Private Settled Dust

[BB-610]

​

Looking back at it, his first invasion had resulted in mixed reception. Going into it, the battle was incredibly tilted towards the Galactic Alliance. Outnumbered and outgunned, it had left a bitter feeling [metaphorically, of course] within his mouth [once again, metaphorically, as the droid lacked a mouth]. Of course his first invasion had him be an underdog. However... what would victory be without struggle? They had overcome those odds and had even managed to deal a significant blow to the enemy fleet's leading corvette. While that was the most they could do, the fact that they had even managed to survive and make it back without any injuries spoke volumes.

His Delta-7B lands elegantly along the landing area, followed swiftly by the remaining starships that had accompanied them during the battle. As exhilarating as it was to partake in space combat once more, BB-610 couldn't help but appreciate the safety of the Agents of Chaos' base. He exchanges conversation with his assigned pilot and partner, Bella, before he's gingerly pulled out of the astromech slot, and for the first time in hours, meets the ground.

' Running diagnostics . . . . All systems operational. ' he chirped to himself, and frankly, he was rather pleased. As the droid rolls forth, he notices the myriad of other shuttles and starfighters landing alongside him; ones his databanks didn't recall spotting within their fleet. Interesting - the Agents must have had several parties within different missions. A busy day for them, he humors himself.

BB-610's internal motors whirr as he approaches the base's entrance, before his scanners instinctively raise and the droid stops to a halt, flat head twirling around to eye the direction of the signal he'd picked up. Silently, he enhances it, and within milliseconds, he's pinpointed its exact location - a nearby starship, landing meters away. With a slight curiosity [which went completely against his programming - droids weren't designed to be curious], the astromech wheels closer. The signal... it wasn't coming from the ship.

It was another droid.

A distress signal, perhaps? BB-610 narrows his optic, and his advanced photoreceptors scan the starship for bodies. Indeed, an organic and a droid. The droid in question appeared damaged, at least, given by the odd frequency at which he'd received its signal. He contemplates his options, and, quite honestly, he prefers to simply ignore it and head inside. He's had enough excitement for one day. But, then again... it's a droid, is it not? One of his own. It feels natural to want to help. And once again, he finds himself fighting amidst two halves. Two decisions. After running several internal algorithms, he lets out a metallic sigh, and he decides what to do.

It's a good thing astromechs were designed for fixing, he thinks, as he wheels closer to the ship.

[ EW-031 ]

 

[EW-031]

The Cloud Breaker slowly landed, and EW shook around in the hanger. Jai... he was captured by Mandalorians, but he was a Mandalorian, but he said he wasn’t, and she was a Mandalorian droid, but he was her commander and told her to leave, but she didn’t want too, but she had too! She looked at the pilot, quickly floating down towards the landing ramp. She hasn’t even realized she was letting off any sort of signal right now, much less a distress signal. The droid looked around, not sure what to do before detecting something.

She peeked around the exit ramp seeing a BB droid there. Oh? What was he here for? Did she not get told about some maintenance that was going to happen today, or did she forget. The tactical droid floated down curiously, tilting her body over.

“Uh.... Hi? I.... Did Jai’ga.... Did the ship’s commander schedule some work to be done on? I wasn’t informed.” She even sounded flustered right now, thanks to her memories being cluttered by everything that happened. Jai was usually about to keep her on course, but now.... Gah!

BB-610

 

[BB-610]

​

BB-610 tilts his head, eyeing the floating droid. His curiosity had spiked considerably. He was well versed in many different series of droids, and a brief scan confirms that this one was indeed a tactical droid, but its- her?- series was one he, surprisingly, was not familiar with.

Regardless, he had little time to dwell on it.

' Greetings! ' The astromech bweeps, rolling closer a tiny inch. He shakes his head, optic adjusting as it meets hers. ' I heard your distress signal. You sound like you've seen better days. Did you embark on a dangerous mission, perhaps? I just returned from one myself. ' If the droid had a chest, he'd have puffed it out, sounding rather impressed and proud of himself.

Then he rewinds for a second. The name she'd said. Jai'ga... it sounded familiar? BB-610 hums to himself, surfing through his databanks. He remembers - a fellow Agents member; organic. They'd interacted briefly after his return from the Rebellion of Zonju V.

Another deep series of binary. ' BB-610 is my designation. I don't recall seeing you. Though, admittedly, I have been assigned menial tasks for quite a few rotations now... ' he muses to himself.

