A few hours after Ballista had been thrown back into her cell, the droid that she had put the plans of the Death Star into had landed on the Rebel base. When the Rebels had tried hacking into it, they discovered the hologram of the warrior princess asking for someone to deliver the droid to her father. The leader of the Rebels, Knightriss, sent a few of her troops to take the droid to Celtia, confident that the Senator would let them know what the little robot was holding.

However, the four troops headed for Celtia got themselves into a serious predicament. Not long after discovering that Celtia had been destroyed, the Millennium Seahawk got itself caught in the Death Star's tractor beam. When it was pulled into the space station's hangar bay, Imperial forces were ordered to search it.

Darth Dirkson watched with his arms crossed as six of his henchmen entered the large ship, wondering who was onboard. He was almost sure it was related to the Rebels, but he knew better than to jump to conclusions right away.

The villain scanned the ship carefully, unimpressed with its structure. What kind of captain would be proud flying that thing? It was a piece of junk!

A few minutes later, all the Imperial troopers marched down the metallic boarding ramp, shutting the ship's door behind them. As five of them positioned themselves in a straight line, one of them marched up to Darth Dirkson.

"There's no one on board, sir," he reported. "According to the log, the crew abandoned ship right after takeoff. It must be a decoy, sir. Several of the escape pods have been ejected."

"Did you find any droids?" the masked villain inquired.

The trooper shook his head. "No, sir. If there were any on board, they must also have abandoned the ship."

Darth Dirkson's eyes narrowed underneath his mask. "Send a scanning crew on board. I want every part of this ship checked."

"Yes, sir," the trooper replied, bowing respectfully.

Darth Dirkson looked up at the ship for a moment. "I sense something...a presence I haven't felt since..." The villain cut himself off, then turned around and quickly left the hangar.

Meanwhile, back on the ship...

"All clear!" chimed a young female voice.

The four hidden Rebels immediately emerged from the secret compartments underneath the ship's main corridor.

"Good thing we had these things installed," the red and gold viking muttered, flipping his hair.

"No kidding," the blue alchemist commented in the compartment behind him.

"Ugh, I really hate small spaces!" the barbarian next to Gildar cried.

Shaiden climbed out of the hidden compartment with Thorne close behind. After Skabb and Gildar were out of theirs, the blue alchemist groaned loudly.

"This is just great. First we learn that Celtia is completely destroyed, then we're pulled right into the Death Star. How can things get any worse?"

Gildar shrugged. "Well, they could cut off my hair and then kill us."

Thorne glared darkly at the viking, who suddenly realized that the alchemist wasn't asking for his opinion.

"Don't worry, guys," Shaiden replied. "I can take care of the tractor beam."

Everyone looked at the young Jedi Master.

"Are you sure, little girl?" Skabb asked.

The ninja bore her teeth at the barbarian, making him take a step back. However, Shaiden's face gradually softened as she took a deep, calm breath. "Yes. I'm sure."

Suddenly, the Rebels heard the sound of marching boots and clanging silver outside the ship.

"Guys, they're coming back!" Thorne announced.

"Alright, back in the compartments," Shaiden ordered. "I've got a plan..."


No sooner had the Rebels disappeared underneath the main corridor, the door to the ship re-opened. Shaiden listened carefully to the pattern of the footsteps. When they had pased over her and the alchemist next to her, she lightly tapped on the metal wall twice, indicating to Skabb and Gildar that two Imperial troopers had entered the ship.

The Rebels quietly emerged from their hiding place. Shaiden stepped past her companions and sneaked past the entrance of the cockpit corridor, then followed the trooper walking to the ship's main hold.

Swiftly and silently, the ninja ran behind her opponent. She threw a series of attacks in the same manner, taking him out. She smirked after he had fallen to the floor, then dashed back to her fellow Rebels. When she stopped besides the entrance to the cockpit access corridor, she gave Skabb a thumbs-up.

Skabb smiled evilly, then stealthily began making his way down that corridor. He carefully sneaked up behind the Imperial henchman, then yelled-

"HAVE LOTS OF FEAR, SKABB IS HERE!"

The knightly trooper let out a terrified scream and whirled around - only to have his forehead meet the blunt end of Skabb's Basher Masher. The barbarian laughed as his opponent fell to the ground.

