In case you didn't know, "Kriff" or "kriffing" is basically the Star Wars universe equivalent of the F-word.

Also, "Krill" is the Aurebesh letter "K."

"Down here."

Tom followed Janna and PY-HD into a narrow alleyway. The building walls on either side were several stories high and blocked out most of the sunlight. "You sure about this?" he asked, clutching the heavy carry case full of credits to his chest. "This doesn't exactly feel like the, uh, safest place to be."

"Why are you so skittish? We're smugglers, ninety percent of our business occurs in places like this."

"Well, because I'm not usually carrying the equivalent of twice our entire year's profit in cash into the places where we conduct our business."

"Entire year's profits? How much is in there?"

"Oh, I have no idea. I'm just making a guess based on how heavy it is. Which is very, in case you were wondering."

"Relax, Lucy. Back alley deals aren't literally done in back alleys on Corellia." She carefully stepped over a sleeping feline animal of some kind that was tied to a pipe beside a door. "Because the whole kriffing planet is a back alley," she muttered.

PY-HD hopped over the animal, and Tom followed with extreme caution, seeing the slowly breathing creature's needle-like teeth. "Greaaat. That's comforting. How much further to our, uh, 'rendezvous point'?"

Janna stopped at an intersection of the alleyway, glancing left and right. "Uhhh..." She pointed to the right. "This way, I think."

"You think?"

PY-HD bleeped something berating at Tom.

"It's not like I was here yesterday," Janna said as she turned to the right and headed down the other alley. "I don't remember exactly."

"Oh, I don't know," an unfamiliar voice called from the darkness up ahead. "I think you remember well enough."

Tom raised an eyebrow. "That sounds like a kid."

"It is," Janna scoffed.

From the shadows emerged a very confident looking human male of no more than fourteen standard years old. "Janna Ordonia," the boy said. "I never thought I would see you here again."

Janna greeted the kid with a smug grin. "I honestly had hoped I'd never have to come back, but, you know, things don't always go as planned."

"Ain't that the truth." The boy motioned at Tom with a nod of his head. "Who's your friend?"

Janna looked at Tom. "Lucy, this is my childhood friend, Han."

The kid flashed a smile that was inexplicably both charming and untrustworthy at the same time and stuck out his hand. "Pleased to meet you, Lucy."

Tom shifted the carrying case to his left hand and accepted the handshake. "My name is actually Tom. Tom Lucitor."

"Oh, I gotcha. Now the nickname makes sense." Han turned his attention back to Janna. "So, your message said to meet you here, but you didn't say why. What brings you back to Corellia?"

"I need to find new hyperdrives for my ship, and a new starboard sublight thruster," Janna explained.

Han's face scrunched up in surprise. "How did you manage to break all of that at the same time?"

"Long story. I know I'll only ever find those parts here. Thing is, I don't know who a reputable supplier is to get good YV-class parts from. I hoped maybe you knew someone."

Han raised a questioning eyebrow. "A reputable parts supplier? Since when do you care about that? Last I heard you were a smuggler."

"And a darn good one. What's your point?"

"I'd think you'd rather have your parts and service completely off-the-books so it wasn't traceable back to you."

"Well, I don't have time to hunt around for rare parts, let alone rare parts that actuallywork. I just want to go somewhere I can purchase new legacy parts or low-parsec used parts that I know won't give me any trouble so I can get off this planet as quickly as possible. Understand?"

Han nodded. "Ohhh, I get it. You want a trustworthy scoundrel."

Tom jumped. "That's our line!" His outburst earned him an elbowing in the ribs from Janna.

Han put a thoughtful hand to his chin. "Hmm...let me think...I guess we could see if Reflectacorp has the parts. That's definitely the least-scummy black-market starship parts dealer on Corellia, and they usually have just about everything. Very expensive, though. That's the price you pay for less-scum."

"Don't you worry about price, Han, old buddy," Janna assured him. "Can you take us there?"

"Sure. Proxima won't be expecting me back for quite some time, anyway."

"You're still stuck working for that worm?"

"Unfortunately. But it's fine." He waved for Janna and Tom to follow him. "C'mon, let's get going."

Having returned to Butterfly Castle to allow Eclipsa some rest, Marco headed up to the castle library. Queen Moon had said something about wanting to teach Star how to make a pie, and he didn't want to intrude on their family time.

