saved for spares so they don't interfere with my fallback weaponry, and so I can spin my hands like I normally do in combat." I replied, raising my right hand and giving it a little spin before it settled back down on the armrest.

  "You should have just let me make the first model for you instead of the fabricator. I may have been the lowest scoring initiate in …most things, but I excelled in everything mechanical for a reason, you know."

  "Funny. And why exactly didn't you say you could build droid parts yourself two weeks ago?"

  "You never asked."

  "Why you…" I bonked her lightly on the head again, getting a giggle out of the Togruta.

  "Sir?" One of the B1's said.

  "Yes, what is it?" I asked.

  "Our scanners have detected a Republic Senatorial ship on the surface. It appears to be one with a Coruscant ID." The B1 reported.

  "What's the model of the ship?" I asked.

  "It's a… H-type Nubian Yacht, which is odd, considering Naboo doesn't really sell their ships… at all."

  Nubian? Padme Amidala must be on the surface. Is Palpatine making a move to try and get me or her killed?

  Maybe.

  Am I going to waltz right into that mess and capture her anyway?

  …

  Yes I am.

  If she escapes to the Republic and spins her tale of the Confederacy arriving to take over Pantora, I'll have at least three entire fleets of ships after my shiny metal ass. I can't let her escape. Better to deal with a single Jedi than an entire battle group. Even if said single Jedi is going to be Anakin Skywalker.

  "Omen, ready a small detachment of those unmodified B1's to send down to the surface, and make sure that the tractor beams are on standby if that ship makes a run for it. It appears that instead of one, I have a pair of senators to meet." I ordered while sending pings to two Magnaguards, a squad of Commando droids, and H1 to all meet me in the main hangar near my personal ship.

  I strode out off of the bridge, shaking my head fondly as Lona instantly jumped into my chair as soon as I started to leave.

  —

  In Pantora City, the population was preparing for a massive celebration.

  Not even the Clone War could dampen their spirits as children ran laughing through the city streets, and the city itself seemed to sing with happiness as a nearly palpable aura of cheer permeated through the air. Numerous decorations with the theme of summer dot the city, some almost covering entire buildings. Above the city streets, two women looked out over the event from a high rise apartment, both with small smiles on their faces.

  "Thank you for coming to the Summer Solstice celebration with me, Padme." Riyo said.

  "There is no need to thank me, Riyo. If you had not asked me, I would have asked you, instead." Padme replied. "I love experiencing cultures from across the galaxy, and it's a welcome respite from the constant work in the Senate."

  "It was so nice of chancellor Palpatine to give you some time off after everything that has happened in the last few months."

  Padme grimaced slightly as she remembered all the big events that had happened. Being infected with the Blue Shadow Virus on her home-planet of Naboo and nearly dying, then when the Zillo beast rampaged through the senatorial district and almost dying again, and then being sent on a spy mission to Cato Neimoidia and being poisoned and almost dying… Again.

  "Don't remind me." Padme mock-groaned. "I swear, no other Senator has been in so much danger in their lives. Even in previous wars."

  Riyo giggled. "At least your life is never boring?"

  Padme huffed a short laugh. "At least I have that."

  "By the way, have you heard about that new general that the Separatists have that took over Telos in less than a week? Blis-something? I cannot remember what his name is."

  "General Blitzkrieg. I've never heard that name before, but it's apparently some new type of tactical droid the Separatists came up with. And yes, the rumors are true, he did overtake Telos, but I think that was only because of how undersupplied the battle group on Telos was. Either way, I don't put much stock in it doing well though, considering what I've heard from Knight Skywalker and Master Kenobi, tactical droids never seem to work right, apparently."

  "I still think it's nice that you're so close to the Jedi like that. I've never even seen the Jedi Temple up close, let alone been inside it before."

  "It's not as grandiose as you might think, Riyo. They aren't really… materialistic. But enough about that, shall we go down and enjoy some of the festivities?"

  Before Riyo could answer, C-3PO walked in.

  "Mistress Padme? Captain Typho is asking for you. He is in the entrance hall, and he seems quite anxious." The gold-plated droid said, worry evident in his tone.

