Before we get into this chapter, I would just like to remind everyone that this is a fanfiction, not a fanfact. While I am conducting a lot of research and doing my absolute best to make this as accurate and as authentically "Star Wars" as possible, I am not a Star Wars expert by any stretch. I am going to get some things wrong here and there. Plus, as I have stated before, I am only adhering to the eleven theatrical films and two canon animated series. Outside of that, and I am not even attempting to make this story fit in with the canonical events of the time gap between Episode III and Solo/Rogue One. I am purposely and consciously changing a lot of things, both in an attempt to mesh SVTFOE and Star Wars as naturally as I can, and, more importantly, be able to tell the story that I want to tell regardless of accuracy. Sometimes things just don't fit.

Anyway, this chapter was a lot of fun to write, so I hope you enjoy it.

The inquisitor impatiently tapped its foot. "This is such a waste of my time and talents. Relegated to chasing after some puny teenagers that are probably already dead instead of hunting down experienced Jedi."

Security Officer Rosado did not avert his eyes from his datapad, which was plugged into a wall-mounted computer terminal. "I don't disagree with you, Inquisitor. But it's the assignment we've been given." He was trying his best to focus on the on-screen text as throngs of beings milled about around them. The spaceport was packed to the brim with people looking for passage off of the planet, mixed in with a handful of new arrivals seeking employment with the shipyard magnates. "Me personally, I'm just fine with it."

The inquisitor leaned back against the wall, folding its arms. "Yeah, why's that?"

"Because, if they are dead, and we can't ever find them, then we won't ever be on an assignment that actually might get us killed!" Rosado said happily.

"Unless Lord Vader or the Emperor Force-chokes you for failing."

That sent a shiver up Rosado's spine. "Fair enough." He went back to skimming the list on his datapad. "Well, there's no evidence of any YV-560 or ship registered to Lucy Lucille Lucitor ever docking at this spaceport."

"Big surprise," said the inquisitor. "Just like the last three spaceports we checked."

Rosado unplugged his datapad and returned the device to the carry bag slung over his shoulder. "That doesn't mean it isn't here. We've still got a dozen more to check, plus a whole bunch of repair shops."

"Wonderful."

Though the helmet hid the inquisitor's features from view, Rosado was positive that the being underneath, whoever it was, was rolling it's eyes. "Don't worry, Inquisitor. If that ship is or ever was here for repairs, we will find it!"

The inquisitor shook its head. "Let's just get a move on to the next spaceport."

As Security Officer Rosado followed after the disgruntled Inquisitor on their way out of the crowded building, a Clone Wars-era Separatist Type-B shuttle was just touching down on landing pad 19.

"Here we are. Corellia," Captain Ordonia announced dryly. "Fantastic. Power everything down."

"I'm on it," Tom replied, his fingers dancing over the control panel as he switched all systems to off. "Hey, Janna, just wondering out of curiosity, does this ship have, you know...weapons systems of any kind?"

"Nope," Janna answered very matter-of-factly as she stood up from the pilot's seat.

"Oh. Greaaat," Tom whispered to himself.

Janna took no notice. "Now that we're on the surface, I can send a coded message to my friend, who is hopefully still here." She grabbed her datapad from where she had stashed it behind the seat and ejected a memory chip. "Here, Pony, can you please broadcast this through the ship's transmitter? I'll give you the frequency once you've downloaded it."

The astromech bleeped affirmatively and accepted the chip as Janna pushed it into the droid's card slot. Then it rolled over to the console and plugged in.

"So who's this friend of yours?" Tom asked.

Janna seemed to be avoiding looking in Tom's direction as she returned to the pilot's seat. "Just someone I knew. A long time ago." Her tone was a strange mixture of annoyed and wistful. She didn't elaborate any further, and Tom thought it wise not to pry.

"Well, I'm hungry," Tom said, standing up. "I'm gonna see if I can find something to eat on board."

A response did not come immediately. Janna was staring out the viewscreen, her eyes fixated on some unknown object in the distance. Tom thought perhaps she was admiring one of the ships docked on one of the other landing pads and hadn't heard him. Just as he was about to ask her for a second time, she said, "Yeah, I could eat." She got back to her feet and exited through the cockpit doorway without ever looking in Tom's direction, pausing halfway to give PY-HD the comm frequency. "C'mon, Lucy. Pony, let me know if a message comes through.

