Chapter 1

A Town in Tatooine

Laying there basking in the blazing heat, laid a lanky mirialan in a large black trench coat and an equally large black cowboy hat sat on top of his face. He had two blasters holstered inside his trench coat, a large sheath containing a vibrosword on his back. His dark green skin shone slightly in Tatooine's dual suns, his sleek pointed leather boots cross over one another.

He laid on the ramp to a colossal bulky ship, a sleek silver dye of the hull glinted in the light, only marred by the lumps of scrap resembling ships on either side. The ship extended far back beyond those lining around the small town, the dull white buildings scattered around a large stone structure at the far end, a simple marketplace combined with a storage bay. The town was perfect place for smugglers to meet and trade their wares, it was an out of the way location that few knew of, making it easy to flog illegal and black-market items.

Sat on an old chair upon a ramp to the even older ship sat to the right of the of the silver behemoth was an old man with long grey hair, he grumbled slightly as he tried to sleep. His old features and slightly overweight sized completed the crotchety old man look. His ragged clothes blended well with his ships rusted brown colour, a dull grey band wrapped around his head and an old blaster resting on his lap.

On the other side of the silver behemoth sat an equally old freighter that had a sleeker and slimmer design than its counterpart, on the ramp leading into it stood a smiling middle-aged woman with jet black hair and an eye patch over one of her silver eyes. She had a similar clothing style to the mirialan though with a smaller jacket and a lot more bronze studs throughout all of it, she had a large rifle strapped to her back and a blaster on her hip. The woman was hanging out wet clothes, stringing them along the ramp leading into her ship.

"Darling, you should get your washing done, it be dry in no time." The woman chirruped, happy in her chores as she placed the last piece of clothing upon the line, passing a glance to the green skinned young lad laying on the ramp next to her. Shuffling slightly on his perch, he dignified the woman by lifting his hat to address her, his sparkling green eyes shining through the shade of the hat.

"Thanks, but no thanks, Honey. Last time I was picking grains of sand out of my clothes for a week!" The mirialan calmly griped, careful not to spark the ire of the one person he wanted to avoid annoying. The old man chuckled just quietly enough to not be heard by the woman but loud enough for the young lad to hear him.

"Well, that is your own fault for not properly taking care of your clothes young lad. Its is paramount that one takes care of their own hygiene." The woman grumpily glared at the green skinned lad, clearly upset her suggestion had been dismissed so quickly and with a lame excuse as well. The old man snorted a bit too loudly, drawing the angry glare of the woman. "What the hell are you laughing at, old geezer?! You smell worse than a bantha!"

"Nothing, Honey." The old man quickly bleated, praying to avoid her wrath by answer her swiftly. The young lad laying on the silver ramp covered his face again to hide the growing grin on his face, intent on listening in on the one-sided argument.

"That's what I thought. You must be going senile with your old age, Cole." The woman glared angrily at the old man before storming back into her own ship with a basket tucked under arm, shaking her head at the old man's antics. The young lad and old man stayed silent for a minute, listening intently for any sound that she would be coming back.

"For a woman called Honey, she is anything but." Cole grumbled, shaking his head as the young lad chuckled. Neither disagreeing with the other on Cole's assessment on Honey. "I am pretty sure there was an Imperial army that turned tail at one of her glares."

"Ha! If anything, it has to be a Sith, they are way worse than an army." The young lad chipped in, enjoying the chance to spark up rumours about their colleague. It was these rumours that help generate business, and it was fun to talk mockingly about one of their friends.

"Na, I'm sure she would be smiling at one of them." Cole retorted, dismissing the young lad's suggestion. A smirk gracing his face showed off his yellow teeth. "Right before she eats him alive with a drizzle of oil!"

"HAHAHA." The young lad broke apart laughing, clutching his stomach as his hat fell off his head. His chiselled features gleamed slightly as his green skin paired well with the glaring light, his soft short dark green hair hanging just above his eyes. Picking up his hat, he shook his head as he tried to calm himself.

