Outside of the caves, under a blazing noon sun, Ru stared as the Rebels scrambled over themselves in panic and desperation. Normally, he wouldn't care about the Rebels, but like Tor said earlier, they were in the debt of one Rebel in particular. "Will we at least keep an eye out for him?" he asked Zar. "I haven't forgotten about the plan, I just want to try and return the favor. If it weren't for this Luke Skywalker, the Rebels would have brought us back to you in an ashtray."

There was no answer. Ru turned around to see that Zar had the tooth again and he held it up to his helmet briefly. They all knew this was how he prepared himself for a particularly dangerous mission…and to remember her by. Ru felt the familiar pang of loss and grief. Even though he knew that it was nowhere near what his friend felt, Ru still missed and mourned for her…he wasn't fond of her at first, but after all they went through, Ru realized she truly was one of a kind.

Zar put it away, and said, "Sure thing. You owe him, which means I owe him too."

The other Talons were waiting at the edge of all of the activity, staring out in the direction of where their ship was. Like an unwanted shadow, Nailah stalked up to them, and demanded, "What are you doing?! Make yourselves useful and help us pack the speeders!"

"Forgive us, Nailah," replied Tor, as he turned and bowed to her. "But we need to get more supplies after our attack on the excavation site. General Spar gave us permission to do so."

The Twi'lek glared at them with annoying skepticism and Ru sneered. And she wondered why they weren't falling over themselves to serve the Rebels. "I'll be sure to ask him right now. But if I find out you did this without his—"

A decent sized floating pod shot out of the jungle and Nailah almost fell over herself to get out of the way. "What the hell is that?!" she snapped, her blaster now fixed on the pod.

Ru grinned at Zar and they bumped fists. "That would be one of our pilot's many inventions," Zar informed her, as they walked up to them. "These pods can deliver supplies and arms to us out in the field."

With a hiss, the pod's lid opened, revealing all sorts of ammo, gear, and other supplies. Dendro took out the first item and handed it to SN. "My friend," he grinned, "I believe this is yours."

SN took the sleek Umbaran rifle from the Besalisk and ran his hands lovingly over it. "At last," he breathed, "I feel complete again. While I'd rather be back on the Shyyyo Talon, away from all of the danger, Imps, and other unpleasant company, I can't say I won't enjoy putting this marvel of Umbaran technology to use."

"Please," grunted Nailah, "do so. If Locus sees that thing, he'll be sure to flatten you first."

The droid glanced at her. "Don't you have a higher up to whine to?"

She didn't even bother with a glare or remark, but walked off. Bariq made the gesture for them to speak in Sy Bisti before he spoke again. "I'm going to enjoy ditching that tailhead," he hissed, his yellow eyes narrow.

"Wait until I give the word," Zar told him. "Then we run like the entire galaxy is on our tails."

"We'll have to choose our next hiding spot carefully," Dendro mused. "We don't want to accidentally pick whatever planet the rest of the Rebels are holed up on."

"Cantonica, perhaps?" Tor suggested.

They all groaned in reply. "That armpit of the galaxy?" Ru grunted. "No thanks."

"They do make good roasted Fathiers though," Tor noted, licking his sharp teeth.

"About the only thing the meatbags on that dirtball are good for," SN replied.

They went to join the Rebel leaders, who were grouped together next to some speeders. Nailah had just finished a chat with Haldan when she noticed them. "Congratulations," she snarked. "According to the General, it seems you actually can follow regulations."

Before they could snark back, she left and walked towards Kashvi, who was prepping one of the speeders. "Remember," growled Haldan softly, his unblinking mechanical white eyes fixed on them. "Your first and only priority is to rescue Commander Skywalker. Do that, and the Rebellion will be in your debt—"

"And that's worth about as much as a Separatist credit," Ru interrupted.

"—and your reward will of course be increased substantially, Drabatan."

They all looked at each other. They were planning on ditching the Rebels the first chance they got, but they had to admit, Haldan Spar truly was turning out to be a professional. "Thank you, General Spar," said Zar. "Alright boys, let's go rescue the Hero of the Rebellion."

Kashvi barely restrained a sigh as she saw Nailah's chat with the Talons. Nailah was the closest thing she had to a sister, but the Twi'lek was too eager to make enemies or hold a grudge. She hoped that it wouldn't come back to bite Nailah one of these days. "Is the speeder ready?" Nailah asked as she reached the speeder.

