Despite the fact that Marco could not actually feel anything that Ben Fotino was doing on the other side of the partition, he scrunched his eyes closed as if in tremendous pain, refusing to relinquish his grip on Star's hand during the entire procedure. To the young human Padawan, it seemed to take forever for Ben to finish. In reality, the installation of his new prosthetic leg took less than twenty minutes.

Star was quite grateful when Ben flipped up his goggles and announced, "Whelp, that'll do 'er!" because her hand was starting to ache from Marco's relentless grip. He loosened his grasp on her hand, prompting her to quickly pull her aching appendage away and massage her fingers with the opposite hand. "Sheesh, Marco."

The human Padawan cautiously opened his eyes. "It's done?"

"Yep! Sure is!" Ben grabbed the pole that suspended the curtain partition over Marco's body and haphazardly flung it away, a loud crash resonating from the pile of old droid parts where it landed. "Whatdya think?"

Marco hesitantly raised his head off the table in order to see the lower half of his body. The cybernetic leg was attached to the existing end of his left leg just below the knee, the transition from flesh to the black metal skeletal structure protected by a synthetic mesh band fused directly to both skin and metal. He subconsciously wiggled the toes on his right foot, and then, without even realizing what he was doing, wiggled the toes of his left, and the mechanical digits emitted a soft clicking sound as they flicked up and down just as real ones would.

"Whoa..."

Pushing himself up to a sitting position, Marco slowly flexed his new limb at the knee. Star gently placed her hand on his shoulder as her best friend tested out the motion of his new leg.

"How does it feel?" she asked.

"It...It feels...natural. The motions, the way I can feel what it's doing..." Marco reached out and touched the covering mid-shin, and he could feel his hand on the metal just as he would be able to on his original leg. "It feels...real."

He swung his legs over the side of the examination table.

"You just be careful on that there first step, Sonny," Ben warned as he wiped off his tools. "It's gonna be a might shaky until you get a feel for it."

"Oh, right," Marco said, remembering his first experience walking on the prosthetic Janna had made. He looked at Star. "Star, would you mind-?"

She plopped down beside him, snaking her right arm under both of Marco's to help support him when he stood. "I gotcha, Marco!"

Very cautiously, Marco slid off the table until his feet touched the floor. When he pushed away from the table, he nearly collapsed, but Star supported him and helped him gain his balance. Marco took a cautious step, leading with his cybernetic leg, and felt surprisingly sure of his balance as he followed through.

"Star...I think you can let go."

"You're sure?"

"Yeah."

Star pulled her arm away and Marco stood on his own. While the initial step had been awkward after having become used to walking on the low-tech leg Janna had made, the new prosthetic was so well-tuned and properly linked to his nervous system that Marco very quickly felt like he was standing on his own two natural feet. He took a slow step, and then another, and then another. He walked a little bit faster, a confident smile working its way into his face while Star and Ben Fotino watched him feel out his new limb.

And then, he took off running, a full lap around the workshop as fast as his legs would carry him, ending his short sprint by somersaulting over the examination table (with a little boost from the Force) and sticking the landing on the other side.

"Woo hoo!" he cheered.

Star laughed. "How ya feeling there, Marco?"

"I feel fantastic!" he replied, dancing a little jig on the duracrete floor. "Ben, I gotta hand it to you. I've never felt better!" He quickly grasped Ben Fotino's hand and shook it. "Thank you!"

"Much obliged! Happy to do it!" the cybernetics technician said. "Now, uh, I do believe there was some mention of, uh, payment?"

"Oh!" Star yelped. "Yes! Right! I almost forgot!"

"Wow," Marco said, "I was just starting to think to myself that Ben wasn't such a creep after all, but..." He gritted his teeth together, cringing. "Yikes."

"Yeah...I've never seen anyone bathe in credit chips before," Star replied, glancing back at Fotino's building as they walked away down the first street.

"Maybe you overpaid him a little?"

"Nahhhh. Didn't you see how happy he was?"

"A little too happy, maybe."

Star shrugged. "Oh, well. So, Mr. Diaz," she said bounding in front of him and blocking his path to stop him from walking any further. "How do feel? Ready to take on the whole Empire with that fancy new leg of yours?"

"Honestly, I feel amazing!" said Marco as he bounced up and down. "I feel like I've got a super boost!"

"What do you say we put that thing through its paces, then?" Star said. She pointed to his feet. He only wore a boot on his right foot as the other had been lost with his leg on Moraband. "I'll race you to the shoe maker to get you some new footgear."

"You're on! Oh, wait, except I-"

"Readysetgo!" Star yelled, and took off down the street, weaving in and out of the other pedestrians. Before Marco even fully realized what was happening, Star was out of sight.

Marco sighed. "-I don't know where the shoe maker is."

"Could you please try to restrain yourself from threatening to kill someone at just one repair shop we check?"

