Chapter 4

"Let's save Ru' Bik!" Zack repeated. "Are you crazy?!"

"Why not," Buck answered. "I thought you Rebels were fearless."

"We're fearless, not stupid." Zack said. "Ru' Bik is probably in a max security Imperial prison, and that means well armed 'snowmen' and 'clankers'. And there's the other issue…"

"What other issue?" Buck inquired.

"We don't trust you!" Yeah, that other issue."

"I know you don't trust me and to be honest I don't trust you too…" Buck looked at Lona, "…either of you. But I tried to save Ru' Bik while most of you Rebels had cowardly left him and his family to fend for themselves…"

"Hey! We did what we had to do when your comrades attacked both Ru' Bik and the Rebels." Lona protested.

"That still doesn't change the fact that you all left him behind," Buck said. "And you still want to leave him behind, even now."

The room fell quiet after Buck's comment.

Buck sighed. "I owe that Vultan my life. I want to save him."

"And how do we know that this isn't a trap you're setting us for?" Lona said.

Zack smiled at that. "Yes, Trooper! How do we know you're not leading us to Imperial capture?"

"Because you two are not important." Buck got nasty looks from both the Rebels. "I mean in terms of the Rebel cause. You don't have any crippling information on the Rebels; you don't lead any significant Rebel army or group. If I was setting a trap, I would pick bigger targets than you guys… no offense." He completed.

Zack looked at Lona. "What do you think?"

"It's crazy. It's risky. But it will save a good friend and strike a blow against the Empire. Let's do it!" Lona said.

Zack looked at Buck, "You do know that if you do this, you will no longer be a defected Trooper but you'll be a Rebel."

"Then I will carry the despicable title of a Rebel until Ru' Bik is safe." Buck said defiantly.

/

Zack walked into Ground Haven. He went to the Itochi who was serving drinks. He smiled cockily when he noted that the Itochi was surprised to see him… alive. Zack leaned into him and whispered, "I'm looking for Kisto."

The Itochi went away, presumably to call Kisto. Kisto walked behind the counter and just like last time took the same drink for the bar and two glasses and placed them between himself and Zack.

Zack sighed, "Look Kisto, I know I'm doing this wrong but you did not tell me how to do this right."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Kisto said as he poured the green liquid in one glass and gently slid it to Zack.

Zack sighed again. He knew that the drink was spiked, Kisto knew that the drink was spiked and yet he was serving it to him still. Zack began to suspect that maybe Kisto liked the tranquilizer. "Can we skip this? I want to talk about Ru' Bik. My crew and I are going to save him."

"You lost me at can we skip this. And my answer to that is no, we cannot skip this. What kind of galaxy do we live in if two strangers can't share and innocent drink?" Kisto said raising his glass.

Zack held back the urge to sigh and raised his own glass before downing it simultaneously with Kisto.

/

Buck and Lona were waiting outside the ship. They were waiting for the person that they had agreed to sell the ship to. They realised that if they were going to rescue Ru' Bik they would need a good quality ship, which this ship was. It was fast and had decent weapons and defences. And for that reason they came to the realisation that they would no longer be selling it, at least for the time being. They saw the Vultan who had agreed to purchase the ship approaching with company.

"Uh, I see you're ready for me. Good!" The Vulatn said. "We can quickly settle matters and go our separate ways."

"I'm afraid things have changed. We'll no longer be selling the ship." Buck said.

The Vultan's smile faded and was replaced by confused frown. "But yesterday you both were so eager…"

"Yes. I am sorry about that." Buck said slightly bowing apologetically. Lona did the same.

"Well you see you've already begun the trading process. You signed the letter of ownership." The Vultan said snapping his fingers. One of the Vultans beside him produced a flat technological device with words on it.

"Yes, but we did not sign any contract binding us to the sale." Lona said.

One of the other Vultans spoke up, "on this planet, singing a letter of ownership is the first step in the trading process and only a few factors can stop it. Factors that neither of you qualify for."

"Well we no longer want to sell." Buck said firmly.

"I'm afraid you have no choice. If you do not I will call the authorities and they will imprison you until you comply with the trading process or give a valid reason for why you cannot." The lead Vultan said.

Buck and Lona looked at each other worryingly. They both knew that they could not go to jail as they would probably never see the day of light again. It seemed like they would lose their ship.

