The young girl looked up at her parents, grinning ear to ear. Then she glanced back at her new astromech droid, F8-G9. She wanted to thank them, but she could not think of words big enough to show her gratitude. Her parents smiled knowingly.

" You're welcome. It IS your birthday, and we wanted to get you something special." Her mother chuckled, noticing how fidgety her daughter was. " Calm down, the droid isn't going anywhere, Tallie."

Tallie giggled. F8 was wheeling around the room, whirring cheerfully. It ocasionally bumped into a wall, or a table. Tallie shook her head, thinking she would fix that later.

She was about to ask her parents where they had found the droid when a crash sounded from the entrance room. The adults' faces changed immediately from cheerful to fearful. They quickly pushed the young girl under a table, ignoring her questions. F8 followed her faithfully.

Tallie's parents made to run out the door, but they were too late. Standing in the arch of the doorway was easily the most terrifying droid Tallie had ever seen. It was taller than her father. Its pigmentation was a rusty red color; its eye bulbs emitted a red glow. There was a blaster rifle in it's mechanical hand.

" Cruel Consolation: Do not worry. Your deaths will be quick and very painful. " Without an explanation, the droid raised its blaster.

Tallie hid her eyes and stifled her cry as her parents fell to the floor, lifeless. F8 beeped softly.

The droid scanned the room. Then, to Tallie's surprise, it left, quickly as it had come.

Tallie jerked awake. Looking around, she realized she was still on the ship to Tatooine. She settled back in her seat and sighed. It was just a dream. Every night she dreamed about her parents and that awful droid, and she despised it. What she hated more than the dreams was how little she knew about the event. What had her parents done to deserve being murdered? What happened to the droid? Who did it work for?

Her thoughts were interrupted by a familiar whirring. F8 came wheeling to her side. She smiled at her droid. She had never been anywhere without it since the day she got it ten years ago. Keeping it in perfect maintenance had made her quite a good mechanic.

" Have you found anything out? " She asked, stretching out in her chair.

F8 whirred and whistled, pleased with what it had found out.

" Oh, so there is a droid shop in Anchorhead? We wont have to worry about credits then."

After her parents murders, she and F8 have lived with her best friend's family for two years. Tallie decided she couldnt stay, however, and she had smuggled herself and her droid onto a ship going to anywhere. They had traveled the galaxy ever since, never staying on a planet for more than a year. And they never went back to their homeworld.

Tallie settled back in her chair once more, soon falling in to an uneasy sleep, filled with dreams of the rusty red droid