"What are you laughing about, Garfield?!" Honey's soft voice called out sweetly, standing there on the ramp to her ship, her arms pressed into her waist as she awaited a response. Garfield choked on his laugh, startled by the sudden appearance of the person he was laughing at.

"Cole said a really funny joke." Unable to think of anything, Garfield went with the tried-and-true method of blame Cole. He barely stifled a chuckle as Cole threw his hands into the air as he groaned, unable to fathom that he had been thrown under the bus once again.

"Oh, I like jokes, do tell my dear Cole?" Honey sweetly smiled at the old man, a murderous intent shinning openly in her silver eye. Garfield quickly placed his hat back onto his face as he laid back down, hoping to stay out of the inevitable fall out.

"Well… this chiss walked into a bar…" Cole started saying, hoping inspiration would strike him and he could come out with a belter that could save his life, though as the smile slowly turned into frown, he knew he was got.

"Why don't you tell the joke Garfield? It seems Cole's senility has him forgetting things." Honey turned her glare onto the young man who flinched violently when his name was called, sitting up right and fling his hat like a rock out of a catapult. Racking his brains relentlessly, hoping that he could finish the old man's joke before he got macerated.

"This chiss walked into a bar… and… and he ordered a drink from the bartender, telling him that if it wasn't up to Empire standards that he would have this bar closed." Garfield felt the joke flow into his mind, hoping his inspiration would save his and Cole's hides, he knew his joke would fall flat but if it was stupid enough then maybe it might work. "So, the bartender pours him a blue drink. Tasting it, the chiss complains that it is fowl, demanding why the bartender would give him a disgusting drink. The bartender turned to him and said 'it is up to Empire standard, I got it off my boot'"

Cole fell apart laughing, apparently loving Garfield's failed attempt of a joke, though Honey begrudgingly bought it as she gave a passing glare at both of them before retreating into her ship. It took a while before the old man calmed down, peering over at Honey's ship.

"That was close, nice comeback, kid." Cole thanked Garfield, relaxing back into his chair as the green-skinned boy chased after his hat that now started to blow away with the wind. Returning back to the row of ships, he noticed a petite figure staggering over to their side of the row of ships. They wore a sizeable black cloak and hood covering them entirely, blowing slightly in the wind and revealing the soft black leather trousers that clung to their skin.

Eyeing the figure, Garfield was worried that this might be someone who posed a threat to him and his friends, resting his hand on one of his blasters. He watched from the side as they approached Honey's ship, waiting for any sign that this person could draw a weapon at a moment's notice and kill someone, though his worries were for naught as they collapsed right before the ramp. Walking over, he watched as Honey came running out and started her usual mother hen routine, cooing over the fallen figure.

"Oh dear, what happened to you darling?" Honey knelt beside the figure and lifted the hood revealing a light purple skinned girl with dark purple hair, she was breathing harshly as she tried to draw in air. "Oh my, you look exhausted and dehydrated. Let me get you some water."

Honey helped her up and sat her down on the side of her ship's ramp before disappearing into her ship, the girl looked to about the same age as Garfield, wearing a simple set of soft black leather shirt and short coat under the cloak. She wheezed slightly, leaning forward as she held her head in her hands. Honey returned moments later with a metal cup filled with water, handing it gently to the girl who almost scrambled for it.

Her first attempt to gulp it down failed as she coughed harshly, Honey rubbing her back soothingly and offering her a warm smile. Garfield had laid back down on his spot, curiously staring at the stranger. Even the old man was intently waiting for something that resembled an excuse as to why she was dehydrated and stumbling through Tatooine of all places, Honey meanwhile was more interested in something else.

"That will be fifty credits, young lady." She smiled brightly as if she just offered honey tea rather than demanding an extortionate amount for water, the young girl wildly stared at the one eyed woman knelt beside her.

"I don't have any credits…" The young girl's soft voice was addled by her dry throat, giving a coarse sound to her otherwise plain tone. She missed the violent flinch that both Garfield and Cole had at her words, knowing all too well how this will turn out.

"I ain't a charity lass, credits or get the hell off my ship." Honey's motherly expression instantly turned into a glowering scowl, daring the young lady to challenge her. The purple skinned girl flinched violently, staring incredulously at Honey as she tried to form some excuse to save herself.