PY-HD whistled an affirmative as pilot and copilot went about searching the rest of the ship for food.

The shuttle was a stretched version of the ubiquitous Separatist shuttle meant for cargo, not the transportation of passengers. And, since the Sheathipede-class ships were almost always operated by droid pilots, there was not much in the way of amenities on board. After a fair amount of searching, during which time Janna was uncharacteristically quiet, the pair found a box of supply bars in a storage compartment with the tool kit.

"More supply bars. Wonderful," Tom quipped, hoping to get some kind of response from Janna.

But his companion said nothing. She just ripped open the packaging and tore off a piece of the nonperishable foodstuff with her teeth as she trekked back to the cockpit.

Something weird is going on with her, Tom thought. And not, like, normal Janna weird, either. He followed after her and found the Captain sitting in the pilot's chair, silently staring out the viewscreen again as she bit into her supply bar. "Janna?" Tom said slowly.

"What?" She still did not avert her eyes to look at him.

"You okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Her words still hung on the same slightly annoyed tone, and Tom could tell that something was eating at her.

"I don't know. You just seem...I don't know...angry?" He slowly sank into the copilot's seat, carefully peeling open his supply bar wrapper. As he slowly took a bite, he watched as Janna shook her head slowly, an almost imperceivable amount, letting out a slight growl from her throat.

"I hate this place."

Tom froze mid-chew. "Um...okay?" He quickly swallowed what was in his mouth, not a simple task considering that it was only about halfway chewed. "Any...particular reason why? I would have thought that a planet like this where they build ships and such would feel like home to you."

Janna pursed her lips, her eyes narrowing at the people milling about outside the ship. "Yeah. Because it is my home."

"...What?"

"I grew up here." Janna viciously ripped off another bite of her supply bar, chewing with malice.

While the revelation answered Tom's question, it also left him with quite a few more. Most importantly among them, "Why do you hate it if you grew up here?" which he proceeded to ask aloud.

Janna's eyes lowered even more. After a few seconds, she finally said, "I don't want to talk about it."

And that was that. Tom knew from his best friend's tone that there was no point in prying further. Janna would say no more on the subject. So, he glanced out the viewscreen away from Janna as he quietly finished his supply bar and she finished hers.

When they were through with their meal, the smugglers sat in silence, Janna too annoyed simply by their location, Tom floating in the awkward stew of Janna's strange mood. For nearly an hour, neither said a word.

Tom passed the time by cleaning his blaster. His WESTAR-32 pistol was old, a long discontinued model from Concordian Crescent Technologies, but he kept it in perfect working order, the dallorian alloy always polished to a gleam. It was a very high-end model in its time, using expensive and often difficult to find gas cartridges that fired green energy bolts, still powerful even by current standards. Janna liked to make fun of him for "lugging that big antique canon around" but its weight was strangely comforting and Tom found it more accurate than many newer and less expensive models.

From time to time, Tom would glance over at Janna, mostly to make sure she was still there. The cockpit of the ship was so void of any type of noise save for his blaster-cleaning that, when he was not looking at Janna, for all he knew, she could have evaporated into the ether.

The awkward silence continued until PY-HD bleeped out that she had received an encrypted message from Janna's yet-to-be-identified friend. The Captain wasted no time in standing up and stepping over to the astromech. "Whatd'ya got for me, Pony?"

The droid ejected the memory chip it had been given earlier, which Janna took and shoved back into the slot on her datapad.

"Message from your friend?" Tom asked.

"Hang on. Decrypting it."

"Oh. Okay." He shifted his foot on the floor while he waited, not wanting to do anything that might annoy her further.

Janna's eyes remained locked on the screen of her datapad as she worked out the message. "Okay, I got it...he says he'll meet us in about two hours and sent us coordinates for a rendezvous." She checked the time readout on her chronometer. "It'll take us almost two hours to get there. We should get going." She waved for Tom to follow her, still refusing to look at him. "C'mon, Lucy, let's roll. You, too, Pony."

The droid squeaked in surprise.

