Anakin Skywalker marched through the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, thousands of Clone Troopers behind him. Together they slaughtered the Jedi that remained in the Temple. Order 66 had been enacted. Blue arcs of plasma shot from the rifles, Anakin's blue saber sliced through the children that were in the Temple.
One brown haired boy was able to flee the scene. He had hidden himself in the Force. His biggest advantage and most secret trait. He fled through the catacombs of the Temple and into the depths of Coruscant, seeing more Jedi being attacked by Clones on the street he tossed his lightsaber into the abyss below.
His blue eyes shown slightly as he hid his face beneath his hood. He walked slowly through crowds, most of them poor. He made his way slowly up to a level he would stand out less with his new robes and cloak, gifted to him by the apprentice of Anakin before she left the Order. They had been good friends for many years, his own Master, Char Kez, a Tortuga, had recently recommended him for his Knight Trails, that's the only reason he was without his Master on Coruscant.
He made it to one of the few places he had made friends outside the Order. Ord Shipyard. A small reseller of used starships. He and Ashoka found this place years ago on one of their paired outings patrolling for peace or so their Masters would say. He entered the rundown place.
"Harbol? Harbol are you here?"
"Beser? What are you doing all the way out here?"
"Harbol, something is wrong. Anakin, he came into the Temple with Clones and started killing everyone. Temple Guards, Guardian Jedi, even Younglings. I need to get away from here. I need to find the rest of the Order."
The four armed being thought for some time before giving him an answer. "There is something I can do, but it will take a couple weeks to get you out of here."
Beser looked at his friend. "If I can stay here maybe I can evade the Troopers. What can we do?"
Harbol led him to a hangar in the back of the store. "This is an old freighter, really old, like thousands of years I think, no specs for it on the market even. Says here it was once known as the Ebon Hawk. Somehow, it made its way here yesterday. Found her floating in the nearby asteroid belt. Tractored her here, paid for the update of ownership. Now, if you work on her, I'll pay for the parts, the updates she needs and even some extra shields and armor plates, I'll give her to you, and two weeks minimum pay, help you get where you are going. Sound fair?"
Beser looked around. The ship was definitely old. Older than Yoda probably. She was in horrid shape, something hit her hard. How she got to be in this part of anywhere was miraculous. He saw some extra work clothes in the corner and walked over to them. Nodding to his old friend he went to the refresher and got changed. He grabbed the tool box and went into the ship, Harbol following behind him.
"I haven't been inside yet, busy doing other things but…" with that both stopped short of the top of the ramp as a T3-M4 Astromech Droid approached them. It buzzed and tweeted at them.
"I bet you are the one who brought the ship out here? Where did you come from? And how are you still functioning?"
"Looks like I was wrong about the age of this thing, if that is the Droid that came with her. She's got to be an easy 3000 years old."
The droid allowed them onto the ship before shutting down in a corner. They walked through the ship, it was scrapped together by the looks of it. And the cargo bay was magnetically sealed shut as was the small attached hangar and the two side ports. For anything to unlock the whole security system would have to be replaced. The cockpit looked stripped down.
"Its going to take several days of work, maybe weeks, most likely weeks, to fix this bucket."
"But with the right upgrades we can have her more than space worthy again. Best get started. I'll gather the right stuff. It will take me a couple of days. Start tearing her apart."
Within three days the ship was stripped down to her bones. All of her old plating was thrown into a corner, ready to take to a scrap heap for credits. The navi-computer was ripped out and all of its data transferred to the droid who had arrived with the ship, turns out he was upgraded to speak Galactic Basic. He told Beser about his time floating in the Unknown Regions, mostly just strange planets, and species.
Nothing seemed special about this ship other than the fact that he couldn't get into the sealed compartments even with everything torn off the ship, even the cutters didn't go through the metals. It was shortly after he ate lunch that Harbol came back for the first time. Three cargo ships full of supplies for the new ship.
"Beser, I have the newest in heavy armor plating, a hyperdrive that would put even the fastest smuggler vessel to shame and a shield generator off a Venator-Class Star Destroyer. Enough to take several hundred shots if needed. I also come with news. I know you have been stuck in here, so I know you don't know. The Republic has fallen. Overnight, it became the Galactic Empire. That being said, there is a massive man hunt for all 'Fugitive Jedi, betrayers of Emperor Palpatine.' Things are falling apart. I am not sure how you will get out of here."
"By having the fastest, most heavily fortified and armed ship, courtesy of the best used vessel dealer in the Galactic Empire."
"You are taking this lightly."
"That is all I have. I can't be any worse than it is. Help me put this thing back together?"
Another week of upgrading the ship, adding armaments, shields, armor, and more to the overall versatility of the ship. In short, it was the best armed ship this side of a Star Destroyer, and shielded to match. The power output of the ship was massive and could be read by even the smallest of scanners if it wasn't for the advanced armor used to mask its presence to a small fighter.
"Come with me Harbol. I'll need the support. As much as we have upgraded the ship and T3, I still can't do this alone."
Harbol had thought about it for several days as they put the ship together, the Empire's new restrictions would hinder his work anyway, so why not follow his young friend. He nodded and boarded the vessel with Beser. "Best you get ready for a fight. I'll fly for now, you shoot. Since this beast is yours, what shall we call her?"
"I like the Ebon Hawk though it doesn't quite fit the new color scheme." They had changed from a grey and red-brown to a black and blood red. "What about…. Safe Harbor?"
"Safe for who?"
"Only the people on our side." A goofy smile came to the teen's face. "Let's go."
The ship slowly lifted on its repulsors and moved from the small bay and shot into the sky.
"What are those?"
"I told you, overnight. Those are Imperial-class Star Destroyers. Armed to the teeth, and heavy with shields. Like I said, you shoot. I heard the War Stories, Jedi make great pilots. And even better gunners." Beser nodded and went to the main turret bay. "Incoming fighters."
"TIE 1175 to the Safe Harbor, state your business and cargo."
"This is the Safe Harbor we are an empty freighter. We arrived here on Coruscant nearly a month ago, we were held up by customs as to our previous cargo. We are heading back to our home system in the Outer Rim, the Salvage Systems of Ord."
"We do not have record of any ship of that name entering Coruscant Space, nor the company. Standby. Our scans are inconclusive as to your cargo. Prepare to be boarded."
"Yes sir."
With that the ship took off at incredible speeds as Beser shot down the strange fighter and took shots at the Star Destroyer looming in front of them. It took only ten shots for one to penetrate the shields and smash a hole the front of the massive ship. By that time the ship was past the blockade and in hyperspace for seconds before dropping back out nearby.
"Where are we really heading?" Harbol asked as Beser made his way back to the cockpit.
"Dantooine."
T3 tweeted in the corner and plotted the course. With that the ship jumped back into hyperspace.