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Couldn't find a picture of a Victory's hangar, though I know they had them. So I winged it. Sorry.

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A week later, Hei felt better than he ever had. Plenty of water, plenty of food on a nice, military diet, and best of all, constant, free access to a real refresher!

A communal one, sure, meant for the navy staff, medical crew and Stormtrooper detachment aboard the ship. But it was in the medical wing, which meant aside from the medical crew at the end of shit, it was empty most of the time. So he had it all to himself. And if his bodyguard, Specialist Brax, had any complaints about how often he used it, he kept them to himself. Probably because, from what little he'd coaxed out of the man, he came from Jaku. Which he'd asked another Trooper about later, and it turned out was a way out there, sandy place a lot like Tatooine.

So… He probably understood how nice it was.

Either way, he was standing in a small room now, at the end of the medical wing, just off the hangar. Since his clothes had been ruined when they brought him in, they'd given him a pair of un-insigniad fatigues, the same greyish ones the technicians on the ship wore. He didn't have the cap, or tools, or anything else the technicians wore, though. Just the loose boilersuit - whatever a boilersuit actually was. He'd asked, but…

The technician had just snorted.

He stepped out of the room and heard a familiar voice grunt, "There you are, Kid."

"Major Font!" He turned, beaming and taking the hand when the man offered it. They shook and he stepped back, looking his armored form up and down. "You seem… Better."

"Much." He nodded, "And you do, too. Aside from…"

"Yeah." He grimaced, reaching up to touch the side of his bald head. The scar was a dark, ruddy red mess, about the width and length of a couple of his fingers that curved along the side of his head. "Doctors, uh, they said it won't go away. And I can't grow hair there, either."

"Happens to the best of us." Font grunted, turning and bobbing his head up the hall, towards the corner right beside the hangar bay. "Your ride down is waiting. Along with a… Guest."

"A guest?"

"Someone important." He grunted, "Didn't want anyone telling you who it was. But word of advice, be on your best behavior."

"Yeah?"

"Like you have a gun on you." He nodded, turning and adding, "Come on, Kid."

"Yeah."

"And… Thanks." He added as they walked, "Saved my life."

"And mine." He smiled, "She'd have… You know, done the same to me."

"Yeah." Font nodded, "But still. Not often someone answers a threat like that by melting its face off."

"Y-Yeah…"

"You okay?"

"I'm fine." He grimaced, "Just…"

"Not sleeping well?"

"No…"

"Hey." He laid a hand on Hei's face to stop him and turned, meeting his eyes through his helmet's visor. He reached up, tapping the side of his head, just under his scar, and said, "You did well. What you had to do. She was a monster."

"I-I know."

"But you still feel like a scag over it." Font grunted, "We all do, after our first. It's normal. Accept what happened, what you did, and it'll pass. In time. And when that feeling hits again, you look for something you care about, and think about it. Just it. Understand?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Good." He grunted, turning and moving on with a final, quiet murmur, "You never forget your first…"

Something about the way he said that caught his attention… Low, under his breath, and with that pained inflection, like he'd stepped on a sprained ankle as he said it. It spoke to him. Made him feel better, somehow. In a weird way he couldn't really put into words.

But as they stepped out into the Victory's hangar bay, he didn't have time to really think about it.

The hangar of the Victory class was longer than it was wide, but was wide enough for TIEs to sit to either side shallow bays, waiting for deployment. Crew were working on a few of them, and more were moving up and down the bay, along with heavy transports carrying fuel and components he couldn't recognize. They gave the space right outside the door he'd come through a wide berth, though. Along with the space leading up to a landed Lambda which rested beside the moderately sized space-bay, a small-ish hole in the bottom of the ship, which he watched a TIE be dropped through as a crane hoisted it over, trailed by another two for what he guessed would be a patrol.

They came to a stop a few feet away from the shuttle and, after a moment, its pneumatics hissed and vented pressure, lowering slowly.

Once it had come all the way down, four Stormotroopers descended silently, wearing well worn armor painted in blue streaks and carrying brand new E-11s like the one Hei had used just a week or so ago. He recognized the paint pattern just in time to panic…

And then he came.

Every step thundered in the suddenly all too silent hangar as Lord Vader, the most powerful man in the galaxy, descended down the ramp. For a moment, that impassive mask settled on him, and Hei struggled to breathe. .Just a look and it felt like a weight was on him, or a spotlight, or both. Like the black-armored man was staring right through him and boring right into his soul, somehow. His cape billowed behind him as he moved, caught in a breeze blown out from the shuttle, and the breeze made his hands feel cold.

"This is him?" Vader asked lowly as he came to them and, finally, turned to look at Major Font.

"Yes, Lord Vader." He nodded, standing straight-backed with his hands at his sides and his gaze locked dead ahead. "This is him."

"I see." He rumbled, his helmet hissing oddly as he turned back to Hei. After a moment, he said, "This… Woman inconvenienced me. I came here for her head. And for the information contained within it as well."

