Chap. 3 - Devastated

The capital city of Mageeto, as well as many others on the planet, were razed to the ground by constant fire from Republic ships. What were once bustling cities are now no more than ruins. All the buildings collapsed. The bridges, avenues and alleys were impassable due to the large amount of remaining rubble. Millions of the planet's inhabitants were massacred without even knowing what was happening. Only a few managed to survive.

However, in the depths of the abyss, right where the city's main bridge had collapsed, something could be heard.

????: - Starting power source restoration process process completed. Performing diagnostics... process completed. Diagnostic results: left armmissing, left optical sensordisconnected, right optical sensorfailedbut still working. Upper optical sensor... status unknown. Trying to connect by radio with the city frequency... frequency not found. Trying to connect by radio with the fleet frequency... frequency not found. Searching allowable frequencies frequencies not found. Searching frequency from the emergency channel frequency not found. Diagnosis finished. Starting restoration of the system in three two one. -

The strange robotic voice fell silent and a loud discharge could be heard under one of the rubble. And after a few minutes of inactivity, the debris began to move. Small rocks fell rapidly, making way for a large concrete slab that rose up. Concrete fell to one side, revealing a peculiar droid peering at the surface. It was Icarus, the one who was struggling after the damage he received.

Icarus looked around the city ​​ruins. He was at the bottom of the abyss, a deep crack that separated the eastern sector from the western sector of the capital city, linked by gigantic bridges, like the one in which he was at the time of the attack.

Icarus checked his body, but the sight was not very pleasant. Ignoring all the dust and dirt that covered each of his boards and circuits, his left arm was shattered. Only the section of the shoulder joint and some remains of his arm were still there. His vision was also affected. His left eye was missing, his right eye had some malfunctions but was still working with difficulty, and his upper eye, one typical of super tactical droids, was working perfectly, but had turned a deep red. However, even though the rest of his body presented a few bumps and tears, the rest of his joints and vital circuitry worked properly.

He continued to analyze the situation and realized a rather serious problem. He had to return to the command post, but it would be impossible to scale the massive walls of the abyss with one hand. So he had to find another solution.

He walked for a while inside the abyss looking for a way out while trying to process the information from the Venator's attack. It did not make sense. Why would the Republic wipe out a city? That had never happened. There must be an explanation but... Which one?

While trying to compute the data he had, he found his possible escape route. One of the massive chains that supported the bridge dangled from its base on the surface. The only problem was that the tip was more than twenty feet high. Icarus had to find a way to reach her.

The droid looked around and found a solution. Behind him lay part of a building delicately propped up on rubble and smaller beams. Icarus computed that if he managed to destroy one of the beams, the rest of the structure would collapse towards where the chain was and that way he could reach it. The only problem was that he had no way to destroy the beam.

Then he remembered. In one of its compartments he still kept Ki-Adi-Mundi's lightsaber. He took it with his right hand and analyzed it for a few seconds. For him that was justextraordinary. One of the powerful and feared weapons across the galaxy rested on his hand. When he turned it on, a beam of blue light shot out forcefully from the handle producing the characteristic sound that a lightsaber makes when lit.

On second thought he used the lightsaber to cut the beam supporting the structure, but his calculations were slightly off. The cut he made was not symmetrical, and the structure began to fall faster than he calculated. He ran with all his energy to avoid being crushed by the massive mass of concrete that was coming down on him. The building fell hard, producing a powerful crash that shook the ground. A thick curtain of smoke rose and covered the area.

When the dust cleared, it was possible to see Icarus to one side of the rubble. If he had not jumped at the last moment, he would surely have been crushed. Fortunately, the event did not cause further damage to his already battered body. Still, the building collapsed to exactly where he had foretold.

Icarus scrambled up the rubble and was able to reach the bridge's chains after a powerful leap. Despite missing an arm, he managed to scale the immense metal sections slowly. It took him more than two hours to reach the surface. His body was not suffering from tiredness or fatigue, but his energy reserves werent illimited. If he wanted to return to the Separatist high command, he would have to find a way to recharge.

Icarus made his way to the old command post while going through the rubble of the city. Destruction had razed every inch of the capital city. Most of the buildings and structures were destroyed, except for a few small houses that had survived the bombardment. Ícaro entered each one of them hoping to find some source of energy, but all he found were useless pieces and rusty blocks.

When he was some blocks from the command post, he looked around and saw one of the entrances to one of the bunker underground, used to secure the civilian population in emergency situations. Inside there were several warehouses with food, provisions and emergency batteries. He sure could find something useful inside.

Icarus came closer, but there was a problem. The solid metal hatch was closed, and the controls had no power. For sure the electricity was interrupted in the whole city. But with some ingenuity, he could reopen them, release civilians and be able to take one of the spare power cells. Or at least that's what he computed.

Icarus's right hand opened wide, and from his palm came a metal rod that he connected to the gate terminal, but the news was not good. Icarus was unable to detect any alternate power source to open the floodgates. It seems that the emergency reactors were also damaged after the bombing, so he had no choice.

Icarus had to divert some of his power so he could start the hatch motors. It was a risky bet, since the powerful machines would consume a good amount of his reserves. Which would compromise several days of operation. But the risk was worth it.

To avoid waste. Icarus only donated the minimum energy to get the gates open enough so he could get in. And with the hatches half open, he was able to access the interior of the bunker. But what he saw was a heartbreaking scene.

Icarus looked in shock at the thousands of skeletons that were scattered throughout the shelter. Many of them were huddled near the entrance, in a pile of bones where only the skulls stood out. Icarus was shocked. Wondered what type of weapon the Republic had developed capable of bringing about such a massacre. Or were his own high separatist commanders?

The bones were slightly corroded, as if a chemical agent had consumed the tissues and corroded surface calcium. It seems like it has been years since the death of those civilians. It was then that the concerns of Icarus came true. Upon arriving at the winery, he realized that the reserves had run out. As well as all power cells. Such once an EMP attack was the cause of the electrical failure. If that is the case. Icarus had to take advantage of every minute to be willing to find some alternative energy source.

Icarus abandoned the gloomy bunker and went to the old building where the command post was, but to his surprise, part of the structure was still standing. That was strange to him, since he had heard Colonel Coburn scream and saw the explosion in the distance. But it seems that something else had happened.

He searched through the rubble and found a terminal that appeared to be undamaged, but of course, it had no power. If he wanted to know what had happened, he had to download the data that was stored in the computer central, the one that was buried and hopefully had not suffered damage. But that would surely consume a lot of his reserves. It was high risk, but that information could be vitally important.

Icarus connected once more, but had to back off after a few seconds. The consumption of the central computer was too high, and it would surely run out of power in a few minutes.

Icarus couldn't recover much of the files. But he could see that Colonel Coburn had not died and he had managed to escape from Mygeeto. But once the bombardment began, the records finished.

It was only able to download that few data. It did not give him time to try to communicate with the separatist fleet, or find some nearby charge terminal. So he had no choice but to explore the area. But connecting to the mainframe computer came at a high cost. According to his calculations, he only remains in power for up to 72 hours.