Dexter, James, Mark, and Dani all four were on the way to Devaron. Dexter had contacted his Devaronian friends and James set the course through hyperspace. They all sat in the holo-projector room, Dani and James playing Pazaak while Dexter watched intently, seemingly searching for a particular strategy to it, while Mark sat in a chair, twiddling his thumbs.

"So, what do we do until we arrive?" Mark asked, clearly bored.

"If you wish to, I'd be glad if you played a hand of Pazaak with me." Dexter replied, holding a deck in his hands, "I think I may very well have created the perfect deck!"

"I told you once, and I'll tell you again, I don't play with Republic Senate rules, you better actually be betting something or else there's no point." Mark insisted, "What about whatever is inside that crate we were talking about earlier?"

"You know what… I think I'll accept that bet, let's play. One round only, though." Dexter laughed, getting ready to play.

James and Dani finished up their hand and watched Mark and Dexter play, they heard what the stakes were and wished to see what would happen.

Dexter and Mark remained silent, the game of Pazaak was quite simple, the goal was to get as close to 20 as possible with one's cards. Cards were automatically dealt with specific numbers, and one could augment the number to get to 20 by placing down their own cards from the side-deck, positive cards would add to the player's sum, while negative cards would lower a players sum, there were also cards that one could choose whether they added or subtracted to the sum.

Dexter went first, the first card dealt to him was a 6, he decided to end his turn without placing a card down. Mark was dealt a 4, which he knew would be of great benefit considering what he had inside his side-deck, he ended his turn without doing anything either.

"Who do you think is gonna win?" Dani asked James, while James wasn't particularly great at Pazaak himself, he did have a great poker face, and an uncanny ability to read the faces of others, although that may have been because of his attunement with the force, Dani realized.

"Based on faces alone, Mark and Dexter both are acting like they have winning hands, but it's much too early in the round to tell, to be honest." James murmured, ensnared by his interest of the game at hand.

Deter received another 6 next, creating a sum of 12, he saw his chance, adding his own 6 to make 18, then ending his turn. Mark received a 7, making his own sum an 11, he ended his turn without adding anything.

"What… he must not have very many negatives in his side-deck then…" James muttered, absolutely enthralled.

"Why do you say that?" Dani questioned, she was more of a casual at the game than any of the others.

"See how Dexter placed a card to make his sum incredibly close to 20, but didn't seal the deal? He obviously has a good few negatives if that's the case, meanwhile look at Mark, he's letting the main-deck get him close, but he must not have very many negatives if he's not wanting to get close on his own."

"Oh, I see." Dani agreed.

Dexter's next turn had the main deck give him a 3, putting him at 21, quite close to 20, he was content with his luck and stood. Mark had free reign to do whatever he needed, he started with the main deck giving him a 5, he was now at 16.

"Alright Dexter, it's over." Mark grinned, laying down a 4 to make his sum 20, winning him the game.

"Ah damn, you win. I guess my deck isn't as perfect as I wanted." Dexter said, exasperated.

"The perfect deck doesn't exist, it's all based on luck, and my deck takes advantage of that luck." Mark laughed, "Better luck next time, now if you don't mind, I'm going to check out whatever is in that crate."

"You do that, but I'd suggest you bring James and Dani with you to check it out. It might be useful that they see the contents of that crate as well." Dexter stated, "I'll be in the cockpit if you need me."

"Alrighty then, come on James." Mark yelled for James to come along, "and you too Dani, let's check out this crate!"

They walked into the Cargo Bay, and over to the cargo crate.

"It's this one James, the one that rattled, let's see what's inside." Dani said, placing her hands on the lid.

"Alright, open it up, let's see what you guys were so interested in." James instructed.

Dani opened the lid and placed it to the floor, all three walked to it and peered inside, and what they found was indeed as interesting as they had expected. Inside were two lightsabers and some type of pouch, the trio stared at their find.

"Is that… what I think it is?" Dani mumbled, in shock, staring at one of the sabers. Their figures were unmistakable and synonymous with the Jedi Order from just years earlier.

