The Spice Mines of Kessel

[Xar]

Xar sighed in annoyance among the pirates. This was not what he was hoping for. When Nok said he had forces ready with the Troig, he expected something a bit better. Something higher class, like combat droids, or highly trained assassins and sabeteours. Not a rag-tag band of merry, most likely inebriated, idiots. 

“Nok, you better come through on this next payment, or so help us, we will never do another one of these...jobs.” Xar grumbled to the Neimodian next to him. It was a hollow threat though. Nok had paid handsomely already before, and Xar didn’t suspect that would end after today. But did the Neimodian have to be so suicidal? The sewers on Mon Cal were bad enough. This…this was something else entirely.

A honking noise distracted the Hunter-Trainer droid. His Water Beetle Drones, Mozo and Char, cocking their stun blasters were attempting to draw it’s master’s attention to the riff-raff around him. The countless potential threats were driving them insane. 

 

“Shush you two. They are friendly...for now. Now reattach. It’s nearly time.” 

At Xar’s command, Mozo went to Xar’s front and Char to his back. Xar held his arms out sideways to give the two drones better access. Small gravity locks clicked in place as the drones quickly turned sideways and embedded themselves. A last minute addition Vizier had made before Xar left Mon Cal. While the blue color scheme of the drones didn’t match his green, and their awkward shapes weighed him down slightly, it was a useful tool in this mission. True, they couldn’t shoot while in this mode, but it was still useful. Xar could now carry his drones when he would be hopelessly uncatchable at their normal speeds. Such as when dropping out of a spaceship and freefalling towards a planet. 

“Time to suit up” one of the Troig’s heads said. Xar didn’t know which one, nor did he care. He was just glad to get to work finally. 
Xar didn’t put on the suit that was offered. As a droid, the exposure of space wasn’t a worry. Atmospheric re-entry could be a bit harmful, but Xar calculated that, while he would get singed, he would survive. Besides, his first target was in space. 

With the hold override activated, a cheer went up amongst the pirates who were partnered with Xar. Mozo and Char seemed to take this as a good sign and honked in praise as well. Xar would have rolled his eyes if he could while leaping out of the ship. He was surrounded by lessers. 

 

Xar’s target was in sight. A large, barely working satellite almost in the planet’s manufactured atmosphere. Built as a communications array between this planet and others, it stood as a testament of being able to last despite years and years of neglect. Parts of the hull were made from Phrik even. Normal blaster fire would've ineffective against it. Xar’s mission was simple: Destroy it so that the planet below couldn’t radio for help. 

The band crashed into the satellite with ease. The pirates activated their magnetic boots to avoid falling off while Xar himself simply armed his claws and grabbed on to a piece of the hull.

“Get to work you stupid mynocks! We don’t have all day for this!” Xar barked out. The pirates grumbled but obeyed, arming and attaching detonators. Ten would be enough, especially if they placed them at the...

An explosion of noise caught everyone’s attention. Xar looked up to the sky where he had just came from. 

“What in the maker are those?!?”

Ships were descending on the planet. No, they were beasts! Xar shook his head. Those were beasts but also machines. With riders of all things. And following them were actual ships.   

Xar looked at the pirates, who were dumbfounded. 

“Get to work you idiots! Don’t let them intimidate you! Move no-”

All hope of keeping the pirates under control was lost. The pirates picked up their weapons and began to open fire at the approaching forces. Xar groaned in annoyance. 

“Idiot lessers...” 

A strafe of fire began on the satellite. Pirates who were next to the shots were blown away. A few smart beings were beginning to jump off the ship and continue their descent to the planet. One particular crazy pirate actually called out his enemies an inappropriate name before getting obliterated.

 

“Must we do everything ourselves?” Xar lamented. Mozo honked once in agreement.  Char rapidly beeped and honked in laughter. Xar sighed. These two were getting a memory wipe when the mission was done. 

Grabbing one of the last detonators, Xar made a running dash and jumped off the satellite, falling to the planet at a rapidly increasing speed. As the droid jumped off, he armed and chucked the last detonator towards the satellite. Once it would blow up, Xar would then descend to the planet, with the help of his drones of course. All he had to do was release them and let them slow his descent with their own methods of flight. Nothing could go wrong. 

