Even in mid-flight, Han made sure to double and triple check all of the controls. "Everything is operating fine so far," he mused. "Not bad for such an artifact."

Chewie half growled half groaned. Han grimaced in reply. "Don't jinx it, Chewie. We've pulled off crazier jobs than this. As soon as we clear this tunnel, we're home free."

The door slid open and Zar and Bariq walked in. Han immediately noticed Bariq's eyes were locked onto the controls. "I should be piloting," the Jawa sulked.

"And I should be at a tropical resort on Zeltros sipping Corellian Ale," Han snarked. "But here we are, Jawa."

Bariq started to protest but Zar batted him lightly on the head. "Chewbacca," Zar asked, "can you please take Bariq and make sure this transport stays flying?"

The big lug turned to Han, and he gave him a slight nod. Chewie grunted and half dragged Bariq with him. Zar hesitantly took the co-pilot's seat, took off his helmet, and looked awkwardly out the cockpit. Han stared resolutely forward. He wasn't going to be the one to start anything this time.

"The kid's holding up alright," Zar noted. "Didn't seem happy with leaving that Zavar behind though."

Han didn't notice any insincerity or malice in his tone, so he decided to relent. "Yeah, Luke saw his mentor get cut down on the Death Star. Stupid kid wanted to stay and fight, actually got a few good shots off, but we had to get out of there."

Zar gave a bitter chuckle. "Think we were all like that at one point or another."

Han chuckled back. "I can't deny that."

Zar glanced at Han. "So how did you get dragged into all of this? I thought you were a businessman, not an idealist."

Han blew out his cheeks and ran a hand through his hair. "If I ever get an answer for that, I'll let you know. But for now…guess the best I can offer is that I couldn't turn my back on Luke, or even her Worshipfulness, and let them get vaporized by the Empire."

The bounty hunter nodded slowly and stroked his beard. "I can respect that." Then he frowned. "Wait, what's Jabba got to say about all of this? Forgive me if I'm overstepping myself, but didn't you get on his bad side recently?"

His stomach gave a nasty lurch. "That we did," Han replied, and he checked the controls again to get his mind off it. "But hopefully we can sort things out with him before it's too late—"

He broke off as they approached a large sealed exit. "Alright," said Han tightly, and he gripped the controls. "The Zavar told me about this. There are two doors; I'll put in the codes for the first, and it's going to set off an automatic timer. If we don't clear the second door in time, the whole thing will collapse on us anyway. But once the second door's open, the timer will drop even quicker, and we won't have much time to get clear. You keep an eye on the monitors and make sure nothing acts up, got it?"

Zar nodded, his face also grim, and he put his helmet back on and strapped himself into the seat. Han took a deep breath, then typed in the codes. "I don't know if the kid told you, but we nearly got flattened in a trash compactor on the Death Star thanks to the princess. Let's make sure this planet doesn't succeed where it failed."

Another nod. Han appreciated that; unlike Luke, who still needed practice, Zar knew when to shut up.

And then he typed in the codes. Thankfully, the door opened quickly, and Han shot the transport through it like a paddy frog down Jabba's throat. The tunnel past the door was made out of metal, at odds with the one they had just left. Han had to give the Zavar credit, between the city, Voidbreaker, transport, and tunnel, they knew how to make something last—

The whole tunnel lurched and groaned, and bits of debris battered the transport. Han swerved as best he could to avoid them. "What the—?!"

"Han, the door!"

Han's hands were already flying across the control panel, and miraculously, the door opened just before they hit it—

Only for them to get slammed by a small tidal wave.

They bobbed up and down in the underground river, and hit something solid more than once, like a dice in a gambler's cup. Han felt his guts go up and down, left and right, and inside out. Only years of piloting and his sheer refusal to bite the dust like this kept his hands on the controls. His eyes were locked straight ahead, through the cockpit window, as he tried to right the transport out of the river, but without sending them crashing into the wall or ceiling.

And then the water vanished. They were free…freefalling anyway.