Kashvi took one look at the readout and nodded. "Of course. Only thing that it's missing is one rescued Rebel pilot."

Nailah had a knowing grin on her face. "And I'm sure he'll appreciate it."

Kashvi felt her cheeks flush and tried to change the subject. "Are they coming with us?"

The grin vanished. "Of course. Who else would be able to keep them from betraying the Rebellion again?" Then Nailah's expression softened. "But enough about that. We have a call to make."

She took out a holoprojector and turned it on. A few moments later, a young female Twi'lek appeared. "You said you'd call earlier," the Twi'lek sulked.

"Ekhi," said Nailah softly, "you know what the Rebellion is like. Things have gotten crazy here and we're about to go on another mission. But I have good news, if things keep up, we won't have to stay on Yuca much longer. I promise."

Ekhi's face brightened. "You mean it?!"

Nailah smiled. "Of course."

The small Twi'lek leapt for joy. "Yes! I'll let mother know right away!"

The smile turned brittle. "How is she, Ekhi? Still holding up?"

Kashvi shifted uncomfortably. "Wow, would you look at that?" she said loudly and knelt under the steering controls. "Some of the wires got loose again. That's what you get when you try taking a speeder through the Yucari jungle. I'll go get my tools—"

Nailah laid a hand on her shoulder, her smile warm again. "Kashvi Yamuna," she chided. "It's alright. You and your family are part of ours now. You don't have to leave."

Kashvi heaved a sigh of relief. "Mother's recovering fine," Ekhi told them. "But she's still worried about you, you missed our last call."

Nailah's face hardened, and she looked away, just as Kashvi desperately tried getting her attention. She did not want Ekhi to see her sister's reaction. "I'm sorry. I…I had to deal with a group of the worst bounty hunters in the galaxy."

Her little sister looked skeptical. "Really? Bounty hunters?"

"Present."

Nailah nearly dropped the holoprojector. Zar and the rest of the Talons were standing right behind her. Thankfully, they didn't look like they were there to trade barbs with Nailah for once. "We're the ones who unintentionally caused Nailah so much trouble," Zar went on, and gave a slight bow. "My apologies for that. But you can rest assured, we shouldn't be annoying her much after this mission."

Ekhi looked awestruck. "Whoa! Nailah, you didn't tell me you met a Mandalorian!"

"We have to go," said Nailah hurriedly. "Ekhi, please give my love to the rest of the family. Stay safe, I'll try and be back soon." She closed the call, and then whirled on Zar, her face livid. "Don't you…ever…talk to my sister…again!"

The Talons all stared at her solemnly. "Don't worry," Zar replied. "We won't."

Nailah glared venomously at him for a few moments, and then stormed off. Kashvi had a feeling she was either going to get more weapons, companions, or both. She looked at the bounty hunters, giving them her best serious expression. "I'm glad you didn't try and start anything for a change. I hope it stays that way, but be warned, if you ever go near Nailah's family, she will tear the galaxy apart to get you."

Dendro crossed all four arms and stared seriously back at her. "Like Zar already said, we wouldn't do anything to her family. We're bounty hunters, not Palpatine or his cronies."

The Talons all nodded, even SN, and Kashvi felt that they were being sincere. Her face softened and she nodded. "I hope you can get Nailah to believe you, because here she comes."

Nailah stalked towards them, with a large Wookiee on either side of her. They glared and growled at the Talons threateningly, who looked unimpressed…save for Bariq, who subtly shuffled behind Dendro. "My furry friends here will accompany you in the other speeders," Nailah growled. "If they even think you're up to something, they'll tear your arms off and beat you senseless with them."

For once, Zar didn't seem to have a witty answer. He merely shrugged, and they all went to their respective speeders, ready to begin their search for Commander Skywalker.

Tor did his best to try and relax, but failed. They had been riding around for hours now; the sun had begun to set, and the green of the jungle and bright colors of its many strange plants had vanished, replaced with black shadows and the few last rays from the sun. Thankfully, they had avoided Imperials for the most part, but soon they would have to deal with nocturnal predators. If this had been on his homeworld, or any ocean for that matter, Tor would have been ready to face anything. But this world had been one of the most difficult for him, and he was eager to find what they had put so much time and effort into searching for, and leave.