"Yes, you, too. You've got all the technical readouts for the Raventalon. Besides, this isn't our ship, so I don't really care about leaving it unattended. Oh, and send my friend a reply message telling him that we will be there."

The droid twittered excitedly about being allowed to come along on this mission and hurried to send off the reply message. Janna meanwhile habitually checked her weapons as she always did before disembarking on a job, even if that job was her own. Inside her jacket, her DC-17 blaster pistols hung in their holsters at her sides. She extracted them both, checked that they were loaded, made sure they weren't jammed, double checked that both safeties were on, and slid them back into their holsters. Then she reached down to her belt, where Marco's lightsaber still hung. She unclipped it and held it up, Tom's three eyes going wide when he caught sight of it. He hadn't noticed that Janna still had it because her jacket partially obscured it.

"Uhhh...is that Marco's lightsaber?"

"Yeah, what of it?"

"Why do you still have it?"

For the first time since they'd arrived, Janna's mouth actually curved into a tiny mischievous smirk. "Because he never asked for it back." She held it out to PY-HD. "Here, Pony, hang onto this thing for me. Wouldn't want anyone to see it and think I'm a Jedi."

The droid opened up a small hatch in its dome, and Janna deposited the lightsaber inside.

Tom crossed his arms, raising an eyebrow at Janna. "You know Marco will kill you if anything happens to that, right?"

"Nothing is going to happen to it. Pony Head's gonna hold onto it until we get back."

"...And then you'll give it back to Marco, right?"

"We'll see. C'mon, let's get going. And grab the credits from King River."

Tom shook his head as he grabbed the carrying case. For a moment there, Janna was acting more like herself, but he was still worried about her. He followed the Captain and PY-HD down the boarding ramp and retracted the ramp behind them.

The meeting location suggested by Janna's friend was in Coronet City, much too far away to walk. While the city did have a spaceport, it was under far too much Imperial security for the smugglers to risk attempting to fly and land there. The mag-lev subway would offer the easiest and quickest travel.

It was a fifteen minute walk to the subway station. Tom grasped the handle of the carrying case with a white-knuckled grip, terrified that someone would try to snatch it out of his hand. Reaching the station, Janna purchased train tickets, informing the droid clerk behind the blaster-proof glass that their destination would be Juni Street Station.

The pair of smugglers and their astromech took an elevator down below street level and climbed aboard the maglev, taking their seats in a dimly lit train car that was in need of a good cleaning. The maglev was crowded, so Tom and Janna were forced to sit very close to one another, their legs and sides touching as they squeezed in to make room for other passengers. Tom laid the carrying case across his lap, still clutching the handle tightly.

For the first five minutes of the journey, Janna continued to remain silent and refuse to look at Tom despite being squished up against him. The Demonicite was trying to decide if he should say something or just leave Janna be, when she unexpectedly spoke.

"I don't ever remember this train being so crowded."

Tom froze. He almost couldn't believe that Janna had spoken of her own volition. Perhaps this was his chance to try to draw Janna's emotions out. He had to be careful, and say just the right thing.

"No?"

Janna shook her head, speaking quietly so that no one, not even the overweight Phindian squished up against her, would hear. "I guess everyone is trying to get away from the Empire. Or they are the Empire."

This is good. She's actually talking. Don't say anything stupid... "Janna...if Corellia is your home...why do you hate it so much?"

Janna's head slowly turned, her eyes meeting Tom's for the first time since they'd left Mewni. Her expression was somewhere between confusion and sadness, her eyes low. "My parents...died...when I was very young. We, uh...didn't exactly live in the best neighborhood. I ran away before anyone even showed up to...investigate. No one took me in...I ended up on the streets." She sadly shook her head. "I was just a helpless little kid...scared...hungry..."

Janna was only just beginning her story, and already, Tom was shocked. Janna had never once talked about her past and he knew almost nothing about her life before he met her.

"One day, this guy found me and brought me to this...lair, before Lady Proxima...that bi-"

"Now arriving, Zucktha Yard," announced the synthetic voice of the public address system, drowning out Janna's last word. She paused her story as the maglev slowed to a smooth stop and the automatic doors opened, allowing passengers to disembark and others to climb aboard.

"Who's Lady Proxima?" Tom whispered as the subway started off again.

