A huge missed opportunity, which I now think they should have done instead of the Bibo episode. I thought it would be fun if Kaz's squad from the premiere visited the Colossus and he has to hide his identity, but in the end, he tells them the truth.
This takes place after Station Theta Black and before the Doza Dilemma.
"Well, we knew it was going to be a long mission."
Mia Gabon sighed and leaned back against her co-pilot seat on the small New Republic Navy starship. "Yeah. I just didn't think it'd be so long, we'd run out of fuel in the Outer Rim of all places."
"Hey, come on, it's not so bad." Hugh said, keeping a positive attitude. "At least there's a refuelling station nearby."
They dropped out of hyperspace at the ocean planet Castilon. "Hm. Not bad for the edge of nowhere."
"Right?" Hugh agreed. "Ever heard of the Colossus?"
"The racing platform and refuelling station?" Mia asked in amazement. "Wow..."
"Yep. It's pretty shady, but- AAGH!" The ship lurched forward and the readouts started blinking on and off. "We've been hit!"
"Pirates!" Mia exclaimed. She ran to the gun, but it was shot off immediately. Mia fell back. "Really?!"
Hugh sent a transmission to the tower. "This is Lieutenant Hugh Sion of the New Republic Navy. We are under attack by pirates. We've been hit and we're losing fuel. Help!"
"Copy that, Lieutenant. This is Captain Doza. Scrambling the aces right now." Captain Doza said over the comm. "Try to get to Yeager's Repair shop on the other side of the platform. I'll call ahead."
"Copy that, Captain Doza. Thanks!" Hugh replied.
XX
In Yeager's Repairs, Kaz was at work on a combustion engine. "Okay, I almost got it...just need to connect these two wires..." He connected two wires, then accidentally electrocuted himself. "AAH!" Kaz fell back on his back and groaned slightly.
"Are you all right, Kaz?" Neeku asked.
Kaz sat up and rubbed the back of his head. "Well, I might have heart problems when I'm older, but, other than that, I'm fine."
Yeager walked into the main garage. "All right, team, listen up. We've got a customer coming in. Two officers from the New Republic Navy. Their ship was attacked by pirates, so they need repairs."
Kaz stiffened and his heart started hammering. 'Oh, no...'
Neeku and Tam hurried to prepare the landing pad. Kaz pulled Yeager aside. "Yeager, I was in the New Republic Navy. They might recognize me and blow my cover!"
"Did you know everyone in the Navy? Maybe they're new recruits." Yeager whispered back.
"What if they're not? I didn't exactly leave on good terms." Kaz explained.
"You didn't quit without telling anyone." Yeager stared at him in shock.
"Of course not. I sent a letter of resignation, then never looked back." Kaz replied.
"Oh. It has been a few months. Maybe they've forgiven you." Yeager shrugged. They looked towards the starship, which landed on the landing pad. Yeager clapped Kaz's shoulder. "Hey, think of this as a chance to redeem yourself in the Navys' eyes."
"Redeem myself? Yeah...that sounds good. I like that." Kaz muttered to himself. He took a deep breath and headed to the starship. His eyes widened in surprise when he saw his old squadmates, Mia and Hugh stumble off the ship.
"Are you two all right? Do you need medical attention?" Yeager asked.
Hugh shook his head. "No, we're good."
"All right. My mechanics will run a damage assessment. We'll let you know in a few minutes."
"Thanks." Hugh replied. He turned to see Kaz standing awkwardly to the side. "Kaz?!"
Mia whirled around and gasped. "Oh my Force."
"Hey, Hugh. Mia." Kaz greeted, a little sheepish. Hugh's expression changed from surprise to anger and he stormed towards Kaz.
Kaz raised his hands to calm him and backed away. "Hugh, wait, I can explain."
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't rip you apart." Hugh said through gritted teeth.
Mia rushed up to Hugh and grabbed his arm. "Hugh, wait, let's hear his explanation."
"What explanation?! That he left the Navy with no warning and without saying good-bye?" Hugh snapped and threw his arm out.
Kaz tried frantically to quiet him. "I know it looked bad, but I promise you there's a good explanation for this."
"Great. Let's hear it." Hugh folded his arms.
Kaz glanced nervously at Yeager and Tam finishing up the assessment and turned back to his friends. "I can't explain right now. I have to get back to work, but, I promise you: as soon as my shift is over, I will take you both out for drinks and I'll explain everything."
Hugh sighed in resignation. "Fine. It better be worth it."
"It will be." Kaz promised. "Oh, um...one more thing: my coworkers think I'm a poor kid from Coruscant- I will explain that, too, but will you please play along?"
Hugh scoffed and shook his head. Tam and Neeku walked up to them. "Hello, New Republic Navy. Your ship is pretty severely damaged. It'll take a couple days to repair."
"Thanks, uh..."
"Yes?" Neeku asked obliviously.
Tam scoffed softly. "Neeku. His name is Neeku. I'm Tam."
"Oh, thanks, Neeku and Tam." Hugh replied.
"You're welcome!"
"I'm Hugh Sion. This is Mia Gabon." Hugh introduced.
"Nice to meet you, Hugh Sion and Mia Gabon." Neeku replied.
Yeager walked over to them holding a datapad and a handful of credits. "All right, we have to buy some parts to replace your engines and your stabilizers. It'll be a couple days before we can send you on your way."
"Okay, that's fine." Mia nodded.
"That being said, Kaz," Yeager turned to Kaz and handed him the datapad. "shopping list..." He gave him the credits. "credits."
