Building the Business

[Kapar'in Va]

"So, here we have a squad of battledroids. This one here" Dathomar pointed to a droid with darker tan coloring "is a squad leader droid. More capable of tactics, etc. A little faster up here." Dathomar tapped it on the head. "First, I was going to have them shoot a little, so you can check their accuracy, then I was going to run them through a simulated boarding. How does that sound?"
I am most eager to see what they are capable of." Krypten replied.
Dathomar picked up a small data comlink off a desk and punched in a few commands. All 5 droids twitched and pulled their blaser rifles out of their holsters. Forming a line, the droids opened fire on a series of targets at the other end of the firing range. After a few minutes, Dathomar entered another command and the droids holstered their weapons. Dathomar and Krypten walked to the end of the range to examine the results. Krypten was pleased with what he saw. There were very few stray shots which indicated that both the droids and their blasters were of high quality.

[Kapar'in Va]

"All droids come with a state-of-the-art friend/foe recognition system, which all but eliminates friendly fire casualties. In addition, the squad leaders have the same communication system that the pilots have. Encrypted and secure. Shall we run the boarding program now?"
"Yes, indeed."
Another command was typed in and the droids rearmed themselves and moved over to a mock-up hull. A sudden explosion rocked the wall and a small group of droids poured through, firing at the battledroids. The battledroids returned fire and dropped several of the boarders. A stray shot hit the squad leader and he deactivated. Krypten watched as the remaining droids seemed to hesitate for a moment before resuming fire on the "hull breach". Eventually, Dathomar ended the simulation with a quick command on the comlink.

[Kapar'in Va]

"Your droids are most impressive Dathomar. But I do have one concern. In the event that a squad leader is hit, the droids seem to lose some of their skill. Are they programmed to act independantly?"
Somewhat. They will continue firing at any foes, but they will lose some of their cohesiveness."
"Would it be possible to have the nearest squad leader take control of them?"
"I think so. Yes, I think that would be quite easy to do. And I am somewhat ashamed I didn't think of it myself. If you ever want a job in the defence droid industry..."
Krypten chuckled. "Thank you. I am quite happy with Lord Byrax. Perhaps I could serve as a consultant. As long as it doesn't interfere with my regular duties."
"Of course. I will have T4-G7 bring you back to the main office."
"Thank you very much for your time Dathomar. Your droids are most impressive."
Krypten turned and followed the protocol droid back to the main office where Lord Byrax awaited...

[Kapar'in Va]

Krypten entered the office and saw Lord Byrax talking with the administrator (whose name I forgot...). Both men looked up as he walked in. Looking at Lord Byrax he simply said "The droids performed admirably. In addition to the crew, pilots, and gunners, I think that 50 droids per ship will be more than adequate."

[Anton Byrax]

"Then fifty it shall be. Said Anton turning back to (damm now i forgot the name..) the Company rep before him.*

"So, six hundred droids in total.

"Very good Lord Byrax, i think the cost will be 80,000 this includes the frigates which will need to be modified to support the droid crew. What say you to that?"

"80,000..... i shall pay 95,000 as a gesture of good will, plus the fact that i will need to have my fleet operational before i can submit the final payment."

"Thank you for your generosity, iam well satisfied with your offer."

*Shaking hands Anton and the company rep give their farewells. Turning The noble and his aid are led back to the docking bay by the protocol droid.*

"And so Krypten, you were fully assured of the droids abilities?"

[Kapar'in Va]

"Yes sir. We will be able to modify their programs as we see fit, but both the pilots and gunners performed very well. Far better than i see humans doing in emergency situations. Droids do not know fear or hesitation. I made some recommendations on the soldier models that they will be adding in. I can fill you in on the minor details on the journey back to Naboo, but I think you will be most pleased with them."

[Anton Byrax]

"Very well then."

*Boarding his vessel once more, Anton looked forward to returning to the opulence of his home. Taking off he looked back at the volcanic ruin that was Eos, the molten rivers looked like weeping sores and Anton was glad to be going. This was not his kind of place at all.*