"Ezra! Ezra! Wake up! We're gonna miss the fruit delivery!" Cody called from the door of the tower.

Ezra sat up and rubbed his sleepy eyes. His whole body protested, it wanted to sleep. But Ezra knew that securing a crate from this delivery was vital for their survival. The boy groaned as he stood and rolled up the patchy blanket that he had slept on, placing it on the counter. He retrieved his backpack that contained all of the essentials, attached his energy sling onto his wrist, and joined Cody at the door.

The two boys exited the tower and shut the door. There was no need to lock it, people rarely ventured this far from the city and the tower was run-down and abandoned as far as they were concerned. They slid down the ladder and landed on the soft ground with a dull thud before breaking into a sprint towards Capital City.

It didn't take long to reach their destination. Markets were beginning to shed their protective cloths and the residents were emerging from their houses to start another day. Imperial patrols were also well underway, but they paid little attention to the boys. In their eyes, they saw one boy with ear length black hair, electric blue eyes and an orange jumpsuit, and another with shorter dark brown hair, brown eyes and dark green clothes. Because of this, Ezra and Cody were able to walk straight up to the delivery transport and begin their routine.

Ezra walked up to one of the men unloading crates of yogans and spoke to him.

"Excuse me sir, would you happen to know the way to the Imperial Academy?" Ezra began nervously.

"Ah, a young cadet." The man smiled. "My son was a cadet. What squad are you with?"

"You see sir," Ezra pulled out a pamphlet and gestured, dropping it on purpose behind the man. "Oh I'm so sorry." Ezra bent down and picked it up, subtly knocking a crate, still held up by its repulsorlift, several metres away from the vehicle. "Oh no, I'll get it."

Ezra started towards the crate but the man grabbed his shoulder and laughed. "Don't worry young man, I'll grab it later. Now, for your directions."

Whilst Ezra was being directed, Cody pried the lid off the crate gently and began depositing armfuls of yogans into his bag. Once he had filled it to the brim, he gestured to Ezra, replaced the lid, and fled to a stall across the marketplace. The other boy got the message and finished his conversation.

"…And then finally, you make a right here." The man gestured to the map.

"Thanks so much. Sorry to bother you, it's my first day. My parents just moved here and enrolled me."

"Good luck young lad. Do your Empire proud." The man encouraged and moved to retrieve the crate.

Ezra walked over to Cody as his friend filled him in on the amount of yogans they had stolen, or "liberated," they preferred to say. The boys left swiftly before any of the men could realise that they were missing half a crate of yogans, walking casually towards the exit of the city so they wouldn't attract any attention from Imperial patrols. If they were searched, the stormtroopers would immediately assume theft with two boys carrying a pack full of fruit. They reached the tower just before noon, climbing up the ladder and sitting on the edge of the platform, legs dangling over the side.

Cody slung his backpack off his shoulders and produced two yogans, handing one to Ezra and setting his pack down behind him.

"To freedom." Ezra raised his yogan in a mock toast.

"To freedom." Cody met Ezra's yogan with a gentle tap and the two friends devoured their meal hungrily.