"Hey Honey, I'll call your debt void if you take care of her." Garfield called out, shocking both women at his statement, Honey more than the stranger. Even Cole looked dumbfoundedly at him, wondering why anyone would call of their debt to help someone they didn't know.

"You sure, darling?" Honey eagerly awaited Garfield's response, hoping to erase her debt with him, Garfield just nodded his head and laid back down to rest, his hat resting back on his face once again. "Wow, your generosity is amazing, Garfield. Well, thank him young lady."

"Thanks?" The young lady said somewhat confused, rapidly shifting her gaze from the retreating Honey and the lounging Garfield. Once Honey had disappeared into her ship, Cole let out a loud snort, struggling to keep himself in check encase she came back. "Is she always like this?"

"Pretty much." Garfield grumbled from under his hat, not caring to lift it to speak. Cole grunted his agreement, not bothering to utter words as there wasn't more that could be said. "Just don't get on her bad side."

"HA! That's the last thing anyone does, they wouldn't be alive long enough to do it again." Cole roared, Garfield joining in on his laughter as they remarked on the time one guy ran screaming once he said that she was evil, the fast-retreating man followed closely by Honey brandishing an actual medieval battle axe.

"A honey covered battle axe, there is no other way to describe her." Garfield chimed in, getting Cole's approving grunt to the mix. The young lady sipped slowly at the water, listening in to the banter. Honey came sashing out with a bowl of soup, handing it to the young lady along with a spoon.

"Thanks." The young lady dug into the soup, careful to not repeat her mistake with the water, taking slow sips. Honey smiled warmly at her as she ate, unnerving her slightly.

"So, what is a young beauty like you doing in a hellish place like this?" Honey sweetly asked, striking up a conversation as the young lady ate, bringing in the attention of both men. The young lady settled her spoon and bowl onto her lap, content with letting what she had ate settle before she continued.

"I don't really know, I heard stories of this place and decided to come here, but it wasn't like anything I thought it to be." The young lady answered, a hidden note to her voice that had Garfield shifting his hat slightly to stare at her, wondering why she partially lied. He knew her words to be true, but she was hiding what really brought her here. "I lost all of my credits travelling here, the ship here was extortionate and what little credits I had left I used to buy me food and drink which didn't last long."

"I hate those transport captains, they always give us smugglers a bad rep." Cole grumbled, garnering agreement sounds from both Honey and Garfield. They didn't like how transport captains would rip off unsuspecting travellers, who then would come and rudely compare them to those scammers.

"There's a difference?" The young lady asked bluntly, sending all three smugglers reeling, staring incredulously at her. Even Garfield removed his hat for a second, wondering where this young lady had the audacity to say that to three of them at once.

"There is a considerable difference, young lady. A major difference." Honey stated in bewilderment, staring wildly at the young lady. She was about to continue when Cole jumped in with one of his usual horrible jokes at the wrong time.

"We bathe ourselves." Cole roared out, drawing a snort from Garfield and a hate filled glare from Honey. Garfield laid back down, content to let the conversation carry on without him.

"No…well yes… whatever! Those scammers do whatever they can to grab a quick buck, but us smugglers have standards." Honey shook her head as she tried to ignore Cole's joke and correct the confusion, sending another glare to the old man as his laughter rose in volume.

"Don't you steal and rob?" The young lady bluntly asked, uncaring to the flinch all three of them had at her words. Garfield quickly recovered before he started to chuckle, drawing Honey's attention.

"She has you there." Garfield smirked, he was starting to like this stranger, her bluntness was a breath of fresh air compared to the lying and aggression that most smugglers converse in. Topics that are taboo are rarely spoke of, and no one ever speaks their minds, opting for the indirect route of yell until someone finally gets it.

"She doesn't have me there…" Honey started, holding a finger up before she grumpily sighed and shook her head, knowing that she was beaten. Garfield smirked in victory, finally managing to get one over the battle axe.

