#oom-9

What's good my clankers?

OOM-9 was an OOM command droid, a variant of B1 battle droids, who led Trade Federation forces during the Battle of Naboo. OOM-9’s direct work with Nute Gunray and Darth Maul led to a strategic victory over the Naboo and Gungan forces before their last confrontation. The droid was praised for its efficiency, and often rode in an AAT tank.

The droids present wirelessly conversed with each other through the network. They were frantic. OOM-9 didn't have a solution to fix Coppertop, none of them did. They worried that a memory wipe might not even be effective at this point. Coppertop had already done the impossible and committed treason. And a memory wipe seemed like too good a fate for a traitor.

OOM-9 eventually went with SSA-719's suggestion, the only possible course of action they had now: destroy Coppertop.

"Lift him to his feet!" OOM-9 gestured and SSA-719 and 3B3-888 grabbed the smoking droid from the ground and set him on his feet.

OOM-9 quickly walked over and beheaded Coppertop with a single slash to the neck. Coppertop's head clattered to the ground before coming to a rest. OOM-9 walked over and crushed the droid's skull with his metal foot. OOM-9 scraped his foot back and forth across the floor for a second, smearing the electrical innards in a gruesome display.

The droid general turned to a pair of nearby PK worker droids. "Clean this garbage up. I want it smelted down. No piece of this droid is to be used for spare parts."

SSA-719 stared at the smoldering wreckage that was once Coppertop. He wondered what caused the rogue battle droid to act the way he did. Just because he was freed from the network and unbound by combat protocols was no reason to turn around and instantly start helping the enemy. What made Coppertop so different from me? SSA-719 kept his musing out of the network, trying to think through the problem on his own. Then the answer dawned on him: it was personal experience.

A decade ago, during the final battle for Naboo, SSA-719 was assigned to guard Nute Gunray. SSA-719 failed. He had been defeated and Gunray and Haako had been captured. Nute Gunray didn't care about him; SSA-719 was just another expendable drone in the eyes of the Trade Federation's Viceroy. It was after, on Raxus Prime that was the key. Zako and Katen had found SSA-719 and the others, fixed them up, upgraded them and then befriended them. Coppertop never had any friends. Coppertop, like so many other battle droids, didn't get to have friends. They were nothing but low-quality cannon fodder that was expected to be scrapped in battle.

"You seek to continue your purpose?" OOM-9 asked.

"I do. But I get the feeling you're not going to allow me to do that."

"Fight me. Defeat me in battle and you may leave Serenno."

Senior Commander EEK-176 handed OOM-9 a ZK-II war-axe with a violet edge. Commander TH-1066 handed Coppertop a ZK-II war-axe with a white-tipped edge. The two battle droids moved to make space for the two fighters.

"I will not fight you," Coppertop said.

"You will fight me." OOM-9 activated his war-axe, the purple edge glowing bright. "You will be destroyed if you do not."

"Even if it means my destruction, I still refuse."

"Think about it. If you defeat me, then you can leave… leave and go back to healing clone troopers if you want to. Or Separatist soldiers. Or pirates, civilians, terrorists… whatever you want."

"That would require me to destroy you. And I have forsaken violence. I have chosen my own path. You cannot force me. You have failed, General. I am who I choose to be. And nothing you do can change that." Coppertop tossed his weapon to the ground.

"… You will find that there are worse things than destruction."

KJZ-8267 approached OOM-9 and attached a shock projector to the general's right forearm.

B1 battle droids (and other B-series battle droids with the same frame) had gaps in their forearms, similar to the forearms of the skeletons of humans. Though many did not know it, the gaps were there for a reason: to allow arm-mounted weapons to be installed. There was enough space for a weapon to be mounted on the outer and inner side of the forearm.

"If I may be so bold as to make a request," OOM-9 started to speak.

"You may."

"I would like to deal with the traitor's punishment myself when your technicians are finished with him."

"Considering your service and loyalty, General, I will grant you this request. Remain here on Serenno. I will send for you when I am finished with the droid."

"Thank you, Count."

"You are both dismissed."

Count Dooku allowed a small smirk to grace his face as Ventress and OOM-9 left his throne room. Dooku almost felt pity for OOM-9. The poor, simpering drone was so eager to follow orders, so eager to prove just what a mindless drone he really was. But that's what the battle droids were for.

It had only taken a few hours before the technicians were able to pry away what they needed from Coppertop. The results were delivered to Dooku. They were exactly what the Sith were hoping for. Unknown to OOM-9 and the others, it was Darth Sidious who had instructed his apprentice, Count Dooku, to perform an experiment to test how well a battle droid could disregard its primary programming.

To Darth Sidious, battle droids and clone troopers were similar in nature. Both groups were nothing more than pre-programmed drones in his master plan. To the Sith, the experiment had been a success: Coppertop had proven that a conditioned individual could be prompted to engage in a course of action that conflicted with its primary programming. That assured Sidious that when Order 66 was issued, the clone troopers would turn against the Jedi commanders that they had been up programmed to obey up until that point.