The huge book on the pedestal in the center of the room opened as Marco closed the door and Glossaryck floated up from between its pages. "Ah, Mr. Diaz. I've been expecting you."

Marco, however, had certainly not been anticipating the little blue man. He jumped in surprise. "Glossaryck! How did you beat me here?! I thought you were still with Eclipsa when we left the Airbase!"

"Oh, I was!" Glossaryck chuckled. "But when you know magick, you can be anywhere-" He snapped his fingers and a glowing green mist enveloped him. Marco's eyes about popped out of his head as the mist dissipated, revealing that Glossaryck had completely vanished. Then something touched his shoulder and the boy about launched out of his skin. Glossaryck had reappeared directly behind him. "-just like that!"

"How the heck did you do that?!" Marco demanded, equal parts terrified and impressed.

"I just told you. With magick."

"Magic? You mean like what magicians do?"

"No, no, no, magick. With a 'krill' at the end. Force magick."

"That...that's a thing?"

Glossaryck folded his arms and chuckled as he slowly spun upside down. "Heh. Clearly, you've never been to Dathomir."

Marco involuntarily narrowed his eyes at the little blue man. "I'm not sure I even want to know."

Glossaryck shrugged. "Your loss. So what brings you up to the library, Mr. Diaz?"

Marco sank into a nearby chair, thankful for a reprieve from hauling his heavy prosthetic leg around. "Star is making a pie with her mom, so I thought I'd let them have their time together and, you know, sit down and read something."

"Ohhhh!" Glossaryck's tone seemed mocking. "You're a little knowledge seeker, huh? Well, we've got quite a selection of texts here to choose from. What's your fancy?"

Marco blinked. "...Uhh-"

"Ooh! I know!" Glossaryck interrupted. "I've got just the thing! You're gonna love this!" He took a flying leap into the nearest bookshelf and vanished in a cloud of the green mist once more.

Marco looked around tensely, waiting to see where the little man would unexpectedly pop up next. The one place he did not think to look was directly above him, and that is precisely where Glossaryck dropped a heavy book on him from. The tome landed in Marco's lap with a thud, and Marco was startled so badly that he nearly knocked the chair over backwards. "YAH!"

"Here it is!" Glossaryck proclaimed as Marco tried desperately to draw oxygen back into his lungs. "A classic tale by Ofdyne Narc!"

Still catching his breath, Marco asked, "What's it about?"

"It's the tale of a young girl from another dimension who-"

"Another dimension?" Marco asked unenthusiastically. "Isn't that a little far-fetched?"

Glossaryck shrugged. "Well, yeah, sure, but it's fiction. Who gives a bantha dropping if it's far fetched?"

Marco flipped the book open to the first brittle page. The text was Aurebesh, but it was written in an old-timey fancy scrawl that made it rather difficult to decipher. "How old is this thing? I'm afraid I'm gonna rip it."

"Pretty old. Also there's this evil queen who isn't actually evil frozen inside of a crystal, but you won't find that out until a little over halfway through the book."

"Okay, so, do you want me to read it, or are you gonna just tell me everything that happens in it?"

Glossaryck's smile fell. "Oh...you want to- right..." The disappointment in his voice was obvious. "I'm sorry..." He floated dejectedly across the room back to his own book on the pedestal.

Marco sighed. "Would you...maybe like to read it with me?"

In an instant, the little blue man reappeared on Marco's shoulder. "I would love to!"

A nervous laugh escaped Marco's throat, hoping he hadn't just made a terrible mistake. "Oh. Great!" He turned his attention back to the large book in his lap. The cover and spine were blank. "What's this book called anyway?"

"It is entitled Quasar Caterpillar Against the Powers Of Tyranny."

"...Seriously?"

"Yup!"

Marco blinked and decided to just roll with it. How bad could it be? He shifted slightly to a more comfortable position and settled in for a relaxing read.

It wasn't long, however, before his eyelids became heavy attempting to decipher the scrawling words on the flimsiplast pages. Glossaryck dozed off on his shoulder after only ten minutes, and the tiny blue man gave off a surprising amount of heat. Lulled by the relaxing warmth of Glossaryck on his shoulder and his eyes strained from the typeface on the book's pages, before long, Marco fell sleep.