/

Canoe was at a bar with the other Stormtroopers, celebrating his impending promotion in rank. Even though they were out of uniform, everyone at the bar knew that they were Stormtroopers as this bar was mostly frequented by them. Most people at the bar were Troopers or family and friends of them.

Canoe was happy as his friends treated him with a free dinner and drinks. His friends preferred to drink right away but he did not want to start on an empty stomach. The party became loud in time as some off-duty Stormtroopers began to drink too much and began seeking and sometimes harassing anything that was female.

"Hey, Canoe! Tell us how you caught that scum, Ru' Bik!" One of his drunken trooper friends slurred.

The bar erupted in yells of people agreeing.

Canoe was talking to a human girl sitting on his lap. He took a sip of his alcoholic beverage before replying, "I'm busy here boys!" He looked at the woman on his lap. "I don't wanna bore this lovely lady with tales of death."

The bar moaned in disappointment. "I wanna hear the story." The lady on his lap said wrapping her hands around his shoulders.

" !" Canoe said which garnered cheers from the occupants of the bar. Canoe and the lady stood up and he took a sip of his drink for extra courage before he spoke. "I was moving along that big compound. Lights flickered! Explosions were all around me but where I was there was no enemy. All I could feel was the compound slowly shaking, shaking in fear because the Stormtroopers were here!"

The bar erupted in cheers just as Canoe knew they would and he waited until the bar quietened down before he continued. "Yes the compound shook! And the Rebels ran with their tails between their legs!" The bar cheered again and Canoe took a big gulp of his drink before continuing. " I knew all that to be true as I moved down the lonely corridor of the compound. I eventually saw a group of Rebels ahead. They were as surprised to see me as I them but they were slow and dumb and I was able to take one of them down before the other even thought of pointing his blaster. He got a shot off but I jumped out of the way and in mid-air blew his head apart. A cowardly white alien ran for his life seeing how easily I dispatched his companions, his protectors. Try as he might the impish Vultan could not get away from my swift legs and I tackled him down and arrested him only to realise it was the bottom feeder, Ru' Bik!"

The bar cheered at that last part. Someone screamed out merrily, "where was Buck in all of this!"

The bar instantly fell quiet. The comment was ill-thought. Buck had been missing for a few days now and all the Stormtroopers had already guessed that he was dead. For that reason they avoided bringing up Buck in Canoe's presence, knowing how close they were. Canoe was suddenly forced to think of his friend for the hundredth time that day. He had never stopped thinking about him, worrying about him. He was the only one who knew that Buck was not dead. At first he thought that Buck had been bribed by Ru' Bik but when he ran away with his baby he began to suspect that maybe he had defected. It was the only thing that explained why he still ran away with the baby knowing that Ru' Bik would not be free to pay him and that Canoe would never report his treachery to The Empire.

"Is… this Buck a friend of yours." The girl who had previously been on his lap asked.

"Used to be." Canoe said.

"Oh, I'm sorry…" The girl said trying to put her arms around him to comfort him.

Canoe raised his hands and backed away, rejecting her. "Well, I'm afraid that's it for me boys! I have to look good for my promotion which means getting a good night's sleep."

The bar occupants moaned again but wished him a safe journey. When Canoe was out they began to scold the man who had brought up Buck and ruined the party.

/

Canoe walked into the night. The section of the city he was in was quiet except for the transports whizzing by, far above him. As he walked he got a chill up his spine. He felt like there was someone watching him… following him. He would occasionally quickly turn back but there was nothing behind him, nothing to be seen. He began regretting parking his transport so far away from the bar. He reached for his blaster, that was resting under his jacket at his hip, to give himself the confidence that he could defend himself if need be. He turned back again when he thought he saw something move but again there was nothing when he turned back around he saw the outline of a slim figure hidden in the shadows of the alleyway.

Canoe felt his heart racing. "Who's there?" He said gripping the blaster at his hip.

The outline stepped forward to reveal a familiar face.

"Inquisitor Ripper?" Canoe said, relaxing a little but still a bit confused.

"Hello, Canoe." Saza Ripper activated the lightsaber in her hand which made a red blade leap out into the night air. "I hope you enjoyed your last night."

/

Zack began to regain his consciousness. He was resting on a sandy floor once again. He began to get up slowly. "Ah! The sleeping beauty wakes up." He heard someone say. He looked up and saw Kisto and the Vultans waiting for him. "I'm starting to think you like drugging me."