Security Officer Rosado posed the question to the inquisitor as they left the shop of yet another terrified Starship mechanic who had not seen the elusive YV-560 freighter.

"I could, but it's entertaining." The inquisitor faced him. "And, in case you hadn't noticed yet, I am beyond bored." It groaned, a disdainfully evil sound through the voice-modifier in the mask. "How many more places do we have to check?"

"No more here in Coronet City," Rosado said slowly. "But we have plenty more to check other places on the planet."

"Fine. Just let's move on," the inquisitor sighed. "Back to the maglev, I guess. Stupid public transit."

"Thank the Force that Han knew a place that had both drives and the engine and we didn't have to shop around," Janna said as their walk back to the maglev station neared its end. "We're gonna be here less than a day."

Tom checked his chronometer. Only about seven and a half hours had passed since they'd landed. "You sure got your wish."

"Oh, you have no idea, Dude."

Tom smiled, glad his best friend was so happy, and simultaneously feeling guilty for joking that she was emotionless their first night on Mewni. Janna actually seemed to be walking with a little bit of a spring in her step, something he'd only ever seen her do after receiving a very large payout from a client. "I gotta say, though," he went on, "that was without a doubt the nicest black market distributor I've ever seen. Makes me wish more of our clients were like that!"

"It was almost too nice," Janna agreed, as they turned the corner. The maglev station came into view just ahead and PY-HD emitted a thankful groan. "And I'm glad that it was this time because we got in and out fast, but if our entire customer base was that friendly and professional, our job would be really, really, really boring."

Tom shrugged. "Yeah, I guess. It would make it a lot easier, though."

"Heh. That chick in front of us gets it," muttered the inquisitor.

Rosado wasn't paying attention to the pair of teenagers and their astromech who had just turned out in front of them from a side street several paces ahead. He couldn't even hear them. The inquistor only could because of the sound filters in its helmet. The Security Officer was staring at his datapad as they walked, busily mapping out the ship repair shops they would be checking at their next location. "Hmm? What girl?"

"Right there," pointed the inquisitor. "Walking with the demonicite."

"A demonicite?" Rosado looked up from his datapad at the being in front of him with purple skin and horns amidst a shock of red hair. "Huh. I don't think I've ever seen a demonicite before."

"They almost never leave their home planet of Wolddunerr because they're specifically adapted to its atmosphere and can't survive off-world. I think that guy must be only half-demonicite, otherwise he'd be dead."

"Huh. Interesting." Rosado turned his attention back to the datapad in his hands, glancing up occasionally to make sure he didn't bump into anything.

The inquisitor groaned. Of all the officers to get stuck with...

They'd reached the maglev station. Commuter traffic was light this time of day, so the line at the ticket window was short. The inquisitor and its associate followed the odd pair and their astromech in joining the line. The Jedi hunter briefly considered using its Imperial credentials - or maybe just its lightsaber - to skip the line, but Rosado was still busy on his datapad and didn't seem to have any qualms with waiting, so the inquisitor stood with its arms crossed, foot tapping impatiently on the ground.

As the human and demonicite stepped up to the window to purchase their tickets, the inquisitor was busy thinking about its quarry. They ran from Coruscant...cowards...and were struck with a missile as they jumped to hyperspace...there's no way they aren't space dust. What a dumb assignment this is. Chasing after phantoms. Might as well have me trying to locate Darth Revan. They're gone! Dead! Pulverized! What a waste of my talents.

Unless-

"Next patron, please approach," droned the droid behind the ticket window.

It's current train of thought broken, the inquisitor roughly grabbed Rosado by the arm and dragged him up to the counter. The Security Officer had been so engrossed in mapping their route on his datapad that he hadn't noticed they'd been called up.

"Gah!" he yelped as the inquisitor's rough yank on his arm threw off his balance. "What?" he asked indignantly.

"Tell the droid where we're going."

"Oh, right." Rosado slid the datapad into the small satchel he carried over his shoulder and addressed the droid. "Two for Bella Vistal, please."

"Yes, sir. Please allow me to scan your identification." Rosado slid his Imperial credentials under the window. The droid briefly looked at it, saw that he was an Imperial Officer, and slid the identification back to its owner without bothering to scan it. "One moment please," it said, "while I print your-"

"-Star-"

The inquisitor, who was barely paying any attention to the droid behind the ticket window, tensed up as a single word, spoken by an unseen being nearby and picked up and amplified by the helmet on its head, cut through all of the surrounding noise and reached its ears.

Star...Star Butterfly? Could it be...?

But was the unknown person speaking of the Jedi Padawan, or something else? The inquisitor had only heard a single word out of a sentence, there was no way of knowing. It quickly put a hand to the side of the helmet near its ear, gloved fingers carefully manipulating a noise filter control, trying to find the voice it had heard speak the name of its quarry.