"Alright. This is the place," announced Han in a hushed voice.

A half hour walk had brought them to a different equally-dark and much dirtier alleyway where Han had stopped in front of a single dingy door.

Tom clutched the case full of credits tightly to his chest again. "You know, when you said earlier that we were going to the least-scummy black-market starship parts dealer on Corellia right after Janna said that back-alley deals don't literally take place in back alleys, I was not picturing going to an even shadier alley than the one we were in when we had that conversation."

Janna laughed. "Geez, Lucy, you gonna breathe somewhere in that sentence?"

"I'm a demonicite. I have three lungs."

"Oh, yeah, I forgot about that."

An amused chuckled came from Han. "Well, you know what they say, Tom," he said as he rapped his knuckles on the door. "Never judge a Cerean by the height of its cranial cone."

The door slid upwards, revealing a very intimidating assassin droid holding a disintegration riffle.

"What is your directive?" droned the droid's monotone synthetic voice.

"Hi, IG-33," Han greeted. "This is Captain Ordonia and her partner, Lucy-"

"Hey!"

"-and they're here to, uh, peruse the inventory, you know?"

The droid's central photoreceptor flickered back and forth between Janna, Tom, and PY-HD as if scrutinizing them. After a moment, it's eye stopped rotating back and forth and it stood aside, allowing them passage. "Enter."

"Thanks, 33," Han said, stepping past the droid.

The others followed, finding themselves in a small, dimly lit room with rusty durasteel walls. IG-33 closed the door behind them. PY-HD bleeped something about feeling claustrophobic.

"Uh, Janna," Tom nervously whispered, "There isn't anything in here. It's just an empty room."

"This room is the security vestibule," the droid informed him, having heard Tom's hushed voice. "Before you will be allowed entry into the showroom, you must relinquish your weapons. They will be returned to you at the completion of your transaction."

"What if we don't buy anything?" Janna asked.

The droid stared as if Janna had just spoken to it in a language it was not programmed to understand. "They will be returned to you at the completion of your transaction," it repeated. It slung the disintegration riffle over its shoulder and held out its hands. "Your weapons, please."

Tom once again shot a nervous look at Janna and was surprised to see her calmly pulling the twin DC-17 blaster pistols from her inside of her jacket and handing them over to the assassin droid. "Standard black market operating procedure," she told him as she spied the look on his face. "Just give the nice droid that canon you lug around so we can get this over with."

Tom cautiously extracted his WESTAR-32 from inside of his leather jacket, popping out the cartridge and pocketing it before flipping it around backwards and setting it into the droid's waiting hand by the barrel.

IG-33 turned to Han, silently beckoning for his weapons. "Oh, I don't have any," Han said, holding open his jacket so that the droid could see that he did not have a shoulder holster.

"Very good," droned the droid. It opened a small compartment built into the wall and gently hung the blasters on a rack inside. Then it moved to the wall opposite the door by which they had entered and tapped a code into a keypad. "Please enjoy browsing the selection."

The entire wall slowly sank into the floor. Tom's three eyes about popped out of his head when he spied what was revealed on the other side. "Sweet celestial bodies!"

The room was massive, easily the size of six spaceport docking bays. Row after row of shelves and display pads were brightly illuminated by overhead lights. The contents of each shelf were neatly organized and labeled, and there was not a single speck of dust or dirt to be found anywhere.

Han elbowed Tom in the shoulder. "It's like I said. Never judge a Cerean by the height of its cranial cone."

"No kidding!"

Janna slowly walked past her still-gawking copilot. "This is really impressive and all, Han, but man, it's gonna take forever to search this whole place for what we need!"

"Oh, we don't have to. We'll just go to the front counter down there." He pointed toward the opposite end of the massive room. "And ask the inventory droid."

Marco was out-cold asleep in a chair in the castle library with a huge open book on his lap and a snoring Glossaryck on his shoulder.

And Star was enthralled.

Why did watching her best friend sleep send her heart soaring the way it did? And, more importantly, why did seeing him quiet the troubling thoughts that had been on her mind just a few moments before entering the library? Sure, Marco was cute. Star had thought that by the end of the first week they'd known each other, long before she developed feelings for him. But for some reason, when he was asleep, she found him even more adorable than usual. She could have sat there on the floor in front of him for an hour just watching his chest slowly rise and fall with the sound of each breath he took.