Janna lowered her voice even more. "Proxima is the head of the White Worms."

Tom wasn't sure he'd heard correctly. "White...Worms? Worms, like the things that borrow through dirt?"

"That's what I said. It's a black market trading organization. ...Proxima is also kind of a literal worm herself. They like to pull runaway and homeless children off the street. Give 'em food and shelter in exchange for getting the kids to do their dirty work. No one ever suspects kids."

"And now they've just roped you into it, too."

"Yup. They made me a runner for off-world deliveries."

"Wait, hang on. Are you saying you learned to fly because a criminal organization wanted a little girl to make their illegal black market deliveries for them?"

"Don't be ridiculous, Lucy," Janna scoffed. "They made me a runner because I knew how to fly. My dad taught me," she said wistfully. "Sat me on his lap behind the controls of his old F-328 Skyhawk."

"I thought you said the only ship you've ever flown was the Raventalon."

"The Skyhawk is an airspeeder, not a ship."

"Oh. Well, what about the ships you flew when you were making runs for the White Worms?"

"That was the Raventalon."

"Huh?"

"Just let me tell the story, Lucy."

"Right, right. Sorry."

Janna took a deep breath. "I started flying deliveries for Proxima when I was like eight years old. Wherever in the galaxy they needed a delivery made, I flew. They'd send an assassin droid with me both to be my copilot and to protect me from the people receiving whatever the ship was carrying, and to make sure I didn't try to run away."

"Now arriving, Kor Vella City."

For a second time, the maglev slowed to a stop. Janna paused her story while passengers around them shuffled off the train and more got on. PY-HD scooted back and forth to make room as people pushed past, bleeping indignantly as someone accidentally bonked her dome.

Soon enough, the train was on its way again, and Janna resumed her story. "I was stuck, with no way out of the White Worms' organization. They didn't take too kindly to anyone who wanted to leave the gang." She sighed. "Lost a couple good friends that way. So for a couple of years, I did what I was told as best as I could do it, terrified to step out of line for fear of what they might do to me if I disobeyed.

"Then one day, when I was twelve, I was out on a run...the job took a bad turn. The buyers decided that they didn't want to pay for the shipment and would rather just kill the dumb little kid flying and destroy the assassin droid protecting me." Janna gave a little chuckle. "Well, they completely underestimated that droid. Or way overestimated their own abilities."

"Ohhhh, boy," Tom said. "I already see where this is going."

Janna nodded. "It was quick. Firefight only lasted a few minutes. That assassin droid killed every last one of those traitors. Buuuut it also took a lot of damage itself."

Janna paused for a moment to look out the window on the opposite side of the train. Some tugs were hoisting the skeletal frame of yet another Star Destroyer out of the ship yard in the distance, making room for construction to begin on another.

"I saw my chance. It was leaking hydraulic fluid badly and it could barely move its arms. I grabbed a blaster that was lying on the ground and fired until the droid stopped moving."

She stopped again, breathing deep and steady. Her heart was pounding. It hadn't beat like that since...well, since the events of the story she was currently telling. She did give a slight chuckle, however. "Probably a good thing that they didn't build assassin droids with the manufacturer's self-destruct protocol or I probably would have gotten myself blown up."

Another few moments of silence.

"And then?" Tom asked.

Janna shrugged, her words flying out of her mouth disinterestedly. "Got on the ship and left. Sold the cargo to someone else and kept the profits. Renamed the ship Raventalon. Never went back to Corellia. Disappeared for awhile somewhere I knew the White Worms would never look for me. Starting doing my own smuggling and setting aside a portion of the profits until I had saved enough credits to cover what the White Worms were expecting from the job I ran away on. Hired a droid courier to take the credits to them that had zero knowledge of who I am or where I was. As far as I was concerned, we were square, and I never heard from them again."

PY-HD bleeped something indignantly.

"Oh, yeah, right," Janna added. "Pony here belonged to that gang that turned on me and my assassin droid, and I took her along with me when I bolted."

Tom wrapped his fingers around his right horn and held his arm there. "Wow, Janna...I had no idea."

"Yeah, I know. I don't like to talk about it."

Tom blinked, frowning. "Then why now?"

Janna slowly shook her head. "I don't know. Maybe because..."