"-for dinner later tonight."

"-really rushing production on these capital ships-"

"-know? Maybe you should-"

"-does sound like something Star would do."

That last one. There it was. That was the same male voice as before, and it had indeed spoken Butterfly's first name.

And the inquisitor knew exactly who that voice belonged to. It had heard that voice before.

Frantically, the inquisitor scanned the crowd, searching for the pair of horns within a thicket of red hair that would instantly identify the one who spoke of Star Butterfly.

The demonicite. There he was, walking with the girl in the faded, dark green beanie hat and that weird blue-and-pink astromech droid, stepping onto the lift that ferried passengers down to the subway platform with six other riders.

Gotcha.

Leaving her associate still standing at the ticket window completely in the dark, the inquisitor took off running. Halfway there, the lift door began to close.

"No!"

But it was too late. The lift door fully shut before the inquisitor could reach it.

"Karabast!"

To the left was a set of stairs, descending to the station platform beside the lift. Without so much as a moment's hesitation, the inquisitor bolted for the staircase, jumping down as far as possible without hitting its head on the ceiling and sliding down the rest of the way on the center handrail.

You won't escape me that easily.

The droid pushed the tickets for the maglev subway under the window into Rosado's waiting hand. "Thank you," Rosado said. He had a habit of thanking helpful droids despite the fact that no one else did and thought him crazy for doing so. It was just in his nature.

Rosado had not willingly joined the Empire. He had served in the Grand Army of the Republic during the Clone War, having enrolled in officer's training shortly after the First Battle of Geonosis and rising to the rank of Captain. He never once saw combat, his duties mainly involving sitting behind a desk in an office on Coruscant and keeping track of supply requisites and ordinance distribution, politely asking the clones under his command to load such-and-such crates of whatever onto this ship or that one. He had a relatively high security clearance because he needed to know what was actually in the containers he was transporting and where they were headed to. So, when the Imperial reorganization came about, some higher-up noticed he had high security clearance and a perfect service record and promoted him to Imperial Security Officer, First Class. He was put in charge of a squadron of stormtroopers tasked with locating security breaches and "eliminating them."

He never really cared for the way that part of his new job description was worded.

And so, the guy who had been known as the nicest guy in the Republic Army had somehow ended up working with aninquisitor, the most ruthless fighters on the Empire's payroll, searching for a pair of fugitive Jedi, with a squadron of stormtroopers waiting on the light cruiser in orbit in the event they were needed.

"My pleasure, Sir," the droid droned in reply.

Rosado turned away from the window just in time to see the inquisitor sprinting toward the stairs and vaulting down. He didn't have the slightest idea what it could possibly be after, but if something had the Jedi hunter worked up enough to leap down the stairs like that, it probably wasn't anything good.

"Oh, boy."

He quickly pocketed the tickets and hurried toward the stairs.

Launching off the end of the handrail onto the platform and startling a weequay so badly that the poor man nearly fell off the edge onto the maglev track, the inquisitor quickly looked up and down both ends of the station, searching for the demonicite. It spotted the teenager to the right and took off toward him. Foot traffic on the platform was marginally light and it was not difficult for the inquisitor to juke to and fro between the waiting passengers as it sprinted toward the casually strolling teens and their astromech.

When the targets were only a few meters away, the inquisitor jumped toward the wall, carrying enough momentum to run on the vertical surface past the pair and their droid, and then jumped in front of them, stopping them in their tracks.

The demonicite's expression rapidly morphed from startled to genuine fear, and the droid squealed loudly in terror. The human girl remained relatively calm, simply muttering, "Oh, kriff."

"You two!" the inquisitor growled, sticking a demanding finger in their faces, "Where are Butterfly and Diaz?!"

"Think they'll be surprised we're back so soon?"

"Probably. They didn't even have enough time to miss us yet."

"Ha, yeah. Though, if we're being honest, we probably could have been gone for ten minutes and Star still would react as if she hadn't seen us in a year."

"Yup. Sounds about right. I bet she throws us a welcome home party."

"Ha! That does sound like something Star would do!"

That was the exchange between Tom and Janna that had started the trouble. All it had taken was Tom uttering Star's name twice within earshot of the inquisitor for the Jedi hunter to spring into action. Now that very same black-clad being was standing in their path, and demanding, "Where are Butterfly and Diaz?!"

They both recognized the inquisitor as the unknown being that had pursued Marco on Coruscant, and Tom was understandably terrified, frozen to the spot and unable to speak.

Janna, on the other hand, never wavered. "Butterfly? Diaz? Are those supposed to be names?" She couldn't help but smirk as she calmly lied through her teeth.

"Don't play dumb with me!" the inquisitor's synthetic voice barked. "I know you know where they are!"

"No idea who or what you're talking about, dude."