But she had news for him, so she'd have to wake him up.

Picking up the plate bearing a still-warm slice of pie from the floor beside her, Star got to her feet. She walked around behind the chair and held the pie under Marco's nose, allowing the aroma of warm fruit-filled pasty to waft into his nostrils.

Unfortunately, her plan to gently rouse Marco from his slumber with the scent of fresh baked goods was shattered the instant Glossaryck got a whiff. The little blue man's head bolted upright, his eyes wide and drool already seeping over his lower lip.

"PIE!"

The loud exclamation a few centimeters from his ear abruptly woke Marco with a start. "GAH!"

"Glossaryck!" Star groaned in frustration, quickly moving the pie plate out of his trajectory as he leapt off of Marco's shoulder toward it.

"Pie! Pie! Pie!" He floated up towards the plate again and Star tried to move it out of his reach.

"Stop it! This is for Marco!" Glossaryck reached the plate and Star quickly held it behind her back. "The whole rest of the pie is down in the kitchen! Go get your own piece!"

"Ah! The rest of the pie!" exclaimed the little blue man excitedly. "To the kitchen!" He snapped his fingers and disappeared in a cloud of glowing green mist.

Star looked at Marco. "Uhh...did you know he could do that?"

"Unfortunately," he sighed.

Star narrowed her eyes at the spot where Glossaryck had been. "Weird..." She turned her attention back to her best friend, holding out the plate to him. "Here! I brought you the first slice of the pie Mom and I made!"

"Awesome!" Marco carefully took the plate from her, inhaling the delicious aroma. "It smells great!"

"It was my grandma's recipe." Star produced a fork from inside of her little purple bag, giving it a small twirl between her fingers for dramatic effect before placing it in Marco's waiting palm. "She was the best chef in all of Clan Butterfly."

Marco took a bite, the crust light and flaky, the filling delightfully fruity and sweet. "Mm! That's really good, Star!"

She beamed happily and took a teasing bow. "Why, thank you, Master Diaz!" She squeezed herself into the chair beside him, both quite happy for the cuddle time that had been lacking since they'd arrived on Mewni. She nuzzled her cheek against his shoulder and sighed happily as Marco put his arm around her, happily munching on his treat.

This is perfect, she thought. I wish it could be like this... Star's train of thought broke as she accidentally reminded herself of her earlier thoughts. ...forever...

"So did you have some nice one-on-one time with your mom?" Marco asked.

"Huh? Oh! Oh, yeah, it was...greaaat."

"You, uh...don't sound very sure about that."

"No, no, it was. It was great spending time with my mom again. It's just..." She fell silent.

Marco set the plate of half-eaten pie down on the open book in his lap and gave his best friend's shoulder a gentle squeeze. He didn't need to say anything. His message got across.

Star took a deep breath. "I don't think we can stay here."

Of all the things Star could have said, that was definitely not what Marco was expecting. "What? Why not?"

"I was thinking about Eclipsa's story. She said that guy she met on Endor said that entire settlement was wiped out by the Empire just because they were hiding Master Rhombulus there," Star explained. "What if the Empire finds out we're here? This is my home planet, Marco, and I'm the Princess, which means these are my people. I'd never forgive myself if..." Star fell silent once more.

Marco wasn't sure what to say. He couldn't deny, though, Star had a point. Then again, Mewni was an out-of-the-way system that did not host a plethora of comers and goers and did not really pose any kind of threat or interest to the Empire. Then again again, Queen Moon had said some Imperials had come around asking about Star. There's nothing to say they wouldn't return to check a second time.

"Well...we can't go anywhere without Janna and Tom," he finally said. "We should wait for them to get back and talk it over with them."

"I don't want to put Janna and Tom in danger anymore, either. They've already sacrificed so much for us...I..." Star let out a deep sigh. "I don't know. I feel guilty."

"It's not your fault, Star."

"It will be if something happens to our friends or my family or the citizens of Mewni." She burrowed her face into the shoulder of Marco's hoodie and let out a muffled stressed moan. Marco just hugged her to him, knowing there was likely nothing he could possibly say that would make her feel better and hoped that his very presence would be enough.

