So, late update, but life's been busy. Now I'm furloughed (again) I have time to write so… enjo.

Zeffo, Outer Rim Territories

15 BBY

Ruv gasped awake, looking around to find himself in a small chamber. Metal walls with a blue ray-shield in front of him. He scrambled up to his feet, looking around frantically for his lightsaber. He slapped his waist and looked around to see the chamber be completely vacant. In the centre of the ceiling, a metal eye watched him pace.

He came to the edge of the ray shield and listened. The voices were muffled – like he was underwater hearing sounds from the surface. He could the echoes of wailing and shouting as he looked out to see other ray-shields opposite him: there was a circular walkway with a large, gaping pit in the middle. Ruv took a step back as dread filled his stomach and the realization clawed its way to the front of his mind.

It wasn't a chamber; it was a cell.

Ruv cursed through his constricted throat. Four years he'd been running – changing his name, sacrificing homes, friends, all the money he had. Never letting anyone close enough to know his past. Until he met Pocra.

That was what landed him in jail – trusting someone. He'd gone soft – too comfortable. And they'd found his lightsaber – they knew what he was. He was going to die for that one fatal mistake.

Ruv slunk into the corner of the room, hitting his knees with his fist. "Stupid…" he muttered to himself, "stupid- Stupid!" He thumped his knee again, feeling a vibration resonate throughout his bones.

Execution? A life of imprisonment? Torture? He didn't know what they did to Jedi… maybe that was what terrified him more. Fear of the unknown.

He tried to close his eyes - to centre himself and feel his place within the Force, but the cries and angry yells – everyone hated Jedi. If the Empire didn't kill him, surely the other prisoners would. And without his lightsaber…

"Come here often?" a faint voice asked – as if there was an echo. But it definitely seemed to be a man's voice. Ruv almost fell over onto his side as he backed away from the wall, staring at every inch of it, panting and shaking his head, a frown painted across his face.

"Who's there?"

"A jailmate," the man responded. "So I suppose that makes us friends, Padawan."

"Padawan?" Ruv asked, standing up and approaching the wall. It was impossible to tell where the voice was coming from, but… he felt like it was from the wall. "What are you talking about-"

"You mask your feelings well – but anyone trained in the Force can feel your presence."

Ruv slowly touched the wall, frowning as he tried to make out where the voice was coming from. "You can use the Force?"

"How else do you think we're talking?"

Ruv took a step back, stumbling away from the wall. "How do you know how to do that?"

"The Jedi taught me a lot," the man said, "but there are some things you must learn for yourself."

"You were a Jedi?"

There was a pause. "I was," the man finally confessed. "Just like you."

"I'm still a Jedi-"

"The Jedi are gone. Or… rather, for the most part."

"The most part?" Ruv frowned.

"Unimportant- a certain foreboding Imperial knows I'm a Jedi," the man began to explain, "which means I have to skip a few steps of the plan."

"What plan?"

"Do you really think they caught me?" The man's voice was thick with a smile. "Do you have any weapons?"

"No, they took-"

"What did you have?

"A blaster pistol, my- my lightsaber-"

"That'll do…" the man murmured. "How good are you with it?"

"I'm okay-"

"Now's not the time to be timid."

Ruv tried to control his breathing and steady his voice. He cleared his throat. "I'm good."

"Good, then we might just get out of this alive…" the man murmured. "They'll keep the weapons in the lower levels. Misdemeanours and spice thieves down there… so we'll need blasters in the meantime."

"But what about the ray-"

There was a long whirr that reached a crescendo until the entire tower shuddered and hummed. Finally, darkness blanketed the tower. With lights disappearing all the way down the tower. The ray-shields blinking off. There were yells on the intercom, with blasters firing rapidly and screams scattered between them.

Ruv saw a streak of red and heard thuds as the scarlet illuminated a man stumbling backwards and falling over the railing of the walkway, falling down the endless shaft.

A shadow of a man approached Ruv, offering a hand.

"We've only got a moment before the shields are back on."