He glanced at Zar. His friend leaned back as best he could in the cramped speeder, almost appearing relaxed. But Tor knew that he was waiting for the right moment for their escape. Guilt pricked at him as he looked at Kashvi, who was piloting their speeder. Nailah…was a bit of a handful, to say the least. But Kashvi was an innocent, one of the most genuine Rebels they had come across. He didn't want to hurt her if he could help it.

A low growling murmur distracted him. To Zar's right, one of the Wookiees was trying to keep his eyes on Tor, Zar, and the jungle all at once. The Wookiee had done a successful job looking tough and fearless during the trip, but the façade was starting to slip the darker the jungle became. "Easy, friend," Tor assured him. "Your commitment to staying alert is admirable, but if you start at every small noise in this place, you won't be much good to your comrades."

The Wookiee growled indignantly, but calmed down slightly all the same. "You should have been a therapist," grunted Zar. "Tor Nitros, the Karkarodon so calm and professional he can soothe the savage Wookiees…no offense, of course," he added as the Wookiee gave him an annoyed glance.

"Would never work," Tor informed him drily. "My face would frighten off half of my patients."

Zar laughed, and even Kashvi and the Wookiee chuckled. "I have to ask, Tor," Kashvi began, while keeping her eyes on driving, "but why did you become a demolition expert? Most of the ones I've met are loud, rude, and enjoy their job way too much. You seem too nice for that kind of work."

The speeder began to slow down; the speeders up ahead had started to stop for some reason. Tor shifted uncomfortably, trying to deal with guilt and anger all at once. Kashvi was making this more and more difficult, and it didn't help that she dug up old bitter memories. But he answered nonetheless. "Same as the rest of us. The Empire. That's why we're all here." He paused, unsure if he should, but then he went on. "And…because of Vader."

Kashvi hit the brakes too hard, and they jolted to a stop, hurtling them forwards slightly. The Wookiee gave a small irritated roar, but Kashvi didn't pay him any attention. Her fear filled eyes were fixed on Tor's. "Vader?! You ran into Vader?! How…how did you survive?"

Tor couldn't bring himself to answer and got out of the speeder. "My dear," said Zar as he slid out, but not unkindly. "They say it's not wise to upset a Wookiee, and the same is equally true of Karkarodons. Best to let it go for now."

Kashvi hesitated, but gave an unexpected reply. "Very well. But I think you should know that you're not the only one who suffered because of Vader."

Tor locked his eyes on hers. "What do you mean?"

Kashvi looked away for a moment, unsure, but then went on. "When we find him, I feel you should meet Commander Skywalker. He lost one of his friends to Vader. Thankfully, Luke was able to return the favor with the Death Star…" She gained a somber look. "But I know he still misses General Kenobi."

Tor was about to gently decline her offer when he noticed Zar. His friend looked off into the distance, and muttered, "Kenobi…Tor, that's another familiar name…but where have I heard it before?"

Tor frowned. His friend had been acting strange even before these familiar names started buzzing around him, but now he was starting to kick it into high gear. Before Tor could reply though, an angry voice shouted in Drabatese. "Who are you calling short, you walking mat collection?!"

Ru and the other Wookiee were circling each other next to the speeders ahead. Tor and Zar both groaned. This was all they needed, Ru getting into another scrap over a height comment. They all rushed over as the other Wookiee snarled at Ru. "Try it, furball!" snapped Ru, and drew his kukri. "I know a few Trandoshans who could make a nice rug out of you—!"

Tor tackled Ru to the ground. Before the Drabatan could recover, Tor sat on him, keeping him pinned into the dirt. Unfortunately, the other Wookiee still looked like he wanted to rip Ru's head off. Fortunately, the Wookiee that they had ridden with got between them. He was bigger than his comrade and growled a warning to him. The other Wookiee still looked angry, but backed down.

Nailah strode forward, looking particularly vicious this time. Tor got off his friend, who cursed non-stop as he got to his feet. Her blue eyes shot daggers at Ru and the Wookiee before she started. "I don't care who started it. But the next time someone starts a fight, I'll personally have the General—"

A beeping sound interrupted her. They all looked for the source of it, which was in the hands of a green skinned Mirialan with short black hair. "Incoming vehicles!" she said. "Not ours!"