Eventually, Star removed her face from Marco's hoodie and met his eyes again. "There's something else I was thinking about, too."

"What's that?"

"If, uh, 'Darth Vader' is hunting for surviving Jedi...and also, there was that...thing that attacked you back on Coruscant. You said it had red lightsabers."

"Yup. It did."

"It's probably working for the Empire, too, and what if there are more?" She sat up straighter. "I think it might be a good idea for me to try to improve my lightsaber skills, you know? In case we run into Vader or that thing or something else again. So...do you think you can try to teach me some of what Master Fisto taught you?"

Marco's eyes lit up. "Oh! I would love to, Star." He picked up his pie plate again. "Well, I mean, I guess after I get my new leg and I can hopefully move around better."

Star gently smacked the side of her forehead with her palm. "Oh! Duh! I almost completely forgot the entire reason I came up here! I have good news for you! Mr. Fotino contacted me. He says your leg is finished and we can come by to have it installed anytime!"

Marco froze, another bite of pie halfway into his mouth. "Oh...that's, uh...great."

Star cocked her head to one side, confused. "You don't sound like its great."

He set his fork back down on the plate again. "I mean, it is great, if I can have a real cybernetic leg and it works as well as my real one did. I'm just...really nervous about having it installed. That guy creeped me the heck out and I'm not so sure I want him performing a life-altering surgical procedure on me."

Star scoffed at the idea. "Don't be so judgmental, Marco. Ben Fotino isn't creepy."

Marco finally got the bite of pie into his mouth. "Yeah. Sure," he mumbled through his chewing.

Star gave him a playful shove. "Well, don't you worry, bestie. I won't leave your side. I promise."

Marco managed a smile. "Thanks, Star." He shoveled another bite into his mouth. "This pie is amazing, by the way. Somehow every bite is better than the previous one."

"That's ol' Grandma Comet's recipe for ya. Almost everything she made had that effect. Still can't exactly figure out why..." Her eyes fell on the heavy book still resting on his lap. "Whatcha reading, there?"

"Oh, some book Glossaryck told me to read. Well, more like *insisted* I read. It's called Quasar Caterpillar Against the Powers Of Tyranny."

"What a long and unwieldy title. Well, finish your pie so we can go get your cool new leg!"

Marco consumed the last three forkfuls of his pie as slowly as he possibly could. The very instant he swallowed the last bite, Star leapt out of the chair and hauled Marco to his feet, causing the book to tumble to the floor. "C'mon c'mon c'mon! Let's go let's go let's go!"

Marco was nearly knocked off his feet as Star dragged him out of the library. "Star! Slow down! I still can't run!"

A swirl of green mist appeared just above the chair where the two Padawans had been sitting just a moment before, dissipating to reveal Glossaryck, remnants of messily devoured pie still stuck in his beard. "Mmmm! Princess, I gotta hand it to you, that pie was-" He stopped mid-sentence as he realized that he was alone. "Star? Marco?"

A yelp in the distance caught his ears through the open doorway. "Slow down! I can't-! No! Not the stairs!"

"Wheeeee-! OOF! Ahhhh-!"

A series of crashes followed.

"Oh," Glossaryck said to himself, picking a piece of pie crust from his beard and popping it in his mouth. "There they are."

The starship parts "showroom" as IG-33 had called it was more like a well-organized warehouse packed to the brim with every component imaginable. It took almost ten minutes of walking past row after row of power converters, coolant pumps, labeled bins of toggle switches and control panel indicator lights, reactor guts, canons, power cables of every gauge, console screens, hull panels, landing skids, hydraulic pistons, radar dishes, shield generators, repulsorlift jets, transparisteel viewscreens and windows, and all manner of assorted bearings, couplers, diverters, and transmitters for Janna, Tom, Han, and PY-HD to reach the front counter.

A dark purple protocol droid with extra-large, white photoreceptors stood behind the counter. "Hello! Welcome to Reflectacorp Starship Legacy Parts Supply!" the droid greeted in a surprisingly friendly tone. "I am C-HRS3. How may I be of assistance to you today?"

PY-HD made a rude noise that did not translate to basic, but didn't really require a translation to be understood.

"Hey, Seahorse," Han said, pronouncing the droid's alphanumeric designation as one word. "My friends here are looking for some rather rare parts. YV-class, model 560." He turned back to Janna. "Is there a variation? Like the YT's have?"