"Unless you think it's a miniature Rancor, then yes, it is what you think it is." James replied, immediately reaching for one of the lightsabers, picking it up, he examined it, "It's definitely lighter than you might expect a weapon to be, I wonder if it works." James pointed the laser end of the saber away from his friends and attempted to activate it, to no avail.

"It doesn't work? Why would Dexter be carrying something so useless on his ship?" Mark exclaimed, reaching in and picking up the pouch, opening it up he poured the contents into his hand.

"Those are holo-chips, I wonder what's on them!" Dani exclaimed

"If they've been put in the same crate as some lightsabers, then I'm willing to bet that they're related to them in some way." James ventured a guess, "Maybe we should ask Dexter, he put them on the ship."

"I'll go do that and ask him, you two figure out what's with the lightsabers, I like guns a lot better." Mark said, walking out to question Dexter on what the contents of the crate were for.

James and Dani began to investigate the lightsabers, unable to figure out how to turn them on. The first was chrome colored, with very little other distinguishing features, despite the lack of adornment, it still carried an air of mystery surrounding it, inviting them to investigate further, yet no matter what they pressed, neither James or Dani could ascertain any method to turning the weapons on.

"What's with these things? I thought they were supposed to turn on just like that?" Dani asked, confused.

"That's what we learned in school, we also learned the Jedi were evil, so let's just take everything with a grain of salt until we can get Dexter or someone else of greater wisdom can tell us the truth." James replied, "You take that one, I'll take this one here, lets go see Dexter about it, hopefully Mark got information on the holo-chips."

James picked up the other lightsaber, it was much less plain as compared to the other it was found with. Circling where one would most likely grip the saber were slight bumps, most likely to improve one's grip while wielding it. Located towards the bottom was a grip, likely meant to attach it to belts. Towards the top a small piece of metal jutted out from where the laser would emit, a shroud of sorts for the weapon's emitter.

They began to walk to the cockpit, where they would most likely find Dexter, Dani and James both stared at the lightsabers in their hands, these elegant handles alone only gave a clue to the power that would be contained within the weapon. They entered the cockpit to find Dexter in the pilots seat, staring out into the empty blackness of space, no Mark in sight. James and Dani stood there awkwardly, unsure of what to do.

"Hey Dexter, we have something to ask you about." Dani broke the silence.

"I'm assuming it's about the lightsabers you found inside the crate?" Dexter replied.

"That would be correct, what's with them? They don't work at all, we've tried any method possible of turning them on, but they simply will not work." James told him, somewhat exasperated.

"The reason they don't work is quite simple, they're missing a critical piece. I might not have known much about your parents plans, but before they did they gave me their weapons. They knew that the operation would likely have a low chance to succeed, so Dani's father and James's mother both gave their lightsabers up, as the other was much more capable in combat, they told me to find you and give them to you after the deed was done. I'm not sure they expected to be caught by the Imperial army, but they did remove the crystal to the lightsabers, as to make them useless if they were to get lost by me, or if I got caught by Imperials at any point before you received them." Dexter explained to them everything relating to the sabers.

"Wait, if that's the case, why didn't you give them to us right after we got on?" James asked, "Our parents ordered you to give them to us immediately after they did the bombing."

"You really are observant, aren't you, I suppose I'll have to let on to what else I know." Dexter sighed, slightly annoyed "They wanted me to show you the ways of the force and to help you on your way in learning the force. You know, non-force-sensitive me, the perfect educator on something I have no idea how to use. I would have done everything they asked, had they not been caught and my freighter here not being marked for death by any Imperial vessel we come across. I do believe that near the place where we'll be landing is an old abandoned Jedi Temple, though, so you may wish to see what that place has to offer."

"So you're telling us that we are basically confirmed force sensitive then, if our parents wanted you to train us?" James inquired, pressing further into Dexter's claims.

"Yes, fine. You both are force sensitive, your parents knew from the start. I have no idea how you'd get started using it, though." Dexter said, getting angry at all the examining of his claims.

