Jaid: *sheepishly walks in* Hi guys. Long time no see. Well, I'm back. I've recently gotten interested in GW fanfiction again, so expect more from me.

This chapter is dedicated too: Midii Une who reminded me that there were still people waiting for this chapter. *sweatdrop* Thanks Mids!

And thanks to all you patient people as well.

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            "This is Blue 2. TIE fighters headed our way, Sectors 5 and 8."

            "Great." Duo muttered.

            "Come on, more practice for me." Hilde reminded him brightly.

            "Yeah, well, you don't have to out maneuver the buggers." Duo said back.

            "How long do you think is going to take?" Blue 3 asked.

            "Hopefully not too much longer!" Blue 2 said.

            "Ahh, sounds like some one's been in the cockpit too long, Ootogi!" Blue 4 quipped.

            "Less chatter." Blue Leader commanded curtly.

            "Hey, some help over here would be nice!" Blue 5 said in a rather panicky tone.

            "Don't sweat it, 5." Duo said. "4 is on its way."

            He turned and headed towards another Y-wing. Although their ship was rather out-dated, Duo showed considerable skill as he passed Five's ship, giving Hilde a clean shot at the TIE fighters. One blew up and the other spiraled down towards the surface of the Death Star.

            "Thanks, man." 5 said gratefully.

            "No prob." Duo grinned.

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            "Sir?"

            Heero turned. "Yes?"

            The cadet fidgeted, then spoke. "We have a message for you. It's in the screening room."

            Heero nodded curtly and walked quickly away.

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            "What's going on?" Triton asked as he entered the hangar again.

            "Boss just said to board and hurry up about it." Bit shrugged. Triton frowned, but followed the blonde into the main ship.

            "Who's piloting?"

            "Boss I think. Hey Cloud!"

            Their partner turned. "Better buckle up guys; we're almost ready to take off. As soon as we're finished fueling-"

            He was cut off as the ship suddenly lurched and the three of them fell.

            "What the-?" Bit shouted.        

            "We've taken off." Triton said.

            "That's impossible." Cloud protested. "We were still hooked up to the fueling lines. That would cause an explosion!"

            Triton stood and ran towards a view port. "Shavit." He breathed.

            There indeed had been an explosion and the three men watched for a moment, frozen as the station seemed to blow up from the inside.

            "Damn, what was he thinking?" Bit demanded.

            Cloud just shrugged. Triton frowned, then turned and ran.

            "Yo! Where are you going!" Bit shouted, following.

            "To the docking bay." Triton answered.

            "What the hell for?"

            Triton stopped and Bit skidded into place beside him as the taller young man quickly punched in a code that opened the docking bay. "If we get one of the freighters in there, we can help evacuate some of the people still inside." The door whooshed open. Triton stared at Bit, as if asking a question.

            "What the hell are you standing there for?" Bit demanded, running for one of the ships. "Let's go!"

            Triton allowed himself a tight smile as he ran after the blonde.

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            "What's going on?" Midii said sleepily. Quatre was shaking her awake.

            "Fire." The young man said with a controlled voice. "Get dressed; we have to get out of here now."

            "Fire?" Midii was fully awake by now. She hurriedly threw on what she had been wearing the day before and ran out, quickly stuffing items in a bag. Fire inside a fueling station would mean evacuation. She wasn't taking much; just necessities.

            After grabbing some clothes for herself and Quatre, as well as whatever food she could carry, all the money she knew they had and some personal items of herself and Quatre, she ran out. Her throat caught in her breath as she saw the orange and black clouds coming from the main part of the station.

            "Mids! This way!" It was Abdul. He was sooty and his clothes were torn. Without a second thought, Midii followed him, trying to remember if she had grabbed a med kit in her haste.

            "You can get on that ship there." Abdul paused. "We've all ready had some deaths. I hate to lay this on you, but can you take control of the kids?"