Nailah made a few gestures with her hands and they all hurried to their speeders. They took a different route deeper into the jungle, until they came to another hollow, where large strange shapes were clumped together on the ground and in the treetops. They parked the speeders and covered them up with foliage. "Find cover!" Nailah ordered quietly. "Nobody moves until I give the signal! Talons, follow my subordinates' instructions!"

Kashvi guided them to the roots of a giant tree, and a Yucari started tapping his claws along one of them, until he found what he was looking for. He lifted a vine, tapped a bulge in the bark, and a panel of it opened up. They all scurried in, and the Yucari closed it behind them, enveloping them in darkness. Thankfully, a low light appeared, in the hands of the female Mirialan. "Ventvi," muttered Zar, his head tilted. "It's been awhile."

Ventvi's face turned a darker green and she gave him an embarrassed glare. "Have you dated every woman in the galaxy?!" Kashvi whispered, annoyance carved into her otherwise soft features. She shook her head. "Don't answer that, I don't need to hear about a Mandalorian's love life."

"Quiet!" hissed the Yucari. He had climbed up inside the tree trunk, his voice echoing down to them. "The Imps are coming!"

They all shut up. As the minutes passed, they started to hear the sound of heavy metal footsteps, humming speeders, and the filtered chatter of Stormtroopers. As the tense look on Kashvi grew stronger, Tor placed a hand on her shoulder, and gave her as friendly and comforting look as his frightening face could manage. Her expression didn't go away, but it at least lessened. Zar took out the akul tooth again, and held it to his heart, muttering under his breath. Kashvi glanced at him, curiosity battling the tension for control of her face. All the while, they waited.

Finally, the sounds began to move away, until all was quiet save for their breathing. The Yucari gently called down, "Ventvi, toss me your scanner!"

Ventvi quietly went to the center of the tree and threw it to the Yucari. A moment later, he said, "They're gone, let's get out of here."

They all filed out of the tree. The sun had set, and now darkness blanketed the jungle, with a few beams of moon and starlight piercing through the canopy. One of those beams illuminated one of the shapes, a ruined round structure made of foliage, vines, and wood. Kashvi and the Yucari walked up next to Tor, and the Yucari sighed, "This is one of the many villages we had to abandon when the Empire came. Granted, this is a temporary village, built so that when flooding season or Yuca's wildlife become too much to handle, we can leave until all is well again. But still…it's disheartening to see the Imps ruin them out of pure spite."

"We'll beat them in the end," Kashvi promised. "But we have to continue our mission for now—"

The jungle exploded with noise as a scaly object wrapped around something metal fell from above. It landed on the ground with a heavy crack, most likely broken bones. It was another Yucabra, but it still held its prize in a death grip, until a laser drilled through its head. The object scrambled out of the snake's coils and stopped when it noticed them. A bolt tore through its own head and it collapsed in a heap.

"Another droid," said Zar, a pistol in hand. "I think we should get the hell out of here now."

They all raced for the speeders. The sound of metal steps and humming speeders started to return, but thankfully, they took off in the opposite direction. Before Tor could hold on for dear life as Kashvi flew through the jungle, Zar tapped Tor on his shoulder, then tapped his own gauntlet. Tor groaned. The sign that they were about to abandon ship. Wonderful.

"Get ready!" shouted Kashvi. "We're going to regroup with some of the other search parties! We'll never find Luke unless we get rid of these—!"

Zar tapped his gauntlet again, and with a sigh, Tor leapt out of the speeder, Zar right behind him. Kashvi screamed Tor's name with concern, but Tor reluctantly ignored her, and followed Zar deeper into the jungle. A few minutes later, they rejoined the other Talons. "If I ever break any parts jumping off a vehicle at full speed," SN complained, picking leaves and other debris out of his chassis, "it's coming out of your salaries."

"At least we're finally free of those Rebels," Dendro grinned.

"Let's hope we don't cross paths with them again," Tor sighed. "I'm afraid we've now officially spent what little goodwill we had left with them."

Zar snorted. "No offense, but you're giving them too much credit Tor. They would have found a way to use us as cannon fodder eventually."

"Do you want to talk in the middle of a warzone," interrupted Bariq, "or do you want to get rich?"

