I am the OP. Took me 3-4 hours worth of attempts but I eventually got it. Total RNG fest. I believe the strategy I ended up going with was to put 1 stack of armor shred on each droid and then I tried to get as many as possible on Malak. Slow play it so you can get more stacks on Malak. Just because a special/unique is ready to use doesn’t mean you should use it. I think I had 5-6 stacks on Malak when I finally defeated him. Always feed TM to Zaalbar. Mod Zaalbar for speed, Jolee HP, JKR/Mission/Bastilla for offense.