  Padme and Riyo glanced at each other, then moved out of the room and to the entrance, where the eyepatch-wearing bodyguard was standing, blaster out, with an anxious expression on his face.

  "Senator Amidala, we need to go." He said as soon as he saw her.

  "What do you mean, captain?" Padme asked.

  "I just got a report from the Pantoran defense fleet. They were just forced to admit a Separatist fleet that has the same hyperspace signature as the one that escaped Geonosis four days ago."

  Padme's eyes widened in shock. Ani had told her about how devastating the Second Battle of Geonosis was the last time they talked. The only fleet that managed to escape was… General Blitzkrieg's.

  "We- We need to get back to Coruscant, immediately! If the Separatists are attacking Pantora, who knows what they'll do next!" She exclaimed. "Riyo?"

  "I can't come with you. Someone must stall the Separatists for as long as possible." The young Pantoran senator said.

  Padme pulled her into a hug, getting a slightly shocked look from Riyo in the process. "Be careful."

  "...I will."

  Padme and Captain Typho were about to leave, when suddenly Commando droids flipped in from above the balcony, blasters out and zeroed in on them. One of the Commando droids fired a shot and hit Captain Typho's blaster, melting it. A small, bird-like drone flew in as well, its optics zeroing in on Padme as it hovered in front of the group.

  The bird droid made a small beeping noise for a few seconds, then the front door was forced open, letting in two Magnaguards wearing black with navy blue accented cloaks, along with an HK-Assassin droid, colored black with blue accents. Padme pushed Riyo behind herself, and Captain Typho did the same to her, but she stuck her head out to glare at the assassin droid.

  "What do you want from us?" Padme demanded.

  "Statement: The general wants to see you." The HK droid replied, before putting one of its fingers up to its head and conversing quietly in binary.

  "And why does a Separatist general want to speak to us?"

  "Because you are an obstacle at best, Senator Padme Amidala." A deep, mechanical voice tinged with static said from the entrance.

  Padme looked towards the door at the unknown voice, and her eyes widened. Standing in the doorway was a tall, black plated droid with navy-blue accents. A dark gray cloak with a navy-blue interior covered its body, and stark white photoreceptors stared into her soul. It looked somewhat like a tactical droid, but it was unlike any other that she had ever seen before.

  "Greetings, Senator Chuchi. I believe your chairman should be calling you in a few seconds for a meeting." The droid said.

  The BX droid aiming at Riyo lowered its blaster and gestured to the other room, where the beeping of a communicator was heard. The young Pantoran glanced between the room and the black plated droid, then slowly walked to the other room, being followed by the same BX droid. Then the tactical droid turned back to Padme.

  "Ah, where are my manners?" The droid said, amusement coloring its tone. "I am Blitzkrieg, general of the 104th mixed fleet, also known as the Star Wreckers."

  "Well 'General Blitzkrieg', I know you know who I am, and as a Republic senator, I demand that myself and Senator Chuchi, along with our aids, be returned to Republic lines immediately." Padme demanded.

  General Blitzkrieg chuckled, the static getting heavier for a moment.

  —

  "Unfortunately, Senator Amidala, you have no power here. And Senator Chuchi will not be a Republic Senator for much longer. The CIS will be relieving the Republic of Pantora, and you cannot do a single thing about that." I said, staring Padme right in the eyes as H1 wandered off.

  "But you can't! The Republic will never allow it!" She exclaimed.

  "I think you will find, Amidala, that I do not care for what the Republic thinks. Take them back to her apartment and wait for further instructions."

  Before she could reply, Padme and Captain Typho were forced at blaster point out of the apartment. Once the doors closed, I noticed that there was a gold-plated droid missing from the room. Just as I was about to give the order to my Magnaguards to search for C-3PO, H1's voice shouted out from another room.

  "Declaration: Hey! What are you doing!?"

  "Oh my!"

  Two blaster shots rang out from the room that H1 had entered, followed by the sound of a metallic body hitting the floor.