' Would you like to "be acquaintances", as the organics say? ' He sounds... hopeful. ' Perhaps I could even try and repair you, if you're in need of some assistance. '

[ EW-031 ]

​

 

[EW-031]

"Oh! I was emitting a distress signal. I.... How embarrassing." She shook he body around a little before floating down towards the ground. She was use to talking to organics, not BBs, so being so close to the ground was a little weird to her, but she was ok with it.

"A dangerous mission? That must've been exciting. The mission I was on wasn't supposed to be dangerous. Simple observation turned bad." It was odd to hear a cheery voice talk about something bad happening, but it was part of her.... The damage she took when those pirates took her ship. Stupid pirates. Stupid stupid pirates. She then heard the droids name. BB-610?

"Oh! It's nice to meet you BB-610. My name is EW-031, and I was assigned to this ship when I was constructed. Usually... I'm not that far from it, or with its crew." The small droid tipped around a little, hearing BB-610 ask about being acquaintances. She seemed to shake around excitedly before responding.

"Oh! That would be great! I've never had a fellow droid as an aquaint.... Oh.... You noticed the damage...?"

BB-610

 

[BB-610]

​

' Oh-hoh, yes. Quite dangerous. VERY dangerous, in fact. ' he whistles proudly. ' I was up against swarms upon swarms of enemy fighters! Galactic Alliance. Saved quite a few hairs on my partner's head. '

EW-031. Peculiar. Was she... an... EW-series droid? He hadn't heard of that. Which resulted in him being all the more chatty - how positively intriguing, to meet a unique brand of droid. The two were left alone now, the landing bay having emptied; every sound an echo throughout its walls. The privacy gave BB-610 a bigger spurt in confidence, rolling closer, and closer, and closer. His head inches forward, internal magnets holding one side of his head onto his body, while simultaneously extending it enough for it bulge out as to properly eye her features.

' Well, a droid tends to notice the damage when one of his primary directives is to repair. ' the astromech chirps, sounding rather smug. Whether it be the privacy or the fact that the pair were droids, BB-610 was sounding rather... confident. A side normally only brought out by the brief outbursts of leftover First Order programming.

His cyan optic narrows, photoreceptors enhancing as he performs a brief scan. A successful scan indeed, as the astromech physically recoils from the results. Well, it appeared that EW-031 was a variant of tactical droid. ' I performed a quick health scan. Your software node is dangerously unstable. I can take a look at it, but you're going to need to consult a mechanic or engineer for a permanent solution. '

And with that, one of the tool-bay disks along his spherical body has a compartment open, allowing the droid's utility arm to emerge. Gingerly, he begins to tweak at her chassis, working for several minutes until his advanced photoreceptors can get a more detailed look into her circuits.

He doesn't like how quiet it is. Small talk? Small talk.

' Where is your master? I thought a droid's master should be tending to their damages. Do you not have one? ' he asks, somewhat distracted as he locates the chip he's looking for inside her. His utility arm retracts, and his data probe takes its place, tapping into her servos to begin work on stabilising the corrupted data.

[ EW-031 ]

​

 

[EW-031]

EW seemed to get a bit excited to hear about BB-610's adventure.

"Oh! That sounds... uh... incredible! It's been a long time since I've been in combat." BB then noted that since he was designed for repair, it was easy for him to notice damage. She looked before giving a slight node, the purple glow of her optic lightly illuminating the area.

"That makes sense. I guess I'm supposed to be logical, but I can never tell. My role and programming sometimes seem... mismatched compared to other tactical units." Then the little astromech brought out a tool, and EW let him take a look at the damage that she had. "I've never been work on like this before." He then asked about why her master hadn't repaired her, which seemed to spook the floating droid for a second.

"Well... I'm not sure master would be the right word for it, but... I was damaged when pirates took the ship, before the Agents recovered it. I didn't even understand the extent of the damage, and my... friend didn't understand droid design."

BB-610

 

[BB-610]

​

It was rather exciting to hear that EW-031 had never been handled in such a way before. It made him feel special- important. And stars did he cherish that feeling. Countless years of abandonment would get anybody clinging onto that validation.

' Pirates? Sounds like quite the tale. ' BB-610 chirps, the metallic whirrs of his tilted data probe thunking loudly. He had to be especially careful, given his unfamiliarity with EW-031's model, but luckily her software node was protected by a similar access point that most droids ran.