"GET THIS JUNKPILE BACK INTO THE AIR YOU NERF BRAINED BARVE!" Zar's voice roared, and Han became aware of Zar's hand shaking him like a ragdoll.

Han didn't answer him, he acted on instinct, flipping switches and buttons, until finally, something worked. The transport swerved up before it could crash into the water below, and they flew up high into a massive cavern.

Han spared a few precious seconds to get his bearings; scaffolding and various other machines lined the walls like the ribcage of some great monster, and the stalactites hung eerily from the ceiling. Everything was shaking, and cracks began to form in the ceiling, unleashing more water down below. Han knew he'd have to do some of his maneuvers sooner or later.

He barely heard the door opened behind them, and a moment later, Luke staggered up to them. "Give me the controls," he demanded shakily. "Or are you actually trying to get us killed this time?"

"Not now, kid," Han replied, his voice equally unsteady.

Thankfully the kid looked like he knew better than to argue. "Looks like an abandoned mine," Luke mused. "Resourceful of them to turn it into an escape route."

The Jawa stumbled into the cockpit after them. "We have a problem," he told them. "Engine took a hit, I don't know how long it'll hold. What in space was that old reptile thinking?!"

Luke glared at Bariq. "He must not have thought the explosion would be that powerful!"

"That's what the Death Star's inventor said," Bariq said sarcastically.

"Quit bickering and keep your eyes open!" snapped Han, as Zar moved to argue with Bariq. "All it'll take is one piece of mining equipment or debris to slow us down! And if that happens, we'll get crushed flatter than a freighter in an asteroid field! And you two," he barked at Luke and Bariq, "get that engine fixed!"

Kashvi hunched over the engine with her gear, and Chewbacca right beside her…though that last one was equal parts blessing and curse. "Chewie!" she exclaimed, rubbing some loose fur out of her eyes. "Give me some space, your fur is getting everywhere!"

The Wookie gave an indignant roar. Kashvi gave one of her rare glares back at him. "Well, then why did you haul me over here to begin with?!"

The door slid open, and Luke and Bariq rushed in, and the Jawa was half dragging SN behind him. "Get your paws off me, you kriffing Momong!" the droid spat. "This is a violation of my droid rights!"

"You don't do this," the Jawa spat back, "and this cavern will send you to the great big scrapyard in the sky!"

SN yanked his hand away. "Fine, just let me get everything ready."

"Unless we can use him for parts, no offense, SN," Kashvi said, as the droid began to hook up cables to himself, "I don't see why you brought him back here."

"Bariq said he can give the engine some more energy," Luke told her. "He was built as an infiltrator droid, so he's got more power than the standard droid."

Kashvi bit her lip. This was going to be a long shot. "If you say so."

She and Chewbacca made a few more small fixes in the engine, and made room for SN. The droid began to hook in the cables. "Kashvi, do me a favor, make sure they're all in secured in the right spots."

She took a look in the engine. "Wait," she said hastily, "this one goes here…alright, you're set."

The droid nodded, and then there was a slight humming noise as the cables activated. Then the cables surged with electricity and SN's vocabulator went haywire and screeched shrilly. Then the cables detached from the droid and he collapsed to the floor.

Han's comm beeped. The distraction nearly ended them, but he narrowly avoided the falling stalactite. "What?" he snapped.

"SN used up all of his power," Luke informed him. "It's bought us some time, but not nearly enough."

Zar smashed his chair's armrest; thanks to his prosthetic arm, he nearly tore it off. "Great!" he snarled. "Anybody else have any last minute miracles?!"

Then another stroke of crazy desperate genius hit Han. "Zar, your arm! Can its power cells—?"

Zar stiffened in realization and he nodded. He raised his right arm; it shot right off, and scuttled out the door like a crab.

"Han!" Luke shouted, half in fright, half in bewilderment. "What's Zar's arm doing back here?!"

