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Surviving in the Outer Rim Territories was a hard enough life during peacetime let alone being ravaged by the Clone Wars. The Clone Wars had raged across the Galaxy for the worst part of three years, bringing death and destruction in its wake. Many of the Outer Rim Territories had joined with the Separatists in favour of the Republic. This was due to the gloriously rich Republic showing no interest in the poor Outer Rim worlds, continually allowing them to be ruled by decadence and sin. The Outer Rim was a constant danger, filled with crime lords, pirates and raiders. Many of the planets where under the control of crime syndicates such as the Black Sun or the Hutts, but while the organisations flourished and prospered the planets and the peoples did not. Slavers, thieves and smugglers spread across the Outer parts of the galaxy like wildfire making it impossible to earn a decent living as an honest merchant.

The Clone Wars hit hard and fast across the Galaxy, as if the idea of war had been on the tongues of the Senate for years. With battles between the Separatist battle droids and Republic clones tearing planets, people and families apart. Three years later and billions dead the Clone Wars came to an abrupt end. The battle droids of the Separatist forces were deactivated; the Republic and its clone troopers had won and from its ashes arose the first Galactic Empire. A Galactic Empire of peace and prosperity with former-Chancellor-now-Emperor, Sheev Palpatine, at its helm. With the end of the war and the blockades being lifted, it finally looked like an honest merchant could make a decent living.

Erin Vallus wasn't an honest merchant, not like her father. The Clone Wars had made villains from the best of people; it became the only way to survive the Outer Rim Territories, every man woman and child for themselves. Erin was a smuggler, and the Clone Wars had taught her to be a damn good one. She would smuggle any number of things for the right price, as long as it didn't aid the war effort. She wanted nothing to do with the Clone Wars as far as she could help it. The raising of Off-World blockades had ruined her father's business at the start of the war, and finished it off altogether when the war broke out in the Outer Territories. She had been forced to become a smuggler in order to survive; otherwise she might have become a slave or worse. Twi'lek girls were a delicacy for slavers and crime lords. During the first year of the war both Separatist and Republic forces had boarded her ship on numerous occasions, each handing out their own punishments, allowing her to become an escape artist of sorts. By the third year she had made a name for herself among the Black Sun and Hutt organisations, a name for her and her ship, the Deadhand.

There was a shockwave of fear and delight that hit the Galaxy when the news broke that the war was over and the Galactic Empire was born. Some systems held parties in the streets while others hid themselves away as if expecting an oncoming storm. For Erin, the end of the war meant the end of the blockades, no more smuggling until the Empire's hand reached the Outer Rim. She could become the honest merchant that her father had wanted her to be. She thought of her father for the first time in a long time, while she sat in the cantina watching the HoloNet of the news of the end of the Clone Wars. Her mind had wandered to old scars by the time the newscaster had announced the formation of the Empire and what it could mean for the people of the Republic. Old wounds had a penchant for occasionally opening and replaying in her head. A familiar sound brought her back to reality, the electronic voice that would so often say 'Miss Vallus'. He, she called him a he, would repeat her name until she looked at him.

'Miss Vallus… Miss Vallus… Miss-' She turned to face the droid sat across the HoloNet feed and table to her. 'What does this mean for us? Are we no longer smugglers?' He asked, she could sense a tone of worry in his fuzzy voice. The droid, much taller than her, was sat hunched over watching the HoloNet feed of the Galactic Empire. Tee, and abbreviation of his droid designation number, was a T-Series tactical droid that she found and had reprogrammed. Erin had found the Separatist droid in a scrap pile of debris from a battle on Ryloth during a smuggling mission. She had found him at the perfect time too, as her previous droid had taken a turn for the worst after a clone trooper blaster shot burned through its head, although she had so far failed to mention this to Tee. Tee had been taken to a good friend of Erin, a droid mechanic who had once worked for the Baktoid droid company, the company that had supplied the Separatists with their droid army. The mechanic, a Besalisk Separatist deserter who went by the codename Fingers, rebuilt and reprogrammed Tee out of parts of other droids meaning that he didn't look exactly like a T-Series which was good for Erin's smuggling business. There would have been nothing worse that a Separatist blockade boarding party finding a reprogrammed Separatist droid on board her ship. The same could be said of a Republic boarding party too, as the droids were now illegal.

'Tee, it's not been five minutes since the announcement, how in the hell should I know?' She responded. The droid didn't so much as move. 'Besides, you hate smuggling anyway.'

'I do not hate anything Miss Vallus. I'm not programmed to hate. I simply advise you on the probabilities and likelihood of capture.' The droid rebutted with a slight touch of sarcasm. He sat upright, the long grey cloak that covered him from the prying eyes of Separatist and Republic spies fell over his mechanical shoulder joint. 'Besides, I was under the impression that we only smuggled due to the blockades being in place. With them gone it's probable that this Galactic Empire will put a new system in place after it has swallowed up the Outer Rim.'

'Tee, can we not talk about this here. As much as I like this place, I wouldn't trust it anymore than a starving Wampa.' She glanced around the bar briefly, on the look out for any number of eyes flashing her way. She had always been a fan of Cloud City, a vast city that floated in the skies above the planet Bespin. Breathable air, dense streets, busy cantinas; a perfect place to be lost. Cloud City had harboured her many times without knowing, as it was a world that no affiliation with the Separatists or the Republic. With an influx of refugees and spies, it's not to say the Clone Wars hadn't affected it, but Bespin had remained neutral.