"That wasn't so hard to tell us, now was it? Why would you have kept that information from us from the start?" James was starting to dig slightly deeper into the mind of this family friend.

"I'm being honest, I'm a bit of a control freak, and I spent multiple years working for a private navy, learning chain of command and the like. All I know is delegation of command, and information security, preventing information leaks by only giving information to people that is pertinent to their mission." Dexter was now rather tired, instead of angry.

"Alright, fair enough, thanks for telling us, that's all I needed." James stated.

"By the way, where's Mark?" Dani asked, she wanted to change the subject as much as possible, the grilling for information she just witnessed had worn her out just by watching. She didn't like how much James pressed, though, he may have went slightly too far.

"He's in the holo-projector room most likely, didn't you come across him on the way to the cockpit?" Dexter asked.

"Nope, he wasn't in the holo-projector room, he probably went back to his room or something." Dani told him, "Let's go James, I'm willing to bed he's already started looking at whatever is on those holo-chips."

Dani and James strolled out of the cockpit, clearly satisfied with all they learned. They walked into the holo-projector room to find Mark inserting one of the holo-chips into the projector, he looked up at them entering the room.

"Hey guys, did he tell you anything about the lightsabers and how to work them?" Mark asked, he was interested in seeing them in action, even if he wouldn't care to have one in his hands.

"Yeah, and we also learned a lot more about why we need to watch out about who we trust." James replied, still slightly annoyed at how much Dexter hid from them.

"What do you mean?" Mark was confused.

"Well, we went to Dexter and asked him about the lightsabers…" James explained the entire conversation that him and Dani had with Dexter over the weapons, "…That's why I'm going to start questioning him on everything, I'm concerned one of his secrets are going to be a detriment to our lives."

"Oh wow, I should have expected that from a smuggler like him. I wouldn't put it past him that he kept the crystals for himself too." Mark spat, incredibly angry that Dexter would even think to try to hide information from them.

"Alright, calm down, I don't think he'd go that far." Dani defended Dexter, "What use would he have for 2 lightsaber crystals without their lightsabers, they're useless without the lightsaber anyways."

"He could very easily sell them for a good amount of credits. I'm sure there are people willing to pay lots of credits for lightsaber crystals, especially if they have lightsabers of their own." James reasoned.

"While you're right, I'd give him the benefit of the doubt on this one, I'd imagine something would have been inconsistent about that part of his story if that's the case." Dani continued to try to reason with them.

"Okay, I'll give it the benefit of the doubt, but if I see more reason to distrust him then… I don't know what I'll do, but I'll do something." James said with strengthening resolve.

"Fair enough, but for now let's see about these holo-chips." Dani said, "Mark, turn on the projector."

Mark complied and turned on the holo-projector. He turned and selected one of the holo-chips, putting it inside the projector, a file list instantly came up. There were many photographs and one video file.

"What are these photographs about?" Mark asked aloud, and selected one. The photograph was of the Imperial barracks, obviously it was used as a way to decide when, where, and how to detonate a bomb in that area. It was the same for multiple other photographs, areas along the Imperial garrison which were most likely targeted in the assault. To Dani's relief there were no photographs taken of the training yards, meaning that her friends that were training to join the Imperial military were likely still alive, although they may not be as friendly to her now.

The final photo file was a schematic of some sort, obviously of the bombs used in the bombing. They used easy to access materials and clearly carried a lot of power, if the garrison bombing was anything to go by.

"Let's check out that video file, who knows what's on it!" Dani exclaimed, she was surprisingly excited to see what the video might be, hoping it was their parents.

Mark complied and accessed the video file, immediately a projection of all of their parents appeared, the soft blue glow not giving away the familiarity of their faces. They appeared solemn, as if they had recorded this just after a tragedy.

