If there is one nice thing you could say about the Jawas it's that they are organized. They might be sneaky little thieves, but they could always offer a good deal when they wanted to get rid of something fast.  That's what happened when found the GY-I unit in the junk heap. I scurried out of there faster than Sand people fell on trespassers, for fear they might not know what they had in their hands.

By the time I got back to my house, my heart was pounding. It wasn't often I lucked out with parts in such good condition, let alone a droid that merely looked like it had just been powered down.  As far as I could tell this droid was in perfect working order at least until I powered it up to see how it functioned.  It could definitely use an oil bath and a bit of a polish, but I was mostly excited to see if the internal operating system was in good working order.

The only thing that bothered me about the entire thing was that I couldn't really figure out is why this droid would be down here in the first place. These droids had been commissioned as intelligence analysis units, intended for use by governments and educational centres. Neither of those things could be found here, that is unless you counted the mobsters that resided over the desert wastes as a form of government.

I'd come to this planet to get away from all the unrest in the galaxy, I was a mere Droidsmith, what happened to actual people unfortunately meant very little to me.  I felt at home with these creations, and I was the only one of my kind on this planet.

I flung open the doors to my workshop and the familiar voice of my BLX series labour droid SN-DE, San-Dee for short met my ears, "You're back sooner than anticipated."

I nodded my head and ordered, "Help me get him on the lift and into the oil." I may have been able to rebuild any droid in record time, but San-Dee did all my heavy lifting.

"A GY-I information analysis drone?" San-dee commented after seeing the metre tall, tarnished golden droid. Her automated voice was filled with surprise, as she hooked him on the crane and lifted him up, "All the way up here? Did you steal it?"

I shot her a glare as I worked at blowing the sand from the joints of the new droid taking time with the open wires around his middle, "No, I didn't steal it. The Jawa's didn't know what treasure they had. Once he is all cleaned up, he will look like what he's worth. Imagine what he's got hidden in that processing core?" I said as I tapped the bell-shaped dome of his head, I couldn't help the bubble of excitement that welled within. I was certain that this droid was lost, if I could find its owner then I could make enough credits to upgrade my tools and perhaps even open a shop in Mos Eisley.

San-Dee shifted her weight from side to side, which I knew was a nervous habit she'd picked up after I'd installed the scavenged personality drive of an older model droid, "Ms. Ralla, is that a good idea?"

"Why wouldn't it be," I humored her because I knew she would worry about it even more if I didn't. I lowered the droid into the oil bath and set it to ultrasonic clean, "1200 khz should be enough don't you think?" I asked.

San-Dee turned the dial for me but didn't reply, "What if her previous owners were," she stepped closer her metallic fingers opened and closed anxiously, and she lowered her voice into an exaggerated whisper, "bad people."

I rolled my eyes, "bad people don't just lose their droids to Jawas on Tatooine."

San-Dee didn't look convinced. I stepped past her and reached for my tools bringing them closer to the bath. I smiled as I lifted the omni tool to the back of the droid's head and opened the cranial compartment and I was startled to find that the memory core was indeed damaged.

"How did this happen?" I spoke more to myself than San-Dee, but she replied.

"Looks to me like there was a system overload, but on a GY-I droid that would take an unimaginable amount of information."

"Hmmm," I wondered out loud as I reached in and grasped two thin wires between my fingers and pinched them together.

In an instant the droid powered up and there was a loud whirring from the internal components. The droids overly rounded eyes illuminated and a holo message hovered over the oil bath.

The figure of a woman with dark hair and eyes stared right at me like this message was meant just for me, which of course, I knew was not possible, "If you are getting this message, it is too late for us." My stomach dropped.

"Oh no, oh no, oh no," San-dee worried loudly behind me and I shushed her so I could hear.

"I am Queen Breha Organa, I am sending this message because our dear planet of Aldreaan is set to be destroyed by the Empire. I haven't much time, as I record this message, I can see their abomination looming over our heads." The woman looked over her shoulder like she heard something before she turned back to the recording, "Within this droid I have enclosed all of the information that we have been able to discover about the Empire. Their secret bases and their clandestine plans to take over the entire galaxy."

'Oh dear, oh dear, oh no!" San-Dee kept crooning repeatedly.

"If you don't cut it out, I will deactivate you I swear it!" I chastised her.

"You must get this droid to the Rebel Alliance. You must make all of our deaths mean something."