"The truth is that there isn't much difference, we just hate getting the bad rep from other smugglers and blame it on the most common source of interaction people have with those in our profession." Garfield filled in the blank that the young lady was having, ignoring the begrudging sigh from Honey and the grumpy grunt from Cole. "Anyway, what's your name?"

"Raven, and you are Garfield?" Raven asked, she didn't fully hear Honey earlier as she was too baffled by the sudden change in personality of what she though was her caring host. Garfield didn't expect her to address him directly, deciding to be courteous, he sat up and took of his hat.

"Captain Garfield Logan at your service." He tipped his head slightly, introducing himself with his full title. Garfield pointed to Honey and Cole, introducing them. "This is Captain Honey Bell, and this is Captain Cole Smitherson."

Both captains nodded as Garfield introduced them before returning to whatever they were doing last, Raven took the lull to finish off her food. Garfield spied a group in fine clothes heading towards them, holding their heads up high as they passively walked. He didn't like the look of them, silently praying they would head to the other end of the row of ships, though his hopes were in vain.

"Excuse me, I require a ship to transport cargo off world." The lead woman barked, her words were flowery, but her tone dripped with venom. She glared each of the three smugglers down, lingering on Garfield as she took in his less than caring attitude as he laid back with his hat on his face.

"Price depends on distance, planet and weight. Complications in transit will cost extra." Cole yammered out his and Honey's company line, not taking to the lead woman in the long red decorated robes glare at them. Her blonde hair was tied curtly into a bun behind her head, her sharp green eyes stared at each of them in turn.

"Fine, you in the middle, I have cargo that needs transport asap." The blonde-haired woman said, drawing Garfield's attention as her words registered in his mind. Staring blankly at her for a second as he wondered why she choose him, bigger ships usually cost a lot more to transport cargo, though he had another reason for his confusion.

"Okay, First. Its Captain. Second, I ain't taking jobs." Garfield punctuated each sentenced as plainly as he could, hoping that would be the end of the conversation. His luck seemed to be elsewhere as the elegant woman stood her ground and glare Garfield down, determined in getting the silver behemoth and its captain.

"Then why are you here, huh?" The woman barked, trying not to laugh at a smuggler passing up a job. The contingency of guards uniformly dressed in light white armour tried to step forward and tackle the rude smuggler, the elegant woman held her hand up to stop them, determined to win the battle of wills herself.

"You are barking up the wrong tree there, lady." Cole answered for Garfield, not caring for her attitude towards his friend. Honey stood up in defense of Garfield as well, knowing that this situation will deteriorate quickly if things didn't calm down. "You have a good choice of ships along this row, stop complaining and move on."

"Yes, I have a good choice of ships and I want the large silver one." The woman argued, dismissing Cole's warning and pressing onwards with her choice. A scowl graced Honey's face, reaching for her blaster as she stepped forward, ready to throw down if things turned sour.

"Lady, let me put it bluntly to you." Garfield sat up and harshly glared at her, upset that he had to argue with annoying individuals that didn't get the first hint. "I don't take any jobs on Tatooine, they are too much hassle for not enough pay. If you really are that desperate then go to Nar Shaddaa, I'll be leaving for there by tonight."

"I don't want to wait twenty days from now to get a ship that I can from right here." The woman's tantrum started to escalate, she wasn't taking no for answer. Raven passively watched the exchange with interest, wondering how smugglers dealt with customers like this, though even she was starting to get annoyed by the elegant woman's tantrum.

"Well, that's your fault, Lady. You have two perfectly good captains on either side of me that would do just as good a job as me at a reduced price." Garfield promoted the other two, if he ever needed to have something transported then he would trust them to get it done, despite their quirks they are highly reliable.

"Then why are you here? Why not move your ship somewhere else?" The woman raged, stomping her foot into the soft sand, her pale white face growing a dark shade of red as she fumed. Her guards stepped forward to attack on her command, ready to fight for the dignity of their employer.

