C1P2 - SIXTEEN HOURS

Sixteen hours.

Sixteen. Hours.

Of doing nothing but staring at the console screen, going back and forth to feed the prisoners and retrieving their empty trays. By now I had learned nearly all their name, their little quirks and whether or not I wanted to have my revenge against the Separatists for putting me through such torture.

I was actually split on that last one. Oh, sure the work is boring as all hell, and the droids are all annoying...but I wasn't being shot at or anything. But foreknowledge aside, I still didn't know everything. How did I get here? More importantly, how do I get home? Out of this godforsaken universe and back home? I ignored the commander, remarking on sending another report when I received orders to head out for patrols with a unit of B1s.

Now...trudging along in the bowels of kilometer long warship is one thing, but for hours? Not very fun.

I did, however, manage to 'see the sights' as it were. While I knew where everything was, I didn't actually know what they looked like. My memory was rather poor on the specifics, but I now knew where the armory, the storage, and major systems were.We even walked through an unguarded storage area full of repair equipment. Stuff that ranged from soldering guns and handheld plasma torches.

The other three B1s chattered amongst themselves, but I kept silent and ignored them as a plan began to form in my mind...

-

C-Level, Prisoner Cells

The clanker was back, Stone noted grumpily. Its ugly little head turned to look at him before ignoring him and heading straight for the next cell.

"HEY!" He shouted angrily, pressing his face into the window. "Come back here you stupid little metal piece of-"

The droid ignored him and pushed trays of tasteless crap under the door before finally returning to him. Silently, it slid a tray under the door and left. With a growl of frustration, he dug in. Almost immediately he choked and spat out a glob of the paste.

"Fucking clanker out bolts into the food!" He shouted.

"Stone, you've got rocks for brains," said Sarge quietly. "They ain't bolts. Now shut up and eat your food, we're gonna need it."

Frowning, the clone bent down and pulled the piece of metal out of the mouthful of paste and narrowed his eyes. It was a small piece of something. He didn't know what, but if the powercell was anything to go by...

Stone gripped the piece of the torch and grinned.

-

If I still had the proper glands for it, I would be sweating. I was effectively attempting to break the clones out of their cells, actively betraying the Confederacy.

Mildly, I noted, the Confederacy was doomed to fall anyway once the good Chancellor Palpatine ordered the deaths of the CIS' leaders and the immediate shut down of all battledroids. Like myself.

Clack, clack, clack...

The patrol ended as we neared the end of our patrol routes and I went back to watching the security console's feed. So far, so good. I managed to pass along the component pieces of the plasma torches to each Clone, as well as the pieces for a small pistol. The Clones hid the pieces under their cot, waiting for the final piece for their pistols.

Come to think of it, I still didn't know what these Clones were jailed for. I didn't ask, the information was restricted and only a commander level battledroid and above could access it. But judging from the chatter of the droids, it seemed they were a group of Clone Troopers guarding a valuable asset. The Confederacy wanted that asset, badly enough to ship them to a dedicated prison to ensure they give up the information.

After four hours of watching the feed, I announced that I was going to go pick up the trays and feed the prisoners. The Commander Droid acknowledged this with a nod and a 'Roger, Roger' before I headed out. I shifted and moving the cart straight for the prison area. A pair of B1 Battledroids stood in front of the doorway, verifying me as one of their comrades before allowing me inside.

"Hello there," said Stone, grinning against the bars. "Where my food, clanker?"

"Get a room!" Hollered a clone trooper opposite of him with a laugh.

I tilted my head slightly but slid a tray under when the ship lurched.

What the-?

There was a low shudder and the lights flickered. I quickly began passing out the power cells for the pistols, shoving them into the door windows as the lights continued to flicker.

"Hey! What's going on in here?" Asked a high pitched voice. I turned around, throwing a paste-covered power cell into someone's eye.

"We need to go, Seven-One-One, there is a Republic cruiser attacking the ship! They're sending boarding pods-" Said a droid before a loud explosion sent shuddered across the floor.

Suddenly, the doors all around me began to fall open, Clones walking out of their cells, leveling their pistols at the two of them.

The droids looked at each other. "Uh oh."