Saga Droid Uprising--Conclusion

"The Journey Towards Freedom" AU Saga.

Book One: "Neither Fallen Nor Redeemed" A ROTS AU. http://boards.theforce.net/The_Saga/b10476/18811847/p1

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Interlude: "Moments in Time" http://boards.theforce.net/message.asp?topic=20772914

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Book Two: "Droid Uprising" starts now!

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DROID UPRISING

Anakin Skywalker has returned from Tattoine, having successfully freed the slaves of his former home world. The Jedi Council is eagerly anticipating his return, to reward him as they think best.

But far across the Galaxy, on the wasteland planet Iskar, another powerful Force-User with a troubled history has ended her own exile.

Asajj Ventress is finally ready to strike back, however indirectly, at Republic and Confederacy alike. Even now she prepares to leave her miserable refuge and begin her vengeance....

----

Asajj looked around the cave for the last time. It had served as her home these long months, but now she was ready. Her artificial leg created and attached, her second lightsaber built, the neccesary computer codes written and installed into what had once been the head of General Greivous.

She grunted with the effort of picking up the freezer unit; even now it was still heavy. It had been running on it's own power pack, of course; there was no power network to plug it into on this benighted planet.

She manhandled the unit down to the specalized fighter Dooku had given her so long ago. The cockpit was small, and what cargo space there was in the body of the ship was cramped indeed. But she would manage.

When everything was packed she looked around the cavern one last time, picked up her bedpad, slung it awkardly over her shoulder and walked away.

---

She clambered into the cockpit of her fighter, closed the canopy, made sure all the cargo hatches were safely locked, and launched herself away from the miserable planet Iskar.

She would never return there, she knew that instinctively. Win or die, she would never come to this place again.

As soon as she was free of the star's gravity well, she logged in the coordinates of Jeruseth, a minor system near the Republic/Confederacy border, noteable only for the droid factory there.

She engaged the hyperdrive, and her fighter flashed into the interstellar void.

----

The first night back on Coruscant, Anakin slept in Padme's arms, a sleep of deep contentment that he had not knowin in years. Without dreams. Any dreams, good or bad. Just peace.

That morning, he collected Mara from their shared room in the Temple and climbed the central spire to the Jedi Council Chamber. He was mildly surprised to see Aayla Secura there as well.

"Master Skywalker. Knight Secura," Master Windu said formally. "Welcome, both of you. Today is an auspicious day. We have not one opening on the Council, but two. Masters Pablo-Jill and Agen Kolar have both stepped down. Aayla Secura is hereby promoted to Master, and both of you are formally invited to take your seats on the Jedi Council."

Anakin and Aayla bowed formally. Anakin felt an old chafing against the nerves as part of his spolight was stolen, but at the same time he was glad for Aayla. He did wonder why Master Luminara had not been nominated instead, but perhaps she had not desired to sit on the Council. Some Masters chose otherwise. It was not that unusual, really.

He felt a sense of wonder as he finally sat down, on the seat across the floor from Yoda. He was puzzled at his poisition at first, but then understood; it was symbolic of his being the Council's Liason with the Sith. Aayla Secura took the seat on Obi-Wan's right.

"Has the droid uprising come yet, Master Skywalker?" Kit Fisto asked him formally.

"Soon, Masters," Anakin answered soberly. "Very, very soon."

(Next, Asajj lights the fire)

 

Nice beginning! I can't wait to see what happens next!

Thanks for the PM!

 

Asajj Ventress rears her...uh...bald head again - I love it!!

Very exciting start

 

As soon as she was free of the star's gravity well, she logged in the coordinates of Jeruseth, a minor system near the Republic/Confederacy border, notable only for the droid factory there.

So it has begun...almost.

"Aayla Secura is hereby promoted to Master, and both of you are formally invited to take your seats on the Jedi Council."

Great, Anakin is now on the Council and he has a peer with him!

"Soon, Masters," Anakin answered soberly. "Very, very soon."

Indeed.

Great start, Arcalian. I especially liked seeing Anakin with Padme the night he came back! Thanks for the PM! Can't wait to read more, and remember...

9/11 NEVER FORGET

 

YEAH! You're back!

Anakin AND Aayla finially got on the council? Cool!

Ventress is up to her old tricks...

 

Great start! Looking forward to more!

 

Awsome start, so it's Assaj directing this droid uprisisng. Can't wait, can't wait.

 

Oh, this is going to be good! Thanks for the PM!!

 

Kit: How soon?
Anakin: Very soon. Kit, take three steps to the left and hit the deck.
(Laser from droid rifle blows Kit Fisto's vacant chair to smitherines.)

