Sorry for the long update. School is a pain in the butt. "Warhead" (Season 3, Episode 14) Enjoy!

"Hobbe, Wedge, let's go! Move it! We're behind schedule, Phoenix Squadron. I want these fighters launched and at the training coordinates by 062." Hera said.

The two pilots nodded and sprinted to their ships.

"Don't understand why I can't come along," Zeb said.

"Zeb, you're my chief of security. I need you to stay behind and mind the base," Hera said.

"Oh, Hera, come on. Let me tag along. You can always use an extra pair of hands. Just don't leave me on my own here. I'll be bored to death."

"You won't be on your own. You have Chop and AP-5 to keep you company."

As Hera said that, said droids came from the far side of the base.

"Like I said, bored to death." Zeb repeated.

"Don't worry Zeb. I'll stay behind with you. Got to have at least one Jedi to watch over the base." I said looking at Hera.

Hera smiled and nodded in approval.

"We'll be back before you know it." Kanan said.

"Carry on, Captain Orrelios." Sabine said saluting.

"Sorry, buddy." Ezra said.

The crew walked up the ramp and soon disappeared into the Ghost.

"Did they seriously leave you in charge of this entire base?" AP-5 asked, looking at Zeb.

"Something wrong with that?" Zeb asked.

"Well, I just always assumed you were more of a "lift heavy things and punch anything in your way" type. You know, a grunt."

Zeb bared his teeth when he growled at the droid.

I can tell this is about to get worse before it gets better...

"Precisely. Now, what exactly do you do?" AP-5 asked.

Chopper then started grunting and warbling.

"What'd he say?" Zeb asked.

"He said, 'we never really figured that out.'" AP-5 said.

Chopper made a sound as if he were laughing.

"Don't you have something to do?" Zeb asked.

"Actually, while everyone is off practicing, I intend to take this opportunity to conduct a thorough inventory of the base's munitions supply depot. Any of you may assist me." AP-5 said.

Chopper warbled and grunted, almost sounding annoyed.

"I'm with you, Chopper. Counting crates? Not exactly my idea of having fun." Zeb said.

"Is that because you never learned to count? I can teach you." AP-5 said.

"What? No!" Zeb said.

"Hey, both of you, calm down." I said.

Apparently, I'm going to be the voice of reason between these two...

"I don't have to stay here and listen to this. I'll be in the command center," Zeb said, pushing AP out of his way.

"Doing what?" AP-5 asked.

"Commanding!"

I exhaled a heavy sigh and followed Zeb to the command center with Chopper close behind.

"Captain, Commander," said one of the workers.

"Anything to report?" Zeb asked.

"We've been tracking meteors impacting the surface nearby. We think one of them knocked out a perimeter sensor in sector six. Should I send a unit?"

"No, I'll go take a look. Chopper, Zelara, you're with me."

Chopper moved back and started grumbling again.

"Oh, you don't want to go? Fine. Then you can stay here and help AP-5 with his supply inventory." Zeb said.

When Zeb said that, AP came walking over.

"Chopper, there you are. We have a lot of inventory to calculate immediately." AP-5 said.

Chopper looked between Zeb and AP and soon started following Zeb.

"Wait. Where are you going?" AP-5 asked.

"Yeah, that's what I thought." Zeb said.

"You guys go on ahead. I'll stay behind and help AP-5." I said.

Zeb nodded and walked out of the base with Chopper close behind.

"Thank you for your help." AP-5 said.

"Anytime, AP. I don't mind a little work here and there. Whatever you want me to do, I'm here to do it." I said.

AP turned around and started heading towards the supply depot.

If he and Zeb don't stop arguing every twenty seconds, this base might as well be doomed.

"No, no, no, no. This is all wrong," AP-5 said.

"What is?" I asked.

"Rations in the munitions section? Torpedoes with detonators? My maker! This is a logistics nightmare. Say what you like about the Empire, they were organized. Mostly because of me, of course."

I rolled my eyes when AP bragged about himself.

He does have a point about that...

"Hey, Inventory!" said a voice.

I looked over and saw Zeb and Chopper coming our way. The droid and I walked over and saw that Zeb had a droid over his shoulder.

"Um, excuse me. This is a supply area, not a trash compactor." AP-5 said as Zeb laid down the droid.

"We found this busted up droid in the wasteland. Can you identify it?" Zeb asked.