'Noted Miss Vallus. Do we know anything about this contact of yours?' Tee poked. He always become nervous when they were contacted anonymously for a smuggling run, after all the droids primary function was as a tactician. He couldn't help but run the numbers to work out the probability of this action or that. She lifted her feet from the table and brought them down to the floor, reaching across to switch off the HoloNet. She leaned in close to the droid and stared him dead in his scarred face.

'Not. A. Thing.' She over-emphasised every word, as she knew it would mess with the droid. Tee hunched back over and she could almost see the mechanical whirring of him assessing the situation. She sat back against the seat of the booth and chuckled to herself. 'How's that for you?'

Tee took a few moments of silence while he assessed the best answer for her. Due to his reprogramming he had developed a few droid character flaws, the main one being that he almost had no filter as to what he would say. The droid essentially had a mind of his own, but he had begun to get wise to what to say and what not to say to the young Twi'lek.

'Very clever Miss.' He deadpanned. Erin placed her feet back on the table. Today was the perfect day for smuggling. In the wake of the end of the Clone Wars there would be celebrations everywhere and officials would be busy with the rise of the Empire and what it meant for their systems. This job would probably be the easiest they've ever had. She looked around the bar at the people of Bespin rejoicing. For them the end of the war meant the end of the refugee problem Cloud City had endured. In that slight moment, the thought of all the refugees who had lost friends and family to the Clone Wars flashed through her mind. Tee noticed the brief sadness on his masters face, like he had many times before, but he had gotten wise to asking about it.

Through the cheer and commotion in the bar a cloaked figure appeared at their booth. The figure had a hooded robe over the body and obscuring half of the face. Erin could just make out a rugged but youthful jaw of the man under the cloak. Tee stood to his feet in preparation of imminent danger, the droid towered over the cloaked figure menacingly.

'Are you Vallus?' The figure asked. His voice was nervous and through it Erin could tell he was no older than her. She gauged him for a moment before signalling with her hand for Tee to sit down. The droid did as was motioned but kept a close watch on the figure; Erin could sense he had his cold metallic grip on the handle of his blaster.

'What do you need, kid?' She was definitely no older than he was, but she needed to lay the ground rules, she was the expert and he needed her services. He reached a hand into his cloak; Tee leapt up from his seat again, and the boy removed a credit chip. Tee slowly sat back down.

'Please, no sudden movements.' He asked the mysterious figure. 'We wouldn't want an accident on such a special day.' The last part slipped through his almost none existent filter. Erin shot him a look to quiet him. The boy was holding out the credit chip so she reached across and took it.

'What do you have and where does it need to go?' She asked him while gesturing for the figure to take a seat in the booth next to Tee. The robot moved up slightly as the boy nervously clambered in.

'I am the cargo. I need the fastest and best smuggler and I've been pointed in your direction.' This was an unusual request for Erin, she hadn't been asked to smuggle people before. Instantly she had a whole mess of questions. Who was this boy? What trouble was he in? How much trouble would he make for her? How big was his wallet? Was it a joke or… a set up?

'You want me to smuggle you?' She asked cautiously.

'Miss Vallus, if I may-'

'No you may not.' She cut the droid off short before he proceeded to tell her his probability outcomes. 'And why would I be smuggling you? Where to?'

'I can pay more if no questions are asked.' The boy rehearsed. 'How much?' Erin thought for a moment. She could make a real killing from this boy, smuggle him off planet on the easiest day of the year and drop him wherever he needs to be.

'Let's see, you are paying for my services, which are the best by the way, and an unusual cargo… call it 15,000 credits.' Erin summed up. If the boy could pay she would take the job, Tee would have to suck it up.

'No questions asked and I'll give you 12,000 now and 8,000 when the job is done.' The boy sounded like he was gaining more confidence. 'You'll find 12,000 on that chip I passed your way.'

Erin fondled with the chip in her gloved hand. She had 12,000 credits in her hand and another 8,000 waiting for her at the boy's destination. She looked at Tee, he was already looking at her and she could see that the droid knew she was going to take the job.

'You've got a deal. Meet me at docking bay 12. We'll be waiting at the Deadhand.'

'The Deadhand? Is that your ship?' The boy asked.

'I thought we said no questions.' She answered coolly without looking up from the credit chip. The boy paused for a moment before getting up from the table, she looked up at him and saw a glimpse of his eyes, and he had a similar gaze to her – cold and broken. He bowed and left the cantina in a hurry, pushing past the drunken celebrations, and her eyes followed him to the door.

'Is it customary to bow?' Tee asked. His eyes had also followed the boy out. He turned to look at his master and noticed a glimmer of the sadness ripple across her face. 'We had best get the ship ready. Shall I meet you there, Erin?'

She looked over to him and the sadness shattered. Flipping him the credit chip she jumped up out of her seat.

'Get the ship ready, Tee. I'm getting a drink. After all, the war is over, and we are wealthy.' She winked at him and almost bounced to the bar. Tee watched her skip to the bar with fake glee and flirt with the bartender, with all that money and she still tries to get a free drink. The droid got to his feet and secured his blaster beneath the cloak, if this mysterious passenger caused them any trouble or brought Erin Vallus to any harm he would not hesitate to kill the boy. Cloak flowing behind him revealing his skeletal frame, he headed for the cantina door, the mechanical whirring of his probability factor hitting overdrive.