They land on Lothal, outside the main city. Hunter, Echo and Tech head in toward the city centre disguised as two merchants and a droid.
"I thought you said there wasn't much Imperial presence here yet," Echo complains, as they hide to let a third patrol go by.
"I thought I told you my information could be unreliable," Tech replies.
Hunter nods towards the tall building a block away.
"There," he says. "That's the hub."
They creep along the back alleys and reach the Imperial Hub. It's a tall communications tower with, according to Tech's intel, only one way leading in, guarded by two regs, and patrolled regularly. A patrol is just outside it, speaking to a tall man with light hair and beard.
"We have our orders, Governor Azadi," they overhear the regs' squad leader telling the tall man. "Any insurgent that poses a threat to the Galactic Empire and its citizens is to be apprehended at once."
"Apprehended and then what? Our detention centres are full. These are farmers, not insurgents," the Governor says. The squad leader stands at attention looking forward and does not reply. The Governor breathes out sharply through his nose. "You will at least not use force against unarmed civilians."
"These are our orders, Governor," the squad leader repeats without inflection. "We are to use whichever means necessary to protect the peace and interests of the Galactic Empire."
Tech leans against a crate that slips and clatters to the ground. The Governor glances sharply towards the noise, and Hunter pulls back around the corner of the building. They run silently back around another corner while the patrol investigates. They wait for a few moments and when they look again, both the Governor and the patrol are walking away. Only the two guards remain at the entrance of the building.
"We're on," Hunter tells them. "In and out. No blasters, no trace."
Tech makes quick work of luring the guards away from their posts temporarily, allowing Hunter and Echo to slip into the building.
Inside, Tech's info proves much more reliable. They carefully slip through the security points and reach the outlet where Echo can extract their intel. He connects and scans through the databanks until he finds what he's looking for. He's good at covering his tracks, but he is always over-cautious, so he randomly selects five other folders to throw off the scent in case their incursion is discovered, and starts the download.
The droid suit is hot, and he is uncomfortable in it, but at least they're on a job. It's the in-between, drifting aimlessly from place to place that scares him. Echo grimaces under the droid face shield and pulls his mind back to the download.
He is almost finished when he hears a metal click against his temple, and he realizes with a sinking feeling that there's a blaster pointed at his head.
"Care to explain who you are and what you are doing before I fry your droid's circuits?"
It is the tall man with light hair whom they saw talking to the patrol earlier, Lothal's Governor.
Echo's download finishes and he disconnects from the panel. He stands slowly and raises his arm and socket arm up on either side of his head. The Governor's question is not directed at him, so he says nothing, waiting for Hunter to speak for him. He pictures himself wobbling from side to side uttering a high pitched "Oh, my!", but thankfully he's not supposed to be that kind of droid. The image is still depressing.
"I don't want any trouble," Hunter says carefully, holding his blaster pointed away from the Governor. He steps forward slowly.
"Funny to hear you say that," Azadi says, "when you break into an Imperial Hub to download information."
"I mean no harm to the people of Lothal, Governor," Hunter tells him, taking one more step. "Once my business here is done, I will leave and not cause you any trouble."
"So, it's Imperial information you're after?" Azadi asks. "What are you? Mercenary? Bounty hunter?"
Hunter shakes his head.
"I'm just trying to survive in a galaxy that's turned upside down," he says, and it is so near the truth that it comes out sounding honest.
Azadi narrows his eyes and tilts his head to the side. "You say you are no threat specifically to Lothal. What about the Galactic Empire?"
"Unfortunately, I don't pose a threat to that either," Hunter admits, choosing his words carefully, hoping to still get out of this without a blaster exchange.
Azadi raises an eyebrow. "Unfortunately, is it? I believe you heard that any dissidents are to be apprehended."
Hunter takes another step closer to Azadi.
"I don't think you're a supporter of those orders yourself, Governor," he says to him.
Azadi purses his lips and narrows his eyes. The blaster aimed at Echo lowers an inch, and Echo knows that should Hunter give the signal, he could disarm the Governor and incapacitate him. But Hunter lowers his blaster all the way to the ground instead and waits. The seconds trickle by.
"You'd best be gone before the next patrol is due," Azadi finally says to them. "Our detention centres are currently much too overcrowded and I've got my hands full keeping Lothal's civilians out of them."
…
"Did you get it?" Tech asks, as Hunter and Echo re-emerge from the building, and slip unnoticed past the guards. They quickly put some distance between themselves and the hub.
"Next time you stand guard, perhaps you could give us a warning before the man with the blaster walks in on us," Echo complains.
"Oh, was that what I was supposed to do?" Tech asks, rolling his eyes. "It just didn't cross my mind." He gives Echo a slanted look. "No one walked into the building on my watch."
Hunter glances behind him at the tower. "Then how did he get in? He didn't get into that room past me."
"I don't think that matters much now," Tech replies, checking his screen. "We'd better hurry to the market, conduct our business, and get off planet before we run into any more overzealous patrols of brainwashed regs. The place is swarming with them."