Chapter 6 - chapter 6. old bones and new wires

🌅 Morning After

The sun cast a golden hue over the city of Theed as Kira and Hikaru prepared for their expedition. The events of the previous day lingered in their minds, but necessity drove them forward. Kira had identified a need for specific components to enhance their hideout's defenses and power systems.

Kira: "We need a thermal regulator and some capacitors. I've heard whispers about an old repair yard beyond the city limits."

Hikaru: "Sounds risky. But I suppose we don't have many options."

🛠️ The Journey Begins

Equipped with basic tools and cloaked to avoid unwanted attention, the duo navigated through lesser-known paths, guided by Kira's rudimentary map and instincts. The outskirts of Theed held remnants of a bygone era, places forgotten and untouched.

🏚️ Discovery of the Repair Yard

After hours of trekking, they stumbled upon a vine-covered gate, its metallic structure corroded but still standing. A faded emblem hinted at its significance during the High Republic era.

Hikaru: "This place... it's ancient."

Kira: "Exactly. Which means untouched tech."

Inside, the yard was a mosaic of rusted machinery, overgrown flora, and silence. Amidst the debris, a glint caught Kira's eye.

🤖 Encountering the Droid

Partially buried under rubble lay a droid, its design unlike any they'd seen. Gold and ivory plating, though tarnished, hinted at its former grandeur. One optic sensor flickered faintly.

Kira: "This isn't just any droid. It's High Republic era."

Hikaru: "Should we be messing with this?"

Kira: "It's not operational. But its components could be invaluable."

Carefully, they began extracting the droid, ensuring not to damage any critical parts. As they worked, a sudden jolt caused the droid's eye to illuminate briefly.

Droid: "Jedi... confirmed."

Hikaru: "What did it just say?"

Kira: "I think it just called you a Jedi."

They exchanged glances, the weight of the revelation settling in.

The return trip was tense.

They had wrapped the droid in a dusty canvas tarp, hoisted it onto a battered hover-sled that groaned under the unexpected weight, and moved silently beneath the shaded canopies outside Theed. Beetle scouted ahead, clicking its metal legs and blinking a steady yellow—safe, so far.

"You know it's just a glitch," Kira muttered, more to himself than Hikaru. "The vocal processor probably shorted when I cut the core lines."

Hikaru walked beside him, hands in his sleeves. "Maybe."

He hadn't spoken much since the droid spoke. Kira noticed.

They made it back by nightfall, slipping through a cracked maintenance duct near the edge of the lower city wall. Their hideout—a stone-walled utility room long since cut off from the city's grid—sat cold and quiet. Just them. Just the hum of old power coils and the drip of condensation on stone.

🔧 The Setup

Kira moved like a surgeon. The moment the sled touched down, he peeled the tarp back and started checking the old droid's access ports.

Vol's chassis was dusty but surprisingly well-sealed—beneath the grime and rust, much of its internal structure had been protected. Elegant, curved joints. Reinforced thorax plate. Complex motion servos he'd never seen in modern droids. There were markings too—etched symbols along the spine like some ceremonial script.

"These aren't serial numbers," Kira murmured. "They're… maybe High Galactic?"

"You're just trying to distract yourself," Hikaru said, kneeling down beside him. "You heard it."

Kira gave a slight wince. "Yeah, well, lots of old tech had Jedi scanning subroutines back in the day. Doesn't mean it was right."

Hikaru looked at the droid again. Its blank eye socket stared back like a dormant god. "Then why did it feel right?"

Kira didn't have an answer.

🧠 System Response (Kira Only)

[New Object Scanned]

Designation: V-0L // Status: Dormant // High Republic Recon/Support Class

Condition: 43% Structural Integrity | Power Core: Inactive | Memory Core: Semi-Locked

REPAIR PATH FOUND: Partial Activation Possible (Power Core Substitution + Manual Rewire)

"Knowledge hidden in rust and time. Proceed?"

Kira's system pulsed at the edge of his awareness—not obtrusive, not a full interface like some game. Just a feeling, a nudge. He nodded without speaking.

⚡ The Spark

Using salvaged power converters from an old cleaning droid and a cracked capacitor he had been keeping for emergencies, Kira rewired a temporary power bridge into the droid's core. Vol's limbs jerked once—twitched like a corpse surprised by lightning. Then the chest plate lit softly, golden veins flickering to life.

Hikaru backed up instinctively. Kira leaned in.

"Come on… just give me access to your speech core—"

Vol (static-filtered, formal): "...System integrity at 11%. Primary functions offline. Memory sectors fragmented... searching… searching..."

Kira's jaw dropped.

"It's talking. Not a playback. Real-time systems are syncing."

Hikaru (flat): "It's watching me again."

Vol's head tilted a few degrees toward him. Its eye dimly glowed blue.

Vol: "...Pattern match. Force-sensitive individual confirmed. User classification: Padawan-class anomaly."

Kira (choking): "Wait—what did it just say?"

Hikaru turned away. "Shut it off."

But Kira hesitated.

"This thing survived centuries. It knows things we don't. We can't just shut it down."

Hikaru's voice dropped lower. "Kira. That wasn't a guess. It didn't just call me Force-sensitive. It classified me."

🔍 Revelation: Vol's Purpose

After stabilizing its core, Vol offered limited access to its internal archive. Its speech was disjointed, but the fragments were enough.

Vol: "Designation V-0L. Reconnaissance and Preservation Droid. Stationed aboard Starlight Beacon — final record 181 BBY. Mission: Support Jedi operations and catalog ancient Force artifacts… failed. Critical damage sustained during hyperspace instability. Reassigned to planetary archive — Naboo sector…"

Kira: "You were brought here… to protect Jedi history?"

Vol: "To preserve what others forgot. What others feared."

Its eye turned again—slow, precise—to Hikaru.

Vol: "I… remember you."

The room fell silent.

🧩 Hidden Lore Fragment

During a system scan, Kira accessed a corrupted file fragment from Vol's memory bank. A hologram flickered—glitchy, blue—and revealed a blurred image: a robed Jedi holding an artifact, with children standing behind him. One child's face flickered into view… and for a heartbeat, resembled Hikaru.

Hikaru (low): "That's not me."

Kira: "Could be a genetic match. A relative?"

Vol: "Possibility: Echo through bloodline. Force-sensitive resonance pattern: 88.6% match."

Hikaru turned and walked toward the far end of the hideout, silent. Kira didn't call after him.

🛠️ Closing Beat: Integration

Kira sat next to Vol's inactive body later that night, soldering a better stabilizer to the repurposed power line.

His system pulsed again.

[Update: Companion Linked]

V-0L (Vol) Added to System Network – Partial Sync Initiated

Functions Unlocked: Data Archive (Limited), Structural Repair Overlay, High Republic Schematics (Basic)

He glanced toward where Hikaru sat, back turned, cross-legged, breathing slow and deep.

"You okay?" Kira asked.

Hikaru didn't answer for a while.

Then, quietly: "I'm scared I already know the answer."

Elsewhere, deep in the core of the old repair yard, a long-dormant console sparked once—then a soft red glow filled the room.

Unknown Signal Detected…

"Jedi signature ping... traced."

A surveillance node stirred to life.