"What's going on?" A new voice entered into the fray, a tall woman stood off to the side beside Cole's ship. She wore a simple dark green cloak around her neck, pale beige short robes and trousers underneath, and a basic lightsaber at her waist. Her long red haired glowed under the sunlight, cascading down around her right shoulder, a pair of sparkling green eyes stared at the commotion before her. A light turned on in the elegant woman's eye, a devious smirk gracing her for a split second before she put on a worried look.

"Master Jedi, this rude person is insulting me and my entourage when we were just looking for a kind person to help us move some boxes off world." The elegant woman pleaded her fake case to the jedi, hoping that she could get a force to be reckon with on her side. Though, the response she got wasn't what she was expecting as Cole and Honey erupted into laughter, leaving both the jedi and herself baffled by the reaction of the smugglers.

Raven tensed as she stared at the lightsaber on the hip of the red haired jedi, subconsciously reaching for her hip before correcting herself. She was interested as to why the smugglers were laughing their heads off, they had calmed down and wiping tears out of their eyes when they finally answered.

"Lady, that glowstick won't help you here. You have a problem with taking no for an answer, just move along and find another ship." Honey smirked as she stared at the elegant woman, uncaring to the glowstick wielding red head who had her jaw on the floor and wearing a bewildered expression. Shaking herself out of her stupor, she stepped forward and stopped the elegant woman from instigating a fight.

"Enough. I know not what is happening here, but a point was made. Find another ship if this one isn't to your liking." Her tone smooth with an accent that few of them could place, she stared the elegant woman down. The elegant woman tried to argue but closed her mouth and stormed off, her entourage of guards quickly falling in line behind her. Turning around, she addresses the four individuals behind her. "Greetings, I am Kori Anders, I do apologise if my arrival caused any disturbance."

"You ain't like any Jedi I have ever seen." Cole was slightly perplexed at the drastically difference of behaviour, though he couldn't say that it wasn't the first time he had seen an unorthodox jedi before.

"That is because I am not." Kori chipperly stated, offering a bright smile as if it were the greatest thing she had ever said. Raven had been seconds from darting away and dashing towards the first building she could, the moment she heard the words from Kori, it left her stunned as she stared wide eyed.

"Sith?" Cole bluntly barked, neither him nor Honey even bothered to look scared as the words left his mouth. A barely noticeable flinch shocked Raven as she heard those words, cautiously staring at the three smugglers in wonder, tying to figure out what kind of experiences one had to have to not be passive in the face of a force user.

"No, I am with neither." Kori simply replied, smiling at the smugglers as if she were talking to dear friends. "I am hoping to find transport off this world, would any of you be so kind to help me?"

"Well, there is a few captains I could recommend, though they won't be leaving for another day or two." Honey smiled sweetly, quickly turning on her mother hen routine that had Raven smirking slightly as she awaited the eventual fallout. "As for us three, the old man over there and myself have a job lined up that doesn't start for another week. Garfield here is the only one leaving tonight, though persuading the lone wolf into taking you is a completely different matter."

"Lone wolf?" Raven pondered aloud, she could see from his demeanour that he portrayed a lone wolf, but after he helped her without expecting a return it ruined his image of a bad boy.

"Doesn't take anything other than inanimate objects on board, if he didn't have interaction with other living beings, I think he might marry his ship." Cole roared with laughter as Garfield glared harshly at the old man, though he was outnumbered as Honey joined in. Garfield grumpily laid back down and put his hat on his face, hoping to block them out as their laughter rose in volume.

"Is this the line for a ship off world?" A deep gruff voice asked, shocking the smugglers out of their fit of laughter. Walking towards them from the town was a large well-built dark-skinned man, he wore a thick plain dark blue jacket with an equally plain grey shirt underneath, a pair of grey trousers with a series of pockets lining each side. He had a large black duffle bag over one shoulder and a bulky assault cannon strapped to his other shoulder, his left arm holding the duffle bag was purely metal and his left eyed glowed brightly red.

Honey and Cole looked at each other for a split second before erupting into laughter once again, unable to take the hilarity of the situation anymore. Raven sighed as she tried to suppress the smile trying to etch its way onto her face, while Kori just stood there confused. Garfield groaned and tried to press his had as far as he could into his face, grumbling ineligible words in frustration.

