I almost want to say I should try sensing something, but experience has made it clear I wouldn't notice the droids anyway. Suppose we'll take a risk and make our way back.
________________
Aurel frowns at the sudden silence, Jung's glance a good indicator of how he also felt about it all. Turning around with saber at the ready, he moves back along the maintenance tunnel.
You can sense the droids, but you cannot determine what has happened on sense alone. It isn't your forte. Therefore, you emerge from the hatch you dropped down, and back into the maintenance corridor.
It is flooded with the patchwork droid army, all mangled older models with replacement parts and soldered-on weapons, but not a single one moves. They regard you with their photoreceptors, which click and whir as you walk by, but you sense no danger from them.
You venture out of the maintenance shaft you clambered into the escape the torrent of laser streams. An eerie sight greets you, of dozens of droids lining the gangways and platforms above you, staring down, without movement.
You notice too the slowing of the machinery around you, decreasing in noise.
Everything's shutting down? Not to say that this whole event hasn't been decidedly abnormal. Why would it all just stop, though? It's making Aurel very hesitant as he continues moving with Jung out of the complex. Perhaps if he can ensure the officer's escape, he'd consider remaining behind to try and learn more...but that could also be tantamount to suicide if the droids reactivate while he's on his own.
"Let's get word of this back to your superiors," Aurel mutters to Jung, a part of him more than ready to leave until a better understanding can be gleaned.
You keep moving down the catwalk you used to access the maintenance shaft. The droids on it pull back from you, making their way off the platform, leaving you clear.
Except for one droid, who stomps up the stairs at the other end, its metal feet clanking heavily and loudly against the corrugated surface. You hear similar clanking nearby, somewhere above.
"HALT, JEDI," instructs the droid coming up to meet you.
The droid marching up to you looks markedly different than the other droids you encountered in this old factory. And not in the sense of its make - all the droids come from different makers and designers - but in the sense it is not patched up or cobbled together with old parts. It looks worn, with its white paint finish chipped and scuffed, but all in one piece.
It looks humanoid in shape, except for its head, which is a thin cylindrical shape and covered with numerous sensors and photoreceptors, all glowing a sharp vibrant purple.
You feel as though you have seen this droid before but you cannot place where...
"You should not have come here," the droid whirs in a deep voice, its eyes flashing brightly when it speaks.
"I was sent here to assist the officer beside me," Aurel declares firmly, examining the droid with concern. What about it seems familiar? He can't quite place it, but keeps the thought in mind as he continues to speak, deciding to try asking the droid the direct question, "why is this factory active?"
It certainly is not a commonplace model. It looks designed for combat; the massive piston-like arms and light armor plating give that much away. Not particularly fast, but sturdy.
"None of your concern," the droid thrums. He turns his multi-eyed head toward Officer Jung. "Why is the officer here?"
You hear the clipping of another set of metal feet quickly descending the stairs behind you. You spy another droid of similar design stepping down onto the walkway with you. This one looks spindly, and its arms sport multiple joints.