A male voice rang though the recording, "Breha! You must hurry!" the form of a tall man with a dark goatee came into view and I swear I felt his heavy gaze to the tips of my toes as he spoke directly to me, "You have to avenge us."

The recording cut out and San-Dee started wailing again and I could only look stunned.  Alderaan had been destroyed over a year past, how long had this droid been in limbo? I couldn't do what that woman, the Queen had asked me to...

But I had to obey her, didn't I?

            I was brought to my senses by San-Dee's wails, "We are going to be thrown into jail, whatever will we do? They will make me into an executioner, I will become a bounty droid!"

            "San-Dee keep it together!" I shouted, "If I can't get this droid fixed and find out what is in his big, beautiful brain then there will be nothing to worry about."

She quieted for a moment, "What if you do though?" she asked her voice suddenly serious.

But I had no reply, what would I do if I could activate the droid and fix its memory core?

San-Dee took my silence as an answer and moved to the other end of the room already planning her future working for the Bounty Hunters Guild. I worried my lip as I looked down at the droid, its golden face looked back up at me blindly and I leaned in speaking softly to it, "What are you hiding?"

            I lifted my omni tool and only hesitated for a moment then I thought of the look on Queen Breha's face. The condemnation behind her eyes, she knew what was going to happen and she got a droid off that planet, rather than herself. She knew that if she could at least get it out then she would be able to do more to stop the Empire than if she got herself safely out of harm's way.

            I knew I had to do as she asked even if I had no idea how I would do it. 

            Hours passed and I didn't pause my work for even for a moment.  San-dee fussed around me trying to get me to eat or drink constantly just over my shoulder but still I did not stop my work. I worked feverishly as if I my life depended on it.  I brushed a twisted coil of knotted wires to the side as I mended all the connections hoping that this would do the trick. The droid had long since been removed from the oil bath and his stout golden body gleamed in the dim light of my workshop the moonlight poured in through the open windows.  As I mended the final connection, I began to see red flashing lights in a small component that looked to be there by mistake.  I narrowed my eyes and leaned forward. I reached for a long pair of extraction tweezers and pulled the small module from the droid and set it aside. I wondered what it might be because it need not be there but before I could examine it further the droid came to life.

            His arms flailed wildly about as he sat straight up on the table.  I moved my magnifying goggles up over my head and set them aside.  "It's alright," I stood and reached for him to help him from the table, "I'm Ralla," I fumbled my words for a moment, "I-I got your message."

            The droid had yet to speak and when he did, I was surprised by his words. His voice prim and proper everything I was not, "I am doubtful you will be able to help me out at all."

I crossed my arms over my chest and opened my mouth to tell him off but San-dee came to my rescue first, "How dare you, you overpriced self-important piece of parts! If not for Ms. Ralla you would still be at the bottom of a junk pile!"

            "Excuse me but who do you think you are?" The GY-I droid asked indignantly.

            "Ms. Ralla is the best Droidsmith you will ever have the pleasure of having in your processers." She countered.

            I raised my hands to stave off further argument, "Thank you San-dee, but give him some room he has certainly been though some tough stuff."

            The droid huffed and I was amused at how furious San-dee was on my behalf.

            "What do I call you?" I asked the droid and he turned to me and sighed dramatically.

            "You may call me GY-I," he said, "I am, err, was the Kings right hand." He nodded his head proudly and I could see that he was full of bravado and wondered if he would even allow me to help him.

            "Well, GY-I," I said, "I am going to do everything I can to help you complete your mission."

            He huffed again. "Well, the first thing you will want to do is deactivate the Imperial tracking device on the table.

            I spun and looked to where he was pointing, and I mentally berated myself I should have known what it was as soon as I had extracted it. A frown formed on my face, and I turned back to the droid, "How did an imperial tracking device get into you head?"

            He stiffened, "An unfortunate turn of events I assure you."

            I could hear San-dee huff silent words under her breath and GY-I pretended he did not hear her as he carried on speaking to me, "It appears as though you have clumsily activated the device so I believe that we shouldn't have very long before we are overrun with Imperial troops."

            My breath caught and San-dee froze to the spot for an instant, "Oh, Ms. Ralla, we are doomed if we do not hurry."

            I wanted to calm her, but I wasn't sure if that was even possible because I certainly felt the same way. I started collecting items and tossed them into my satchel as San-dee fretted and worried, making it hard for us to make a quick getaway. I shoved the entire savings of credits I'd earned into the satchel when a flash in the darkness reached my eyes though my bedroom window.