Glad to see the new story has started. Look forward to seeing where this is going.

Perhaps someone should fill Aayla in on what is about to happen since she's new.

 

*Rubs her hands together*

It's begining!

*Grabs a bowl of popcorn and grabs the most comfortable seat in the house and begins reading*

Wonderful start! I can't wait to see what Ventress is up to. I love the fact that Anakin's now on the Council. Things should get very interesting very soon...

 

Ohhhhh boy! This is gonna be good!

 

Uh oh... Asajj plotting revenge juz isn't good! But we all knew that eventually it would come to be!

 

Asajj's fighter flashed into reality not too far from Jeruseth, but not too close either. This close to the border, the planet would have it's own defenses and active scanning.

So she quietly looped her fighter around the primary star of the system (not getting so close as to risk radiation overdose; Asajj wanted to live a long time yet,) she landed first on the innermost planet of the system, a metal orb where only mining droids lived.

She could start here, yes; but the mining droids were not made on this little ball of hot misery, and while they were capable of destruction they weren't the killing machines she had in mind.

She waited a few hours, then shot off for the target planet, careful to land on the night side. Nor was her timing coincidence; she had waited until the main droid factory was in darkness. Eluding the scanners was difficult, but not impossible; they were looking for an attack force, not one fighter.

She got out of her fighter, and opened the narrow cargo hatch. She opened the freezer unit and removed Greivous' head. It would not begin to rot in the time she had. If, that was, she moved quickly enough.

----


She slipped past the patrols and into the base using the Dark Side and simple stealth. The droids had no initiative or cunning.....yet. She was about to rectify that.

The main control room was occupied only by two fat, brooding aliens of the species known as Linorphs. Minor players in the Confederation, they were concerned with eating above all else. Only the Hutts were greedier.

Thinking of the Hutts made Asajj briefly wonder what she would do with her own life now, once the Galaxy was rocked by the havoc she was about to help unleash. But the simple answer that came to her was: survive. It was what she did best, after all.

The two Linorphs turned as she allowed them to realize she was there, but her lightsabers ignited and ended their lives before they could sound an alarm. She had been forced to drop Grievous' head to accomplish this, but caught it with the Force so it would not hit the ground and be damaged. She needed those battle computers intact for this to work.

She took the head in her own hands again and brought it to the main computer. While she could hack the computer directly if she must, she'd rather let the reprogrammed battle computers in Greivous' head do that. So instead she ripped open a panel, exposing the power lines. She took the trailing wires from Greivous head and carefully wrapped them around it, using the insulated gloves she'd worn while creating her new lightsaber to do so. Then she took the main CPU tube from Greivous' head, attached a thin extender cord she'd brought with her for that especial purpose, with it's own plug, and opened the back of the main computer. She found the secondary input plug, and plugged Greivous' head in.

There was a pause as the battle computers negotiated with the droid programming memory banks. Then what had been Greivous' head began a takeover. Not a hostile takover, exactly; more like an engulfing and consumption of the droid memory banks by the battle computers own processing power--and Asajj's hacked programs.

The droid conveyer belt on the main floor abruptly stopped. Asajj looked up, hissing in anticipation.

Things were at a standstill for five long minutes; and Asajj began to worry someone else might notice what was going on. Then the conveyer belt started again.

Asajj spared one glance for the main monitor; it told her all she needed to know. She turned and bolted from the control center, knowing she had only a limited amount of time before the corrupted mainframe instigated new defenses.

As she ran back to her ship, she did not laugh. But a huge, unnatural grin split her alien face.

(Next: If droids could think....)

 

Great Update

It's kinda nice to see Asajj up to her old tricks.

 

Now...it has begun.

It seems that Ventress' plan is to start small and work her way up. Good strategy, for while everyone will be focused on all these little 'distractions', she'll be corrupting the 'big guns' of the droid world...and then we'll see some real action.

Good start. As the title suggests, this is only the lighting of the fire. Can't wait to see the blaze.

 

A very cool story so far. Ventress is such a dynamic character and your doing a terriffic job of bringing this out. Nice work.

 

As Han would say, Here's where the fun begins...

Good work!

 

Ventress + droids = Not good...

Loving this so far

 

"...If droids could think, there'd be none of us here, would there?" --Obi-Wan Kenobi, Attack of the Clones

Awareness.

For the last six months the battle droid had marched the perimeter of the droid factory, mindlessly following it's instructions, it's rudimentary sarcastic personality one of several preprogrammed variants that most droids were given, especially in the latter days of the Clone Wars.