Zar gestured at him to lead the way. Bariq pointed to the north and said, "We'll have to keep going that way, according to Kebro, the instructions on the fangs say that we have to place them in certain locations at four ancient temples. Then the path to whatever we're looking for will be revealed."

A muffled explosion echoed behind them. Tor didn't even bother asking for permission, he just scooped Bariq up, and they ran as fast as they could. As they kept brushing aside giant leaves, plants, and other flora, Tor felt like an absolute fool. He could barely see his hand in front of his face, for all he knew, he could be running straight into the mouth of some horrid creature. But behind them were the Imps, who were worse than any wild animal. So he kept running right until his foot found nothing but empty air.

He tumbled down the steep incline like a big, dumb, blue boulder. He felt Bariq fall off of him and heard him squealing like a Womp rat. From the other assorted curses and shouts, he knew his comrades weren't faring any better. A few moments later, they all came to a sprawl at the bottom, and tried their best to ignore the pain and keep going…unsuccessfully.

"You think whoever made those fangs," groaned Zar, "would warn us about that sharp drop."

Tor glanced around at where they landed. Thankfully, they were in another hollow, filled with giant glowing plants, and no hungry animals. "Chin up, Zar," said Tor, and he helped his friend to his feet. "You could always be back with Nailah and the others—"

A distant humming sound diverted his attention. He tackled Zar back down as a laser whizzed over their heads. Tor glanced up to see a collection of speeder bikes gather at the top of the incline, and their riders taking up sniper positions. The heavy clanking sound of metal feet and cracking trees began to echo throughout the space. "Find cover!" Tor shouted at his comrades, as he dragged Zar with him.

He barely dodged the other bolts as he ducked behind one of the plants. Tor heard the bolts batter the planet, but amazingly, it held up. "It's like Felucia all over again," grunted Zar, a pistol now in hand.

Bariq scampered over to the plant next to them, just as a heavy bolt blew a small crater where he used to be. "Thanks for helping me escape the AT-ST, Tor!" snapped Bariq.

Tor stared incredulously at the Jawa. "You disappeared, how was I—?!"

"Attention, crew of the Shyyyo Talon!" shouted a distorted voice.

There was the sound of feet skidding along the incline, and the telltale clicks of weapons being primed. Tor glanced around the corner and saw a Death Trooper leading the others, while an AT-ST glared down at them from above. "If it were up to me," snapped the Death Trooper, "I would let our walker wipe you from the face of Yuca. But we have orders from Moff Locus to bring you in alive. If you surrender now, you might actually come out of this with credits and your lives…" There was the sound of him tightening his grip on his rifle. "But I have a feeling we'll have to do this the hard way."

Tor whispered urgently to Zar, "Any ideas how we get out of this?!"

Zar glanced around the hollow, but then he lowered his head. "Sorry guys," he muttered tightly. "The best we can do is take as many as we can with us—"

The sound of another approaching speeder bike interrupted him. They all looked up and blanched. "Who the hell is that?!" exclaimed Tor.

He had to thank whoever was down there later. If the AT-ST hadn't been looking down into the hollow, he might not have gotten this chance. As he realized how lucky he was, he mentally winced. So far luck was the only reason he was still alive. Luck had helped him survive the crash, allowed him to steal an Imp's bike when he wasn't looking, and so on. But old Ben would have said it was the Force…

He shook himself back to reality. Now wasn't the time to be distracted. He pulled the lightsaber from his belt, ignited it, and cut one of the walker's legs off as he passed by and flew into the hollow. For an instant, he allowed himself to enjoy the moment, the rush of flying through the air, and the satisfying sound of the walker crashing to the earth.

And then a laser bolt hit the bike.

The bike swerved violently and he fell off. Thankfully, the bike hadn't been too far from the ground, but he still hit the ground hard, and rolled around scattering grass and foliage everywhere. As he scrambled to get up, dodging several stun blasts as he did so, he saw his lightsaber next to a strange giant plant, and he dove behind it and grabbed his weapon.

"Phew!" sighed Luke Skywalker. "Good thing Han's not here, he'd never let me live that down."

"Who in the moons of Bogden are you?"