"Your mate's expression here says otherwise," it said, taking note of the nervous beads of sweat forming on Tom's forehead.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, just a second there!" Janna waved her arms defensively. "He is not my mate!"

PY-HD bleeped something sarcastic.

"Not now, Pony. Don't go jumping to conclusions, he's just my business partner."

Somehow completely forgetting that they were being threatened by a clearly murderous Imperial agent, Tom felt rather disappointed. "I thought I was your best friend."

"Well, I mean, sure, but is this really the time to get into semantics?"

"Enough!" The inquisitor raised its hands and slowly closed its palms into fists. Both Janna and Tom suddenly felt intense pressure closing in on their throats, instantly unable to breathe. They gagged and choked, slowly floating up off of the platform, dangling in the air from the inquisitor's Force-grip on their windpipes, fruitlessly clutching at their necks trying to loose the invisible fingers. PY-HD squealed in panic having no idea what to do, as passersby stopped and stared in shock at two levitating teenagers.

"Tell me or die! Where are Butterfly and Diaz?!"

Tom and Janna couldn't have answered even if they wanted to, the crushing Force-choke holding their voices hostage. Worse still, they were unable to breathe. Janna was sure if the inquisitor continued much longer, she would definitely pass out from the lack of oxygen.

"Inquisitor!"

The shout came from a man in the uniform of an Imperial officer currently running up to the scene.

"Inquisitor, what are you doing?" Rosado asked in panic as he watched the floating teenagers gasping for breath.

"They know where the Jedi are!" growled the inquisitor.

"Okay, but how are they ever going to answer you if they can't breathe?! You're going to kill them and lose the only lead we've got!"

Much as the inquisitor hated to admit it, Rosado had a point. She released her connection to the Force and the two teenagers dropped to the platform on their hands and knees. PY-HD rolled over between them to make sure they were alright while Tom and Janna gasped for air.

Before his partner could do anything further, Rosado stepped between the inquisitor and the young smugglers, kneeling down on the ground directly in front of Janna. Beside them, a maglev train pulled up to the platform and slowed to a stop. A set of boarding doors was just a meter behind Janna, with PY-HD and Tom between her and the train.

"Ma'am, please," Rosado said to Janna, placing a hand on her shoulder. "We're only looking for Star Butterfly and Marco Diaz. No one else needs to get hurt. Please, please tell us where they are."

Still panting hard to regain her breath, Janna slowly brought her right leg forward, placing her foot flat on the ground beneath her as if she were about to try to rise to her feet.

"Please, Ma'am."

Janna raised her head and met Rosado's friendly eyes. Even she had to admit that he didn't appear to mean her any harm. In fact, he seemed like a normal guy just doing his job.

So she aimed for his leg instead of his throat.

With carefully practiced blink-and-you'll-miss-it speed, Janna pressed a hidden ejection button on the heel of her right boot, causing the handle of a tiny, narrow-bladed knife concealed in the sole to pop out enough for her to grab it. She snatched up the tiny blade and, before Security Officer Rosado could figure out what she was doing, plunged the blade through the fabric of his trouser leg and into his left calf.

"AAAUGH!"

As the Imperial Officer fell over onto his side in pain, Janna sprang to her feet and shoved PY-HD into Tom, hauling the demonicite to his feet as she pushed them into the waiting open door of the maglev.

"Move move move!"

"NO!" the inquisitor shrieked.

Janna's timing was perfect. The doors slid closed right behind her and the maglev started away from the platform.

The inquisitor was furious. "Idiot!"

Leaving its partner on the station platform with a knife sticking out of his leg, the inquisitor shoved off with the Force, vaulting into the air and landing on the roof of the last maglev car as it passed.

Janna tripped as she hastily pushed her companions through the door to board the maglev, accidentally knocking Tom and PY-HD over and then falling on top of them. The heap of fallen teenagers received disgusted looks from other passengers on the train as it accelerated out of the station.

Tom pulled himself out from beneath Janna and hauled PY-HD back upright. "Soooo that was easily the most terrifying thing that has ever happened to me."

"Yeah, that was intense. What-slash-who the kriff is that thing?" Janna asked as she got back to her feet.

"I have no idea. And how did it know we're friends with Star and Marco?" Tom asked. PY-HD bleeped in annoyance. Tom patted the droid's dome. "Yeah, I hear ya, Pony. Hey, Janna, is there any chance we're on the right train? Just by chance?"

"I don't think there's any chance we are. I believe we're actually going the opposite direction by chance."

Another annoyed series of beeps came from PY-HD.

"Your droid says to please stop saying 'chance,'" growled a grumpy dowutin squeezed into the seat facing opposite the door.

Before anyone had a chance to say anything further, the door at the rear end of the maglev car slid open to reveal the inquisitor, who, despite having its expression completely covered by its helmet, managed to appear seething with anger.