"Right away." Kaz replied. He glanced one more time at his friends, then headed off.
Hugh cleared his throat. "I need to report in. Our transmitter is broken, so can we use yours?"
"Of course. Right this way." Yeager lead Hugh towards their computers.
Mia smiled awkwardly at Tam and Neeku, who smiled back.
XXX
Kaz walked briskly to Acquisitions. BB-8 rolled besides him. He let out some cautious beeps. "I know, Beebee-Ate. I think I've convinced them to keep my cover for now." Beebee let out more beeps. "Well...I know I'm not supposed to tell them, but...I don't want to lie to them. I'm sure once I explain, they'll understand." Beebee let out some skeptical beeps. "They're my friends, Beebee-Ate. I trust them with my life." More beeps. "Of course I trust Tam and Neeku, but...Neeku...you know he'd tell the entire station within an hour, and Tam...well, the way she feels about the First Order, I don't think I can trust her with that just yet." Beebee beeped in agreement. They reached Acquisitions. Flix and Orka were nowhere to be seen. "Flix? Orka?"
They heard a thump and a crash, and Flix muttering frantically. Flix and Orka stumbled into the store looking a bit frazzled. Orka's shirt was buttoned unevenly.
"Hey, Kaz." Orka greeted.
"Hi. Did we come at a bad time?" Kaz asked, a bit weirded out.
"No, you're fine." Flix replied. "What can we do for you?"
Kaz handed them the datapad. "I need these parts for a customer at the shop."
Flix studied the datapad. "Well, we don't get very many navy starships around here."
"Be back in a flash." Orka replied.
XXX
Back at the repair shop, Mia, Tam, and Neeku were still standing around awkwardly.
"There's not much we can do without the parts, so it'll be a few minutes before we can start working on it." Tam said.
"Unless Kaz slacks off again." Neeku quipped.
"Yeah, that's true." Tam nodded. She turned to Mia. "So, Mia, is it?" Mia nodded. "How do you know Kaz? You and your friend seem to recognize him and he seemed to recognize you two."
"Oh, um...Hugh and I were stationed at Coruscant a couple years ago." Mia lied. "Something went wrong with our accommodations one night, and Kaz was nice enough to let us stay the night at his place."
"Oh, that is very nice and generous of Kaz." Neeku replied.
"So, trillions of sentients and apartments on Coruscant, and you choose to stay at some poor kid's place? Really?" Tam asked, skeptical.
"Well, it wasn't 500 Republica, but it was shelter for the night." Mia shrugged. Hugh walked up to them. "Oh, hey, I was just explaining to Neeku and Tam here how we know Kaz."
"Oh." Hugh nodded. "Um...my memory's a little fuzzy. Could you remind me how we met Kaz?"
"Yeah. We went on a mission to Coruscant, something went wrong with our accommodations, and Kaz was kind enough to let us stay with him for the night." Mia said.
"Right! Now I remember. Good times." Hugh chuckled and nodded.
"So, his parents didn't mind you two staying at their house overnight?" Tam asked with a raised eyebrow.
"No, they were totally fine with it." Hugh replied. He turned to Mia. "So, I checked in with Command. They'll pay for the repairs to the ship."
"Okay, sounds good." Mia replied.
Just then, Kaz arrived with the parts. "Hey, guys. Flix and Orka had everything we need."
"Great! Let's get to work." Neeku smiled and headed for the ship. Tam and Kaz followed. "So, Kaz, your friends told me and Tam how they met you. I think it was very kind and generous of you to let them stay the night at your place."
Kaz sighed inwardly with relief and smiled. "Oh, yeah. Thanks."
Yeager walked up to them. "Lieutenants, I just spoke with Captain Doza. He invited you two to stay in his guest quarters in Doza Tower. His daughter Torra will be here shortly to escort you there."
"Thanks." Hugh replied. Yeager walked off and Kaz walked back to them.
"Thank you for keeping my cover." Kaz said gratefully.
"You're welcome. Just remember- you promised to explain." Hugh said.
"And I will." Kaz replied. He cleared his throat, glanced behind him, and turned back. "Also...one more thing: Torra and her dad know that I used to be in the Navy. Long story. I told Torra that I quit the Navy to become a racer."
"Geez, Kaz, how many lies have you told?!" Hugh exclaimed.
"Just those two: poor kid from Coruscant and quit the Navy to become a racer." Kaz insisted.
"Okay, if you say so." Hugh replied.
"My shift ends in three hours. Meet me at Aunt Z's Tavern. You'll know when you see it." Kaz said, then walked back to the ship.
"Really looking forward to hearing this explanation of his." Hugh said, folding his arms.
"Yeah, me too." Mia replied. "There is something different about Kaz, though. Isn't there?"
"Yeah...sort of." Hugh mused.
Torra Doza walked into the shop and smiled when she saw the two naval officers. "Hello, you two. You must be the navy officers who crashed here."
"Yeah. Hi. I'm Mia Gabon and this is Hugh Sion." Mia replied.
"Nice to meet you both. I'm Torra Doza, one of the Aces. I'm here to escort you to your guest quarters." Torra said.
"Oh, thanks." Mia replied. She and Hugh followed Torra out of the shop and towards the tower.
"So...you two are in the navy. Did you know Kaz?" Torra asked as they stepped into a turbolift.
"Yeah, he was part of our squadron, actually." Mia replied, smiling.
"Really?" Torra raised her eyebrows.
"Yeah, but then he quit the navy to become a racer." Hugh replied, shrugging.
"Oh." Torra replied. She felt a little guilty now for being suspicious of Kaz.