"That thing has a lot of juice in it," Han replied, and he made his way to another river entrance at the back of the cavern. "Wait until the engine's power is too low, then plug Zar's arm in, otherwise it might fry the whole thing!"

Han didn't bother to listen to his reply, he just tossed the comm away, as a piece of scaffolding fell towards them. "Zar—!"

Zar nodded and tapped the controls with his remaining hand. The transport's guns opened fire, blowing the scaffolding apart at just the right joints, and it fell apart past their transport. "Han, get through there quick!" Zar shouted suddenly. "Those fuel tanks—!"

He nearly lost his lunch right there. Right next to the exit were a cluster of fuel tanks, with debris merrily falling towards them. Han nimbly dodged a new column of water that poured from the ceiling, slammed the controls forward, and sped as fast he could to the exit—

Once again, he was too close for comfort. The explosion still rocked the ship as he darted up the tunnel. They weren't out of this yet though; the tunnel was even smaller than the first, with bits of the ceiling crumbling down around them. The controls warned him of the ship's integrity, as the falling rocks battered the ship bit by bit, like a Rancor trying to bite through a particularly tough piece of prey, and Han had a vivid sensation that he was back in that garbage compactor on the Death Star.

That was the final straw; he had to put up with the likes of Bariq once more, was forced to wear an Imperial uniform, nearly got eaten by unholy abominations, and now the universe was literally trying to flatten him yet again. Han ignored the transport's warnings, snatched the comm off the floor, and bellowed, "If you haven't already, kid, charge up the engine now! We're getting out of this even if it kills us!"

Han ignored Zar shouting next to him, turned a tight corner, and spotted a new exit at the end of the tunnel. The controls told him what his gut already knew: this was the way out.

With a crazy and vindictive grin, Han put all power into the engines, and shot out of the tunnel like a torpedo just as it collapsed—

Suddenly Han became aware of a tugging sensation. He looked around and saw a helmetless and tight faced Zar shouting at him. "—on the power! This scrap heap can't take it anymore!"

Han saw the display and saw he was right. He let up on the speed, and thankfully, the alarms went off. He blew out his cheeks and heaved a sigh of relief, then he began to look for a place in the still dark jungle to land, as rain pounded on the transport. Zar didn't look so happy; his eyes now stared straight ahead out of the cockpit window, and he sagged into his chair as if his body structure had dissolved. The door opened behind them and Bariq stumbled in. "Give…" he almost whimpered, as he put a shaking hand on the wall for support. "Give me…the controls… you…crazy barve."

He stared at the Jawa in indignant outrage. "Thank you, your gratefulness! I'm humbled by your inspiring display of respect and appreciation at me saving your lives!"

Bariq's eyes flared, and he raised his other hand in a fist…but then dropped it and sat on the floor. "I'm sorry," he muttered. "I…I'm just not used to letting someone else fly for me."

Once upon a time, Han wouldn't have let it drop, but now, he did. He ran a hand through his hair, wondering how he got so soft. He blamed Luke, Leia, and Chewie for this…but then he wondered if that was necessarily a bad thing. "What he said," Zar spoke up. Life was slowly returning to his features, and he ran his one hand over his face. "If it wasn't for you, we'd be a smear back in those tunnels right now. Thanks, Han."

Han was so taken aback, he almost missed a good spot along the river to set down. "Apology accepted," he told them with his best half grin. He opened the landing gear and began to lower the ship. "And don't mention it. Things can get close, like it did back there, but when you're flying with me? You can expect skilled flying and a safe landing. Every time—"

As soon as he landed, the ship jolted to the side, almost knocking him and Zar out of their seats, and sent Bariq sprawling into the opposite wall. From the shouts of surprise in the back, the others had fared about the same. Then Han saw on the display that one of the transport's landing gears had given out. "Well," Zar commented sourly, "that last one is debatable."