"Oh, no!" Tom groaned, the color draining from his face.

Not taking the time to hesitate, Janna quickly whipped out one of her blasters and fired a single shot down the center isle of the car, causing the handful of passengers on board to duck for cover. In the blink of an eye, the inquisitor had a red lightsaber ignited and deflected the blue bolt of energy directly back at Janna's blaster.

"Gah!" she yelled as the bolt knocked the blaster out of her hand. The DC-17 clattered to the floor and skittered out of sight beneath one of the long bench seats lining both sides of the car.

And then the inquisitor sprinted forward.

"Okay, run!" Janna said, turning and taking off toward the forward end of the car. Tom followed close behind, PY-HD rolling faster than Janna could run and beating her to the door at the front end of the car. The droid tilted its body forward, using the spike atop its head to press the activation panel to open the door before its organic companions could reach it.

Following after PY-HD, Janna jumped over the uneven vestibule between the cars, clearing it completely. Tom followed suit, but unfortunately did not land beyond the vestibule in the next car. Instead, he landed just before the door, the toe of his boot catching on the sliding door track. He fell forward, crashing to the floor flat on his face. He never even had a chance to stand up before the inquisitor was upon him.

"OOH!" Tom groaned as the fearsome Jedi hunter landed on his back, pinning him to the floor with its knee.

"Gotcha!"

The red lightsaber blade found its way across the back of his neck, its tip burning a hole into the floor, forcing Tom to keep his right cheek plastered to the dirty low-pile carpeting.

Janna didn't realize what was happening until she glanced back while opening the door at the opposite end of the car. She watched as the inquisitor slowly moved the plasma blade of her weapon closer to Tom's neck, singeing the hairs on the back of his head.

"Now, for the last time," the inquisitor whispered with cruel malice in its synthetic voice. "Where. Are. Butterfly and Diaz?"

A series of deadpan beeps came from PY-HD which Janna translated to mean, "Well, Tom's dead."

But Captain Ordonia ignored the comment. "Pony. Lightsaber."

The astromech beeped again to convey, "Whatever. Your funeral." A panel in the top of its dome opened and Marco's lightsaber hilt rose up from within.

Janna took hold of it.

"This is your last chance, kid," the inquisitor growled, twitching the lightsaber blade so close to Tom's neck that he could nearly feel it burning into his skin. His eyes scrunched tightly shut, every muscle in his body tense, Tom wondered if the Jedi hunter would spare his life if he gave up his friends or if it would just kill him regardless. "Where are those brats?!"

"YAAAAAAAA!"

The inquisitor looked up to see Janna running at it full-bore, the green blade of the lightsaber in her hand igniting as she swung the weapon, aiming to bisect its mask. The inquisitor raised its own sword and when the red and green sabers clashed, they locked together as Janna pressed against her copilot's assailant.

"Now isn't this interesting," the inquisitor chuckled. "Borrowed one of your friends' weapons, I see. Let's see how you handle that thing."

Janna sneered, "Bring it."

Still holding back Captain Ordonia's pressing attack, the inquisitor rose to its feet, leaving Tom laying on the floor. Then it raised its hand and pushed Janna two meters backwards with the Force, breaking their lock. Janna stumbled but kept her balance, gritting her teeth as she adjusted her grip on the lightsaber hilt and narrowing her eyes at her opponent.

The inquisitor held its blade at the ready, doing it's best to intimidate Captain Ordonia. Then it lunged forward, swinging the blade hard toward Janna's left shoulder. The move was a bit overly telegraphed, the inquisitor not actually intending on killing its opponent since, as Rosado had reminded it earlier, they needed information from them, and Janna had plenty of time to block the strike. The clash was intense, though, and she nearly lost her grasp on the hilt. The next strike came from overhead, and this time Janna more properly braced herself. The lightsaber stayed firmly in her grasp this time, but she was not awarded an opportunity to strike back.

Three more strikes followed in quick succession. A slash from high left, up from down right, and then one more from overhead. Had Marco been the one dueling the inquisitor, he would have found the strikes slow and easily countered. To non-Force-sensitive Janna, however, the blows were nearly too quick for her to block.

When the inquisitor's next attack came, Janna's deductive reaction was that it would be better to jump out of the way instead of continuing to face-off against a duelist of far greater skill and experience. A quick step backwards was Janna's choice, the tip of the inquisitor's crimson blade passing barely a centimeter in front of her nose.

Janna blocked the next slash, and stepped backwards away from the next again. Block, step, block, step, as she backed away from the inquisitor, the Jedi hunter following her every step. She backed her way into the next car forward, ducking and dodging more and more of the inquisitor's slashing attacks as the blows came even quicker. Seeing the engagement abruptly burst through the door, the occupants of this car broke into a panic, quickly running into the next car forward to avoid becoming caught up in the fray.