  If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

  H1 came walking back out, blaster barrel smoking, and dragging C-3PO by the leg behind him. The gold plated droid had one blaster hole in his chest, piercing his power core, and the second had hit his neck, almost tearing the droid's whole head off. H1 tossed 3PO into the room, where he laid still as oil leaked sluggishly out of his wounds.

  I was shocked into complete silence for a few moments, but then my emotional suppressor detected emotions too heightened to function properly and clicked online. The cool, detached sensation of my emotions becoming muted washed over my mind, allowing me to think clearly again.

  "Is there a reason you shot that protocol droid, H1?" I asked, internally shocked to the core that one of my own droids shot C-3PO.

  I mean sweet mother of god one of my own men just shot a damned main character and plot armor wasn't there to protect them.

  …Wait does that mean I could-

  NO! BAD IDEA!

  I am not going to shoot Padme just to test if plot armor was real, because if I do, I'll have a permanent target on my back courtesy of the entire Republic, along with a personal vendetta by one Anakin kriffing Skywalker. He'll already be mad enough that one of my own shot one of the first droids he ever built and imprisoned his secret wife.

  Obviously, he'll think I gave the order, and the blame will shift from H1 to me. Plus it'd look bad if I shot a Republic senator instead of imprisoning them, despite the fact that Palpatine probably wants me to do the former, especially with Padme.

  "Report: I caught him sending a distress signal out with a handheld communicator. Addendum: I believe we may be compromised, sir, because it appears to be of the same model as the one that the fallen Jedi on Telos had." H1 replied as he handed me a cracked handheld communicator.

  "Slag." I replied. "Put Senator Amidala and Captain Typho under guard with some of those unmodified B1's that I never got around to updating. Once they get destroyed, I'll just throw the update into their programming when they're being reconstructed back on the ship."

  "Yes, sir. Query: What do you want me to do with the protocol droid?"

  I looked down into C-3PO's dimmed photoreceptors and thought for a moment, a hum coming from my vocalizer.

  If Anakin could repair R2-D2 after a ship exploded around him, it would probably be just as easy for him to fix 3PO up, so melting him down would be an option. On the other hand, if I leave him alive he could potentially end up as a pain in the neck, just like his little blue astromech friend. However, he did end up running the droid spy network during the sequel films, and droids are so common that they blend into the background, which means people tend to talk around them. A lot.

  Hmm…

  I could finish up that spy software I've been working on…

  Yeah, that could work.

  "Take him back to the Finest Hour and have a complete repair and update done to him, wipe his memory of the last twenty minutes and put in place some false memories. Then once it's done, I'll implant the spy software that I've been working on since we left Geonosis." I ordered.

  "Agreement: By your command, sir."

  Two commandos grabbed 3PO's body and pulled him out of the room just as Senator Chuchi walked back in with her BX 'escort'. I turned to the young Pantoran as she slowly walked over, and I dialed my vocalizer into its least threatening tone then gently set a hand on her shoulder before speaking softly to her.

  "Senator Chuchi, it was wonderful to meet you." I said. "But I believe we have a meeting to get to with Chairman Papanoida. H1, you have your orders."

  Senator Chuchi and I left the room with my Magnaguards, leaving only silence and the clanking of droid feet in our wake.

  —

  Date: 7/19/7956 C.R.C

  Anakin's G9 Rigger-class light freighter - The Twilight

  En-route to the marshy moon of Pantora

  The Twilight's hyperdrive hummed in the background as Anakin's foot tapped impatiently on the floor.

  When the distress communication he got from C-3PO cut off with the sounds of blaster bolts hitting the gold plated droid, Anakin may have panicked a little. He was already in hyperspace by the time he managed to send a quick message to Obi-wan about the distress signal. Obi-wan said to come back to the fleet, but he couldn't. He knew he was going to get the 'disappointed in you, I am' speech from Master Yoda once he got back to Coruscant, but he didn't care.

  His wife was in danger, and whoever it was had no qualms with shooting a protocol droid. So, now he was blasting down the Llanic Spice Run with the Twilight's engines pushed to their limit. It was a good thing that he had just acquired and was testing out a prototype class-1 hyperdrive from… less than legal means just before Geonosis.