"SKABB RULES!"

The Rebels quickly rejoined the barbarian. After Shaiden asked why Skabb couldn't have taken the guard out without yelling, the cocky viking handed him a blaster.

"Next time, just use this," he advised.

Skabb took the weapon into his strong hands and looked it over. He nodded at Gildar, then smacked the Imperial troop in the back of the head with the hard tip of the gun.

"Hey, what's going on up there?"

The Defenders turned their attention to the end of the corridor. They all could hear someone running up the boarding ramp. The blue alchemist pushed Gildar's co-pilot aside.

"Move out of the way, Skabby, this one's mine!" he hissed, gripping the handle of his Mulching Mace.

"Thorne, you should really use a blaster!" Gildar whispered loudly.

Thorne ignored him, then disappeared around the corner with a steely look in his eyes. Skabb and Gildar visibly winced when they heard the loud clang of Thorne's mace make brutal contact with the front of the trooper's fortunately helmeted head.

The armored man crumpled to the metal floor besides the alchemist's heavy boots. Thorne nodded with satisfaction, then turned to see his companions approaching him.

"Nice work, Thorne," Shaiden complimented.

Thorne nodded. As the ninja scanned the Imperial trooper over, she suddenly came up with an idea. After she gathered all the unconscious troopers together, she pulled the silver helmet off of one of them and tossed it Gildar. "Put on their armor and we'll get going."

The viking observed the silver helmet in his hands. "Wouldn't they be able to tell that we're not one of them?"

Skabb retrieved the helmet from his victim and quickly put it over his head. He awkwardly adjusted it a bit. "Not with these things on; I can barely see anything!"

Gildar looked down at his helmet hesitantly. If he put it on, he wouldn't be able to see his handsome reflection.

"Gildar, just put it on!" the ninja ordered, handing Thorne a pair of metallic shinguards.

The viking grumbled, then reluctantly pulled it over his dark hair. Thorne looked over at the ninja as she grabbed a gun from the motionless hands of an Imperial trooper.

"Oy, Shaiden, don't you need any armor?" the alchemist inquired, strapping on the second shinguard.

Shaiden handed the gun to her apprentice while shooting him a smirk. "I'll be fine. Remember that I can hide well in the shadows." She hopped back into one of the secret compartments. "I'll get the droid. It won't be safe if we leave it here."


"That was way too easy," Thorne commented ten minutes later, removing his helmet.

Shaiden shut the door to the command office they had managed to enter. "Good, 'cause that was just the beginning. Things just get harder from here."

Skabb yanked his helmet off with a roar. "I hate accessories!"

Gildar took his helmet off and flipped his hair. "Wow, it's really hot under there." He paused, then smiled arrogantly. "Probably because I'm always on fire."

Skabb made a face.

"Keep the armor on," Shaiden said. "You'll still need the disguise to get out of here."

"Unless they kill us, first," the ninja's apprentice muttered.

"Always a ray of sunshine," she replied sarcastically under her breath. Taking a quick look around, the ninja found the room's computer. She walked over to it, motioning for her apprentice to follow. "Thorne, help me find where the main controls for the tractor beam is."

The alchemist nodded, set his gun down, then joined his Jedi Master by the computer. After easily hacking through the security panel, he pulled up a map of the space station. He ran his eyes over the many neon green lines and shapes illuminating from the dark screen.

"Right here," Thorne said a minute later, pointing to a specific part of the map.

Shaiden studied the sceen for a moment, then confidently nodded. "Got it."

"Hey guys, check it out!"

Everyone turned towards the barbarian. Skabb had just found a hidden compartment in the white wall, and it was filled with all sorts of weapons. He picked up a large gun.

"Whoa, check this baby out!" he cried.

Ignoring Skabb's latest discovery, Shaiden said, "I don't think there's much else you three can do at this point. While I turn off the tractor beam, I want you to stay here and stay hidden."

Gildar frowned. "Who put you in charge?"

Shaiden frowned back. "Knightriss. So stay here and stay hidden."

There was an edge in Shaiden's tone that made Gildar decide not to argue any further.

"Can't I come with you?" the alchemist inquired.

The Jedi-ninja shook her head. "Not this time. I need you to look after the droid. And you aren't skilled enough to use your splatsaber yet."