AP leaned in to get a closer look at the blue droid.

"It looks like an older model of some type of protocol droid." AP-5 said.

AP then picked up a generator and connected a cable to the droid.

"I should be able to give it enough power for a systems restart." AP-5 said.

A few seconds later, the droid's eyes began to glow. The droid soon sat up and looked around at its surroundings.

"Hey, it worked!" Zeb said.

"Of course it worked." AP-5 said.

The droid continued to look around until it was looking at Zeb.

"Hello. Who are you? Where do you come from?" Zeb asked.

The droid then started mumbling incoherently.

"Designation, unknown." it said.

"Its memory systems are damaged." AP-5 said.

"Wonder how it got all the way here to Atollon." I said.

The droid soon got up and started walking around, looking around at the crates.

"Armory and munitions storage area. Proton torpedoes, 47. Blaster recharges, 820. Thermal detonators, 62 crates. Ion mines 32." the droid said.

"Did he... Did he just scan and inventory this entire area?" Zeb asked in surprise.

"Whoa... That's incredible." I said.

"He's better at your job than you."

Zeb then playfully shoved AP's shoulder.

I can never tell what AP is thinking, but I can tell he is not amused...

"I seriously doubt that. However, he appears to be a logistics droid and could prove useful as assistant." AP-5 said.

Should've known AP wouldn't let another droid do his job...

"Seems harmless enough. I guess we could take in another stray." Zeb said as he inspected the droid.

The droid looked up at Zeb and started scanning him.

"Species, Lasat. Designation, military. Rank, unknown." the droid said.

"Captain Orrelios, at your service." Zeb said, saluting.

The droid looked down at its hand and copied what Zeb did.

"Fast learner, this one." he said.

The droid then turned to me and started scanning me.

"Species, human. Designation, unknown. Rank, unknown." the droid said.

"Zelara June, Jedi Knight." I said, slightly bowing my head.

The droid soon turned to Chopper and started scanning him.

"Astromech C1 series. Obsolete mechanism. No longer in production." the droid said.

My mouth fell open into a surprised smile.

He just insulted Chopper big time!

Chopper started grunting and grumbling angrily.

"He doesn't like you. Now I really like him." Zeb said with a wide grin on his face.

Then, a man's voice spoke through the PA.

"Captain Orrelios, Commander June to the command center for priority message." said the man.

"Keep an eye on my new friend, okay?" Zeb asked, looking at AP.

"Very well." AP-5 said.

Nodding to the droids, I followed Zeb to the command center.

"Sir, ma'am, we have a message from Fulcrum." said one of the workers.

"Let's hear it. Put him through." Zeb said.

A holographic image of Fulcrum's symbol soon appeared.

"The Empire has begun to deploy recon droids. These Infiltrators sweep the Outer Rim worlds for rebel bases." Fulcrum said.

When he said that, a picture of a scary-looking droid appeared.

"Whoa, look at that thing. It's armed to the teeth." Zeb said.

You can say that again...

"They are extremely dangerous, but can appear harmless while in protocol mode." Fulcrum said.

The image soon shifted into a smaller droid. My eyes widened in surprise when I saw that it was the droid Zeb and Chop found in the wasteland.

"Oh, no." Zeb and I said.

"One failed to report in. Be advised, if the droid remains out of contact, the Empire will come after it, and soon. Fulcrum out." he said.

All was quiet afterward.

"We got to go warn Chopper and AP-5!" I said.

"You read my mind." Zeb said.

"I'm a Jedi. It's what I do."

Smiling down at me, the two of us quickly ran back to the supply depot. When we got there, Zeb readied his bo-rifle and I readied my blaster.

I would use my lightsaber, but I don't want the Empire swarming this base.

When we came around the corner, we saw Chopper, AP-5, and the droid.

"AP-5, step away from that droid!" Zeb cried.

"That thing is dangerous!" I said.

"What exactly is happening?" AP-5 asked.

"That thing's some kind of Imperial recon droid."

The two of us inched closer to the droid, weapons ready.

"Rebel base identified." the droid said.

"Get away from it! What's it doing?" Zeb asked.

"Designation, Imperial Infiltrator droid EXD-9." the droid said.

Then, the droid's chest expanded, as well as its arms and legs.

"It's remembering." AP-5 said.

"Assignment, Atollon. Target, rebels." the droid said.

