The Moldy Crow sat upon the rocky surface of the planet Anoat, the bulky avian-shaped freighter's brown hull blending in with the dirt and stone around it. Inside of the small craft, the door to the decontamination shower opened, the smell of raw sewage seeping out into the cabin.

"I don't know how, but it got worse..." Jan Ors crinkled her nose in disgust as Kyle Katarn stepped out. He was clad in civilian gear, dark pants and a tan shirt. In his hands were the clothing that he had been wearing just minutes before. "If you want me to keep flying this ship, you're going to need to replace that thing."

"Not my fault that someone built their base in the middle of a sewer." His partner was standing next to her cot, a large blaster pistol held tightly in her hand and pointing at the occupant of his own. Of course she'd have him sit there instead of her own bunk, he thought.

Imperial Moff Rebus sat back against the bulkhead of the ship, his cocky smile showing teeth the same color of his sweat-stained white undershirt. "My work requires a lot of security."

Kyle gritted his teeth at their prisoner's words. Security in Rebus' case meant a labyrinthine sewer complex filled with cataracts of waste that he had to wade through, guarded by enough dianogas that left him shooting at every bubble in the fetid liquid. It had taken him nearly a hellish hour, but he had finally made it. He could still taste the foul liquid and smell its lingering odor despite the extensive decontamination shower that he had just taken. "It wasn't secure enough."

"No matter." Rebus looked smug despite his position. "I won't be telling you anything."

"We'll leave that to Cracken," Jan said. "Last I heard that some of his crew wasn't happy with your weapons being used to destroy an entire Rebel base."

"I do good work." The Moff's boast sent a wave of anger through Kyle's partner that he could almost feel despite her still calm exterior. They had both seen the ruins of Talay base just days before, carbon scored durasteel buildings still smoldering against the purple night sky, their former occupants laying where the powerful blaster fire had felled them.

"Not anymore," he said. "So, where are we keeping this guy?"

"We can't do the cargo bay, especially with your collection back there."

"The last thing we need is him getting hold of a blaster," Kyle agreed. "Trip back to the Hope will take over a day, so that takes the refresher out."

"That just leaves..." Jan trailed off and both of their eyes went towards the only remaining room in the ship and then back to their prisoner. Rebus' mouth dropped open in shock as devious grins appeared on their faces.

"N-no, you can't mean..."

"Get up!" Jan lifted the stunned Moff up by the crook of the arm and gave him a slight shove towards Kyle.

"Payback's a murglak, isn't it?" The agent led his prisoner over to the door of the decontamination shower and opened it with the press of a switch. The still remaining odor of Anoat's sewer system drifted into the cabin again.

A quick shove sent the Moff was at the other end of the small room. He stood up quickly as hit the metal floor and raced for the open door. It closed quickly with a hiss. With the press of a few buttons, the quarantine mode was activated, locking the room from the outside. The muffled sounds of his fists hitting the metal door was all that the two could hear.

The pair walked through the door and into the large cockpit of the craft. Two consoles sat in front of each other, offset to the side. "So tell me, Kyle," Jan said as she took the rear seat. "How bad was it in there?"

"What's the worst mission you've been on?"

"On Oulanne..." she began.

"Ten times worse."

She laughed, a pleasant sound over the hum of the repulsors and the barely audible thuds coming from the midsection of the ship. "You haven't ended up with an infected leg, an almost 40 degree fever and stuffed into a locker while the rest of my crew went to find help."

Kyle looked back at her. "Really?"

"I wish I was kidding," she said as she pulled her piloting goggles over her eyes.

"You win with that one. So far. How'd that happen, anyway?"

"It's a long story," she said. The frantic pounding behind both of them increased into a crescendo. "One it looks like I'll have the time to be telling. Our water's running a bit low." There was a pause as she checked the navcomputer. "We'll have to make a stop at Chijust to restock. It'll add about a day to our trip."

The freighter lifted off from the desolate planet and streamed its way out of Anoat's atmosphere. As the stars elongated and shifted into the blue field of hyperspace, Kyle could have sworn that he had refilled the water tanks before their last mission.