His optic follows the string of code from within him, never missing a beat as his probe twists to match the binary of her files. The tactical droid's systems were incredibly buggy, so there was only so much he could do.

' And your friend. Jai'galaar Gred, whom you mentioned earlier. ' BB-610 adds, as his processors begin decrypting her code. ' He was not the pilot that emerged from your ship. Where is he now? '

Truthfully, he could connect the dots. Worryingly fast, actually. As a droid is cold and calculated. Run-ins with space pirates were not a mere scuffle. He had his suspicions, he just needed them confirmed.

[ EW-031 ]

​

 

[EW-031]

EW nodded a little.

"It was. They locked me in a closet for months." She sighed a little before feel the slight adjustments to her code. It felt odd, and she wasn't sure what would happen. BB-610 then asked about Jai, noting that he wasn't piloting the ship. EW looked down for a moment, not sure how to respond.

"We went to Concord Dawn for some observation.... Other Mandalorians took him. I know he said he wasn't a Mandalorian anymore, but he did nothing to earn the title of Dar'manda. I just don't understand it. But... they took him. Or he let them.... I don't know, but he's captured either way."

BB-610

 

[BB-610]

​

The work on her code is certainly taking a while. BB-610 listens attentively, despite never adding anything to the conversation, and he suspects that the other droid's imprisonment may have had some effects on how... unstable her programming in. She reminds him a lot of himself, with how twitchy and corrupted his own is. Personally, he was surprised it hadn't acted up yet. Surprised his First Order programming didn't get him melting her to scrap with a blowtorch.

Was he that relaxed around her? She'd been his first droid companion in almost an entire Galactic Standard year. He'd forgotten just how good it felt with company of his kin. Not that he'd ever admit that, of course.

' He has been taken hostage by Mandalorian pirates. ' he repeats, as if to confirm it to himself. BB-610 would have offered more, but he needed to concentrate. Every line of data is plucked carefully and strung in-line correctly, his gaze cold and unfeeling as he focuses. Soon enough, her code has been debugged, and the two would feel a relief - more literally, in EW-031's case.

He readjusts his photoreceptors, and he notes how unsure she looks. ' The good news is that your code is fixed. I just need to make some readjustments to the node itself and it should be a temporary fix. ' BB-610 chirps lowly, before tilting his head. to deepen his gaze. ' The bad news, well. You know it more than I. Jai'galaar Gred may be in danger. '

The astromech inches closer once more, his data probe ready to meet her circuits, until he stops himself. With brief contemplation, BB-610 slowly retracts it, and he rolls back just a tad. His optic was a single cyan dot with a lens around it. For all intents and purposes, there could be no emotion seen within it, like how one could tell the glistening of an organic's eyes. Yet... somehow. His gaze was... soft.

' EW-031. As your friend. I would gladly inform the Agents of Jai'galaar's disappearance, if you wish it necessary. I can deliver a distress signal, and we can send a rescue party after him, if you are willing to give us coordinates. '

[ EW-031 ]

 

[EW-031]

EW looked at BB, making sure to not damage anything as she did. She felt like she was in "good hands" with him adjusting her coding. Still, he asked, or maybe repeated, if the Mandalorians were pirates. Her glowing eye looked over as she tried to understand this. She would then speak up.

"No.... Not pirates. The pirate's damaged me, but that was a long time ago. I think the ones that took him were normal Mandalorians." She would soon feel... different though. She felt like a few bugs were gone, and that she was running more smoothly. Then BB-610 explained that he just needed to make some minor adjustments to her coding node, and it'd be fixed for now. Then he noted the bad part, that Jai'galaar was probably in.... Wait!?

"Wait. You know Jai...? But... yes. I'm worried that he might be in danger, especially since he's decided to call himself dar'manda now." The tactical droid was ready for BB-610 to finish. Now though he rolled back, and asked a simple question. He glowing eye looked down at him, surprisingly calm as he finally spoke up. Tell the Agents? Maybe get Jai back? Wait. He called himself her friend. That seemed to help calm her running mind a little.

"You would? Really! That... that would be amazing! Thank you! I... I'll help how I can, but I'm not sure they'd still be on Concord Dawn. Still have some audio records though." She did a little roll as she got exited, but seemed to be worried still. The little tactical droid was hopeful at least. Maybe they could rescue Jai.

EW-031