"I'll take the laughter as a 'no'" The cybernetic man concluded, sighing as he looked down the row of ships, wondering if he would have to spend the rest of the day speaking to an endless number of captains to find one that will transport him off world.

"Lone wolf here doesn't take passengers." Raven sarcastically quipped, smirking as Garfield grumbled and slightly thumped his head against the ramp to his ship. The cybernetic man levelled his gaze on the figure laying on the ramp, wondering why everyone is crowding around the one person who looked like he wanted to be alone. "And he is the only one leaving tonight."

"Well, I am a decent mechanic, if there is anything that needs repairing then I would exchange my services for transport off world." The cybernetic man offered, hoping to persuade Garfield that he could work for free in return for transport. His offer garnered the attention of both Honey and Cole, looking eagerly for a chance to claim a mechanic that can work on their rust buckets for free. Garfield lifted his hat and levelled a stare at the self-proclaimed mechanic, scrutinising if the person before him was lying or if he actually had the skills.

"No offense dude, but I don't know you, or your skills. I ain't gonna let you work on my baby." Garfield bluntly stated, ignoring the hurt look on the cybernetic man's face. He laid back down, debating whether or not to just leave as he was getting too annoyed by everything that had happened.

"Ouch, okay fair." The cybernetic man's pride was somewhat hurt, he debated about moving off and finding another ship that he could work for when a commotion rose behind them. Back in the town, loud voices and blaster fire echoed towards the row of ships, the captains of the ships all rushing forward to see what the commotion was. Even Garfield sat up and cautiously stared at the buildings covering the uproar, adding another reason to leave to his already growing list.

"REPS!" A voice screamed out, a figure came running around the corner, dressed in similar garbs as the smugglers. Garfield, Honey and Cole recognised him as a captain from further down the line, the moment they realised who it was and his words hit their ears they flew it action, ripping everything they could into their ships in a hurry.

"What's going on? What are reps?" The cybernetic man asked, both Raven and Kori shifted the looks to Garfield who was standing inside the cavernous cargo bay, working with a panel. Honey and Cole already had their ramps up and were firing their engines, other ships lifting off in the process.

"Republic goons! They blunder around like they own everything, thinking they can just come here and order us as if we were on their home planet." Garfield barked, frustrated with the panel he was working with, he thumped it with has hand in anger. "Damn it! Come on girl, don't do this to me now!"

The other ships were all but gone, only a few remained though they were quickly taking off. Raven had been knocked off of her perch after Honey started raising the ramp, she, Kori and the cybernetic man exchanged glances between them and the combat closing in on their location.

"Hey, if I can get that panel working will you take me with you?" The cybernetic man asked, hoping to get onboard and off of Tatooine as the nearest town from here couldn't be reached by foot, and the second could easily kill anyone who didn't pack accordingly.

Garfield glared at the cybernetic man, the blaster fire grew louder as he waited there debating. Groaning loudly, he stepped away and motioned to the panel, allowing the cybernetic man into to work after he threw down his bag and cannon inside the ship.

"Once the ramp is halfway up hit that blue button there." Garfield pointed to a panel part way in the large cargo hold, several coloured buttons arranged in a square pattern. The rest of the cargo bay was mainly bulky and square, mirror the exterior in both shape and colour, a catwalk rigged up on the far side along the wall. There was a set of high arching stairs in the middle with boxes strapped down around and underneath the catwalk, the cargo bay was largely empty giving a lot of space between the ramp and the start of crates. "It's the comm to the bridge."

Garfield ran towards the stairs to the catwalk, running up and over to the door just off to the right of the stairs. Entering a long silver corridor, he dashed forward and around onto the next set of near vertical stairs, making the last sprint down a long corridor to a large bridge. The bridge had two seats with screens surrounding them facing a window leading out the front of the ship, a captain's chair sat just behind the two, and two more on either side of the captain's chair. There was enough room for someone to manoeuvre around the chairs without tripping over the struts, the rest of the bridge was screens or panels bolted into the bulkheads.