A miscalculation of the detonator's timer ruined that plan. As the explosion occurred, the force shoved the unanticipated Xar forcefully away. With Laser fire around him and an explosion behind him ,Xar was in a world of light and fire. 

The momentum made Xar spin head over feet as the droid tumbled through the dogfighting. Over and over his sensors attempted to recalibrate, in a vain attempt at telling where up was up and where down was down. Xar stretched his arms out, grasping at that slim chance of catching something that he could help slow his fall. A dead pirate. One of those metal beasts with a rider. Anything. 

The possibility of catching a ship with his bare claws were astronomically small. But even so, the chance was there, as the droid was caught on a descending X-Wing’s upper right wing.  With a newfound resolve and a determination that only a droid could muster, Xar clutched on as tightly as possible, pulled as close as he could, and clutched onto the bottom wing with his feet claws. 

“This is much worse then the sewers…” Xar stated to himself. It was bad enough that his entire pirate group failed to listen to him and were now probably dead. Now he would have to replace his claws too. Not to mention he’d have to live with the fact that he owed his circuits to some random pilot. Perhaps he could kill them, as a way of showing thanks. These X-Wings certainly weren't with Nok. 

[Xar]

A rise of pleasure resonated in Xar’s circuits as the Hunter-Trainer droid activated his claws and began to tear the wing apart. Like a wild animal enjoying a delicious kill, Xar sliced and tore apart metal. Each piece of metal screeched as it was cut threw and tossed away like trash. Xar cackled to himself. Something about being purely destructive made Xar ecstatic. While it wasn’t as pleasant as hunting some form of prey, listening to fine music, or slitting a lesser’s throat, it was certainly enjoyable and even euphoric.

However, the feeling didn’t last. Xar took a glance at the cockpit for just a moment, and the feeling of pleasure vanished. In that moment that didn’t last a full second, Xar caught the pilot’s eyes looking at him. He was expecting a look of fear from the pilot. Some form of terror or panic. But what he received was something different.
Determination. 

The pilot, a fully grown humanoid, was not afraid of Xar. She was well-practiced and following  protocol. Xar did not see fear. He saw a what he believed was a feeling of grit and resolve.

Xar’s pleasure had been replaced by anger. She should’ve been afraid of him! She was a lesser! He was the superior being!

The pilot's cockpit released. Her seat ejected from the doomed ship. Instantly Xar gave an order to the two drones latched onto his chassis.

“Hunt her! Now! Track and Kill!” 

Xar wasn’t sure what caused him to send the drones like it. He wasn’t sure if it was because of his sudden anger at the pilot, because of his pride at being a superior being, or because of his utilization of a hunting chassis, but something inside Xar clicked. Like a dog seeing an animal run away, Xar had to catch the pilot and kill her. He had to sink his claws into her, or see her lifeless body splattered on the ground. He had to prove he was superior, and make her know it. 

Mozo and Char honked in acknowledgement at their commands. Without a moment of delay, the two detached from their master, activated their repulsorlift engines and took off. While they were drones, capable of handling only the simplest of commands, The drones understood the command ‘hunt’ .  The two Water Beetles tried their best to catch up with the pilot, rising to meet her. In a few seconds, both were firing their stun blasters in hopes of stunning her or disabling her seat. Mozo honked with delight at each shot, while Char simply beeped a few times in agreement. 

Meanwhile, Xar focused on the task at hand. He had to get a safe landing, and there was one hope at the moment. The ship was beginning to point itself downwards. If he was correct, he didn’t have a moment to lose. In one second, Xar grabbed onto part of the wing he hadn’t destroyed and pulled himself up. In another second, Xar crawled closer to the ship’s center, fighting air resistance all the way. He could see the little astromech.

 

Xar's ticket to a safe landing. 

“You will serve us and help us kill that pilot.” Xar declared loudly as he got into a crouched position, balancing himself on the rapidly descending ship.

The astromech launched itself into the air. Xar didn’t care if the astromech was willing to let Xar hitch a ride or not. It didn't have a choice in Xar's eyes. Like the pilot, the astromech was a lesser, and Xar was the superior being. Thus it was meant to serve him. As the astromech launched, Xar leapt upwards and reached out with both arms, claws eager to grab a hold of more metal. He would attempt to grab onto the astromech’s flying little body, and force it to land on the ground safely. 