  A series of beeps rang out from behind him, and Anakin turned to look back at Artoo.

  "I know Artoo. I know. I'm going to be in a lot of trouble. But Padme is in danger, and 3PO got shot at, you know how jumpy he can be around blasters."

  The astromech beeped quietly in exasperation. 3PO and Padme may be in danger, but his human could be so blockheaded sometimes.

  "Get ready, Artoo, we're about to exit hyperspace."

  The ship shuddered as the hyperdrive wound down, and the corona of swirling light was replaced with the moon of Pantora. As the Separatist fleet loomed over the capital, Anakin quietly merged into a cargo lane heading to Pantora City. Before he could get too far, however, he was hailed by one of the Separatist ships.

  "G9-Rigger cargo vessel, please transmit your clearance codes."

  Anakin glanced over at his astromech companion.

  "Alright, Artoo, work your magic, buddy." He said.

  Artoo beeped, then jacked into the ship. The astromech transmitted a set of forged codes that he had been working on since they left Llanic. A tense silence layered over the cabin the longer it seemed to take. Finally, after around an entire minute, the ship got back to them.

  "G9-Rigger, your clearance codes bugged out for a moment but they're fine now and are accepted. Welcome to Pantora, just keep on that cargo lane until you reach the port. If you have any supplies for the new construction projects, head to these coordinates once you get done in the city."

  Anakin breathed a sigh of relief as the connection cut and a set of coordinates were sent to him.

  "Well, that went well." He remarked.

  Artoo swiveled his head to look at Anakin and beeped a few times.

  "Oh, you're just worrying too much. The codes cleared, didn't they? We'll be fine, just stay with the ship and try to contact 3PO so he can get his gold-plated butt onto Padme's ship."

  The atmosphere of Pantora wrapped around the ship as it flew downwards towards Pantora City. Anakin activated some of the ship's cameras to get a closer look at the outskirts. It looked like there were battle droids… building things?

  "What do you make of that, Artoo?" Anakin asked.

  Artoo took a long look at the camera footage, then beeped a bunch.

  "Yeah, that droid did mention construction projects. But what is this droid general up to?" He muttered. "Doesn't matter, once we report this to the council, they'll bring the calvary to kick the Seppies off the planet."

  Artoo beeped again.

  "You found Padme? Good job Artoo. Let's rescue my lady."

  Anakin pushed the throttle, and the Twilight soared off into the city.

  —

  Five minutes earlier

  My metallic feet clanked lightly as I walked down a hallway to Padme's apartment, two commando droids walking lockstep at my sides.

  After finishing up my spy software, I implanted it into 3PO's main programing, and now from this point onward, C-3PO is a spy for my newly formed intelligence division, along with whatever protocol droid duties he has. He was placed back into Senator Chuchi's room and reactivated, where he walked to Padme's apartment and took up his duties as her protocol droid once again. He spun a tale of accidentally turning himself off when my droids came in, and thankfully -and unsurprisingly, along with disappointingly- Padme believed him.

  The spy software was fairly interesting from a technical standpoint concerning its defenses. Instead of being one singular bit of coding in a droid's processor, the spy software spreads itself out and hides amongst all of the code whenever a technician looks at an infected droid's brain, effectively hiding the software from anyone trying to look into a droid's head.

  Unfortunately, it couldn't spread like an actual virus through networks, but if a droid directly interfaced with a computer of some kind, a version of it would spread to whatever technology connects to it next. Paying some Coruscanti thugs to capture and implement the software manually could work as well, given that they're intelligent enough to do so without permanently damaging the droid's mind.

  Once the droid's memory banks pick up enough intelligence, or a particularly important bit of info, the software activates, making them move to the nearest computer and plug in, before uploading and sending the data to the nearest communication satellite. After that, the droid's mind would blank for a few moments as the software hid itself away, and the droid would go about its day. After all of that, the data would be sent to my ship for viewing, or later to a central intelligence hub on Telos that I've ordered construction on.

  The negotiations with Chairman Papanoida and Senator Chuchi went… okay. In all honesty, I should have expected Papanoida to be an extremely accomplished politician, and he was exactly that. The negotiations took both the day of my arrival, and most of yesterday. We did finalize the negotiations yesterday though, but they were much stricter than I would have liked.