Then, its jaw turned red. Without a second thought, the droid knocked down AP with a single swing. Zeb and I didn't waste any time blasting at it, but it jumped up on a catwalk and started dodging all our blasts. The droid then jumped down and pinned down Zeb. Zeb was able to dodge its punches and still be able to blast at the monstrous-looking droid.

"Zel! A little help!" Zeb said.

I started firing at the droid, but it kept dodging my blasts. The droid jumped on top of a crate and started firing blasts of his own.

"Get down!" I cried.

Zeb and I soon found cover and hid behind some crates. I peered around the crate to see Chopper give the droid a jolt of electricity. The droid then knocked Chopper out of the way until he hit a pile of crates.

It did not just do that to Chopper...

Zeb and I came out and started firing at the droid. With enough force, we were able to blast off one of its arms. Not wanting to be injured any further, the droid scrambled away from us. I turned to my side and was thankful to see AP alright.

"You okay, Chop?" Zeb asked, picking him up.

Chopper then started grunting and warbling in frustration.

"I can only guess what he's saying." Zeb said.

"In summary, 'I told you so.'" AP-5 said.

Zeb rolled his eyes in disgust. Zeb then bent down and examined the droid hand we shot off.

"Well, we managed to damage it, but it's on the run now." I said.

"We can't let that thing report back what it saw back to the Empire," Zeb said.

"We must alert Captain Syndulla." AP-5 said.

"No time. Hera put me in charge because she trusts me. I'm not letting her down."

I nodded and placed a hand on the Lasat's shoulder.

"We won't." I said.

Zeb smiled and nodded firmly.

"Come on. It's leaking fluid. We can track it." Zeb said.

Turning on his light, Chopper rolled next to Zeb to light the way, following the trail of fluid. Nearing the end of the trail, we saw a small droid who had its insides ripped out.

"Ghastly. This poor astromech's power core has been completely drained. And several key components have been removed." AP-5 said.

"The poor thing..." I said.

"That thing's repairing itself. Trail ends here, where it patched itself up. Chopper, think you can track it?" Zeb asked.

Chopper warbled and buzzed his reply.

"Chopper said its power supply is not registering on his scanners. The power it consumed from this droid was likely not enough for its needs. It may still be looking for more." AP-5 said.

"Well, that gives me an idea." Zeb said.

Chopper warbled questioningly.

"Really? You can have those?" AP-5 said.

If that's not an insult, then I don't know what is.

"Chopper, you get its attention. Lure it to us, and we'll blast it," Zeb said.

"May I remind you that we are in an area housing high-explosive munitions? Perhaps not the best place to be firing blasters. We were lucky enough the first time," AP-5 said.

"Valid point." I said.

"You could have told us that before."

"I just told you now."

Half of me just wanted to burst out laughing at how ridiculous their argument was, but this is serious.

"Okay, so I'll just grab it. Get it on the ground and shut it down," Zeb said.

"Grab it? That's your plan?" AP-5 asked.

"Yes. And if I do, can you shut it down?"

"Of course I can."

"All right. Chopper, get to it."

Chopper turned off his light and rolled deeper into the supply depot.

"Until then, let's get into position." I said.

Zeb nodded and climbed up on a catwalk. After a few minutes of waiting, I heard Chopper's frantic warbles.

"Here they come." I told Zeb.

When Zeb nodded, I hopped up on a crate that looked down on the rest of the supply depot. I then saw Chopper come around the corner with the devil-spawn of a droid right behind him. Running under the catwalk, Zeb jumped down on top of it but was soon thrown off. The droid then turned its attention back to AP-5 and Chopper.

No Imperial droid is going to hurt my friends...!

I quickly ran over to them and stood in front of AP and Chop. Without a second thought, I activated my lightsaber. The droid soon started firing at me, but I was able to deflect the blast.

"Could use a little help, Zeb!" I cried.

Zeb got up and activated his bo-rifle. Running up to the droid, Zeb electrocuted it from behind, but it did absolutely nothing to it. If anything, that electricity helped it. The droid turned around and its hands started spinning out of control.

"Zeb, get out of there!" I cried.

The droid brought down his fist, but Zeb was able to dodge it in time. I ran up to the droid and brought down my lightsaber. The droid looked my way and knocked me into a pile of crates.

Okay, ow...