As a superior being would do Xar thought to himself.

 

(1)
 

Edited September 24, 2020 by Xar
added color in for speech

[Xar]

The first shot that sailed towards Char was crippling, winging and disabling his entire left side. The next two were lethal. The drone’s last noises before the blaster fire squared him away was a beep of pain. The Water Beetle, who was so eager to fulfill any command given to him, fell lifelessly through the air like a stone before exploding in a small ball of fire.

 

Mozo was slightly more lucky as the shot went just to his right. The explosion that occurred barely fazed him, but the beep that had come just a millisecond earlier had enraged him.  Having heard his companion’s death cry, he began to honk in anger and try to circle the pilot’s backside, away from her sidearm. It’s gun swiveled a top its body, firing twice at the chair.  Xar had ordered her death, and she had killed his partner. Xar would be beyond displeased if both drones failed this task. 

While the lone drone tried to finish it’s task, Xar was busy with the astromech. It had denied him. It had declared its loyalty to the puny organic being.  When the astromech turned off its engines, Xar was surprised. Xar couldn’t help but wonder if the little astromech didn’t care for its own survival.

 

When the astromech attempted the electroshock Xar, he knew that the little droid must have had a death wish. 

 

The electricity was enough to short out Xar for about two seconds, forcing him to fall limp and separate from the droid,. As his own sensor came back on, he had a glimpse of the astromech’s own eye sensor. Rage filled the Hunter-Trainer droid once again, forcing him to forget why he had attempted to grab onto the droid in the first place. This little machine was trouble.

“You wish to serve your inferior master so well?” Xar cried out as he raised both arms and aimed  his forearm blasters. 

 

“Then die with her!” 

At a distance of a meter at most, Xar opened fire, giving two shots aimed at the droid’s eye. 

 

(2)

[Xar]

Mozo screeched as the enemy’s first shot nailed the Drone’s gun arm. The force of the shot sent the drone hurtling backwards, barely avoiding the following shots. Mozo eventually regained control of himself and began to pursue his target again. His weapon was disabled now. Had he failed? Had his partner drone and he failed Xar?

 

No! A drone’s work is never done until the requirements are fulfilled. And the target was still alive. But with no weapon, what was the drone to do? 

 

With a final honk, Mozo charged at the pilot, his gun leaking a trail of sparks and smoke. In a suicidal attempt, the drone aimed himself at the pilot. Whether by bludgeoning or by tilting, the drone would accomplish his master’s order. 

 

Xar on the other hand was enjoying the sensation of witnessing the idiotic droid dying by his own blaster fire. Such was the fate of a lesser being who crossed Xar.  However, as the astromech’s flaming body fell apart, screeching its equations about gravity, it made the situation clear to Xar. 

 

“Mozo, Char, return to master.” Xar ordered over his communication system. 

 

All Xar received was silence. 

 

“Son of a jawa-kisser” Xar cursed, realizing either his drones were out of range or unable to respond. The thought that either of them were non-functional didn’t even cross his circuits. After all, they were his drones. They were servants of a superior being. 

 

“Calculating time until hitting the ground” Xar spoke out loud, looking at the ground and the flaming wreckage of the X-wing.  “14 seconds. Our chances of survival are…”

 

Xar didn’t finish the sentence. No need to admit that he, a superior being, may have made a mistake. With no method of slowing his descent, nor any method of extending his landing, his landing was going to be at terminal velocity. True the planet had a lower gravity compared to most, but it also had a thinner atmosphere, so who knew if his chassis could survive this? 

 

Xar grabbed the remaining pieces of the Astromech to adjust himself. Feet first, the droid would sacrifice his lower body. Xar didn’t have to land with all of his parts intact. Limbs, outer plating, claws, most parts of the droid were not needed. In order to survive, Xar just needed his memory cores, located in his head, and his power core, located in his upper chest, to remain functional and connected. 

 

“We are a superior being.” Xar claimed as he rapidly approached the ground, disappearing into the smoke of the wreckage of the pilot’s X-Wing. “We will survive. We are superior. We are...superior.” 
 

(3)

Edited October 2, 2020 by Xar
Added (3)