Orvar Volsun glared moodily at the black sky as he hunched down on a crate in the hangar. Thunder boomed in reply, daring Orvar to complain about it. Instead, Orvar wrapped his poncho tighter around him, lit another fat cigarra, and bit down hard on it. It had been a lousy couple of days, and if the reports were correct, it was about to get a whole lot worse. Whatever they had been after, was now no more. The only question now was how many Imperial bodies would Vader leave behind before he left this rock.

"You look cheerful, Lieutenant."

A Stormtrooper had come down from the hangar's control room. It was the new recruit, who had quickly earned the nickname Kyber, due to her armor and gear, which she had polished so much that it practically shined. Even now, Orvar had to squint to try and avoid going blind. "Of course I am, Kyber," he grunted, and belched out putrid black smoke. "Dark cloudy morning, enough rain to turn Geonosis into Mon Cala, and an angry…well, angrier, Darth Vader not far from our location. What more could a soldier want?"

Kyber took a step back as the smoke approached her. "Can't speak for everyone else," she noted, "but I personally wouldn't mind if you stopped smoking those on duty."

Orvar gave her an ironic grin. "I could…but just so you know, these are one of the only things that can brighten my mood. Otherwise, I tend to take out my aggressions on anyone who pushes my buttons. Like the Rebels, the Yucari, over-talkative recruits…"

The recruit gulped. "I see…but unfortunately sir, the cargo shuttle is almost here."

Orvar spat bitterly, tossed the cigarra out on the ground, and then stomped on it as if it were a Yucari's head. "Fine. Get the rest of the squad over here, last thing we need is to screw up while Vader's still on Yuca."

The rookie scampered off while Orvar awkwardly crammed his helmet onto his massive head. He hated the armor, but Locus demanded that these inspections were done by the book, and while not as bad as Vader, the Moff was still not someone to cross. Orvar reluctantly stepped out from the shelter of the hangar, where a couple of AT-STs marched around the perimeter. Thankfully, the rain was lightening up somewhat. It hadn't gone entirely away, but it would make this assignment a little more bearable.

Not long later, the rest of his squad showed up with him on the landing pad in front of the hangar, followed by their officer's subordinate, Ensign Curia. Despite the time she had spent on Yuca, Curia hadn't lost her pale complexion, nor the sour look in her dark eyes. After she took a swig out of her canteen, she grunted, "I thought I told you to keep your grunts in line, Volsun."

Underneath his helmet, Orvar clenched his teeth, but did his best to keep calm. "What's the matter now, Ensign? Falco swipe some of that Corellian Ale of yours again?"

She glared at the tall and lanky trooper next to Orvar, who stared resolutely ahead. "No, but I will not tolerate insubordination."

"With all due respect, Ensign," interrupted Falco, in a tone completely devoid of it, as he stared out at the jungle.

"Shut it," said Orvar firmly. "We'll have another talk about it after this is over."

Lights from the shuttle appeared in the sky, getting bigger the closer it got to the city wall. Orvar heard more than one sigh of relief. Soon their shift would be over, and then—

Something shifted the foliage to the right and Orvar felt his skin buzz. The rest of the squad glanced at it, but Kyber said, "I saw it, just an Ixchel."

The others relaxed slightly, but Orvar kept looking around the jungle for the animal. Something was wrong…but he couldn't tell what it was. After a few moments, he spotted the feline predator. Two orange eyes glittered from the leaves and bushes and stared resolutely back. Orvar gripped his rifle; Ixchels weren't cowardly, but they were still keen predators who preferred stealthy kills, and disappeared as soon as you got a glimpse at them. Orvar had never heard of an Ixchel doing something like this before. He glanced over his shoulder, and much to his dismay, the AT-STs were moving away from them.

Orvar turned to Curia. "Ensign, get the Commander to bring those walkers back here."

She raised an eyebrow, but took out her comm and repeated his request. An unintelligible voice answered her. Curia scowled and put it away. "No can do, the Commander says that the walkers are to be kept on the move, to make things more difficult for the Rebels."

"Hey, was that a Yucabra?!" demanded another one of the troops.