"It is a personal passion." Kisto said smiling.

Zack got up and noticed that he no longer had his lightsaber. It seemed Kisto did not fully trust him yet. He wondered if Kisto "Kisto, me and my crew want to save Ru' Bik."

"From an Imperial maximuim security prison?" Kisto said in surprise.

"Yes!" Zack said.

It began as a quiet laughter from Kisto and then he and his Vultan companions began laughing loudly with no inhibitions. Zack was the only one who was not laughing. He folded his arms as his anger rose. The laughter went on for a little longer.

"Thank you kid! I haven't laughed this much in a long time. You're a true Rebel kid, reckless and stupid." Kisto said as he dug into his robe. He produced a holo-disk and threw it at Zack.

Zack easily caught the disk. "What's this?"

"After you told us about Ru' Bik, I had all the contacts of the Rebellion dig around for more information." Kisto said. "We received word that an important imprisoner was caught and is being transported to a prison, a prison whose blueprints are on that disk in your hands. We believe it may be Ru' Bik."

Zack activated the holo-disk and an image and blueprints of a prison protruded from the disk. He pressed a button and cycled through all the stored images in the holo-disk and also saw a few flight routes. "They haven't transported him yet?" Zack said in surprise.

"Yes... well, hopefully, yes. Good luck Zack. I hope you're able to succeed. Ru' Bik has been loyal and one of the greatest friend The Rebels have had."

/

Buck and Lona waited for Zack to return. They had agreed to meet him in town when he concluded whatever business he had. Buck did not know what this business was because Lona and Zack were still reluctant to share much information with him. Buck understood their secrecy but that did not stop him getting annoyed with it. He too did not completely trust them and things would not change until they kept less secrets from him. He was unsure how this little adventure would go, if they were going to succeed they would need to trust each other more than how they were now.

Zack appeared again. Buck noted the dust on his clothes. His clothes were like this the last time he went missing. He guessed that he had been on the outskirts of Tanik as that was the only significant dusty place in the vicinity.

"Alright. We're ready to go." Zack said with a cocky smile. The smile faded when he saw the anxious look on Lona's face. "What's wrong?"

"We couldn't get out of the sale of the ship." Lona said. "Apparently, since we've initiated the sale we have to go through with it."

"Can't you just talk to the guy?" Zack asked.

"The jerk wants the ship so… no." Lona said. "We have a few hours before his collectors come to take it and give us the credits. We'll have to make a run for it."

Buck was surprised to hear Lona's suggestion. "What! We can't do that."

"Why not." Lona asked.

"If we run away with the ship, we'll get reported and that will draw too much attention to ourselves." Buck reasoned. "Let's just sell this one and purchase another one."

"It doesn't matter if we draw any attention. We'll be far away by the time that happens." Zack said. "And anyways, Boy Scout, we may be wanted so that means that we can't buy anything legally and we won't find a ship that good on the black market."

"If we're going to do this we have two hours before the Collectors come to take the ship." Lona said.

They all began to walk in the direction of the ship yard. While walking, Zack accidently bumped into something small. He lost his balance temporarily but was able to regain it. He looked at what he had bumped into and saw a little Twi'Lek girl. She was thin with orange skin colour and grey eyes.

"Oh. It's you again." Lona said kneeling towards the child with a smile on her face.

"You know this clumsy girl." Zack said annoyed, as he dusted himself off.

"We met her when we were looking for you." Buck said. He noticed how unhealthily thin the Twi'Lek girl was. He must have not noticed the last time because it was too dark to clearly make her out.

The girl muttered something in a tongue neither of them understood. "I… I think she may be hungry." Lona said.

"Yeah, she's as thin as a…" Zack stopped what he was saying. He was disturbed by a feeling... he felt something from the girl or… about the girl. It confused him at first as he had never felt something like that for a long time but then suddenly he realised what it is that he felt. He felt the Force and he felt it in this Twi'Lek child, behaving the same way it did with him and an exceptional few.

The Twi'Lek said something else in her foreign language before running off. They all looked at her as she ran away. Zack looked at her with interest. Lona looked at her with sadness. Buck looked at her with concern. Soon the girl ran out of sight and the group continued on their way.

