JAYLEN HAD NO reminiscence of the precise explosion taking place—the way it regarded, the way it sounded, the aftermath, none of it.
As an alternative, he awoke at the property’s hangar bay, a cliffside construction overlooking the seashore. He opened his eyes to seek out ND-5 standing over him.
“You’re aware,” the droid stated. The phrases came to visit a relentless ringing in his ears, a tangible signal that the bomb had certainly gone off. “It’s best to stay flat. Although I shielded a lot of the explosion from you, the residual impression of such a power has possible thrown off your physique’s sense of equilibrium.”
“How lengthy . . .” he began, however even transferring his jaw muscle tissue damage. “How way back?”
“The explosion occurred two hours and seventeen minutes in the past. The eating room is at the moment on fireplace. From what I can inform, the fireplace continues to be at the middle of the construction, although it’s going to ultimately unfold. The fabric compounds in the partitions have slowed it down.” ND-5 turned his head, like he may see all the method over there. “It’s stunning that no emergency assist has come.”
“Everybody in there,” Jaylen stated, and although ND-5 informed him to remain flat, he propped himself. “Did you kill them? Are all of them lifeless?”
“Sure and sure.”
The droid’s voice got here out so clinically, so chilly—an affirmation with none of the weight behind it. Useless. His dad and mom and family, as flawed as they have been. The company—they didn’t deserve this.
A heavy sigh got here, and the very course of of blowing air out of his lungs triggered a burning tickle. His life as he knew it ended a number of weeks in the past. He supposed that life was going to finish regardless, whether or not the Empire introduced the firm down or he had ascended to CEO. Each of these marked a dramatic shift. However this?
This was completely different.
This was cold-blooded homicide.
“You killed them,” Jaylen stated, adrenaline surging in him, serving to him upward. He staggered to his ft, stiff ache in each muscle. “You killed them,” he repeated.
“I’ve already acknowledged that.”
Jaylen’s plan had labored. Which meant that it could have labored had Roisem and Nnytyl stopped arguing, stopped inflicting chaos so he may give the restraining bolt to A1-A1. He may have handed the {hardware} over, then give you some distraction for the protocol droid to mount the restraining bolt.
However now, everybody was lifeless—as a result of they simply wouldn’t hear. And that notion burned Jaylen otherwise than when he considered Sliro.
“No, you don’t perceive. You killed them. They didn’t need to die. The Empire took all the things from us. And now you’ve taken all the things from me. Why? Why would you do that?”
ND-5 checked out Jaylen like he was asking for instructions into city. “I executed orders in keeping with my programming.”
“Oh, in order that’s it? You’re simply an murderer that kills whoever you tar get?” Jaylen threw a pointed finger at the droid, although doing so triggered him to wince.
“Sure. That’s how droids function.”
Jaylen wished to scream. If his physique may assist it, he most likely would have. Some type of primal launch felt vital at this level. In stead, he swayed on his ft, nausea rolling in his abdomen. “What hap pens now?” he requested quietly. “I can barely transfer.”
“The shock wave struck you. I used to be in a position to shield you from solely the shrapnel. The noise and strain have possible given you a concussion. You will have comfortable tissue injury from the impression as properly.” ND-5 walked over and put out an extended skinny arm to assist him. “You have to a while to heal. We are going to use this visitor’s shuttle. They don’t want it anymore.”
At the same time as Jaylen moved with ND-5’s assist, he couldn’t stifle the snort ter coming by way of. “That is insanity. How do I do know you’re not simply going to kill me subsequent?”
“This restraining bolt is telling me to serve you. That has the highest precedence in my directive sequence.”
“It’s so simple as that, huh?” Jaylen replied in a dry voice. “You droids. You’re so binary.”
“It doesn’t should be any extra complicated than that.” In the distance, sirens clashed with the sound of oncoming thunder. “For now, I await additional directions from you.”
That was precisely what Jaylen meant by binary. “So I may simply inform you to leap off a cliff and you’d?”
“Sure.”
Jaylen believed the droid. He had no cause to not. He may inform ND-5 to do something, together with shutting himself down—hell, he’d blasted his personal chest to observe Jaylen’s directive.
“Properly,” Jaylen stated slowly, “why shouldn’t I just do that?” He was solely musing, however the thought quickly rolled into an actual, grounded query. He may select to provide the order. Or he may select to remain quiet. “How would you assess the present scenario?” he requested, as if he have been chatting with A1-A1 in the backyard cottage.
“Emergency autos can be right here shortly. I can commandeer this shuttle. You’ll possible want seven to 10 days for bodily restoration. As well as, they’ll assume you’re lifeless.”
Jaylen paused, feeling the floor beneath his ft. In the distance, he noticed that ND-5 was proper: The lights of emergency shuttles lastly hov ered above the compound. “Who’s ‘they’?” he requested with fun.
ND-5 stood silent, although his head tilted ever so barely. From the uncovered innards of the droid’s higher physique, Jaylen heard mechanisms and electronics struggling to work. “I have no idea. That info will need to have resided in the half of my reminiscence core that’s now broken.”
Half of Jaylen wished ND-5 to dismantle himself in the most violent method potential. However he let that impulse cross for one easy cause:
A BX commando droid was priceless as a protector. And a servant.
Jaylen wanted each proper now. Sometime, he may scrap him. However not now. As a result of all the things about Jaylen’s private galaxy had simply reset. This factor, this droid, had taken all the things from Jaylen. And now ND-5 would assist give him a brand new life.
Reprinted from Star Wars Outlaws: Low Red Moon by Mike Chen. © 2026 by Lucasfilm Ltd. Revealed by Random Home Worlds, an imprint of Random Home, a division of Penguin Random Home LLC.