            "Done." Midii answered immediately. Slinging her bag firmly over her shoulder, she hastily herded the small crowd of children up the gangplank and onto the ship. Just before entering, she looked at the number of ships in the Maguanac's private docking bay and then at the size of the station. They would not be able to save everyone. Her throat tightening, she tore her eyes away and hastened inside.

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            "My lord." Heero bowed before the hologram. The old man in it smiled.

            "I trust you have been efficient."

            "I managed to track down a lead. However-"

            "It does not matter."

            "Sir?" Heero looked up for the first time, but even now, no emotion flickered through his blue eyes.

            "The Princess is no longer a concern of ours, Heero. I have other deeds for you to do."

            "I understand."

            The old man nodded. "Good. I expect you back in Coruscant immediately."

            Heero gave a sharp nod. The transmission ended. Heero walked away quickly. He did not question why his lord had chosen to end the hunt. He did not want to know. He merely did as told. But there was something nagging at his mind. Something about that girl's holo. He shook it off. He was an Imperial Agent. It was best to not dwell on such things. Squaring his shoulders, Heero set off to go back to Coruscant.

            For good or for ill, the matter was closed.

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            Quatre was on one of the ships. It had not been long before the whole station seemed to go up and Rashid had dragged him on to a ship. He stood now before a wide view port, watching the one place he had called home go up in flames.

            "How?" he said in a hoarse, grating tone. Rashid stopped just behind him.

            "The Mercs." The man admitted quietly, tiredly. "They were still connected to the fuel lines and took off. We just had a report over the comm that there was Security on their tail. I guess they thought that the fire would put the police off."

            Quatre's fists clenched and angry tears stung his eyes. How could somebody be so selfish as to risk hundreds of lives to…his thought trailed off as Rashid moved to be beside him.

            "Are they still here?" Quatre asked.

            "They're hyperdrive wasn't fully operational. We were still working on it." Rashid answered.

            "Are you going to stop me?"

            Rashid was quiet before answering. "No."

            "Good." Quatre turned tightly on his heel and stalked off, pausing to grab a flight helmet.

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            "Okay, Blue Squadron; it's been done! Let's get our asses out of here." Blue Leader said. There were cheers and whoops as the squadron turned and flew back, eventually joining with others. Hilde suddenly gave a gasp.

            "What?" Duo spun quickly, only to see the super-nova sized explosion happening so close behind them. "Wow…"

            "There she blows!" Five's partner joked.

            "I can't believe we did it." Three said in an awed voice. There was silence as everyone took that in. They had done it. Hilde suddenly felt weak as she realized the huge odds that had been against them. The adrenaline faded, leaving her tired, but still somehow exhilarated with victory. She laughed and realized there were tears in her eyes.

            "Well, we survived that one." She commented lightly.

            "Yeah." Duo mused. "Guess we're going to have die another day."

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            "Highness, Your highness."

            Relena's eyes came open to stare at a young boy.

            "We've landed. Gene said to wake you up."

            Relena smiled at him. "Thank you…" what was his name? "Jim." She hazarded, hoping it was right. The youngster gave her a bright smile and left. Relena sat up, still in the same clothes she had worn to escape her own ship. Pulling on her slippers, she carefully walked into the narrow hallway, nearly colliding with the other young woman who lived on the ship. Dorothy was just behind her.

            "We'll be leaving soon." The blonde said. Relena nodded. The other woman smiled kindly.

            "I'll make you something to eat before you go." She offered. Relena smiled back and thanked her.

            As soon as she had left, Relena turned to Dorothy. "What are we going to do?"

            Dorothy glanced at her, before turning to go. "Survive."

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            How long had it been? Midii didn't know. It seemed like days had gone by when she knew it could have only been a few hours. More and more people had piled onto the ship, each one more soot covered, more burnt than the last. She'd finally had the children do odd jobs while doing her best to care for the ones burnt the worst. A few had even died.

            Now she was tired, both physically and emotionally. Walking to a wide viewport, Midii's breath caught in her throat. The station was still burning in on itself. Tears steamed down her cheeks and she sank. Where was Quatre? Had he gotten off? What about Abdul and his lovely Twi'lek fiancée? Rashid and his family? Had Rin's parents made it or was the talkative little girl now an orphan?