"I have good news. I think I may have found out where they're taking Ru' Bik." Zack said while on the move. He reached into his pocket for the holo-disk. "The Rebels think… think that…" Zack suddenly stopped as he began furiously searching himself for the holodisk. When he could not find it he looked behind him. "That little street rat stole the holo-disk!"

"A holo-disk? Do you need it?" Buck said.

"Yes, idiot, it's important! That disk has information that could help us save Ru' Bik!" Zack said aggressively.

"If the disk was so important then you should have taken better care of it, idiot!" Buck said facing him.

The two were staring each other down in anger. Their faces were inches away from each other and both were clenching their fists tightly. They were a few seconds away from fighting until Lona spoke up. "We don't have time for this guys! Remember, Collectors coming for our ship in… two hours."

At that Buck pulled away from Zack. "We'll split up. That will help us find the girl faster." He said walking away. The split would also help him calm down and not kill Zack, he thought to himself.

"Good plan." Zack said through clenched teeth as he went in a different direction. Zack would use the split to cool off and not kill Buck, he thought to himself.

"Boys," Lona said rolling her eyes as each of them went separate ways. She also took a different direction in an effort to look for the girl. They would need to find her quickly, before they lost their ship.

/

"Inquisitor Ripper, what are you doing here?" Canoe uneasily asked the woman with the lightsaber with the red blade.

Canoe knew that his life was in danger. His knowledge was proven right when Saza charged at him with her lightsaber making a line in the ground as she dragged it behind her.

"Stop, Inquisitor! I'm warning you!" Canoe said as he withdrew his blaster.

He shot at her three times but to his amazement she deflected two shots with her lightsaber without even needing to slow down. The third shot she dodged by jumping up into the air. Buck was looking up at this woman who had jumped to an impossible altitude. His Stormtrooper training told him to shoot her while she was in the air but his instincts told him that if he stayed at that one spot while she came down, he'd be dead. He turned tail and sprinted away before she landed and before her blade swung downward to where his head used to be.

Saza Ripper began running after him as soon as she landed. The thrill of hunting down her target ran through her veins and she knew she would love the satisfaction of killing him. Canoe shot at a structure above his head, bringing it crashing down after he ran across and under it before it crashed to the ground. Saza came to a complete stop. Her prey was not a Force-sensitive but he made up for it by being resourceful.

Canoe ran into the alleyway after he shot the structure that was above him. He did not want to but he dared to look back at his pursuer. He saw her standing on the other side of the fallen structure. Her smirking face was washed in the light of the red blade of her lightsaber. At that moment she did not look beautiful to Canoe; she looked sinister. She deactivated her lightsaber causing her to be shrouded in shadow again.

Canoe began scrambling up a metal ladder located at the side of a building. He was hoping that he could get some advantage at higher ground and that he would be able to get around without encountering Saza. He got to the end of the ladder and jumped to an adjacent balcony. He kept jumping across balconies, getting higher and higher and further and further away from his pursuer. He had not seen Saza so far. Maybe she had given up or maybe I outran her, he thought to himself. He would survive this night, he happily thought to himself.

His hopes were dashed when he saw a figure at the bottom of the building. It was Saza and she was looking up at him as he made his progress. Canoe knew that she had no blaster and it would take some time for her to get up to where he was. He was well out of her reach and had the advantage since he had a blaster and she did not.

"Why are you doing this?" He shouted down, temporarily stopping. "What do you hope to achieve?"

"Is it not simple?" Saza said before leaping a few impossible feet into the air and onto a balcony. "I'm going to catch and then torture you until you tell me what you're keeping secret about what happened at Ru' Bik's compound. And then... I'm going to kill you."

Canoe was stunned into silence. He was not just stunned by her purpose for hunting him but also by the feat she had just completed. In one jump she was able to cover a distance that he could only achieve by climbing up a ladder and jumping on a few balconies.

Canoe began leaping across balconies again when he realised that he still was not really safe from her. "I'm not hiding anything! I told you and my superior everything I know! Why would you think different?"

"I have a hunch." Saza said before she jumped to another balcony, coming ever closer to her target.

Canoe stopped and looked at her as she landed on a balcony that was closer to him. "You're willing to kill me... over a hunch?" He said outraged.

She smiled, "I've killed more important beings over less."

Canoe suddenly shot at her. Saza activated her lightsaber ready to defend herself but his volley of fire was not aimed at her but at the balcony she was on. The balcony was damaged enough that it began falling straight down. She was able to jump off the falling balcony and onto the roof of the building. She loved the look of disbelief and fear on Canoe's face as she looked down on him. He was doing his best to stop her but it was not enough.