  The compromise we came to was simple.

  My fleet would remain in orbit of Pantora and act as a deterrent to any nearby pirates, and in return I would use droid labor to help build up Pantora's infrastructure and economy, along with dozens of other, smaller things I needed to do as well. But the biggest objective was to build an orbital defense grid. It would be similar to the one that was done on Telos, and as soon as it was active, we would begin negotiations for Pantora joining the CIS.

  And that would depend on public opinion towards us as well but given that my fleet hasn't really caused any fuss aside from the planetary news reporting on it, nothing else of note has really happened. I have finally gotten my new five-fingered hands installed now, so that's nice.

  But right now, I had a Republic Senator to deliver some bad news to.

  I finally reached Padme's apartment and ringed the doorbell. C-3PO opened it and froze for a moment when he realized who he just opened the door for.

  "Oh dear." The gold plated droid muttered.

  "I have news for Padme Amidala. If you could take me to her." I said.

  3PO led me to the living room, where Padme stood up upon my entry and glared at me.

  "Are you going to release me to the Republic yet?" She demanded before I could get a word out.

  If my photoreceptors could narrow, I would have done so.

  "You are not going to be released." I replied, enjoying the shock in her expression. "In order for the negotiations for Pantora to join the CIS to continue, news of my fleet in orbit must not reach the Republic. Therefore, you, as a Republic Senator, will not be leaving this planet unless it is taken back by the Republic, or the war ends tomorrow."

  "You cannot do this!" She exclaimed.

  "I believe I can, Amidala. If I were to release you back to the Republic, would you or would you not spin a tale of my soldiers mistreating the citizens of this planet?"

  "I…"

  Bingo.

  "Would you or would you not misinform the Senate that I am violently taking over Pantora as opposed to diplomatically adding the planet to the CIS?"

  Padme remained silent, a dozen expressions flowing across her face.

  "As of right now onward, you will be a prisoner on my flagship until Pantora's defenses are reinforced, then you will be returned to the surface, where you will leave, and never return to his moon. 75, 76, arrest her."

  "Roger, roger."

  "Roger, roger."

  The two Commando droids moved towards Padme, one pulling out a pair of handcuffs. Padme started to back away as they approached, fear being the only expression on her face. Just before they reached her, all of the droids were suddenly thrown up into the ceiling by an unseen force, startling me, then they were thrown to the floor destroying all of the B1's.

  "Padme!" A familiar voice shouted.

  I looked out the balcony to see Anakin jumping onto it from his personal ship, lightsaber out and ignited, casting a blue glow over him.

  "Anakin!" Padme exclaimed.

  The Jedi ran over and took up a defensive position right in front of her as the two Commando droids got to their feet.

  With the force on his side, Anakin blocked and deflected bolt after bolt from our blasters as Padme ran towards the ship. Anakin leaped forward and sliced through 75's abdomen, sending the droid clattering to the floor in two pieces. 75 raised his blaster arm and kept firing, however, forcing Anakin to force push him into a table, which fell onto him.

  76 was thrown up into the ceiling again, this time actually breaking through and breaking open a pipe, causing water to come streaming out.

  "Anakin Skywalker." I growled. "I expected the 'Hero with no Fear' to be… older."

  "General Blitzkrieg." Anakin replied, a confident smirk on his face. "You're shorter than I expected."

  I pulled my lightsaber out and ignited it, casting a blue glow over my frame. Anakin's eyes narrowed as he glanced at the saber.

  "That doesn't belong to you." He said.

  "On the contrary, Jedi." I replied, spinning my wrist into a combat stance. "The one who once used this isn't going to be using it any longer."

  We clashed, dodging, blocking, both of us testing each other's defenses. I feinted, then fired a blaster shot at him. Anakin deflected it right back at me, and I deflected it as well, sending it back at him. Due to the speed the bolt was traveling at now, he barely managed to dodge it. The bolt impacted a holotank, which exploded.

  "So, you collect trophies from fallen Jedi then, just like Grievous?" He demanded as we circled each other.