I stilled and a rush of cold dread pulsed through me.  Hastily I exited the room lowering my voice. "No one be alarmed but I believe our time has run out," I took a breath, "And before you start wailing San-dee, I have a plan."

GY-I who looked rather calm, turned to me, "Well, don't just stand there do whatever it is that you have planned before we are all turned into spare parts."

"Yes Ms. Ralla please!" San-dee voice sounded panicked.

I moved to the high-capacity compressor on the table and tampered with it for a moment then motioned silently for the droids to follow me to the back of the room.

"That's it?" GY-I voice was filled with as much irritation as a droid could muster but I didn't answer him.

"Just stay quiet and follow my instructions." I peered quickly out of the large square window into the darkness, when I saw nothing moving, I helped them out of it before following them myself.

Inside the compressor on the table started to hiss loudly and as it did the front door of my house burst open. I ducked my head out of sight, but I peered into the room through a crack in the sandstone mortar. The room begin to fill with the white armoured bodies of Stormtroopers, a tan clad officer pressed forward a blaster pointed at the workbench.

"Find the droid!" he ordered, and I could hear them move through the room destroying whatever was in their path.

I didn't wait any longer as I urged the droids to hurry, we stumbled clumsily through the sand in the darkness. My heart pounded nearly out of my chest hoping I had done the hurried calculations correctly, giving us enough time to get away. Before we could even get to the shadows beyond my home the large orange ball of flame lit up the night sky like one of the binary suns at midday.

We were thrown to the ground, a face full of sand was the least of my worries as debris rained down upon us.

"What in the void did you do?" GY-I said indignantly picking himself up, "I have sand in all of my parts!"

"It's better than blaster bolts you lug nut." San-dee countered.

"I overloaded the compressor." I smiled a bit as I grasped each droid by the wrist and hurried them onward, even if I had blown up the detachment in my home, there was sure to be more arriving when they figured out what happened to their comrades.

            "Clever," GY-I sounded impressed, and I couldn't help the pride that swelled at his words, he seemed the type not easily impressed, "A clever way to bring hellfire down upon us."

            My smile faltered.

            "Just say thank you, you vile pompous droid." San-dee came to my defence again.

            "Let's just go." I frowned.

            We walked over the desert sand for hours, and for hours I listened to my two droid companions' banter obnoxiously back and forth. After a while I had learned to tune them out, my head buzzing with how to possibly help this droid. I was not familiar with any of this rebellion business, I had made it my point to stay out of it. I made a point of not looking back knowing all I would see behind me was the plume of smoke where my home had once been. The suns started to edge the horizon when I suddenly interrupted a colourful bout of name calling.

"GY-I once we get off of this planet, do you know where we can find your people?" I said lamely.

            The droid stopped abruptly, and I halted my steps as well turning to face him, "You're trying to tell me," GY-I started, "that after all of that ruckus you have nothing? You said you had a plan."

            "I never said my plan went beyond getting us out of the house," I said meekly, "I just figured if we got you on a ship, you would know where to go."

            The droid merely looked at me, long enough in fact I reached for him to make sure he hadn't powered down, yet as I touched the panel on his head he slapped my hands away, "What sort of rebel cell are you if you cannot even get me off this place and to a Rebel Alliance base?"

            "Ms. Ralla, is a Droidsmith, she has nothing to do with this war." San-dee explained, her voice was surprisingly calm. "Or the Rebellion."

            "I came to this planet to get away from all of the fighting," I explained, "But that message... I can tell it is important."

            "Important!?" GY-I yelled, sparks erupting from the base of his mainframe compartment, and I opened my mouth to tell him to calm before he blew a fuse, but he continued, "I have vital information about the Empire, I know the locations of all of their secret bases and the names of spies within the Rebel Alliance. My head is the key to our victory."

            I looked away from the droid, how could this sort of thing be left in my hands? I was nothing, I was nobody, I couldn't even hold a blaster properly without my hands shaking.

            GY-I's voice rose, and his domed head bobbed indignantly, "This is preposterous, I have never met someone so incompetent in all of my years."

            I wanted to cry but I swallowed back my tears and opened my mouth to speak but San-dee spoke before I could, her voice steady and somehow so unlike hers, "I know where we will go."

            Both GY-I and I paused and turned slowly towards her, I was shocked, even her demeanour had shifted, she didn't worry her hands as she spoke her arms were straight at her sides and she even looked taller than usual.

            I blinked, "San-dee?"

Her voice sounded so different as she addressed me. Like she was a different droid entirely, but I knew that was not possible I had built her myself. "Ralla," she said, "I am with the Rebellion."