Canoe looked out and realised that he was standing on the last balcony. There was a pipe running upwards across the building next to the one he was currently at. He stepped back and ran forward before he leapt off the balcony to the pipe. He could not believe it but he would make it! When he was close to landing on the pipe, it began to move and twist on its own accord, as if it did not want him to land on it. His foot touched the pipe but because it had shifted, he lost balance and fell straight down from a few storeys to the ground. Canoe screamed his lungs out as he fell to the hard ground. On the way he hit a few protruding structures from the building which helped slow down his fall but also hurt him. He landed with a thud that ended his screaming.

Saza was at the top of the roof and crouched down to get a better look at the body way down on the ground. She regretted moving the pipe while Canoe was trying to jump for it. It was a reckless move and it may have killed her only lead… potential lead. I should have tried to stop his fall, she angrily thought to herself. She sighed in relief when she saw the Stormtrooper's body slowly begin to stir.

Canoe could not believe he was still alive. His body was sore and bruised, probably had some internal bleeding but he was still alive and more importantly, he could still run. He got up to his feet and began running. He looked up and saw Saza running parallel to him while simultaneously jumping down the buildings closer to his level. She was fast but he knew that he would make it to where he wanted to get to before her. Saza landed in front of him but he was able to take a corner into a very narrow alleyway the alleyway was so narrow that either side of his shoulders almost brushed against the walls of the alleyway. He looked back and for the first time hoped that Saza had followed him and sure enough she did. He stopped and turned around to face her which prompted her to also stop.

"Give up Saza!" Canoe said smiling with blood stained teeth. "This alleyway is narrow so you won't be able to use your laser sword well. But in this alleyway…" Canoe raised his blaster and pointed it at her, "…my weapon has the advantage."

Saza looked amused and not as scared or worried as Canoe hoped she would be. "The 'laser sword' is called a lightsaber." She said as she activated the red blade in front of her face. "It is an ancient weapon for a more civilized age, not that a savage like you would know anything about it." She said as she held it before her as if she was mesmerised by the red light. She suddenly took her eyes off her blade and looked at Canoe. "And anyways, I have other tricks other than the lightsaber."

Saza thrust out her open palm. Canoe was suddenly hit by an invisible force that pushed him back. Any bones that his previous fall weakened, the mysterious attack broke. He felt two ribs break and all the air was forced out of his lungs as he flew and tumbled out of the narrow alleyway.

Canoe got up slowly and held his side. Saza Ripper was still coming after him through the narrow alleyway and he had lost his advantage and blaster, but hope was not lost yet. He ignored the pain his body was feeling and continued running. He reached the place where he had parked his hover bike and got on it before he flew away into the night sky to safety.

Saza could do nothing but watch him get away. She realised that Canoe was not just mindlessly running away from her but that he was getting to his hover-bike. Saza felt the anger build at being outsmarted and screamed out in anger into the night air as she unwittingly sent out a Force-pulse that pushed everything near her away.

/

Buck had calmed down considerably. He began to analyse where the Twi'Lek girl would take a holo-disk. He figured out that she would probably try to sell it off. He asked around for shops that sell and buy technology and found out there was only one place.

/

The Twi'Lek girl gave the Vultan across the counter the holo-disk. He activated it and his eyes went wide with shock. On the disk were blueprints for an Imperial prison and Imperial flight routes. This was valuable information and he could sell it at high price to Imperials and Rebels alike. The Vultan took out 2 credits and gave it to the girl.

The girl looked at the credits suspiciously. "That's too little." She said in her native tongue.

"Get out of here child! I've paid you what you deserve." The Vultan answered in the native Twi'Lek tongue.

The girl frowned and folded her arms in defiance. "No! If you won't give me more then I want my thing back."

"I am going to give you a hiding if you don't leave you street rat!" The Vultan warned.

Buck walked in and saw the girl. "You!" He said as he approached her. He noticed that the Vultan had the holo-disk. "Hey! That's mine, the girl had no right to sell it to you."

"Well too late…" The Vultan said holding the disk closer to his chest possessively. "This is mine now."

"He lies!" The Twi'Lek girl said, surprising Buck because he could understand what she said. "I did not accept the deal and he won't give it back!"