At one point, Janna ducked under a horizontal slice that carried the inquisitor's blade far around toward its back. Seeing an opportunity, she quickly slashed upward from her side, aiming for the midsection of the inquisitor's suit, but to her surprise, the attack was blocked. The inquisitor had sensed the blade approaching and called its second lightsaber from its belt into its hand, igniting it just in time to counter Janna's strike.

Both opponents froze. Janna hesitantly backed slowly away, eyes locked on the black expressionless mask staring back at her.

"Heh heh heh. Big mistake, kid."

"Oh, crud."

The inquisitor lowered both blades and gave each a vertical spin before briskly advancing toward Janna. The teenager quickly walked backwards, trying to keep enough distance between herself and the inquisitor to stay beyond the range of the pair of red lightsabers, countering the few attacks that came close enough to hit her.

But then, Janna tripped over a piece of luggage that someone had left lying in the center corridor. She did not fall, but the stumble allowed the inquisitor to close the gap between them, and now Janna was too close to possibly avoid or counter every single one of her opponent's attacks. So, she did the only thing she could do.

She ran for it.

Janna spun on her heel and bolted for the door at the head end of the car. The inquisitor followed close behind, the tips of its twin blades dragging on the floor, burning a track into the carpet.

The doors between this car and the next were both open already from the rapid exodus of the passengers, a fact that Janna was quite grateful for because the inquisitor was faster on foot than she was. Passing into the next car forward, Janna heard a light whoosh and then a crash! She looked back to see what had made the sound and tripped over a thisspiasian passenger's long tail lying in the center of the aisle. She instinctively dropped Marco's lightsaber on her way down so that she would not land on the blade, crashing to the floor. She quickly rolled over, expecting to see the inquisitor preparing to pounce on her, but the fearsome Jedi hunter was no where to be seen. What Janna did see was that the door leading into the vestibule between cars behind her had closed, and PY-HD was sitting beside it beneath the activation panel, having activated the door and closed it as Janna passed through.

On the other side of the door, the inquisitor had been running full-speed in pursuit of Janna when the door into the next car had unexpectedly closed right in front of it. It crashed into the door helmeted-face-first with enough momentum to bounce off and fall over backwards, lightsabers switching off as they clattered to the floor.

The thisspiasian looked down at Janna. "Sorry, young lady."

"It's cool. No worries." Janna quickly hopped to her feet and grabbed Marco's lightsaber from where it had fallen. "Thanks for the save, Pony Head."

The droid twittered something, clearly frantic to get away. Janna pulled her remaining blaster from its holster inside of her jacket and blasted the door control, effectively sealing the door closed and earning shocked gasps from the passengers aboard this maglev car.

On the other side, the inquisitor was pounding on the door control, trying in vain to make the door open. Frustrated, it reignited its lightsabers and plunged one into each side of the door.

Janna jumped backwards in surprise as the twin crimson blades suddenly jutted through the door toward her, slowly moving downward to slice the door completely away. "Time to go, Pony!"

The droid chittered in agreement and they took off down the center aisle of the train. They made it clear into the next car before the inquisitor tore the now loose door free and took off in pursuit. Janna and PY-HD continued through the train as fast as they could until they reached the lead maglev car.

A frantic PY-HD inquired, "Okay, now what? There's no where else to go."

That was a valid question to which Janna did not have an answer. Through the viewscreen that looked forward along the maglev track, she noticed that at some point the train had risen from its subterranean tunnel and was now racing along above ground.

"Roof it is."

Janna clipped Marco's lightsaber to her belt and slid her blaster back inside her jacket as she stalked over to the set of boarding doors on the right side of the train. On the bulkhead beside the doors was a red handle labeled "For Emergency Exit Only." She flipped the handle down and heard a *ka-chunk* as the mechanical latch that held the doors closed was released. When she pushed on the doors, they easily parted in the center, sliding into the bulkhead on either side and blasting the interior of the speeding maglev with a rush of late evening air.

Janna stuck her head out the opening, quickly grabbing her hat as the wind rushing past threatened to blow it off of her head. Looking up, she shielded her eyes against the low Corellian sun, searching for something to use as a handhold by which she could hoist herself up onto the roof. The streamlined maglev did not offer much in the way of external apparatuses. The only thing Janna could see was the antenna through which the automated train transmitted its current position and received emergency stop signals.

"Pony, quick, give me your grapple cable."

Giving a compliant chatter, the droid opened a small compartment on the front of its body. Inside was a suction cup attached to the end of a thin, braided steel cable-reinforced vacuum tube. Working as quickly as she could, Janna pulled out several meters of cable from the reel inside of PY-HD's body. Holding the cable about a meter from the suction cup end, and holding onto the hand hold on the inside of the bulkhead beside the doorway, Janna leaned out the side of the speeding maglev. She gave the cable a twirl to build up some momentum before giving it a toss. Her aim was perfect. The cable wrapped once around the antenna, the suction cup landing face down and attaching to the smooth streamlined roof.