"I didn't think the YV's ever had variations," Janna replied with a shrug.

"You are correct," C-HRS3 told her. The protocol droid plugged the scop-link housed in its finger into the computer terminal. "I will search Reflectacorp's extensive catalog for available YV-560 parts." C-HRS3 stared straight ahead at its customers as it silently checked the parts inventory for fifteen incredibly long and awkward seconds while the three organics tried to find something else to fix their eyes on. PY-HD made some sarcastic noises about the droid being "corporate dung." "The Reflectacorp catalog is currently showing six hundred and thirty-two individual components in stock for a YV-series model 560 light freighter, duplicate parts totaling one-thousand eight hundred and four. Which components-" The droid abruptly spotted speaking, remaining silent for just a moment before continuing. "Which components are you seeking out today?"

"A starboard side sublight thruster!" Tom blurted out.

His lack of tact caused Janna to sigh in disgust. "And both the main and backup hyperdrives. Please."

"Are you currently in possession of your ship's technical readouts?" C-HRS3 inquired.

Janna pointed to PY-HD beside her. "Yeah, Pony Head has them."

The purple protocol droid reached beneath the counter and retrieved a cable with an adapter on the end. "Please connect this to your droid so that I may cross reference Reflectacorp's extensive parts catalog with the technical readout of your specific ship."

"On it." Janna grabbed the cable and quickly jammed it into PY-HD's data port before the astromech could protest.

"I will see if those parts are currently in stock. One moment, please." More silent uncomfortable staring as C-HRS3 searched the computer for a second time. "You are in luck! The components that you are seeking are all in stock!" The protocol droid announced enthusiastically. "Sublight thruster, starboard side, direct factory replacement, part number M-dash-six-six-zero-zero-dash-five-zero-C-J. Location, aisle sixty-two, row nine. Main hyperdrive, generation 2, direct factory replacement, part number zero-five-one-eight-four-two-niner-six-A-F. Location, aisle sixty-seven, row twelve. Back-up hyperdrive, generation 1, direct factory replacement, part number one-six-one-two-four-seven-five-zero-three-zero. Location, aisle sixty-two, row eight."

The collective seven eyes of the three organics C-HRS3 was addressing were glazing over with obvious boredom, but the droid took no notice, continuing on its cheery but monotonous voice.

"The Reflectacorp catalog is also showing a listing for an upgraded main hyperdrive for the YV-class model 560 light freighter. A class .5 hyperdrive is available, compatible with only light modification."

This information caused Janna's eyes to light up with excitement. "Class .5? Really? What kind of modifications?"

"An alternate wiring harness and power coupling adapter kit available through

Reflectacorp's top-of-the-line starship system modification department makes conversion quick and simple! The adapter kit can be purchased for just an additional 300 credits."

"And how much is all the rest?" Tom asked, his tone skeptical as he attempted to hide the case full of credits behind his back.

C-HRS3 cocked its head slightly to the side. "I will calculate the projected balance." It fell silent for only a second. "With the original factory replacement parts, your total will come to 6,302 credits. The upgraded hyperdrive and adapter kit will increase the total to 10,429 credits."

Han whistled. "Wow. That's a lot of money."

Janna looked at Tom. "How much do we have?"

Her copilot shrugged, still trying to conceal the credit-filled case. "I don't know. I told you, I haven't counted it."

She reached around behind his back and snatched the handle from his fingers. "Well, let's find out, shall we?" She tossed the case up onto the counter before C-HRS3, popped open the catch and raised the lid. The case was filled nearly to capacity with gold-colored credit chips as King River had shown them, but exactly how much was in there?

"Whoaa." Han marveled at the neatly stacked rows of credits. "I've never seen so much money at once before!"

Tom looked over Janna's shoulder. "Yeah, I think we can afford it."

C-HRS3 spoke up. "By my calculations based on denomination of these credit chips and the width, length and depth of this case, it will only take 11.3% of the contents of this case to pay for the parts you have requested."

Janna pounded her fist enthusiastically on the counter hard enough for some of the nearly stacked credit chips to jump. "SOLD!"

The door slid aside almost the instant Marco knocked as if Ben Fotino had been immediately on the other side awaiting his arrival. "Wehell! If'n it isn't my new little test subject!"