"You can speak Basic?" Buck said to the girl. He had to admit, she was good at fooling people. Buck looked at the Vultan, "you heard the girl. She did not accept your deal now give the disk back."

The Vultan snapped his fingers, "try and take it from me." The Vultan said. From the back of the store, the biggest Twi'Lek Buck had ever seen walked out. The Twi'Lek had on a yellow robe and instead of the normal two tendrils coming out of his head, he had four.

The Twi'Lek got to the other side of the counter to face Buck. "Okay-" Buck said to himself as he mentally prepared himself to fight the big Twi'Lek. He threw the first punch and his fist bounced off the Twi'Lek's face. It seemed to have no effect. The Twi'Lek grabbed Buck by the shoulder and swung him around before throwing him into the side of the store counter.

"No! Not on the counter!" The Vultan said. "Take this fight outside!" He said making a shooing motion with his hand.

The Twi'Lek grabbed Buck from the floor and lifted him up above his head. Buck struggled to get free, when he realised that her could not he tried to slap the Twi'Lek in the ears in order to take him out but his thick tendrils blocked any contact with his ears. Buck did not even know if that move was as effective on a Twi'Lek as it was on a human. He decided to rely on another tactic. He pushed his thumbs into the Twi'Lek's eyes temporarily blinding him. The Twi'Lek groaned through his teeth before he smashed his forehead into Buck's head. He let Buck slip through his hands as he wiped away the blinding tears in his eyes.

Buck landed on his feet but the headbutt had done its job as his wobbly legs failed to keep him upright and he fell. He heard a small voice call to him and when he opened his eyes, he saw the orange Twi'Lek girl knelt to look at him.

"Are you okay?" She asked in Basic.

"Okay? I'm winning this." Buck said before he got up and charged the also recovered Twi'Lek.

Seconds later Buck flew through the air and landed where he had fallen initially. The Twi'Lek girl did not even get the chance to move from her kneeling spot before Buck landed there again. He looked at the girl, "shut up."

Buck was suddenly lifted off the floor again by the Twi'Lek. "I hate you humans!" The Twi'Lek said. "You think you're so much better than us with your Emperor and Stormtroopers…" Buck continued to struggle but the Twi'Lek put a stop to it by slamming him hard onto the floor and lifting him up again. Buck struggled even less now. "I hate you humans and it will be a pleasure ripping you limb from limb!" the Twi'Lek suddenly grunted in pain and he looked down to see the small Twi'Lek girl biting him in the leg. "What are you doing, foolish child?"

Buck took advantage of the distraction by freeing himself of the larger Twi'Lek's grip. He jumped back and charged forward at him. This time he shouldered the Twi'Lek's leg with all his force bringing the Twi'Lek down to his hands and knees. The attack dislocated Buck's shoulder but he ignored the pain as he used his advantage. He jumped high into the air and stomped on the back of the Twi'Lek's head with both his feet, also bringing all his weight down on the big Twi'Lek. The Twi'Lek's head smashed on the ground and was knocked out.

Once the main threat was neutralised, Buck looked at the Vultan. "Now, give me the holo-disk or I'll tear you limb from limb."

/

Buck walked out of the shop with the holo-disk in his possession and his hand on his dislocated shoulder. He had to force himself to ignore the minor pain caused by his injury. He looked behind him and noticed that the Twi'lek girl was following him. "Thanks for the help, kid. Now go home to your family."

"I don't have a home or a family." The girl said. "I have to go with you or he'll catch me and make me pay." She said looking at the shop.

Buck looked at the same direction and had no doubt that the Vultan and his giant Twi'Lek could be merciless when they wanted revenge. He had dealt with people like them in his youth. He looked at the girl and said, "you will not be any safer with me, kid. Where I'm going there is only danger."

"It must be better than this." The girl said.

Buck sighed. "Only if you can keep up, kid." He said planning to lose the child in town. He began running and sure enough the girl followed close behind.

Buck eventually met Lona. "I found the holo-disk!" He said opening his palm to reveal the holo-disk.

Lona snatched it and placed it in her pocket. She noticed that Buck's arm was seemingly dead at his side. "What happened to your arm?"

"It's been dislocated. Can you help?"

Lona shook her head nervously. "No, I don't know anything about fixing… that."