            "Mids?"

            The girl turned. Quatre stood there, looking tired, sooty, sweaty, and exhausted. Some of the fire had gotten to close and singed his hair, as well as giving him sunburn-like marks on his face. But to Midii, he had never looked so beautiful. With a choked sob, she stood and flung herself at him. He embraced her tightly.

            "It's okay, Mids." He said, hushing her and stroking her hair till she quieted.

            "Are you all right?" she murmured. She looked at him. His jaw was tight and he had cried; his eyes were red-rimmed and pale streaks were on his cheeks were the tears had gone through the soot.

            "It was the mercs." He said in a hoarse whisper. "I went after them in a fighter; but they hit hyperspace." He drew in a breath. "But…my people? Gods, where are they going to go?"

            Midii just hugged him, as he shook from the emotion. Once again, there was nothing she could say. Nothing she could do. Except be there for him.

            "Come on." She said softly. "You could use some bacta on those burns and some water."

            Quatre, thoroughly exhausted, allowed the girl to lead him away, as the fire in the station finally died out.

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            "Well, that was that." Bit said absentmindedly. He and Triton had contacted one of the Maguanac ships, saying that they had refugees aboard. They were now part of the space caravan, heading for Triton's home planet. Darknell.

            "I suppose we're not part of that merc group anymore." Bit continued.

            "No, I suppose not." Triton answered quietly. Cathy would be happy about that…

            "It's kinda sad, you know?"

            "Hm?"

            "That." Bit motioned to the last of the wreck. "Seems a shame…and then all these people homeless. I just can't believe the Boss would panic and do something like that."

            "It gets the police off our-their trail for a long time." Triton commented, punching in coordinates for hyperspace.

            "Still seems like a waste to me." Bit muttered. Triton found his choice of words rather insulting, but he knew what the young man meant. Triton had traveled enough with Bit to know that although Bit wasn't the brightest lazer in the cannon, he did have a heart.

            "Hold on." He said briefly, pulling the hyperspace lever. The ship jumped forward. The two men were silent as they were pulled through the vector. It would be a few hours before they reached their destination.

            "Where will you go?" Bit asked.

            "Stay on Darknell. With my sister." Triton answered briefly.

            "Ah, so you have family."

            Triton nodded. He hesitated, then said, "You?"

            "I don't know." Bit admitted softly. "I really don't know."

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            And so, the lives of fifteen people have forever been changed.

            On Yavin IV, a husband and wife smuggling team joyfully help celebrate a victory for the Rebellion. On the same planet, in a quiet room away from the excitement, a Rebel soldier and a medical officer sit together in comfortable silence, her hand on his shoulder.

            On Darknell, a young woman mourns her family, while another offers the best comfort she can and prays for her younger brother's safe return.

            On Coruscant, an officer of a TIE squadron defects and falls out of view, while another officer returns to his master. In the Underworld, a dethroned princess and her assistant began a new life.

            On the beautiful planet of Cinq, the new Moff surveys what he has been effectively imprisoned in and thinks for a long time. His colonel waits patiently by his side for a command.

            And in space, two young men wonder about the future, while the remnants of a people try to figure out the shattered mess their lives have become. And in the midst of this grief, a young man and woman find comfort in each other.

            This story may have ended….

            But the adventure has just begun.

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Wow. It's done! Well, the first part anyway. Watch for Among the Stars: Act II, which takes place during "The Empire Strikes Back". I'm hoping to get up a chapter in the next few weeks or so, but we'll see how it goes.

Midii: Yeah, I kinda enjoyed it too. ^__^ I always thought that they might make an interesting couple, but they aren't really given a chance in the cannon timeline.

Blue eyes – No problem. Hope you're still reading this…

KaT – lol, thanx for the enthusiastic review!

Okay, for contest results: Midii won this time ppls. KaT and some others did pretty well, but Midii got the most. So, Mids, pick a couple and a song and send 'em to me so I can write your song fic!