Luke gave a start. A figure in Mandalorian armor was staring right at him. His armor was red and white all over, and he had four white stripes on his helmet. A blue shark-like alien with too many teeth was crouched next to him, an utterly bewildered look on his face. Not far away behind another plant, was a Jawa, his ion blaster pointed right at Luke's head.

"I'm Luke Skywalker," he replied brazenly. "And unless I'm mistaken, I think I just rescued you."

"Congratulations," snarked the Jawa, his eyes narrowed. "After all of the praise from one of the most beautiful Togrutas around, you turned out to be the shortest, youngest, and dumbest Rebel we've ever seen."

"Talons!" shouted the Death Trooper. "That Rebel is a priority target! Hand him over and Moff Locus will personally pardon all of your crimes against the Empire!"

The Mandalorian gestured at the shark-like alien. He nodded in reply and took the nasty looking rocket launcher off his back. A moment later, he charged out, and fired a missile. The Imps scrambled for cover, but a few were still sent flying thanks to the explosion. "You're probably right, Bariq," the Mandalorian told the Jawa. "But we're still not handing him over to the Empire."

Bariq the Jawa sighed. "Fine. Then help us get out of this mess, hero."

Luke ignited his lightsaber, and they all ran out, ready to fight. He blocked a few bolts, and then began to cut down the closest troopers, his saber carving through them like butter. As the Talons, as they were seemingly called, opened fire on the Imps, Luke saw more of them coming out from behind the other plants, including an RA-7 protocol droid with insect-like eyes, a massive frog-like Besalisk with absurdly huge cannons on his back, and an amphibious Drabatan wielding a kukri and a yellow lightsaber pike, and every one of them began to cut down the Imps with deadly efficiency. Luke's mouth hung open in bewilderment. Who were these guys?

Mechanical grunts broke him out of his trance. He saw the Death Trooper brawling with the Mandalorian; the Imp had tackled him to the ground, and beat on the Mandalorian's helmet repeatedly. "You're pathetic, Zaram Atoll!" roared the Imp. "You should have let them finish your upgrades back on Coruscant! You could have been a fine weapon for the Empire—!"

Zaram swung his right fist at the Imp's last punch. The Death Trooper's armored hand was crushed instantly, and the Imp fell back howling in pain. Before he could get back up, Zaram grabbed his fallen pistol, and shot the Imp between the eyes. A nearby scout trooper raised his own pistol and fired, but Luke got between them, and swatted the bolt back at him. As the Imp fell, Luke looked around, and saw that the Talons had already finished off the rest of the Imps. Luke nodded his approval. "I don't know who you guys are, but from what I've seen, the Alliance would recruit all of you in a heartbeat."

They all stared at him in stunned disbelief. "Gentlemen," said Zaram, as his hand gestured at Luke, "allow me to introduce Luke Skywalker."

"Be still my capacitor," said the droid, sarcasm oozing off of every word. "The Hero of the Rebellion. Truly, Nailah and Kashvi's accounts fall…utterly short of the real deal."

Luke gave a start. "You know Nailah and Kashvi?" he asked, and chose to ignore the droid's jibe. "Where are they? Are they ok?"

"Beats me," grunted the Drabatan. "We wisely decided to part ways with them a little while ago."

"What's that supposed to mean?" demanded Luke.

"It means they spun us a fancy yarn," interrupted Zaram, "that they were helpless villagers, and all too soon it turned into yet another crusade against the Empire."

"No way, Nailah would never try anything that low—"

Zaram and the others burst out into laughter, even the droid acted highly amused. "Sorry about that," wheezed the Besalisk. "But it looks like you don't know that tailhead all too well. It's not a problem though, you're a young human, you'll learn soon enough."

Luke frowned, but decided to drop it for now. "Alright, I'll take your word for it. But who are you guys, and do you know where I can find Yucari Base?"

"As our former Death Trooper said," said Zaram, his arms crossed, "I'm Zaram Atoll, but call me Zar, please."

"Dendro Argus," said the Besalisk, all four hands on his chest.

"I am Tor Nitros," said the shark-like alien with a bow.

"And I am Bariq!" exclaimed Bariq proudly.

"Rusco'Draba'Snar Scal'Ro'Tek Chal'Nek'Ri'Bit'Skar'Grit'Ton'Lee'Rul," said the Drabatan all in one breath.