The others muttered in confusion, but Orvar saw it. A mass of scales disappearing into the jungle. With a jolt, he realized that the Ixchel was gone. As the shuttle began to land, he got out his own comm and hailed the Commander. "Commander, this is Lieutenant Orvar—"

"AD-870," replied a raspy female voice, "I know you're not calling me over something as minor as a shuttle inspection."

"Commander," Orvar continued, "something unusual is going on out here, the fauna is acting strange—"

A sound like rocks grinding together came out of the comm. "Now this is a first! AD-870, afraid of some animals? Just for that, I'll let you off this time."

Orvar snapped. "Listen to me you decrepit—!"

The comm went out as the shuttle landed in front of them. As the shuttle crew began to bring out their cargo, Falco muttered, "I'll keep the others on alert. But if something happens, and Curia bites it, dibs on the ale."

Normally that would have lightened his mood, but Orvar was still on edge. But rather than let his comrades know that, instead he replied, "First come, first served."

As the inspection continued, and they scoured crate after crate filled with kyber crystals, artifacts, and treasure, Orvar felt some of the tension drain away. So far, no attacks…yet.

"Hate these inspections."

Orvar looked up. It was Kyber, who was hunched over a crate. "Why can't we do these inside the city, where we don't have to worry about getting ambushed?"

"Kyber, you know the Moff," Falco chided her, as he ran his hands through a crate packed with gold. "He's as paranoid as they come, but he's efficient. Remember what started these inspections? A well hidden detonator in a crate delivered right to his estate."

Orvar's comm went off, nearly making him drop his rifle. He grabbed it and turned it on. "Guess what, AD-870," said the Commander sourly. "It's your lucky day after all. Lord Vader is sending some of the new walkers to your position, including the Gorog prototype."

He looked up at the others; they had heard it, and through their body language, he knew they were as happy as he was. "That's very generous, considering Lord Vader's reputation."

"Don't be so grateful, Lord Vader says he's expecting an attack soon—"

A pack of red and orange Ixchels lunged out of the jungle and leapt towards them. Several were gunned down, but a few managed to tackle a few of Orvar's comrades to the ground, including Falco. As Orvar went to help him, another Ixchel knocked him flat on his back, and his rifle fell from his grip. Orvar's hands instantly shot up to grab the Ixchel's jaws; he was lucky, if he had been slower, the feline's overly long canines would have torn his throat out. Even as it was, it took Orvar every bit of his strength to do so, and the beast was still inching towards him. With no other options left, Orvar headbutted the Ixchel in the snout. The predator fell back, disoriented, which bought Orvar his chance. He pulled out his knife, and just as the Ixchel recovered, stabbed it in the side of its head. The Ixchel stumbled over him, twitching frantically in its death throes.

Now that he didn't have a snarling animal in his face, Orvar looked around, just in time to see a blaster bolt drop the Ixchel attacking Falco. The ambush had turned Kyber into a trigger-happy loon, and she kept her finger on the trigger as she fired non-stop at the animals. "Watch it, Kyber!" snapped another trooper, Colt, who was even bigger than Orvar, with a rotary blaster cannon in his massive hands. "You'll take out our own guys if you're not careful—!"

More roars and snarls interrupted him. Yucabras, Ixchels, frog-like Anurqets, and other animals came out of the jungle, as if the whole planet had now declared war on them. Even as Orvar continued to fire at them, he knew they'd be overwhelmed, and soon, unless—

A whirring sound cut through the battle, and more laser bolts cut through the animals with deadly efficiency. Orvar whirled around and heaved a sigh of relief. An Imperial Transport hovered above them and continued its assault on their foes. More new blasts appeared, and Orvar saw the AT-STs returning, adding their own firepower to the mix. Then Orvar's comm beeped and he answered it. "Please," growled the Commander, "keep finding more ways to disappoint me. That way I'll have more ammunition to get you replaced. But try not to get the transport scrapped, I was lucky to get it. The new walkers should be there soon. Get to it, Volsun!"