"O-Oh." He swallowed, "I'm, uh, sorry? I couldn't… I had to protect myself-"

"Next time, you will remember that blasters have a stun function." Lord Vader cut him off, turning to Major Font and then turning back to him. Then he… Sighed, almost, and went on, sounding stiff and agitated. "However. You… Did well. You have the Emperor's thanks."

"I-I'm honored."

"As you should be." He grunted hotly, "And you have his invitation as well."

"I-I'm sorry?"

"To the Stormtrooper Academy." Lord Vader explained quietly, almost… Impatiently. "Paid for by the Emperor himself."

"The Academy…" He blinked, "I-I hadn't ever- I-I-I mean, I'm honored, but I-I never thought- The Emperor?"

"Indeed." Lord Vader umbled, turning and saying a final. "Do not disappoint him."

With that said, he climbed the ramp back into his shuttle and his Stormtroopers followed behind. Even with Vader gone, and the ramp sealed, he still didn't relax. Neither did Font, or anyone else nearby, for that matter. Until a full minute had passed, and the world went on, crew and Troopers relaxing with the towering, dark titan gone.

"The Academy…"

"Yeah, kid." Major Font grunted, relief rolling through his words. He turned and chuckled, shaking his head as he turned away and said. "C'mon, now. I'm sure your family will be thrilled to see you. And to hear about your opportunity."

"You think I should take it?"

"I'm a Stormtrooper." He pointed out, "And loyal to the Empire."

"So…?"

"So, I'm biased." He chuckled, then went silent for a few minutes as they boarded another shuttle at the end of the bay, like Lord Vader's except crowded with supply crates and a few other crewmen who gave them space to sit at the ramp. Which was about as much privacy as they could give them.

Finally, Major Font said, "Tatooine is… A hard place to grow up. Harder, almost, to live. Have you thought about what you want to do?"

"Not really." He pursed his lips and leaned his scar against the bulkhead beside him. It was cool, and felt good - soothed the bit of ache that had been building up there. "Da always talked about putting another hab-dome nearby, dozen yards or so, and moving me in there. A few moisture-gatherers, and I'd get by on water. Or I could look for work in the city. N-Nothing criminal, of course, I would never-"

"I don't judge." Font cut in, "I bust, but… I usually don't judge. Smugglers and the petty stuff, I mean. You get into Spice moving or anything like that, and maybe, but… Water? Parts? Weapons, even? People have to get by, and I don't judge, even if I will cuff 'em for it."

"That's… Good of you."

"Not according to the ISB it isn't." He snorted, "But I follow regulation. Anyway…"

"I'd never do dirty work." Hei murmured finally, grimacing when Font turned just a bit to regard him. "I just… No judgin't, like you said, but it's not for me. Can't lie to save my life, and I'd be too anxious with a shipment to not get caught."

"So… Moisture farming."

"Or the Academy…"

"Only one of those offers dental care." Major Font pointed out, "And access to a refresher whenever you want."

"The doctors-"

"Two a day sometimes." Font laughed, "Gets noticed, Kid."

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His parents were waiting for him just outside the landing pad the shuttle came down in. His father was an older, balding man, with deep wrinkles and sand-blotched skin covered up by layers of thin, drab robes. His mom was little better, with a thin frame and an exhausted posture, though her robes were nicer. Mostly thanks to doing most of her work inside, keeping the house up. Which was no easier than his father's time outside - she was just the only one that knew how to keep the atmo-regulators up and running.

"Hei!" His mom almost shouted, throwing her arms around him and drawing more than a few amused looks from the crowd around them. One look at Major Font, right beside him, though, and they moved on quick enough. She pulled away after a second, but didn't let him go, holding his shoulder in one hand and reaching up to cup the side of his head gingerly. "Oh no… Sweetheart, look, he's hurt."

"I'm fine, Ma." He sighed, reaching up to take her hands off him and backing up a step. "THe, uh, doctors patched me up. It's just a scar."

"It doesn't hurt?"

"No." He lied and smiled. It was throbbing, now, with the heat of the sun on it, but that would only worry the both of them. Before they could say anything about it, he turned to his father and grimaced. "Uh, sorry about the hab…"

"The-" He scoffed, "The hab's fine, son. Some Imperial cleaning crew came on through after they, uh, took ya. Cleaned it up. Rest is just surface damage-"

"And that can be replaced with credits." His mom said, "Which we have plenty of now."

"It's his money, Shia-"

"You can have it." He waved his father off and took a breath. "I won't need it. The, uh, the Emperor offered me tuition to the Stormtrooper Academy And I think I'm gonna take it.."

Both his parents froze at the words, and a passerby who heard him did too, until someone ran into her and bowled the Twi'Lek over. As another tripped and fell over them, his mother turned to his father and let him pull her into his arms. Then, after a moment, they both turned, beaming and proud, back to him.

"The Academy…" His mother repeated. "I always knew you'd do something… Bigger than Tatooine."

"And, well…" His father chuckled, "You always did hate the moisture-vaporators."

"Heh." He smirked, "Yeah, I did."

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For all those interested-

No, Vader won't show up again. At least not for a loooong time.

Also sorry for the smaller chapter. Life stuff sorta got in the way.

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