  "I am nothing like that deluded cyborg. I do not hunt you Jedi, and only kill you when you're in my way!" I replied, swinging my saber at Anakin.

  He leaped over my swing and landed a glancing hit on my arm blaster. The armor of my arm held, but my blaster was rendered non-functional. I retracted the blaster and switched saber hands, then struck at Anakin. He dodged, and my saber sliced through a column instead of flesh.

  "I have to admit, you fight well for a droid." Anakin said as we circled each other once more.

  "High praise coming from the 'Hero of the Republic'." I said sarcastically.

  We engaged again, the azure hue from our blades casting long shadows over the walls as we clashed again and again. I swung down and locked blades with him, but he sent a force push at me that sent me flying back into a wall. I shook my head, then glanced to my right at the open doorway. Making a split decision, I opened fire at Anakin, and while he was busy blocking my shots, I ran out of the room.

  "You aren't getting away that easy!" Anakin yelled as he came sprinting out of the apartment.

  75's lower half flew by me and dented the elevator doors. I detoured to the stairs, taking them down two at a time.

  "This is General Blitzkrieg to the Finest Hour, come in!" I shouted into my comm.

  "General? What's going on?" Omen asked.

  "Anakin Skywalker, that's what's going on!" I replied.

  "Do you need assistance?"

  "I need the Starlight or reinforcements immediately!"

  "Sending reinforcements now. Try to come back in one piece this time. Last time you directly fought a Jedi it ended with you losing an arm."

  Anakin caught up with me at that point and sent a massive force push at me. I crashed through a wall and into another apartment, interrupting a family's evening meal. Anakin followed, an enraged glint in his eyes. I dodged a strike from him and was put on the defensive. The family was attempting to escape, and Anakin was so focused on fighting me that he didn't seem to see them as he pushed us closer. We locked blades again, and I stomped on his foot.

  Anakin let out a yelp of pain, and I ran out to the balcony. Thankfully, he didn't catch up to me until we reached the smaller buildings, so I jumped up to the ledge, took a quick glance behind me to see that Anakin was still coming for me, then leaped across to the roof of another building.

  I rolled across the roof as I landed, then broke out into a sprint. I fired blindly behind me, and upon hearing the sound of a lightsaber deflecting my shots, tried to run even faster. I glanced behind me, and saw that Anakin was still coming, and sighed.

  "Omen, where are my reinforcements?" I demanded as I ran.

  "Your personal ship is en-route with four of the six BX-series you brought with you. Try to stay alive, I have more forces coming down." Admiral Omen replied.

  I leaped off of the building, then rolled across the roof of the port, then down into the port itself. I needed to find my ship quickly, or I was going to be sliced apart.

  "Nowhere left to run." Anakin said, cocky smirk still in place as he landed behind me.

  Instead of replying, I looked up to see a Stealthipede opening its landing bay, and four Commando droids jumping out behind him.

  "Not really running, Jedi." I said as Anakin looked behind him at the Commando droids. "Just leveling the playing field just a bit."

  We clashed, Anakin fighting me with one hand, while using the force to throw objects at the BX's. The people in the port ran for cover as we fought, desperate to get away from the brawl going down. One by one, all of the Commando droids were taken down, leaving only the two of us once more. Anakin blocked a downward strike from me, then swung down on my saber, knocking it out of my hand.

  His saber rose back up, then swung back down, this time aiming for my shoulder. Thankfully, I had armor addons to protect my joints now, and his saber bounced off of my shoulder armor, leaving a scorch mark. I took advantage of Anakin's momentary shock and lunged at his midsection, knocking his saber out of his hand as we crashed to the ground. I tried to punch him in the face, but Anakin jerked his head out of the way, and my fist hit the ground instead.

  "Not getting me that easy!" He shouted, kicking me off of him.

  I quickly got to my feet but was completely unprepared for Anakin to punch me in the head with his prosthetic arm. I swung my fist at him, but he dodged, then hit me twice in the back, sending me staggering forward. Anakin must have been strengthening himself with the force, otherwise he would be in quite a bit of pain from punching metal.