Orvar forced down a retort and kept firing at the animals. But as he did, a nagging thought occurred to him. The animals were practically hurling themselves at them, with no regards to their safety, even with a transport and pair of walkers as their opponent. But normally, the local fauna were more than content to hide in the jungle, and preferred picking them off in there. What had changed?

"Come on!" laughed Kyber, as she took down a fat Anurquet. "Keep it up, you filthy animals! I can't wait to have your heads decorating my—!"

What looked like silver lightning shot out from the treetops. It engulfed the transport, and brought it crashing down on the shuttle, which exploded instantly. The explosion sent them all flying, but Orvar saw that Kyber had been caught in the blast itself, and he knew she was dead.

Before he could fully process it, he hit the ground, and bright colored spots filled his vision. As he recovered as quick as he could, he began to hear the sound of rapid fire. Then his eyes cleared, and he saw that the animals were now retreating, and Colt was randomly opening fire into the jungle canopy. More troops joined him, Orvar included, and they fired in all directions. Some even threw a few detonators. Not wanting to be left out, the AT-STs opened fire as well. Leaves, bushes, plants, dirt, and splintered wood flew everywhere. Entire trees fell over or were vaporized, but they kept shooting. The only times anyone stopped was to reload, but as true professionals, the pauses were brief, and they quickly resumed razing the jungle to the ground, determined to atomize their new unknown foe.

But as Orvar grabbed a new ammo pack, more silver lightning flew at the walkers. They jerked around and stumbled into each other, then collapsed like a pair of drunk Gamorreans. The Stormtroopers closest to them screamed as they leapt out of the way, some got lucky, some were crushed under the burning war machines. Panic had Orvar in a death grip; what was happening? Where was the enemy? Who—what—was the enemy—?

Another sound joined the tangle of blaster fire and explosions. To Orvar, it sounded like someone starting up a bonfire, only louder, and if the fire sounded more like a hungry beast…and then the world erupted in flames.

Orvar shielded his eyes until the light faded, and through the smoke, he saw that the trees that hadn't been annihilated were gone, replaced by a trench carved into the earth. And then more blaster bolts fired into the area, just short of Orvar and his allies.

As they came closer, Orvar saw the new walkers. They looked like someone had combined an AT-AT with the Separatist OG-9 Homing Spider Droid. One of them was equipped with what looked like a bulky missile launcher. All of them were raining hell on whoever had dared attack them.

And just as quickly as it had started, it was over. The only sounds now were the crackling flames eating the debris, while fighting off the patient steadfast rain. Everyone stared at what the smoldering pile of what was left of the jungle, and for a long time, no one spoke. Thankfully, no more silver lightning shot back out at them. A heavy wave of relief flooded him as Orvar realized that their mysterious adversary was now a pile of charred flesh.

Just as abruptly, another jolt of realization surged through him. He turned around; his squad were already a step ahead of him, checking their fallen comrades. Colt and Curia were kneeling over Kyber and checking her vitals. Their tense expressions grew even more somber as they carefully placed her down. Orvar grew uncomfortable as he saw that they had removed her helmet. Kyber's hair was now a rough mixture of her normal brown and the sooty black of the ash and blast, and her formerly soft and energetic face, had turned raw and charred. Even if she had been annoying at times, that was no way for a soldier to go, especially one so young.

"VOLSUN! GET OVER HERE!"

With an odd mixture of dread and frustration, Orver looked towards the hangar. The Commander had finally pried herself out of her chair to join them. Her sallow face was taut with rage, and she had a holoprojector in her hand as she stalked towards them. Reluctantly, Orvar did as she asked, and as he got closer, he knew who the hologram belonged to.

"Skirmishes with local wildlife should be beneath my notice," Vader rumbled softly. "As we should expect our subordinates to be more than capable of bringing them to heel. So tell me, Lieutenant Volsun, how did you handle this so ineptly that Commander Tabac felt she needed to bring it to my attention?"