"Of course, I guess the Rebel training course does not include basic first aid unlike the Stormtrooper training course." Buck said sarcastically. "I'll fix this when we have the time for now we need to get to the ship, right?"

Lona nodded before they ran off. "I'll call Zack and tell him to meet us there."

Buck followed her close behind. He looked back and did not see the Twi'lek girl. Although he was relieved, he also felt sorry for her.

/

Zack arrived at the ship. There were two Vultan in black robes who arrived the same time as him. When he stopped in front of them, one of them began speaking to him.

"Are you the current vendor of this ship?" One of the Vultans said. He took Zack's silence as a yes. "We are the collectors."

At that moment Lona and Buck ran past him and into the ship. The Vultans looked at the human male and female running into the ship they were supposed to collect. "Do you know those people?" The Vultan asked.

Zack smiled and punched the nearest Vultan before shouting, "collect that!" Zack then ran into the ship behind his shipmates. Lona began the take off process for the ship. Zack joined them after a little while.

"Did you guys get..." Zack began but was interrupted when Buck threw something to him. He was able to catch it and saw that it was the holo-disk.

Buck went about to helping Lona start the ship and take off. They all strapped themselves in before the red ship rumbled and blasted off into sky leaving the collectors looking surprised on the planet surface.

/

Canoe was at his promotion ceremony. It was smaller than he had hoped for. At the ceremony were his squadron member and their commander in their Stormtrooper armour, with their helmets under their left arms, and a few higher up officials in green uniforms. Canoe also had on his white arnour uniform and helmet under his left arm as he received his promotion.

"Candidate Officer Canoe Ida!" The ceremony a commanding officer said. "For your brave service to the glorious Empire and for your dedication to service I award you the promotion to Lieutenant Canoe Ida." The officer said as he pinned the badge on Canoe's suit.

At that all residing officers and officials turned to Canoe and simultaneously gave a salute. Canoe saluted back before he got off the raised podium. Canoe was excepting words of congratulations from colleges and friends alike. His Commander came to him.

"Well done, Lt. Canoe." He said smiling.

"Thank you Commander." Canoe said shaking his Commander's hand.

"Yes well done Lt. Canoe." Canoe heard a voice say behind him. The voice sent shivers down his spine. He turned around to the source of the voice and although he knew who it belonged to, a part of him wished it was not true. He then saw Saza Ripper.

"Thank you, Inquisitor Ripper." He said looking at her with distress on his face. Unlike Saza who had an easy smile on her face.

"Did you have a rough night last night?" The Commander asked.

Canoe turned to him quickly, "what?" He said, his voice in a higher octane than usual.

"Your face is bruised." The Commander pointed out.

It was true, Canoe's face was bruised. His cheek bone was purple and his lip was swollen. Everyone had ignored it probably out of politeness, something his Commander did not do.

"Uhm... Yes. Got in a minor fight with... a couple of jerks." Canoe said.

"Well you be careful. Congratulations again." The Commander said slapping his shoulder. "Inquisitor Ripper." The Commander said saluting.

"Commander." Saza said bowing slightly.

Now that the Commander was gone, Saza and Canoe were standing together. Canoe would have felt more uneasy if there weren't other officers in the room with them, other witnesses if Saza tried something. She started walking and stopped when they were standing shoulder to shoulder. Saza was looking in one direction while Canoe looked in the other. Neither of them looked at each other.

"I'm surprised you didn't report the events of last night." Saza said so quietly that only Canoe could have heard her.

"I was tempted but I realised that in the grand scheme of the army, you're more important than me. Which meant that if I said anything, I'd end up without a job or... worse while all you'd get would be a reprimanding."

Saza laughed and Canoe could imagine the sinister smile in her face. "I like you, Canoe. You know how to choose your enemies." She said with a smile on her face.

"Inquisitor Saza! Inquisitor Saza!" An officer said.

Canoe and Saza broke their secretive formation and Saza stood in front while Canoe stood a little behind her. The officer gave a short salute to her. "Inquisitor Saza I have a message for you." The officer gave her a page. She read the information sheet for a while.

"Interesting. The ship that escaped Ru' Bik's compound had been reported illegally leaving the planet Cirasso after a failed trade. I'll need to investigate but I will need a squadron of my own." She turned and looked at Canoe. She looked at Canoe and gave him a smile, "at least I already have one member of my squadron. It's time to test our new Lieutenant on the field."