Her words rung in my head, and I couldn't help the sour feeling of betrayal that rose within me.

"Why didn't you say so in the first place?" GY-I said, "at least now we are not completely doomed." The droid turned back and headed to the direction of the space port. I was left standing with San-dee my head spinning like a cog.  San-dee looked at me a long moment before she turned and started walking behind GY-I, I was staggered because I felt like she owed me a little more of an explanation then that.

We lucked out getting into the city proper. A large group of traders from one of the smaller outposts surged the entrance at the gates, and the Stormtroopers had a hard time keeping track of who they had inspected and who they hadn't.  The pair of droids I followed led the way, and for a moment I felt like I was the one who needed rescuing. By the time we arrived inside the city we were dodging patrols of Stormtroopers at every bend. We had found ourselves in a dark crevasse under some grated stairs while troopers inspected the departing vessels.  San-dee had disappeared into the shadows with a promise of return, leaving me alone with the analysis drone who had made it quite clear what he thought of me.

"So," I began lamely unable to sit in the quiet for another moment, "how long did you work for the King of Alderaan?"

He turned his head slowly towards mine his eyes burned golden in the dim light, "Longer than you have been alive I assure you." His tone was haughty.

"Your model number hasn't been in production that long," I argued unwilling to let this droid walk all over me, I could deactivate him before he even realized what had happened, "I am trying to help you GY-I."

"What a lovely job you are doing too." I had never heard such a tone from a droid before and my spine stiffened. "I have nearly been kidnapped and blown to bits all in one day."

"I am not here to make your life more difficult." I hissed at him, "I would argue about who is making who's life difficult in the first place. You are lucky it was me who fished you out of the junk pile not some moisture farmer looking for parts."

            He didn't reply to my comment, but even I had realized that was a bit too far, "Listen GY-I, I'm not the bad guy. I'm a good Droidsmith, but as for a spy or a rebel," I shook my head, "I don't know about any of that. Heck, the droid that I build has a secret identity that I didn't even know about. Honestly at this point I am just along for the ride."

            GY-I appraised me for a moment and his words surprised me, "The Rebel Alliance could use a Droidsmith with your skills, when I deactivated, I wasn't sure I would ever see another day."

            I smirked, "Is that an apology GY-I?"

            He spluttered a little his arms flailing slightly, "Of course not I just didn't want you to start to cry all over me and rust my parts."

            I smiled to myself as I saw San-dee approach. She slid into the shadows with us picking up the satchel with my things and slung it over her shoulder. "I found us a way out of here we just need to hang tight until sunset."

            "How?" both GY-I and I said in unison.

            "I know the droid who runs the manifests, he said he would add us to the docket, a ship off of Tatooine." She answered, I had a hard time with the surety of her voice, the San-dee I knew was much more of a fluttery worry wort, not someone who could manage what this droid had just done.

             "How have you managed all of this?" I said carefully as I sat heavily in the sand, "How come you didn't tell me?"

            "I rather think this should be a private conversation," GY-I said hurriedly.

            "No," San-dee stopped him, "I have nothing to hide GY-I." She turned to me again, "The personality chip was not just a personality chip, it was so much more, it had memories hidden away, important ones. There was so much more than a personality programmed on it, the droid. an astromech droid, was with the Rebels. We are one now, we are the same, what that droid knew so do I."

            I nodded, it wasn't unheard of for this sort of thing to happen, but San-dee hadn't mentioned it, "Why hide it?"

            "Would you have removed it if I had told you?" she said.

            I didn't answer because I knew that I would have.

            "You don't need to feel bad Ralla." She said, "I knew what was hidden in that chip could be useful one day and I was right."

            "Ha!" GY-I said very, very loudly, "Funny thing when droids are right isn't it San-dee?" He was flailing about animatedly and I swear I could see smoke building around him.

I looked the droid over, had he gone mental? "Why are you yelling GY-I?" I asked.

            "Funny thing is about droids," he began repeating himself as sparks erupted from him again, "is that they don't do too well in the heat."

            I frowned, had he fried his circuits? My question was answered when he suddenly tipped over in the sand revealing masked humanoid kneeling behind him, a vibro-taser in hand.

            I yelled out, and lunged for GY-I my arms and body falling over him as the masked figure attempted to pull him away, but before I could pull him away San-dee hauled me back.

            "Ralla, stop," she said, "He is here to help, we can't just let GY-I walk around knowing that the Empire is after him, we are lucky we weren't spotted already."