Orvar finally lost his cool; he tore off his helmet, tossed it away, and spat, "That's a load of druk! These animals—!"

Suddenly, Orvar felt something pinch his throat, and he stopped his outburst and struggled to remain standing. "Speak to me in that manner again," growled Vader, his fist clenched, "and your fate will be the same as these animals."

Thankfully, Vader's hand went slack, and Orvar could breathe again. It took all he had not to fall over. "Lord Vader," he carefully began, "the animals had been acting strangely when we began our inspection. They were prowling at the edge of the perimeter, then rushed us en masse. This wasn't a random clash where they picked off a straggler to eat and then ran off, this was a full-fledged assault."

"See Lord Vader," Tabac sneered, her teeth the same color as her grey streaked brown hair, "nothing but excuses—"

"Silence," he snarled, and Tabac's face slackened.

Orvar waited a moment before he continued. "We were able to push them back, but then that lightning came out of nowhere—"

"Lightning?" Vader interrupted, his arms crossed.

"Yes, some kind of silver lightning, never seen anything like it before. It enveloped the transport and brought it right down on top of us, later made quick work out of the AT-STs too. We opened fire on the jungle, along with the AT-STs and your walkers, though if the Commander had brought them in sooner like I requested before this attack even happened—"

Tabac's face turned red. "You insolent grunt! If you were half as competent as any other senior member of the Stormtroopers, you should have been capable of—!"

The Commander halted mid rant and clutched at her throat. "Who is the next senior officer?" Vader asked, ignoring Tabac's strangled pleas.

Curia went even paler than normal as she stepped forward. "Ensign Curia, my lord."

The holoprojector fell from Tabac's hands as she fell to her knees. Curia stumbled as she rushed forward, and barely caught the holoprojector. "Let Commander Tabac's fate be a warning to you," Vader went on. "I've been delayed enough by today's failures and setbacks alone. Your former superior's punishment is a blessing compared to what I will do to the other incompetents. Find who or whatever caused that lightning; if they're still alive, bring them to me. If not, bring me their remains."

Vader made a harsh gesture and there was a sickening crack. Tabac collapsed face-first into the dirt. Vader pointed at Curia, and said, "Don't waste my time with any more failures…Commander Curia."

The hologram vanished before Curia could even try to reply. She stared at the device in her shaking sweaty hands for a moment longer before putting it away.

"Lieutenant!" called Colt. "You're going to want to see this!"

Orvar and Curia went over to him. The goliath trooper had taken his helmet off; his bald head was a tapestry of tattoos, and his blunt features were tight as he knelt over a dead Ixchel. With a grunt, he pried the animal's jaws open, and out poured—

Orvar ran a hand through his close-cut brown hair in bewilderment and Curia's eyes narrowed. "This better not be a joke, Colt. Unlike Tabac, I very much prefer staying out of Vader's crosshairs."

"No joke, En–I mean Commander," Colt said grimly, as he held upon a handful of gold and jewels. "And I'd bet my next tattoo that we'll find more loot on the other animals here."

They went around and checked. Colt was right; several of the animals had valuables with them too, and a quick check confirmed that some of it had been stolen from the crates during the battle. Before Orvar could even begin to dwell on it, Falco and his team came back from the forests. "Nothing," he said tensely, his eyes almost bulging under his bushy eyebrows. "Found some dead animals, but Orvar, unless an inspection team finds something we missed…whatever's out there, just attacked one of the most secure places on Yuca, brought down a gunship and two AT-STs, faced a barrage from an entire Imperial squad and several walkers, and got away with it."

Orvar stared out into the jungle and clenched his weapon tighter than ever. Who or what would have the nerve, the cunning, and the power to do something like this? He had heard tales of the Jedi, listened to their many legends from his own parents, heard some of their strange abilities granted through the Force, but none of the stories sounded anything like this. He doubted even this Luke Skywalker could have pulled this off, and that this was only the start of it. So if wasn't Skywalker, or a Jedi…what was out there? What were they really after? And what would their next move be?