  Anakin leaped onto his hands and rolled, delivering a force-enhanced dual leg kick to my chest that sent me crashing into a luggage rack. I grabbed a few pieces of luggage and quickly threw them at him, but he redirected them with the force, then ran at me. I quickly pulled my vibroblade out and swung it at him, but he leaped over my swing.

  I swung my arm around and fired at him, but Anakin brought a group of luggage cases in front of him to block the shots.

  "You are delaying the inevitable, Knight Anakin Skywalker." I ground out as I intensified my fire rate, which started to blow holes in the luggage cases. "The strength and certainty of durasteel will always win out over flesh."

  Just as the luggage cases started to have more holes than Swiss cheese, they all flew at me damaging my blaster and making me stagger back a few steps. Anakin lunged at me, knocking me to the ground. He got to his feet and planted one boot on my chest.

  "Its… over." Anakin said, holding out his hand.

  His lightsaber smacked into his right hand and ignited, casting its azure glow over his body. He raised his arm in preparation to slice my head off.

  My mind raced as it tried to figure out anything that could work to get me out of this situation. Numerous calculations ran through my mind, but all of them were turning up null. All I could do was stare at the azure blade as it rose into the air and prepared to fall. My emotional suppressor slammed online, clearing my head of its panicked state, and I suddenly remembered my fallback weapons.

  I quickly turned to look directly at Anakin, and my photoreceptors turned up all the way to their maximum brightness. Anakin let out a yelp at the sudden light, and I raised my arm. A panel on the bottom of my arm near my wrist opened, and one of my quad-barrel derringers slid out. Anakin was swinging his saber down, and I had no time to aim, so I fired all four barrels at once.

  The harsh thundering sound of all four barrels echoed through the port, and the slugs all impacted Anakin's arm, tearing through the metal and wiring until the entire thing practically disintegrated. His lightsaber, still with his metal hand wrapped around it, clattered to the floor, and Anakin let out a yelp as he brought up his remaining arm to cover one of his ears.

  I brought one leg up, and kicked, sending Anakin sprawling onto his stomach a dozen feet away. He groaned as I got to my feet while he started crawling away. I started walking over to him, my other derringer sliding out as the spent one reloaded.

  "Thus ends the tale of the Chosen One of the Jedi." I growled.

  Just before I could fire, Anakin suddenly whipped around with an E-5 blaster in his remaining hand. He fired, and pain suddenly exploded across my face as two of my optics stopped functioning.

  "YOU JED-D-DI SCUM!" I roared as I fired my derringer.

  Pain erupted across my body, as blaster bolts hit my weaker areas. With my remaining optic, I spotted Anakin running away as he fired the blaster at me, while his lightsaber -and mechanical hand- were nestled in between his elbow and what remained of his prosthetic arm.

  I fired my freshly reloaded derringer, but the Jedi skidded around a corner, and the bullets simply impacted the wall where he was. I slumped as it slid back into my arm, dull pain across my whole frame. With my singular optic, I looked down to see blaster marks at my uncovered joints, restricting my movement as the metal was half melted and warped.

  I slowly bent down and picked up my lightsaber, then placed it back in its compartment on my thigh. A ping from my personal ship showed it was getting close, so I started limping towards it as I called up a diagnostic report.

  What I got what about what I expected.

  [Initiating diagnostics]

  ...

  [Diagnostic complete, displaying results]

  [Power Core - Integrity: 65% - Status: Online - Power level: 63% - Damage: Moderate; Power Core casing is breached]

  [Primary & Secondary Data Drives - Integrity: 100% - Status: Online]

  [Photoreceptors - Integrity: 33% - Status: Online - Damage: Severe]

  [Audio Sensors - Integrity: 58% - Status: Online - Damage: Moderate]

  [Vocalizer - Integrity: 35% - Status: Online - Damage: Severe]

  [Locomotor Functions - Integrity: 68% - Status: Online - Damage: Moderate]

  [Primary Processing core: Online -Danger! Processor casing breach detected!]