Zeb then thrust his bo-rifle at the droid, but the droid caught it like it was nothing. The droid then sent the bo-rifle's electric current back at Zeb, giving him a painful shock. It then tossed the bo-rifle to the side. I raised my head from the ground to see the droid choking Zeb with little to no effort.

How is a droid this strong?

The droid then picked up Zeb and threw him into a pile of crates.

How is this even possible? This is Zeb we're talking about here, and he's getting tossed around like a rag doll...!

The droid soon ran up to Zeb and started ramming him into every crate it could see. The droid then again threw him into a pile of crates. I tried to stand but the blow from that droid really did a number on me.

"I got it! I got it!" Zeb cried.

AP, Chop, and I quickly made our way over to Zeb and the droid. The droid was struggling in Zeb's grip and Zeb was having a hard time keeping it down.

"Shut it down!" Zeb said.

AP-5 walked over to the droid and tried to do what Zeb asked, but its flailing arms were making it difficult.

"Hold it steady." AP-5 said.

"I'm trying!" Zeb cried.

Chopper tried to electrocute the droid again but only to be kicked out of the way by the droid's flailing legs. Shaking off the pain, I sat on the droid's legs and held it down from its ankles.

"Hurry up, AP!" I cried.

"Shut it down now!" Zeb cried.

AP crouched next to the frantic droid and got to work.

"Almost got it. Stand by," AP-5 said.

"Stand by?" Zeb and I asked.

"Got it."

The droid stopped flailing until it stopped moving at all. I let out a heavy sigh and got off the droid.

"You okay, Chop?" I asked as he rolled up to me.

Chopper buzzed and warbled angrily.

"Today's not your day? Tell me about it." I said.

"What do you know? Your plan actually worked." AP-5 said.

"Of course it did!" Zeb said standing up.

"You okay?" I asked.

"Yeah. You?"

"I've been worse."

Zeb nodded and looked down at the powered-down droid.

"Okay, let's have some good news. You know, just to see how it feels," Zeb said.

"Chopper can detect no long-range communications equipment, which means the droid has not transmitted our position to the Empire." AP-5 said.

"Well, that's something. It must have a ship somewhere nearby."

"What's the bad news?" I asked.

Chopper grunted lowly while looking down at the droid.

"The droid appears to be counting down?" AP-5 asked.

I leaned over the droid and it was in fact counting down.

"Counting down to what?" Zeb asked.

"Most likely it has activated its Imperial anti-capture fail-safe. There's probably a proton warhead inside too." AP-5 said.

"If you're right, then this droid can vaporize the entire base."

"And us along with it." I said.

This day just got a whole lot worse...

"The countdown timer has already begun," AP-5 said.

"How much time have we got left?" Zeb asked.

"20 seconds."

"What?!" I asked in a panic.

"Any ideas?"

Chopper warbled loudly and then sprayed the droid without hesitation. When I looked at the droid's chest, it was frozen.

"What did he do?" Zeb asked.

"He's temporarily frozen the countdown circuit. That should buy us time to move the droid to a safe distance from the base before it detonates," AP-5 said.

"Good thinking, Chop." I said.

"This part will require some manual labor. Your specialty, I believe."

Zeb picked up the droid and looked at the frozen circuit.

"Wait. Fulcrum said if this droid doesn't report back to the Empire, they'll come here looking for it," Zeb said, dropping the droid onto AP.

"Oh, wait. Are you suggesting we allow it to return to the Empire, with a memory bank filled with Rebel secrets?" AP-5 asked, removing the droid from him.

"Well, we can't let it detonate. We can't let it go back... Think, Zeb, think!"

Zeb then started pacing back and forth trying to come up with a solution.

"This might take a while." AP-5 said.

Zeb came back around and sighed.

"Can you get inside the droid's programming?" Zeb asked, looking down at AP.

"I believe I can," AP-5 said.

"I want you to wipe its memory."

"No, its memory core is protected. Any attempt to tamper with it would likely trigger detonation. Nor can I disarm the warhead. One way or another, it is going to explode."

Well, that's comforting to hear...

"It's only a matter of when." AP-5 said.

"Or a matter of where." Zeb said.

I turned to the Lasat with a confused expression.

"What are you getting at, Zeb?" I asked.

"What if we send it back to the Empire still ticking? Can you make an adjustment to the warhead, set it to restart the countdown when the droid reconnects to the Imperial network?" Zeb asked.

"Possibly. What are you suggesting?" AP-5 asked.