"Nailed it! Okay, Ponyhead, I'll climb up the cable and then you reel it in and winch yourself up after me."

The astromech bleeped affirmatively, and Janna began hoisting herself up the cable to the roof. When she reached the top and had a solid stance on the flat roof, she gave the cable two hard tugs to let PY-HD know to follow her.

The droid began reeling in its cable, swinging out the door as the contour of the roof pulled its feet off the floor.

The door to the lead maglev car slid open and the inquisitor stepped through, knowing that its quarry had run out of room to flee. "Where are you?" It scanned the interior of the car with its eyes beneath its mask, wondering where the girl was hiding.

And then it spied the open boarding door, the wind rushing in, and the legs of a blue-and-pink astromech droid ascending past the top of the doorway.

"Gotcha."

But instead of following, the inquisitor backtracked to the previous car, where it yanked open the door to the refresher.

"Yaaa!" cried the Mon Calamari passenger inside.

The inquisitor cared not for the man's privacy. It grabbed the Mon Cala by the collar of his shirt and yanked him out of the tiny refresher, tossing him onto the floor. Stepping into the 'fresher, it spied what it was looking for: the ventilation hatch.

Janna and PY-HD abruptly halted in their tracks as the hatch in the roof just in front of them suddenly flew open. Propelled by the Force, the inquisitor nimbly leapt straight up through it, landing on the roof just in front of the human girl and her droid.

"Going somewhere?"

Carefully stepping backwards away from the Jedi hunter, Janna grabbed Marco's lightsaber from her belt, the emerald blade hissing to life in her hand. PY-HD hid behind her.

A pair of crimson blades ignited in response, the inquisitor pointing the tip of one directly at Janna's nose. "Enough games!" the inquisitor yelled over the wind rushing past. "Where are those two Jedi?"

The only response the inquisitor received was an overhead swing from a green lightsaber blade carrying all of the strength Janna could muster. It crossed the lightsabers in front of itself, catching Janna's blade in the valley between them. The three blades locked together, the grinding of the clashing plasma audibly loud even over the wind. Janna pressed Marco's lightsaber against the inquisitors' with all of her strength, groaning as she strained, gritting her teeth. But, without the Force as her ally to strengthen her, she was no match for the inquisitor.

"You can't beat me, kid! Just give it up!"

"Never!"

Janna angled the lightsaber downward and tried to push it forward through the cross of the inquisitor's blades into her opponent's mask. The inquisitor narrowly jumped out of the way, breaking their stalemate.

The inquisitor smiled beneath its helmet. "Someone thinks they're clever." It twirled its blades again. "It's on now."

Janna held onto the lightsaber for dear life as the inquisitor swung its blades in unison against hers. The collision carried so much force behind it that Janna was knocked backwards a step. She blocked again, and then again, and then again, each clash forcing her to step backwards just to keep her balance.

And then she bumped into PY-HD. The droid had been backing up with her, but had run out of room to retreat. It stood right on the front edge of the lead maglev car. It could go no further.

"No where left to run, kid," the inquisitor said simply. "Give it up."

Janna considered her options. She could see only one.

She switched off the lightsaber, and lowered it to her side.

"Good choice. Now, this is the last time I am going to ask: Where are Butterfly and Diaz?"

Janna ignited the lightsaber.

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. The green blade of Marco's weapon extended toward the inquisitor's midsection. With blinding speed, the Jedi hunter swung the lightsaber in its right hand crossways in front of its body, catching the still-extending green blade near the bottom and pushing it out to the side. The swords of green and red now pointed straight out, perpendicular to the train.

"Nice try."

The inquisitor spun the lightsaber locked with Janna's upwards around the opposing blade. Janna could see what her it aimed to do. It was holding her arm in place by pinning the lightsaber blade with its own. The crimson blade in the inquisitor's left hand began to extend beneath their locked arms.

It was going to cut off her arm.

In the span of two milliseconds, Janna quickly considered her options. If her arm was severed, then she could get a sweet robotic appendage. But, she wasn't sure she would survive this encounter if she didn't have both arms with which to defend herself.

So, she did the only thing she could do.

She dropped Marco's lightsaber and fell backwards, the inquisitor's blade flashing harmlessly through the spot where her wrist had been less than a second earlier.

As she landed on her rear on the roof of the maglev beside PY-HD, she watched as the emerald blade of Marco's weapon, the lightsaber of Jedi Master Kit Fisto, extinguished as the hilt bounced off the roof. And then it was over the side of the train and vanished.