Ruv stared at the shadow, getting to his feet and, somewhat ambivalently, approaching the man.

"What's the plan?"

"Get you a blaster, we make our way down to level twenty-three… twenty-three?" He cocked his head to the side, muttering. "Thirty-three…twenty- okay, check thirty-three and then twenty-three."

There was a crackle and a hum before the ray-shields were restored and the lights illuminated the entire tower, climbing up from the bottom of the pit. They rose to the top and Ruv saw the man in front of him.

He was in his prime, maybe on the way out of it. Towering a good half-foot or so above Ruv with golden-brown hair cropped short at the side. A fairly well-groomed beard lined his wide jaw as he gestured to the elevator. "Shall we?"

Ruv began to follow the man when a klaxon blared loudly. They approached the elevator, the man tapping the button and watching as it simply clicked. No whir or any sound at all coming from the shaft.

"The elevator's broken," Ruv stated.

"Quite the eagle-eye, aren't you?" The man said, slapping Ruv on the shoulder. He glanced over the railing of the walkway, narrowing his eyes for a moment before taking a step back. "Try to keep up," he said before lunging forwards and vaulting over the railing, soaring down through the pit and landing on one of the lower walkways. He landed on a stormtrooper that was wrestling with a prisoner and wrenched the blaster from their grip. He shot the one trooper, then two, then three and glanced around to see the prisoners make their way to the elevator before looking back up to see Ruv on the upper walkway.

"Do say if you need me to slow down for you," he called before leaping down across the pit once again.

Ruv took a breath and hesitantly climbed over the railing, looking down at the distant floor, seeing the flashes of red and hearing the agonized cries. He breathed out and let go, falling forwards with his arms stretched out.

Everything moved slowly. He could see the stormtroopers fending off the crazed frenzy of prisoners. He could see imperials smashing the panels of the elevators in a desperate panic to escape. He saw the mysterious stranger hold a stormtrooper in one arm and a blaster in the other. Ruv's fingers closed.

He gripped the walkway floor and felt his body swing back in a perfect arc before releasing. He landed on the metal walkway, stumbling slightly. Ruv swung his leg around a stormtrooper's ankle and knocked him to the ground, picking up the blaster and slamming the butt into his helmet. Ruv looked back to the man, who tugged off the stormtrooper's belt before kicking the body over the railing.

"Keeping up, then?" He asked.

Ruv nodded, trying to find something to say that was calm, suave – charming. Nothing came to mind except a breathless "Uh-huh."

The man walked towards one of the cells, reaching into the belt that was cast across his chest and producing a small metal card. He scanned it against the shield and found three inmates kicking a stormtrooper's body.

"Sorry to interrupt, gentlemen," he said, "one of you isn't a disgraced general, by any chance?" They all remained silent. The man nodded before waving. "As you were."

"A disgraced general?" Ruv asked, following the stranger.

"There's only so much I can find out from interrogating commanders and officers," he explained. "And here I find out that a little over a week ago, a certain general called Antvic Willary is written up and jailed for insubordination."

"So…?"

The man turned back to Ruv. "So that's an invaluable ally when it comes to fighting the Empire."

"Fighting the…" Ruv frowned. "Who are-"

The man opened another cell and frowned. "Well, let's hope he's not dead and I got the floor wrong…" He peered over the railing again. "We'll split up."

"Split up?"

"We need the elevator running – unless you want to carry the general on your back while you leap-frog down."

"How do I turn on the elevator?"

The man turned back to Ruv. "I suggest finding your lightsaber and a cooperative stormtrooper." He flashed Ruv a smile before placing his hand on the railing. "Pip pip," he said, vaulting over the railing.

Ruv cursed under his breath, peering over to see the man continue to shoot his way through the walkways, opening every cell on his way. With a small breath of disbelief, he climbed over the rail and took a long breath before leaping down onto the lower levels.

So, I could write more about this but… I mean, I feel like that would be a bit superfluous. Anyhoo, next chapter will be very short, so I may upload it tonight.