Garfield leapt into the first chair on the left, working the screens and panels of switches and buttons with practiced ease, bring the silver behemoth to life. He couldn't take off with the ramp open all the way, the air resistance alone could rock the ship's components apart, but it was Tatooine's sands could render all the electronics on board useless.

"Panel's working and the ramp is moving." The intercom blared to life as the voice of the cybernetic man came through, propelling Garfield into action as he double checked the system diagnostic, finding the ramp in the process of closing. Lifting off, Garfield pulled the ship into a stationary U-turn before hitting the thrusters to maximum.

The ship was sluggish off the line but picked up speed with prolonged use of the thrusters at high output, its bulky sized weighed it down in the gravity of the planet. Garfield hoped that he got away before the Republic saw his ship, hoping he could get to Nar Shaddaa without incident. His hopes were dashed as the first round of laser fire glanced off the hull of his ship, bringing up the rear-view camera, he found two Republic fighters on his tail.

"What the…" Garfield tried to rack his brains as to why they would be after his ship, he hadn't done anything recently to provoke them, then he remembered the new passenger he picked up. He was halfway to activating the intercom when his sensors picked up two new signals that just entered orbit of Tatooine, two signals that he wished weren't on a pursuit course with him.

Breaking into the space, still trying to avoid laser fire from the Republic fighters, he banked the large ship in the opposite direction to the two Republic cruisers that had just jumped in. They weren't within range to actually hit his ship, but that didn't stop them from trying, firing round after round as if trying to mimic a flak cannon. The first hit rocked his ship though did nothing more than that, the distance mitigating the damage.

"Was that cannon fire?" The intercom startled Garfield, reminding him that he had a passenger on board, he had temporarily forgot as he tried to evade the Republic cruiser. Activating the intercom, he decided to have a go at the cybernetic man for bringing in the unwanted heat.

"Nah! Its just a bunch of aggressive birds pecking at the hull!" Garfield sarcastically yelled through the intercom, trying not to lose his temper as he charged up the hyperdrive. Praying that his ship didn't decide that moment to have a tantrum and kill the engines.

"Funny! How many ships do we have on our tail?" The cybernetic man called through, dissuading Garfield that he had anyone chasing after him as he didn't ask if they were Republic. Shaking his head, Garfield responded, still working on getting the hyperdrive to finish charging.

"Two Republic cruisers are on our tail, they are out of range but I can't match their speed and charge the hyperdrive at the same time." Garfield responded, knowing that at any moment the cruisers would be hitting their target rather than blanketing around the area. He wished that he knew where this heat came from, though he wished to escape first before he tried to figure things out.

"I think that might have something to do with our unexpected guest." The cybernetic man's words caused Garfield's eye to twitch, one was more than enough but two people on board irked him to no end. He decided to deal with it later, setting in coordinates for a space station he knew of just short of Nar Shaddaa, he could dock their and wait for the heat to die down.

Another round of laser fire ricocheted off the side of the ship, shaking it once again and sending several things to the floor. Garfield had to strap the seatbelts he installed into the seats on the bridge, he once had to fly the ship upside down in a high gravity zone, holding onto the seat while flying proved beyond difficult and tiresome.

A third shot hit the ship though with a greater intensity that jarred Garfield in his seat, proving the necessity of the straps as it dug into his stomach and ribs, preventing him from flying into the screens in front of him. Regaining his composure, he finished off inputting the coordinates and punched the ship into hyperdrive, escaping the Republic forces.

Leaning back, he breathed a sigh of relief as he sat there watching stars flash by at lightspeed. Taking a deep breath, he steady himself and made his way back down to the cargo bay, hoping to deal with whoever it was that had caused that much heat to be brought on him and his ship.

Entering into the cargo bay, he found a scene that he doubted wouldn't leave his mind for a seriously long time. Not only was the cybernetic man there brandishing his assault cannon at an unknown figure, Raven and Kori were standing beside him, two people he didn't invite onto the ship. That wasn't exactly what drew his attention, it was the red lightsaber being held by Kori that confused him. He had expected her to be a jedi, what with her clothes and attitude, but to see a red lightsaber confused him considerably.