Gildar and Skabb snickered, recalling how bad Thorne had done in his training on the way to Celtia. Shaiden's apprentice glared at them.

"Oh yeah, like you could have done any better!" he snarled in reply.

Gildar smirked, and Skabb laughed a bit more. Thorne's eyes hardened, but he didn't say anything else. A moment later, the barbarian moved his gaze to the Jedi.

"Shaiden, do you need a gun?" he asked.

The ninja wrapped her hand around the weapon strapped to her belt. "No, I prefer using my splatsaber."

Skabb shrugged and turned back to the stockpile. "If you're sure, little Jedi."

Shaiden's eyes narrowed. She felt a strong urge to "force-choke" the barbarian, but she quickly pushed the thought away. Turning back to Thorne, she noticed that he was glaring at the floor. His face was a little downcast with discouragement. Shaiden put her hand on his shoulder, causing him to look at her.

"Be patient, Thorne," she advised gently. "You're not ready now, but someday you'll be a Jedi Master. I know you've got what it takes."

Thorne breathed in deeply, then nodded. Shaiden removed her hand from his shoulder, then began to walk to the door. After opening it, she looked back at Thorne and held her hand up. "May the Force be with you."

With that, the Force-sensitive ninja disappeared behind the sliding door. Immediately afterwards, Gildar sat himself down on a chair and pulled out his little red mirror. He smiled at his reflection.

"Hello again, Gorgeous. It's been too long since we've last met."

Thorne rolled his eyes. "Oh, brother..."

Skabb nodded, disgusted, then went back to searching through the storage unit. Thorne took a quick glance around him, wondering what he could do to amuse himself until Shaiden returned. It wasn't long until he marched back to the large computer. He positioned himself on the chair in front of it, then proceeded to busy himself by looking at all the files and applications he could find.

A minute later, the alchemist jerked himself up from the chair. "Skabb, Gildar, come look at this!"

The viking didn't move his eyes away from his mirror. "What?"

"You guys need to check this out!"

Skabb dropped the tazor he was holding and joined Thorne by the computer. Gildar shot his reflection a smile, then reluctantly put his mirror away. Afterwards, he walked over to his fellow Rebels.

"What's so important?" he inquired, putting his hands on his hips.

Thorne glanced at him. "It's the princess! She's here!"

Skabb's eyes widened. Gildar, on the other hand, raised an eyebrow.

"What princess?"

Both Skabb and Thorne blinked, then turned around and stared at the viking. The alchemist's mouth was partly open even before he began to speak again.

"What do you mean "what princess"?"

The viking shrugged. "What princess are you talking about?"

Skabb frowned. "You know, the one from Celtia? The one whose planet just got destroyed?"

Gildar stared back at the two blankly.

"We were just delivering her father the plans to the Death Star," Thorne added, feeling a tinge of annoyance.

The viking paused. "Doesn't ring a bell."

"Didn't you see her on the hologram?" Skabb asked, also a little frustrated with the viking's ignorance.

Gildar shrugged. "I must have been too busy looking at my reflection."

Thorne gave the viking a "you have got to be kidding me" look. He groaned and shook his head, then located the Celtian droid. After he strategically hid it, he retrieved the weapon he had set down a few minutes ago.

"Come on," he ordered, marching over to the office's door. "Let's go get 'er."

"Thorne, wait a minute!" Gildar called. "Shaiden said to stay here and stay hidden, remember?"

"What, are you scared?" the alchemist snarled, turning around. "Look, Shaiden didn't know she was here. And if she did, she would agree that we need to rescue her."

"Why?"

"Because she's our last option to unlocking the droid, that's why! And if we wait until Shaiden gets back, it might be too late; she's scheduled to be terminated."

The viking's eyes seemed to glint with slight concern.

"I think Thorne's right," the barbarian said. "We've gotta go help her. How else are we gonna get that droid unlocked? If she was the one who sent it, then she must know how to unlock it."

Gildar flipped his hair and stared at the floor in thought. A moment later, he took a deep breath, then gave his Rebel friends a nod. "Alright. Fine."

Thorne nodded. "That's the spirit. Now let's get going."

As his two companions walked towards the door, the viking pulled out his mirror and stared at his reflection. "At least she'll be forever grateful," he commented with a smile.