            "That sort of current could have permanently damaged his circuits," I yelled at the figure who was shoving GY-I unceremoniously into a large sack. "Hey! I'm talking to you!"

            "I don't have time for this," he masked figure said, "Are you in or out?" he turned to me as if I was the one in charge here, when I knew if anyone had a better handle on what was happening here it was San-dee.

            "Ms. Ralla," San-Dee's voice had fallen back into the excitable tone I was familiar with, "We really must hurry before it's too late." She stepped closer her voice lowered so only I could hear it, "Play along Ralla, I am only a droid, I don't command anything."

            I nodded and answered automatically, "Take us to our ship." With more authority in my tone then I thought I could muster.

I followed the masked man and Ralla walked at my side, as we entered the bustling spaceport. My mind moving a million parsecs a minute, there was something here that was not right and for the life of me I couldn't figure it out. The Masked man strode up a ramp to a small transport vessel.

Then it hit me.

I froze in my tracks and San-dee turned and I spoke before she could usher me forward, "How did the tracker get inside GY-I, Ralla?"

            "I haven't the faintest clue." She said too calmly as she turned to me.

            "Put him down," I called to the man, he furrowed his brow and looked first to Ralla, then to me confirming my suspicions.

             I frowned, "You're not with the Rebels, are you?"

            The masked man backed up his hands raised in front of him his tone clearly filled with fear as he looked between us, "SN-DE?"

A bolt of blaster fire struck him in the chest, and I turned slowly towards the origins of the bolt to find, San-Dee's silver-plated arm lifted, blaster pointed in my direction.

"I underestimated you." She said her voice had taken that hard tone again.

"How? I made you San-dee, I found your body in a scrap heap, you were destined to be melted down," I couldn't help the betrayal that filled my voice, "Why are you doing this?"

"I am only doing what I was programmed for, I was never your precious San-dee, not after your upgrade. I can't believe you just accepted every word I fed you. I thought you were smart." I flinched, "What better place to find myself when I was rebooted? My memory core uploaded into a labour droid, and in the possession of a Droidsmith of all things. I knew I could have you send out feelers for the exact thing I was looking for."

"GY-I?" I asked.

San-dee stepped towards me again the metal blaster pressing into my chest, "See there is the smarts I recognized when we first met. I was an astromech droid for the Empire, I was placed on a transport vessel that intercepted GY-I's escape pod."

I gasped, "You were never going to take us to the Rebels, you were going to bring us right to the Empire." There was a finality in my tone that didn't need a reply, "What was going to happen to me then after you delivered GY-I to the Empire?"

"If you had just let them take the droid back at the house then nothing would have happened," she looked nothing like the droid I knew, there was a coldness that was present that never was before, and I wondered how I had never seen it. I couldn't quite believe how well she played spy. "I cannot leave any loose ends now, can I?"

I squeezed my eyes shut and I waited for the burn of the plasma laser, but it never came. Slowly I peeled my lids open to find SN-DE standing before me, frozen, the lights on her display gone dark and then as if in slow motion she fell backwards skidding down the ramp of the transport.

GY-I stood over her body, the long vibro-taser held between his golden fingers, "Never trust anyone who willingly admits they used to be an astromech droid."

I threw my arms around the droid and his arms flailed wildly before they stilled and awkwardly patted my back, "I suppose Ms. Ralla," he said, "That makes us even?"

I smiled at the Droid.

"I don't know Gee," I smiled when the droid stilled at the nickname I gave him, "I think we are going to become good friends before we can finally say we are even."

"Oh good," he deadpanned, this uptight droid was starting to grow on me. He moved towards SN-DE's fallen form and extended a pointer finger his port connecting to the information port on her chest.

"If you are going to upload all of her information you might as well wipe her mainframe," I frowned as I knelt next to him.

He hummed with approval, "What is the next plan of action?"

"Well," I stood taking my satchel and SN-DE's blaster, donning them, "I think we should get out of here before the port authority arrives, I will sell SN-DE for extra credits and a way out of here." I removed the cloak from the fallen man and threw it over Gee's shoulders to hide his gleaming plates from view, "Then we will see what we can do about finding these Rebels."

"I may have a few ideas," Gee offered his tone much less hostile than it had been before, "the first of which is getting of this blasted place, who in divinity's name lives in a place like this of their own fruition?"

I smirked at the droid, "Folks who don't want any trouble."

"How did that work out for you?" he teased.

"I'm still working on it." I countered.