Solus stared into small fire she crouched beside, the flickering light creating orange highlights in her thick mane of red hair.

"After the death of Master Hallis, I decided to take the actions I should've dove long ago," Solus continued. "I'd seen enough of the virus to know where the droids were vulnerable in their code, but since I didn't have the completed virus, I had to build a new one. It took time, but I eventually crafted something I thought would do the job."

"Since the Jedi tried to bury the entire thing, they couldn't have been too happy with you making a new virus," Koy'itar assumed.

"No, they weren't," Solus confirmed. "It's why I didn't tell them until after I'd tested it."

"You said you were a Jedi back then," Koy'itar reminded. "Is that when you stopped being one?"

"They didn't give me a choice in the matter," Solus replied. "The Jedi are so determined not to take a single step down the path of the Dark Side, they often won't take any, standing by and doing nothing rather than take an action that might be wrong. Having had my fill of watching people die when a better option was available, I unleashed the virus, and they exiled me from the Jedi for defying their orders. If I hadn't had this lightsaber taken off a Sith I'd vanquished during the war, I wouldn't have even possessed a weapon when they deported me from Coruscant."

"Considering what happened, I'm surprised you didn't want me to blow up the Jedi Temple on my way out," Koy'itar said.

"I disagree with them, but I don't hate the Jedi any more than I hate the Republic," Solus countered. "I got used to my solitude, even taking a variation of it for my new name, but I never lost my desire to protect the Republic and its people."

"I assume you're planning on using the virus I took from the Jedi temple?" Koy'itar guessed.

"I will be using it, but you didn't steal the virus," Solus corrected. "You stole part of the key to unlocking its full potential."

"What do you mean?" Koy'itar asked.

"When I created the virus, I didn't want the reprogrammed droids to remain hostile," Solus clarified. "I wanted them usable, so I created a key. When a specific signal is sent to the affected droids, they will recognize the sender as their new master."

"If all droids can be affected by the virus, that is a very powerful key," Koy'itar whispered.

"True," Solus agreed. "It's why I split it into two parts and hid them in different locations. One was on the disk you retrieved, made to look like a program no one would ever be interested in reviewing. I couldn't think of anything most people would find less interesting than maintenance and storage protocols. The other half of the key I stored inside my droid. R2?"

Answering the call, a black and gold R2 unit came wheeling into the room and stopped beside Solus, beeping excitedly.

"Knowing how you hid my part of the key, I don't think you put the data in the droid's memory systems," Koy'itar reasoned.

"Quite right," Solus confirmed. "I wanted it someplace no one would even think to look."

Solus tapped the droid and one of its forward compartments opened on its body. A mechanical arm extended, but instead of a circular saw normally installed on the arm, it held an optical disk. Koy'itar shook her head in amazement.

"Let's go," Solus announced. "We have a droid ship to claim."

   ***   

Koy'itar brought her ship out of lightspeed as she powered down the hyperdrive. Stars outside the cockpit window reformed from streaks of light to distant points. Hovering in the void before them was the massive shape of a droid control ship.

A central sphere with a crescent hovering horizontally around the middle, the design of the ship was both impressive and functional as the crescent outer hull amplified the control signals broadcast by the transmitters in the sphere. From the numerous landing bays, the control ship unleashed hundreds of fighters. The combat ships shot toward Koy'itar's vessel in a great swarm.

Solus inserted the combined data key into the control panel in front of her and broadcast it to the droid fleet, but nothing immediately happened. The droid fighters continued toward them at full speed. When the fighters were almost on top of them, their formation split in the center and veered off to either side. Watching on the sensor display, Solus saw the fighters already past them bank sideways and approached from the rear to take up flanking positions for escorting them in.

"It seems your key works," Koy'itar commented. She steered the ship toward one of the landing bays.

Once down in the bay, Koy'itar and Solus left their ship behind and met the small army of battle droids filling the room around them.

"Report status," Solus ordered without hesitation.

"Ship at full readiness, military capacity at 97% after initial combat with Trade Federation to secure the ship," a battle droid with yellow command markings reported with a salute.

"Do you have schematics for all battle droids and the necessary equipment required to build them?" Solus questioned.

"It's all stored in the computer," the droid confirmed.

"I want a complete listing of all uninhabited planets with sufficient resources to build and maintain a battle droid army," Solus instructed. "Bring it to me on the bridge."

"Roger, roger," the droid accepted with another salute. It hurried away, its metal feet clicking on the floor with every step.

"I take it capturing other ships won't be your only method of increasing your forces," Koy'itar assumed as she fell into step beside Solus. The two of them walked briskly toward the lift capable of taking them to the bridge.

"Capturing ships is a possibility, but it has to be done carefully, or we'll draw unwanted attention," Solus confirmed.

"Building an army will take time," Koy'itar pointed out. "The war may be over by the time you're ready."

"There will always be another," Solus countered. "Wherever there is good, evil will always be trying to destroy it, and the force I will build shall aid the Republic. But, if the Republic falls, I will need the army to vanquish those who overthrew it and clear the path for the Republic to rise again. One way or another, the droids will be needed."

The lift ride to the bridge was brief and swift. As the doors opened, the occupants got a grand view of the spacious bridge. A pair of large seats were positioned near the center with computer consoles and data terminals around the perimeter to monitor and control all functions of the ship and the connected army of droids.

Solus took one of the primary seats and gestured for Koy'itar to take the other.

"I was wondering if you might be interested in a long term partnership," Solus stated. "I won't be able to handle everything myself, even with an army of droids."

"I can't tell you the number of times I've been looking over my shoulder for trouble pursuing me, or how often I've had to shoot my way to a landing pad in order to escape," Koy'itar replied while adjusting the position of one of her headtails. "If your droid army can bring order and peace, it might not be so bad to give up smuggling and do something more. I'll help you."

The clicking of metal feet on the floor announced the approach of the command rank battle droid.

"I have the list you wanted," the droid reported.

"Very good," Solus accepted, taking the data pad from its metal fingers. She looked over the list before selecting one of them. Highlighting her choice, she handed the pad back to the droid. "Plot a course for the indicated planet and engage the hyperdrive when ready."

"Roger, roger," the droid answered dutifully.

After a few minutes, the massive droid control ship changed direction and jumped to lightspeed. On the bridge, Solus smiled at Koy'itar.

"Whether it's sooner or later," Solus said to her. "We're going to change the galaxy."

"Looking forward to it," Koy'itar answered with a matching smile.