James' dad spoke first "Hey kids, I'm sure if you're receiving this then you're safe, which is great. Unfortunately, this also means that you're on the run with Dexter. I just wanted to start by saying that we all apologize for the act we're about to do, or for you, have already committed. The reason we did this is mostly for revenge, and to possibly spark an uprising on the planet, something we can only hope to come true. We hope Dexter gave you all the rundown on our past by now, not to mention Dani and James' force sensitivity, as has given you the lightsabers. If all of this is true, then he is as trustworthy as we hope. We asked him to train you two, James and Dani, although based on our discussions in the past he most likely will not come through with that request. As such Dani, your mother has seen it fit to include instructions on how to use to force effectively, and James, I've done the same for you. Your training can be commenced through the holo-communicators we gave all of you, they have slots for holo-chips."

Mark's father spoke up, "I have faith that you'll know what I'll give you on your holo-chip Mark, lessons on marksmanship and Close-Quarters-Combat, be ready to use them when the time comes."

Dani's mother started speaking in a soft tone, "We have no idea what will happen after we do this, you're most likely on Dexter's ship, I'd imagine, and honestly, we don't know what will be best for you to do. We planned to have everything lined up for you all, a safehouse, trainings on operating underground, and hopefully you'll be able to make a life despite the Empire hunting you down. Sadly the Empire caught wind of our plans, and before we could get all that done we realized it was now or never. We're about to go out and fight, your journey is yours, although in the other holo-chips there are plenty of essential information folders to guide you guys onto the path to safety. Good luck, and may the force be with you."

The holoprojection ended, Dani stood on the spot, staring solemnly, James shook his head, and Mark hung his head down.

"You're joking. They pulled us into a conflict in which we're risking our lives to escape from an Empire infinitely more powerful than all of us, for revenge? They cannot be serious." James was clearly angry.

Dani and Mark both stared at him, they saw the anger in his eyes and yet were becoming angry themselves.

"This was a conflict that they risked their lives just as much for, they've prepared us as best they could with the time they had. They invested everything they had into this, give them a break." Dani spat, irate.

"Besides, this was their last act, to become a martyr versus an Empire that wiped out their entire way of life, it was their choice to perform this act. While yes, I don't like this any more than you are, I'm positive we'll be able to figure out what to do. Their choice is something we have to live with now, let's just try to make do with what we have." Mark was calm, but still slightly angry at James blatantly ignoring the feelings of their parents.

"Martyring themselves with a complete disregard to whatever happens to the children that they leave behind, I'm glad their choice was to destroy our lives, I can't believe you guys are okay with this!" James shouted and stormed off.

"Is he serious?" Dani asked.

"Yes, but I'm more concerned about something else." Mark replied.

"Which would be?"

"They mentioned we all had holo-communicators, I thought I was the only one." Mark pulled out his holo-communicator.

"Yeah, I thought I had the only one between us too" Dani said, pulling out her own.

"You'd think that would be something we'd talk about, but either way, I think it's best we connect ours, not to mention James' when he calms down." Mark suggested.

"Good idea!" Dani replied, they connected theirs when Dexter walked in.

"Alright kids, let's get ready to land at Devaron, we're landing in an hour nearby to my contact's house, I've negotiated a few terms to help them out to get us save haven for some time." Dexter announced, "Be prepared, they're preparing an open resistance on the planet's surface, and we may need to book it if the Empire crashes down hard on them."

With that, Dexter left, Dani went to retrieve her gloves and some credits and Mark went to let James know about what was happening.

Happy New Years guys! I expected this to come out sooner but I got roped into some other plans that resulted in me not working on this for an entire weekend. Luckily I had some inspiration over the weekend to ending this chapter and here we are. I hope you all had a good weekend and I hope to have the next chapter done by either Thursday or Friday, when school starts up again. I'll most likely have more sporadic release dates on my chapters, either once a week to twice a month, I can't give an official release schedule for fear of rushing my work and pushing out a poor chapter to meet a deadline. Please be patient with me as I work to write a story that is hopefully as enjoyable to you all as I enjoy writing it, as usual, thank you all for reading this story, I hope you enjoyed!