  [Secondary Processing core: Online]

  [Heuristic Processor: Online]

  [Weapon systems: Offline - Integrity: 50% - Damage: Moderate; Arm Blasters Non-Functional]

  [Shadowfeed connection: Connected]

  [Battlenet connection: Connected]

  [Internal Communications: Status: Online]

  I was pulled away from my diagnostics by the humming of ship engines and looked up to see my ship landing nearby. The landing bay opened, and Lona ran out, along with a trio of Magnaguards. Once she saw me, she gasped, and ran faster.

  "Blitzkrieg! Are you alright!?" She demanded as soon as she got to me.

  "I need-d immediat-te repairs." I replied. "Help me back-k-k to my ship."

  Lona threw my arm over her shoulder, and, with the help of one of the Magnaguards, helped me onto the ship. The ship took off after we had gotten situated, and Lona started to go over all of my damages.

  "Blitzkrieg, what the kriff happened that tore open your head?" She asked as she looked over my face as I leaned against both a Magnaguard and the wall.

  "H-how bad is it-t-t?" I asked

  "Well, you don't have the beak anymore, and your vocalizer is damaged to the point it needs to be replaced, along with its housing. Two of your photoreceptors are beyond repair, and your main processor is exposed. Overall, you're going to need to spend a long time in the repair bay."

  "At least I won." I said weakly.

  "I wouldn't call this much of a victory, Blitz…"

  "...You're right-right-right. I guess I o-only survi-vived."

  "General, I think you should see this." The Pilot B1 said.

  "What is it-t?"

  "It looks like a Venator and two Acclamators have come out of hyperspace."

  Lona and I glanced at each other, and I limped to the cockpit. Once I caught sight of them, however, I froze.

  "Well? What is it?" Lona asked.

  I turned back to look at Lona.

  "T-t-take a look for yours-self." I said happily.

  Lona came into the cockpit and looked at the ships, before a smile worked its way onto her face.

  "Well… that's one way to bring someone's spirits up." She said.

  I turned to glance back out at the Venator, as its freshly painted Confederate livery shone in the sun.

  "Indeed it is, Lona. Ind-d-deed it is."

  —

  "Disappointed in you, I am, Skywalker. Abandon your post, you did." Yoda scolded after Anakin finished his report.

  "Surely it cannot be that bad?" Chancellor Palpatine asked. "General Skywalker saved Senator Amidala's life from the hands of that terrible droid general."

  "Finished, I was not." Yoda said as he thumped his cane against the floor. The old grand master turned back to Anakin. "Disappointed, I may be, but proud of your actions, I am. Saved the life of Senator Amidala, you did."

  "Thank you, master." Anakin said.

  "There will be a medal in this for you, Anakin. Just you wait." Chancellor Palpatine said as he smiled.

  The communication cut, and Yoda looked back at the young knight.

  "More to say, you have?" The old Jedi asked. "Conflicted, I sense you are."

  "I don't know, master. It seems silly, but I just can't get it out of my mind." Anakin said as he shook his head and turned to look out of the council chamber.

  "Silly, some things may be, but important, details are." Yoda said. "Your mind, speak it, you will?"

  "...When I fought that droid, I swear I could feel its emotions. That shouldn't be possible, because it's a droid, there was no brain case or anything inside of it. It can't be a cyborg like General Grievous, because it has no organic parts in it! But whenever I think about it, all my mind goes back to, is the fact that I could sense its emotions just like I could with a human."

  Anakin set his good arm on the windowsill and stared out at the Coruscant skyline. Due to the damage from the droid's slugthrower, he was forced to have his entire prosthetic arm replaced. He'd be out of action for three days, plus the extra two it will take for his fleet to come pick him up.

  "Ever changing, the force is. Appears, life does, in the most interesting places." Yoda said, before frowning. "A living droid, however? No. Impossible, such a thing is. Perhaps, other beings minds you sensed during battle."

  "...I guess you're right. I probably just sensed another sentients mind."

  "Good, good. Come now, eat, we should. Stronger, Jedi are, on a full stomach."

  Yoda hopped into his hover-chair, and Anakin followed behind him. But even if he didn't think it was true, there was something… different about that droid.

  And no matter how hard he thought otherwise that thought would stay with him.