"Test subject?" Marco yelped. Star put a hand on his shoulder to keep him from sprinting off.

Fotino laughed. "I'm only messin' with ya'll." He waved for them to follow him. "C'mon in! Yer new appendage is all ready for installation!"

It took a literal shove forward from Star to make Marco enter the building. He scowled at her as the door closed behind them, and she smiled back at him innocently.

When they caught up with Ben in the workshop, they found the little man scrambling around arranging equipment and tools around the examination table in the center of the room. The table itself was covered with a sheet, the outline of something long and cylindrical concealed underneath. "Ah! There you two are! You ready to see your new leg, sonny?"

"Uh, sure..."

Ben grabbed the edge of the sheet and flung it aside. "Behold!"

Marco's new prosthetic leg lay before them on the table. A black metal alloy made up its construction, polished to a reflective shine. Marco carefully picked it up. It was much lighter than it looked, but still commanded some decent weight. He wondered if it were weighted to match his existing right leg. Every joint of every component was beautifully welded, the electronics carefully concealed inside. It was somewhat skeletal in appearance instead of matching the skin contours of the original, but it was fully enclosed to keep out water and contaminating debris.

Marco could not help but be impressed. "Wow. It...it's beautiful."

Ben folded his arms confidently. "I know. I ain't just a common construction droid. I's a craftsman."

"I'll say!" Star said excitedly. "You're gonna look so cool with that thing!"

"You won't even see it, really," Marco told her. "It'll always be under my pants."

She wiggled her eyebrows at him. "Not always."

Marco nervously laughed. "You've been spending too much time with Janna."

"If you two is done flirtin', shall we get on with the installation?" Fotino interjected.

"Right, right, sorry," Marco apologized. "You want me up here on the table, I'm guessing?"

"That'd be correct."

Marco handed the prosthetic to Star and hopped up onto the table, rolling up his left trouser leg well above the knee to allow Ben access to the severed portion of his leg. Then he laid down, the back of his head instantly becoming sore from the very hard table.

Ben clambered up onto a stool to bring himself up to the same height as the table. "Now, I understand that you might be a bit nervous, so I have a barrier here to prevent you from seeing what I'm doin' down yonder, if you'd like."

"Oh, yeah," Marco said, "That would actually make me feel better."

Ben snatched a pole off of his tool cart and held it above Marco's midsection. At the press of a button, a curtain dropped from a slot in the bottom and the pole remained floating in the air when Ben released it, resulting in a shroud between Marco's eyes and his lower half.

"Better?"

"I guess so."

Ben clapped his hands together. "Alllllriiiiiight! Ma'am, you just hang on to the that there leg until I'm ready for it, if'n you don't mind."

"Don't worry," Star assured him. "I'll be super-duper careful with it."

"Aw, you needn't worry none about that. That there leg is darn near indestructible! You could crack open a wamp rat's skull with that thing and not even cause it the tiniest bit o' damage!"

Star's eyes lit up. "Can I hit something with it?! Please?"

Marco gritted his teeth. "Uh, Star-"

"Knock yerself out! Well, I mean, don't actually knock yerself out, but, I mean, go ahead! Swing it at the floor, it'll crack, I guarantee!"

"Okay!"

"Star, I don't think-!"

Holding the prosthetic leg over her head, Star brought it down toward the duracrete floor with as much force as she could swing it, the heel of the foot meeting the ground with the sharp thwack! Marco winced. Ben Fotino just laughed. "Ha ha! Will you just look at that?"

As Star flipped the leg onto her shoulder, the damage became visible. The duracrete floor of the workshop had cracked, a large divot in the center from where the heel of the foot had connected.

"Wow!" Star said, impressed.

Fotino pointed at the prosthetic. "Now check out the leg."

Star slid the appendage off of her shoulder and inspected the heel closely. The metal was not even so much as scratched. "Oh, man! You can't even tell!"

"Like I said. Indestructible." The cybernetics maker clapped his hands together again. "Now, we gots the leg, we gots the shroud, I gots my tools, let's get this thing on. But before we can get the new thing on, we gotta get the old one off!"

From his reclined angle on the table, Marco could not see what Fotino was doing. He could only hear the various shuffling and clinking as Ben riffled through his tools on the cart behind him.