The inquisitor chuckled. "You put up a good fight, kid." It switched off its lightsabers and clipped them back to its belt. "But you lost." It raised its right hand and Janna felt the crushing grip of the Force on her throat for the second time that day. She slowly levitated up off of the roof of the maglev, clutching desperately at her neck, but she was helpless against the inquisitor's Force-choke.

"I'm going to kill you now," the inquisitor said simply. "I forgot that you had a droid. I'll just get the information I seek from it's memory banks."

PY-HD squealed in desperation.

The inquisitor chuckled again. "You know, I've never actually killed someone solely with the Force before. So much more satisfying that just cutting them down with a lightsaber."

Janna gasped for air, desperately trying to suck in a breath, but it was no use.

I'm going to die. And I had so much more that I wanted to do...

A bolt of green energy suddenly slammed into the inquisitor's back, knocking it forward. Janna fell from the air and collapsed onto the roof of the maglev as her attacker's concentration was broken, looking up just in time to see PY-HD race forward and crash into the off-balance black-clad Jedi hunter, knocking the inquisitor off its feet and sending it tumbling over the side of the train.

What?

And there, running along the top of the train toward her, was Tom.

Carefully standing on the vacc tube, Tom jumped up and grabbed the edge of the ventilation hatch opening. While demonicites were known for their upper body strength, Tom had unfortunately inherited his human father's physique, and hauling his body up through the hatch took quite a bit of effort.

He had caught up just in time to see the inquisitor throw the Mon Cala out of the refresher and had a feeling it wasn't taking a break to relieve itself. His suspicion was confirmed when he peered through the still-open 'fresher door and saw no sign of the inquisitor and an open roof ventilation hatch.

When he finally dragged himself onto the roof, he easily located Janna and the inquisitor, their blades locked together on the forward edge of the lead maglev car, one car forward from where he currently stood. PY-HD was right behind them. He was just in time to see Janna drop Marco's lightsaber, and he watched as the hilt disappeared over the side of the train.

Oh no.

Two steps forward was all Tom had time to take before Janna rose off the roof, held aloft by her throat with the Force. Tom could do nothing but watch as Janna desperately scratched at her neck, trying in vain to release the invisible hand clutching her windpipe.

What can I do? I can't fight that thing!

...Well... Tom reached into his leather jacket and retrieved his WESTAR-32 from its holster. ...I guess...I can try to shoot it.

Tom flipped off the safety and held the blaster aloft. He silently wished to himself that he were aiming with the wind instead of against it, as the air rushing past the speeding train made it difficult to keep his hand steady and blasted him in the face, drying his trio of eyes and blurring his vision. He closed one eye, aiming squarely for the inquisitor's back.

Please don't let me accidentally hit Janna.

Tom took a deep breath and slowly pulled the trigger.

The single bolt of green energy slammed into the inquisitor's back. It was knocked forward, dropping Janna as it's concentration was shattered, and as it stepped backwards to regain its balance, PY-HD charged forward and crashed into it, sending the fearsome executor sliding off the roof of the maglev and disappearing over the side.

Tom carefully hurried to Janna, taking care not to slip himself on the smooth surface of the roof. "Janna!"

"Tom," Janna gasped, desperately trying to refill her empty lungs. "What...what did you...do that for?"

"Ummm...what?"

"I had everything...completely...under control."

"Um...no...no, you did not."

"It...was a joke...Lucy. Clearly I...did not...have everything...under control."

"Oh. Right. Are you okay?"

Janna nodded slowly. "I think so."

"Good."

And then Tom threw his arms around Janna's shoulders, taking her completely by surprise.

"Oh...uh..." She slowly returned the embrace. "I'm glad you're okay, too."

PY-HD whistled sarcastically to say, "I'm okay, too, thanks for asking."

Tom blushed and released his friend. "So, uh, since this wasn't our train, what do we do now?"

"Well, the good news is that Corellia's transit system is one big loop, so if we stay on this long enough, eventually we'll get where we're going. It's just going to be a much, much longer trip." Janna's face suddenly turned white. "Oh, crud."

"What?"

"I just lost Marco's lightsaber. He's gonna kill me."

"Oh. Yeah, I saw that. Don't worry, I'm, uh...sure he'll understand." Tom was not quite sure that was true. "What do you say we get off the roof now?"

"Yeah, okay."

Tom stood up and offered Janna his hand, which she accepted. He helped her back to her feet. As they walked back to the refresher's ventilation hatch, she asked, "Honestly, Lucy, what took you so long?"

The inquisitor picked its head up and watched the maglev train speed off into the distance. The blaster bolt had hit it squarely in the back but had not pierced the tough armor of its suit, leaving the inquisitor very sore, but uninjured.

"I've got two more targets to hunt now. And the next time I see you two brats, I won't hesitate to end them."

Wow! This chapter actually has some Star Wars-ing in it!

"Wolddunerr" is an anagram of "Underworld."