“Of MSE-6 and Men” - From a Certain Point of View

"Of MSE-6 and Men", by Glen Weldon, comes from the perspective of an MSE droid on the Death Star. This story follows "The Trigger."

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WARNING: This is a plot summary of the short story, spoilers ahead:

MSE-6-G735Y is a mouse droid owned by trooper TK-421. They work together in the maintenance section. 421 has spent time customizing G7, and despite the droid's rudimentary programming, he has grown fond of it. He takes a moment, removes his helmet, and tells the little droid to listen up (the droid records) and tells it he dreams of going to Coruscant and entering G7 into a racing circuit. For now, he has G7 deliver an important droid part to Detention Block AA-23. G7 speeds through the Death Star, and arrives at the cell block. It opens its dorsal doors to reveal the cargo, a hypodermic replacement part for the IT-O interrogator droid. The trooper on duty is impatient, because Lord Vader will arrive any minute, so he takes the part and orders G7 forcefully to leave quickly. G7 races away so quickly, it rams into a high ranking officer who just entered. The officer demands to know who owns the droid so he can have him executed, and G7 plays back the holo of TK-421, sans helmet.

The officer is smitten by the handsome trooper, and starts a flirty back and forth, with G7 as the messenger. TK-421 is flattered, but also realizes that this could be his opportunity to get off the station and into a more cozy position on Coruscant. After a romantic encounter, 421 is immediately promoted to a security team at the docking bay. He's excited, because it's a better position, and he's closer to his goal. Now he's on his first assignment to guard an abandoned freighter that just docked. G7 is on his way to find TK-421 via the officer. Its GPS shows 421 moving towards the cell blocks. G7 races to meet him, and finds 421 with another trooper escorting a Wookiee prisoner. G7 recognizes 421's tracker, but realizes he is too short, and the biometrics don't correspond. G7 is about to sound an alarm, when the Wookiee suddenly roars at it, temporarily scrambling its sensors as its self-preservation programming kicks in. The droid recovers eventually, and finds the officer to report a problem with 421. The officer sadly reports that he already knows that there are rebels on board, and that they murdered TK-421 and stuffed his body into a closet. The officer commands G7 to shut down for a while.

G7 is awakened from sleep mode by the officer. He tells G7 that he thought it fitting that G7 bear witness to a great historic moment. G7 registers a countdown happening until the station fires its primary weapon at the rebel base. Explosions are suddenly shaking the room, and the officer explains that the rebel star fighters are making a fruitless attempt to damage the station. The countdown continues. An explosion rocks the wall next to G7, who becomes critically damaged. A passing trooper sees the droid, and remarks on the modifications made, and that he'd make a good racing droid. The countdown is at an end, with the rebel base now in range, but G7 is immediately aware that the station's systems have just been critically compromised.

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