Her voice trailed off and she left the sentence hanging. Several minutes passed. Tom was not about to pry and ask her more. He was still processing her story himself. But then, much to his surprise, she spoke.

"You said I was emotionless. I guess that kinda bothered me. For some reason. I'm honestly surprised it did. Well...I'm not emotionless. It's just...I've seen things."

Suddenly feeling incredibly guilty, Tom rubbed the back of his neck. "Oh, Janna...I'm...I'm sorry."

"It's okay." She looked away from him again. "It's not like you had any way of knowing."

Tom slumped back in his seat. He could think of nothing more to say.

The two smugglers spent the rest of the trip on the maglev subway riding in silence. Eventually, the automated voice of the public address system announced their destination.

"Now arriving: Juni Street Station."

Eclipsa sat in a bed in the otherwise empty infirmary at Skywynne Airbase slowly sipping a cup of tea. It had taken quite a bit of IV fluid to restore her essential nutrient levels and a significant amount of rest, but at last her strength was returning.

Eclipsa turned her head at the sound of the infirmary door sliding open, expecting to see the medical droid shuffling in to check on her. Instead, a very excited pair of teenage Jedi Padawans came running toward her.

"Aunt Eclipsa!" they yelled in unison.

"Star! Marco!" She set her tea down on the small end table beside her just a split second before her niece dove onto the bed, wrapping her aunt in a big hug. Marco hugged her from beside the bed, and Eclipsa threw her arms around both of them. "Oh, children! I am so happy to see you!"

"We're glad to see you, too," Marco said.

Joyous tears formed in the corners of Eclipsa's eyes. "When I heard about the attack on the Jedi Temple, I thought for sure you were dead!"

Star laughed. "We almost were, Aunt Eclipsa! We almost were!"

Queen Moon and King River entered the infirmary a moment later, having chosen to withhold their excited urgency for the sake of their royal appearance. The group hug broke apart and Eclipsa's eyes met Moon's. "Hello, Sis," she whispered happily.

The Queen's eyes glistened with relief that her sister was alright. She smiled as she stepped closer to the hospital bed, Star and Marco parting to allow her passage. "Eclipsa...I am so glad that you are here. I was so worried about you." And then, much to Star's complete surprise, her mother gave Eclipsa a big hug.

Star sniffled a little.

"You okay?" Marco asked.

"Yeah," she answered, wiping her eyes. "It's just...I can't believe we're all here together. You and my parents and Aunt Eclipsa...after everything that we've been through...I never would have imagined we could all be together like this." And she glanced over at her father.

River smiled. "It is rather amazing, is it not? The universe sure works in mysterious ways sometimes."

The royal sisters ended their embrace, and Eclipsa chuckled. "The five of us have never actually been together all in one place before. Amazing that it took a tragedy like a Sith Lord forcefully taking over the galaxy for it to happen. By the way - this is completely changing the subject - does anybody know where that metal clanking sound is coming from?"

Glossaryck suddenly popped up from beneath Eclipsa's pillow. "Yeah, what is all that racket out there? I was taking a nap."

"Oh, there you are!" Star exclaimed. "See, Marco, I told you he must have stayed with Eclipsa."

Marco gave a nervous laugh. "The clanking noise is me." He pulled up the leg of his trouser so that Eclipsa could see the durasteel prosthetic Janna had constructed for him.

"Oh, my!" Eclipsa gasped, covering her mouth with her hand. "Marco! What happened?"

"It's a long story-" Marco began.

"And there will be time to tell it later," Moon said, cutting him off. "But Eclipsa, I must know. What happened to you? You nearly crashed your ship landing here and when Buff Frog found you, you were already unconscious!"

"And you had a blaster wound!" Star threw in.

"Yeah, what happened to you?" Marco asked.

Glossaryck floated up into the air, hovering right in Eclipsa's line of sight. "You know, I've been meaning to ask you that myself."

Eclipsa sighed. "It's definitely not a story I'd particularly like to relive, but I will tell you. I will admit, it is probably a rather gripping adventure."

And so, as her family (and Marco) (And also Glossaryck) listened with rapt attention, Eclipsa explained what had happened to her since the night of Order 66.

Next: Eclipsa's Story