"We let it go back to its base, but it blows before it could update its data. Maybe even takes some more of these droids with it. The Empire will never know which one it was."

My mouth fell slightly open in shock.

If no one can top that plan, that's the best plan I've heard by far.

"Well, can you do it or not?" Zeb asked.

"Yes, I can. Or at least I can try. Sorry for my delayed response. I was just rather stunned by the fact you had a good idea." AP-5 said.

Chopper and I couldn't help but laugh at AP's statement.

"Just get to work fixing it." Zeb said.

Chopper rolled up to the droid and started grunting and warbling.

"Oh, good point, Chopper. It may try to kill us, so I will restore the droid's behavioral system to the disarmed state in which we found it. I will also initiate its return-to-base protocol so it should promptly leave peacefully." AP-5 said, tinkering with the droid.

Chopper warbled at AP's statement.

"Calm down, Chop. AP knows what he's doing." I sat.

"Main system restart now." AP-5 said.

With that, the four of us hid behind some nearby crates. As AP said, the droid started going back to its protocol state. The droid soon sat up and looked around. Getting up, the droid started making its way to the exit.

"It's leaving the base. Good job." Zeb said.

"Let's make sure it gets home." I said.

The four of us soon started following the droid to the exit. Taking a speeder, we followed the droid back to the wastelands where Zeb and Chopper first found it.

"I'm picking up a second signal. Must be its ship." Zeb said.

Quietly going around a corner, we finally saw the droid's ship.

"There it is." Zeb said.

Watching it closely, the droid soon stepped inside its ship. Then, a piece of the ship extended outward.

"That's a long-range transmitter. It's going to contact the Empire." AP-5 said.

"Not if I can help it." Zeb said, hopping out the speeder.

Taking aim, Zeb fired at the transmitter, knocking it right off the ship.

"Yes! We did it! We did it!" Zeb exclaimed happily, jumping on top of the speeder.

"We sure did, Captain." I said.

"Now that it can't contact the Empire, it will return home, right?"

"If it follows its programming." AP-5 said.

We watched the hatch close and saw the thrusters flare to life. It then blasted up into the midnight sky.

"But what if... I mean, if it goes back, and I didn't correctly reprogram that detonator?" AP-5 wondered in panic.

"Don't think like that, AP." I said.

"Look, we may not like each other, but you've always done your job." Zeb said.

"Well, whatever the outcome, you performed admirably, Captain."

AP said this with a firm salute.

Are they finally going to be able to get along...?

"A lot's happened today. Not sure if I can handle with you and me starting to get along on top of everything else." Zeb said.

"Agreed." AP-5 said.

I spoke too soon...

I leaned my head back as the speeder pulled away from the wastelands and back to the base. As soon as we got back to the base, Zeb and I contacted Hera and the others immediately.

Hope Zeb's plan worked...

Morning came, and Zeb, AP, Chop, and I watched as the Ghost came down from the sky to land. When it did, the rest of the crew walked out.

"Okay, what happened that you called me back on day one of the exercise?" Hera asked.

"Well, it may be nothing. We, uh... We think we've got it under control. But just in case..." Zeb said.

"Incoming message, priority." said a man over the PA.

"Hold that thought."

The others walked past us as they headed to the command center. Chopper then started grunting and warbling.

"You hand nothing to do with what?" Kanan asked.

When we reached the command center, Fulcrum's voice came through.

"I can only assume you found and reprogrammed the lost Infiltrator I warned you of. Well, as you no doubt planned, the droid did self-destruct on its return to base." Fulcrum said.

So, Zeb's plan did work!

"I don't know how you pulled it off, but you have my congratulations. Fulcrum out." Fulcrum said before leaving.

"Uh, what was that about?" Sabine asked.

"Trust me, you don't want to know." I said.

"It's kind of a long story." Zeb said.

"Which I can recall every detail of. It all started when Captain Orrelios brought the droid back..." AP-5 began.

Zeb quickly covered AP's mouth and smiled nervously at the others. The others looked at each other and then back at us.

Their faces say, "What in the galaxy did we miss?" I can't blame them. All I can say is that yesterday certainly was eventful...

I am really really really really really REALLY sorry for the late update. Hope this makes up for it. School is ending soon for me and I have A LOT of projects that have to be due. Still hope you enjoyed it, nonetheless. May the Force be with You!

💎DiamondJedi18⚔