"Ah, here it is!" Ben held up the device he had been looking for high enough that Marco could see it over the partition. The Padawan instantly felt faint. The contraption in Fotino's hands was almost beyond description, having several different sharp ends and grasping devices, and appearing as diabolical as the late General Grevious himself.

"St-St-St-Star!"

Star set the leg down on the floor leaning against the side of the examination-turned-operating table and took Marco's hand, standing at the end behind his head so that he would be forced to look as far away from his leg and Ben Fotino as possible in order to see her. "Don't worry, Marco. I'm here."

"Okay! Here we go!" Fotino loudly announced.

Star squeezed Marco's hand and he kept his gaze locked on her, his eyes nervous but calm. "I'm here, Marco. I'm here."

Ben cackled loudly and set to work.

A tiny astromech droid-controlled speeder slowed to a halt in front of the counter where the crew of the Raventalon waited with Han. The speeder towed behind it the new Starboard engine, floating on a pair of repulsorlift dollies. It was far too wide and tall to fit through the door they had entered through, let alone the alleyway outside.

"Um...how in the galaxy are we gonna get this thing back to the ship?" Tom asked. "We can't bring that on the subway!"

"Reflectacorp has complementary component transportation service!" C-HRS3 explained.

Janna raised an eyebrow skeptically. "You're really gonna transport this stuff all the way back to Mewni for us?"

"Oh, no, you misunderstand. Allow me to elaborate." The droid reached into a drawer behind the counter and retrieved a data card, which it handed to Janna. "This card contains a one-time-use landing clearance code for a private docking bay here in Coronet City. Bring your ship there, and when you arrive, your new parts will already be there waiting for you, escorted by Reflectacorp's private security detail."

Janna whistled appreciatively. "Man, you undersold this place, Han! The service here is ridiculous!"

Tom nodded in agreement. "I'll say!"

Han shrugged sarcastically. "What can I say? I like my recommendations to come off as surprisingly good."

"Here at Reflectacorp, customer service is our number one priority!" C-HRS3 happily told them.

PY-HD gave a low beep that translated in some fashion as a sarcastic, "Yeah, we can see that."

Janna counted out the credit chips and slid the stacks across the counter to the purple protocol droid, who carefully picked them up cupped between both hands. "Please be patient. I will return shortly." And with that, it shuffled off through a doorway behind the counter.

Janna closed the carrying case containing the remainder of the credit chips and handed it to Han. "Do me a favor? Hold onto this and stay with the, uh, 'security detail' and our parts until Lucy and I come back with the ship."

Han flashed her a trustworthy smile. "I will protect it with my life."

C-HRS3 returned, accompanied by three assassin droids. "These fine employees of Reflectacorp will be escorting your parts to the docking bay," the protocol droid told them. The assassin droids waved in greeting.

"If you don't mind, my associate here will join them," Janna said.

"As you wish! Here at Reflectacorp, the customer is always right! Unless, of course, they aren't."

"Mm'kay." Janna turned to her copilot. "Alright, Lucy, let's grab our blasters and go get the ship."

"Right behind you."

PY-HD twittered that it was "following along, too, not that anyone asked."

"Thanks, Seahorse," Janna called back. "See you shortly, Han."

The young teen waved back. "Just don't keep me waiting!"

As soon as the others were out of earshot, Tom asked, "You're really comfortable with letting that guy you haven't so much as spoken to in years hang on to that case full of our money that I'm still not even comfortable accepting?"

"Yup."

"Why?"

"For the same reason I was fine with you carrying it."

"Oh...which is...?"

Janna ignored the question.

They reached the vestibule where IG-33 was waiting for them. Once the door to the warehouse had closed behind them, the assassin droid unlocked the wall safe and returned their blasters. Then it opened the exterior door to let them back out into the alley.

"Thank you for your patronage," IG-33 droned. "Please remain alive until you have taken delivery of your purchase." Then it closed the door behind them.

"Cheery droid," Tom quipped.

"C'mon, Lucy," Janna grumbled, not paying even the slightest bit of attention to Tom's words. "Let's get a move on so we can get off this dumb rock."

Tom elected to remain silent and followed after her.

The part numbers for the hyperdrives and sublight engines are real part numbers from car parts...except I wrote this so long ago that I don't remember what those parts were.