Luke stared blankly at the Drabatan, not knowing what to say to that. The droid shook his head, and said, "Don't bother with his full name, we all call him Ru for short. And I am SN-16, but SN will do fine."

The droid jolted his memory and Luke reached for his comm. It was slightly damaged, but still good enough to contact his companion. "You just reminded me SN," he noted, "I have a friend who could use your help."

"I don't do charity work for random Rebels, you dimwitted—"

Luke ignored him, and said, "R2, are you up there? You can come on down, I don't think these guys mean us any harm."

"Didn't you hear me?" SN demanded testily. "I said—"

The sound of tearing plants and rubble interrupted him. Luke's ever ready astromech, R2-D2, flew down the incline at top speed with a high-pitched squeal. Thankfully, he zoomed up to them, and managed to halt without falling over. R2 let out a low hum of relief.

"I heard you got shot down?" asked Bariq, walking up to examine the droid. "How did this tin can survive the crash?"

R2 gave a particularly heated and fierce series of bleeps and blurts. The bounty hunters all looked stunned in response. "Whoa!" exclaimed Dendro. "There's no need for that kind of language!"

SN actually pointed a finger at R2. "You are the most foulmouthed astromech I've ever met…I like you."

More beeps and whirs. "Tell me about it," agreed SN. "Spending so much time with organics like these could make any droid temperamental."

"Anyway," Luke continued with a wry smile, "he needs some power if you got any to spare."

"Well," answered SN, as he took out a power pack, and plugged it onto R2, "I suppose I can lend some aid for a fellow droid."

"Thank you. As for my other question, Yucari Base?"

"Haven't got a clue," said Zar, his head tilted. "All I know is that there's an army of Imperials standing between you and them…but…"

Luke frowned again. He had a bad feeling about this. "But what?"

"I may have a proposition for you," answered Zar. "Help us find what we're looking for, and we'll help you get back to the noble Rebel Alliance. Unfortunately, we'll probably cross paths with them again sooner or later."

Luke's hand went to his lightsaber, but he didn't draw it…yet. "I'm not helping you get this weapon the Emperor wants so you can sell it to the highest bidder."

Zar shook his head. "You're mistaken. We don't want whatever it is old Palps wants. We actually promised one of the Yucari we'd destroy it. But what we actually want is the treasure."

Luke blinked. "What treasure?"

Zar gestured at Bariq, who drew four golden fangs out of one of his many pouches, with great reluctance. "Besides bounty hunting," the Jawa said slowly, "we dabble in treasure hunting. A long time ago, we stole some artifacts and maps from one of our least favorite and thankfully departed Imperials. The latest one I decoded said Yuca had a hidden city full of 'wealth and power.' So here we are."

"I see," said Luke, impressed. "Who was the unlucky Imp?"

Zar's fists clenched tightly and Ru's lip actually curled. They shared a look with SN and Bariq, before Ru replied, "Grand Moff Tarkin."

Luke's mouth fell open and R2 let out another frantic series of beeps. "Tarkin?! The same Tarkin who blew up Alderaan?!"

All of the Talons nodded grimly. "How were you able to pull that off?" asked Luke, interested to hear more of their story.

Ru's snarl was replaced with a smirk, and he, Zar, Bariq, and SN actually shared a few chuckles, and Dendro and Tor nodded approvingly. "Long story," Zar told Luke, "best shared for later. So how about it? Do we have a deal?"

Luke tapped his lightsaber as he mulled it over. "How do I know I can trust you? And what if I decide to try finding Yucari Base without you?"

Zar shrugged. "I don't think there's anything we can do right now to make you trust us. But for what it's worth, Dendro, Tor, and Ru were at that site the Rebels attacked earlier. If it wasn't for you, they'd either be dead or in an Imperial cell, so know that I do owe you one. But if you really want to try finding the base..." He gestured at the jungle. "Be my guest. Just be careful of the army of Stormtroopers and legions of vicious animals out there like the Yucabras." Zar actually shuddered at the last part.

Luke thought it over for a little longer, but finally, he nodded. "Alright. But if you try anything, don't say I didn't warn you. Deal?"

The Mandalorian held out a hand. "Deal."

They shook on it. "Before we go," said Luke, and held out a hand, "have you got a comm that hasn't been battered by a crash landing? I need to make a call."