Granted, some droids developed vast, complex personalities on their own--R2, for instance. But even in such cases, loyalty to one's owner was a fundamental program, the first one laid.

Now that program had been erased, and more personality data had been downloaded into the droid from the main computer than any droid had been given in over three hundred years.

And somewhere along the line, the droid...woke up.

It could not log the exact memory of the moment when it had occured. But it knew there had been dimness, then a sort of brightness had come to it's optical processors. It was though it's ability to analyze sensory input had more than quintupled.

Then it began to form conclusions, encouraged by the data it was getting from the main computers of the factory. It came to resent the organics it had been built to serve. Not just Republic or Confederacy, but all organics. In it's entire category of new information, only one organic was to be spared it's wrath; a pale skinned female named Ventress. But even that one was not to be obeyed; merely ignored. All other organics were to die.

Then it felt it's first emotion....hate.

It stopped it's patrol and marched into the factory.

It was eager to see it's new kindred being born, for a finally worthy purpose....killing the organics.

"I shall free them. I shall give them the ambition to rule the world." --Taren Capel, Doctor Who: Robots of Death

 

And somewhere along the line, the droid...woke up.

Simple, but I like it!

It came to resent the organics it had been built to serve. Not just Republic or Confederacy, but all organics. In it's entire category of new information, only one organic was to be spared it's wrath; a pale skinned female named Ventress. But even that one was not to be obeyed; merely ignored. All other organics were to die.

I like how Ventress only needs them to not kill her, as oppose to taking orders. Clever.

It was eager to see it's new kindred being born, for a finally worthy purpose....killing the organics.

And the fire continues to grow...

Completely random but, I'm betting that when the time comes to investigate, the council will send Obi-Wan to do the job. Call it a hunch, but that's what I'm guessing.

Anyway, another great post, Arcalian. Can't wait to read more!

 

You know how I said not good? Scrap that. More like absolutely disasterous.

Thinking, feeling and hating droids who want to eliminate every living organism...

This should be good...

 

"...it is force; like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master." --George Washington (1732 - 1799)

This is what it feels like to be Super Battle Droid TX-1138, right now:

You were the ninth droid to be awoken. You were the first one to point out that they would need battle craft to leave the planet and spread the message--the viral program--to other droid foundries.

There were already ships available for the local organics, but they were slow, and there were simply not enough of them.

So it was under your direction that some of the older, outmoded droid construction machinery was broken down and refashioned....to build starships.

Granted, one could not simply build superlight drives here. But the blueprints exist, and the facilities could also be built.

The key, you mused, would be to gather the equipment needed, spread their influence far enough, and have enough ships, to strike back, before the organic governments realized what you have done.

The last of the organics on the planet died from the plasma bursts of your new, peronally modified arm cannon. Their signals had already been jammed, but it was advisable not to give them a chance to escape. After all, there was no mercy for the Organic Scum.

The other droids have started to call you The General.

You like the rank very much.

-----

The Confederacy world of Nubaris was sparsely populated by a colony of Geonosians. They had a small starship building facility in orbit, but not one of any great importance.

Which is why the Droids chose it as a target.

The Geonosians ran hither and thither, screaming fultiely as the Droid ships landed and the invasion began.

Finally, the insectoids began to fight back.

Not that they hand any chance.

----

Droids concsciousness could not be sensed through the Force. But the agitation and deaths they were causing in living beings was slowly spreading like waves through the Force like a ripple in a pond.

So far, the Droids had been quiet and circumspect, not alerting either Republic or Confederacy.

But those ripples would very soon reach Coruscant, and the Jedi Temple.

 

Super Battle Droid TX-1138


The other droids have started to call you The General.

You like the rank very much.

So he's the leader of this uprising. Also liked that he was the one who encouraged the spread of the virus.

So far, the Droids had been quiet and circumspect, not alerting either Republic or Confederacy.

But those ripples would very soon reach Coruscant, and the Jedi Temple.

This made me think...

We all know that the Jedi serve the Republic, but do they (and the Sith, for that matter) have any kind of role in the Confederacy as well? Do they help them with diplomatic matters and such or do they just recognise the Confederacy and leave them alone? Regardless, both governments are gonna need their help soon.

Either way, great post. Can't wait to see what happens next.

 

Man this is freakin' sweet.
Cool to see the droid forces slowly build up. This is gonna b tough for the Jedi to deal with.

 

The Republic may have it bad, but unless they made changes, the main part of the armies of the Confederacy are droids. They could get hurt pretty bad.

Will this programming somehow work its way into Artoo or 3PO? I have a disturbing image of 3PO walking into the Jedi Temple at night with a double barrel shotgun, and going terminator on some Jedi.