Built on Hope (Cassian Andor FF)

18. Reprogramming

AN: Woop!! Actually got something written. It's a long one because there wasn't a cutoff in this one. Aesthetic at the bottom.

Captain Andor peered down in a daze at the blaster in his shaking hand. All that rang in his ears was the thumping of his rapid heartbeat. His mind relentlessly brought up past assassinations and cold blooded kills, torturing him viciously. When the war was over, how could he live with himself? Would his parents be proud after all of this? Would the Rebellion notice the horrors these spies had to go through?

"Cassian!" Talia called out, pulling on his hand. When that didn't work, she stepped in front of him, staring him straight in the eyes. She set her hands on his shoulders, shaking him a bit as she spoke, "We need to go. I have the holochip."

Talia pulled him out of the rut of his mind and tugged him in the direction they needed to go. He nodded and joined her without assistance, setting his blaster to his side as they rushed down the hall. When they reached the hangar, shouting echoed from inside. Cassian backed up and uttered, "There's too many of them. We're never going to slip passed them unnoticed."

Talia glanced around the hall, only to find nothing helpful. Distractions could help...but that would require the facility to not be on alert if she wanted to make it out safely. Uniforms weren't anywhere nearby, and getting caught was much more likely. She walked down the hall looking for more options. "Then we need to get creative. We could leave through the ventilation system. Maybe hide in one of the closets until they've searched the hangar."

Clear. Clear. Clear. Cassian's mind snapped into focus. He went down the other side of the hall and started to open doors. He fought against the adrenaline surging in his system and kept going. When he came across a room with a KX droid, he motioned to Talia. "I got a better idea." Cassian stepped foot into the room, grabbed the first thing he saw, and chucked it at the droid.

The thin and gangly limbed droid looked up from where he was positioned at the console. The black painted droid appeared newer and taller up close. A white Imperial crest adorned both its shoulders. The droid pointed at Captain Andor and called out, "You! Don't move."

Cassian put his hands up, humoring the droid. He stepped closer into the room and took a quick glimpse around. A few tables. Cabinet in the corner. Computer console in the middle. Shouldn't be too difficult to work around. "I surrender."

"I said don't move!"

He repressed the small smirk about to form on his lips. Sometimes things worked out way too well. "I'm not moving. Come on. Come on...Arrest me."

The KX unit tilted its head in confusion. Sirens blared in the facility...and a rebel wanted to be captured? He studied the rebel in front of him and observed, "You seem very eager to be arrested. I will call for backup."

"Backup? You don't need backup. You're a big bad security droid. I'm just one guy!" Cassian ushered the droid on. He put his hands in front of him, ready for stun cuffs. "It'll be easy."

The droid grabbed a pair of Imperial standard stun cuffs from the cabinet, and walked over to Cassian. "Remain still." When the droid got close enough, Cassian propelled himself using the droid's hands and flipped onto its back. The KX unit instantly questioned, "Wait. What are you doing?"

Captain Andor's arm wrapped around the droid's neck and used his other hand to search the back of it. His feet couldn't touch the floor, and when the droid flailed, he had to hold on for dear life. "Trying to put you down for a quick nap. What model are you, anyway?"

"I am Kay-Tuesso, and you are not authorized to service me."

Cassian attempted to stay out of reach of the droid's grabby hands. What he was looking for wasn't there at all. Since when did the Empire update their tech regularly? Or has it been that long since I've seen a KX droid? "You KX series types used to have this kill switch on your neck. Did they move it?"