[summary] Android!AU – "There is nothing to report, Captain," Regulus said, arms folded behind his back and staring straight ahead. "Everything remains unchanged."

A/N – The quote is a line from the song 'Nothing With You' by The Descendents.

I'd also like to thank Dina for beta'ing.

"There is nothing to report, Captain," Regulus said, arms folded behind his back and staring straight ahead. "Everything remains unchanged."

The Captain stayed silent, which Regulus took to mean a dismissal. He turned quickly and silently left the room.

.oOo.

"Regulus?" James asked, staring at the large monitor in front of him. "How many would you say there are?"

"Approximately forty-three, Captain," Regulus said.

"Approximately," James scoffed under his breath.

"We are severely outnumbered," Regulus continued, ignoring his captain. "It is unlikely we will survive."

"Don't sugarcoat it, Regulus." James smirked. Regulus blinked slowly.

"We have a two percent chance of survival," he said.

"I think that was him sugarcoating it, Captain," First Officer Sirius Black said.

"I do not lie," Regulus told Sirius, before turning back to James. "I would recommend a full retreat, Captain."

James nodded in agreement, turning towards the Navigation Officers, but they were already shaking their heads.

"We don't have enough fuel, Captain," Remus said. "We wouldn't make it far, and we'd be worse off than we are now."

"Well," James said. "I guess that means we're going in."

"Going in, Captain?" Regulus asked.

"Taking as many of them down with us as we can," he clarified. He flicked on the switch for the ship-wide speaker. "Can everyone make their way to their designated escape pods?"

"Captain, they'll never make it," Remus said. "Why give them false hope?"

"Because false hope is better than none at a time like this."

"Do we get false hope?" Sirius asked. "'Cause I'd love to take Remus out for a candlelit dinner on our next night off, and–"

"Fire is prohibited aboard the ship," Regulus said.

The first round of phaser beams ricocheted off the shields.

"Shields are down," Peter said, as the alarms switched from yellow to red alert. "We can't take another hit like that."

"Well, we'll certainly be getting one," James said, stepping closer to the screen.

"So… what's the plan, Captain?" Remus asked, looking over towards James.

"Plan?" James asked. "There is no plan."

"No plan?" Peter asked, Regulus watched as he chewed the skin on the side of his thumb, a nervous habit he'd no doubt retained from childhood.

"Just fly straight ahead," James said.

"Well, you are pretty reckless," Remus muttered, shaking his head, but followed his captain's instructions.

"Captain, I must advise you–"

"Regulus, with all due respect, shut up," James said. Regulus fell silent instantly. "I'm sorry," James said, sighing. "It's just– we're all going to die here, that's guaranteed, but if we can choose how we die… if that death can mean something? Then why not go for it?"

The ship jerked forward, far from its usual grace, and the crew braced themselves for what was to come.

.oOo.

He walked down the empty corridor, his footsteps echoing loudly on the metal grating. The wiring on the left side of his body was almost entirely exposed and sparked every time he moved. He had patched it as best he could, but he was not a maintenance droid.

Regulus plugged himself into his power-dock, knowing he would take a full day to charge, and just the walk to the captain's quarters was enough to deplete his batteries. He closed his eyes, chin dropping, and powered down.

.oOo.

Lately I've been wishing I was brain dead

No responsibilities in my head today

.oOo.

His mind switched back on, though he could feel that his battery was only half-charged. He lifted his head, movements jerky, and opened his eyes. There was a woman standing before him, her navy uniform unfamiliar.

"Woah," she said, hands raised.

"Wasn't this ship supposed to be empty?" a man asked, his uniform a bright orange that clashed with his hair.

Regulus turned from one to the other, unsure who he should be addressing. Another man stepped forward, thick scarring covering half his face.

"Scrap metal," he snapped. "Leave it, it's useless. Probably malfunctioning."

"Sir," the woman said. "I don't think–"

"I will take you to the captain," Regulus said, slowly standing. The words felt a little strange — it had been a long time since he'd spoken to anyone beside the captain — and his jaw didn't seem to be moving quite right.

The first man seemed absolutely fascinated with him, but Regulus focussed on the second.

"Follow me," he said, and turned. He traced the familiar path to the bridge; he could feel his joints grinding together with every step, and only now that there were people present did he notice the sound.

.oOo.

The door to the bridge had broken in the initial crash, and now it remained stuck partially opened and with jagged edges. Regulus stepped through with practiced ease, but the newcomers had slightly more difficulty.

"No way!" the woman exclaimed, stepping through behind the scarred man. "It's been centuries! How do they still look like they just died?"

"They are not dead," Regulus said, turning to face her slowly. "I have been monitoring the ship's status. Everything remains unchanged."

"He's not wrong," the woman said. She was crouched next to the captain, and Regulus felt the need to get her to back away, but she appeared to be attempting to help. "They're probably gonna need a lot of medical attention."

"Call the ship," the scarred man said, ignoring Regulus in favour of looking over the control panel.

.oOo.

"I've never seen anything like you before," the man said. Regulus looked at him blankly. "I could fix you right up, y'know. 'Droids are my specialty."

"I am an android," Regulus said.

"Yeah, but 'droid–"

"My name is Regulus," he said. "S–serial numb–number– Serial number– S–s–s–"

"I'm Charlie," the man said softly. Or perhaps the fault with with Regulus' receptors? "Let's get you charged."

.oOo.

Regulus' eyes flicked open, his vision quickly correcting itself. It had been a long time since he had been in optimum condition, and it was a little disconcerting how fluid his movements were.

"There we go," Charlie said, grinning at Regulus. "It took some time, but you're good as new. Better, even." He looked a little guilty, but Regulus detected a hint of pride. "I hope you don't mind, but I installed some updates to your system."

"The 'droid's up!" the woman from before said as she entered the room.

"He prefers android," Charlie said.

"My name is Regulus."

"Tonks." The woman grinned and held out her hand. "A pleasure to meet you, Regulus."

"Is there a reason you're down here?" Charlie asked. "You know I don't like you messing with my workshop." Tonks glared, but nodded.

"Yeah, Poppy said his–" She turned to Regulus. "Poppy said you're crew's doing better. That you can go see them, if you like."

.oOo.

Regulus had been keeping a vigil on his captain for three days. James' movements had increased slightly over that time, and he now looked closer to sleep than death's door.

Naturally, James awoke on the fourth day, when Regulus was in his newly remodelled power-dock.

.oOo.

"Captain!" Regulus said upon entering the ship's infirmary.

"Is that a smile I see?" James croaked, grinning. Regulus stood up straight, hands folded behind his back and staring straight ahead.

"I have a full status update."