The figure they were all cautiously aiming their weapons at was dressed in desert camouflage gear, a large light beige cloak and hood, a set of beige armour and clothes, and a beige scarf covering his face. He had a rifle strapped around his shoulder, though he had his hands up in surrender.

"I beg for safe passage to the nearest unaffiliated station or planet." The camouflaged person asked the moment he saw Garfield enter the room, reckoning the smuggler's get up and smugglers ship go hand in hand.

"I don't know who he is, but he had the Republic firing at us, I couldn't leave the girls outside in that hail of laser fire." The cybernetic man explained the presence of the two girls, still levelling his assault cannon at the unknown guest. Garfield stepped up beside him, scrutinising the stranger carefully, debating if he was a threat to be eliminated or if he could settle with providing transport to him. "This guy came barrelling down from the town with two jedi on his tail, pulled off some stunt and vaulted himself onto the closing ramp. We were already taking off before I could do anything, had to close the ramp first and foremost."

"Don't worry about it, just lucky those cruisers didn't calculate the jump properly, they entered in at the safety range for the planet." Garfield stated, he couldn't exactly fault the stranger for trying to escape from the Republic by any means, and since he wasn't showing any open hostility then he could settle with leaving him be for now. "Urgh! I doubt I could throw him out of the airlock now, the Republic would still be on me. Fine, just hand over any weapons you have, you'll get them back once you leave my ship."

Without missing a beat, the stranger pulled off his rifle a bit to rapidly for the cybernetic man's taste as he stepped forward threateningly. Removing his weapons a bit more cautiously, he handed the rifle, a blaster and a knife from his boot to Garfield who walked over to a hidden panel in the wall. Pressing his palm to it, he pressed a secret button while pretending that it was biometric. The panel revealed a hidden storage compartment with a few pieces already inside, placing the gear in before closing the panel.

"Alright, I have set course for a space station near Nar Shaddaa, once we get there you are all off. Understood?" Garfield stated, staring down the four of them, challenging any of them to argue with his statement.

"I thought you were heading to Nar Shaddaa itself?" Raven asked confused, blatantly ignoring Garfield's attempt to be commanding. A twitch settled in Garfield's eye as he stared at her, wondering if his earlier assumption of her bluntness was still a breath of fresh air, though her question did bring the attention of the other three who looked at him expectantly. "That lady trying to hire me will do anything to get back at me, since Honey told her that I would be heading to Nar Shaddaa I can't head there directly without running into the Republic."

"I take it that space station is less than reputable to anyone from the Republic?" The stranger asked carefully, a note of worry etched into his voice. Garfield had moved back over to the group and lent against the wall by the cybernetic man, opting to trust someone that would willingly help those in trouble without a second thought. Garfield wouldn't exactly say that he trusted the cybernetic man, but he knew that he had a decent character.

"So long as you don't have a bounty on your head, your fine." Garfield replied, he wasn't being entirely truthful, it wasn't a particularly bad station, but they will scam the living daylights out of anyone they could get their hands on. It was fine as long as you didn't cause a commotion, the officials on board are far worse than any of those you would find on the promenade.

"That might be a problem for me." The stranger exasperated, pulling off the beige scarf and revealing his sharp features. Jet black hair sprang free from the hood as he pulled it down, spiked upwards seemingly by magic. He had a pair of beige tinted goggles hidden underneath the hood, taking them off uncovered his sparkling blue eyes.

"How big a bounty we are talking about?" Garfield sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose, turning up to that station with a person holding a bounty may as well be calling open season on yourself. He remembered one of his smuggler friends turned up with someone holding a decent bounty on their, the residences of the space station tore the smuggler's ship apart before torturing the smuggler for information. So long as you kept to yourself and didn't do anything that draws attention, you were perfectly fine, something four travellers should have been able to do.

"Substantial… and from the Republic." The stranger had paused for a second before answering, debating if telling a smuggler the bounty on his head could possibly turn him against him. Though the moment he added where the bounty was posted from, the smuggler groaned out loud before turning around and smacking his head into the bulkhead.

"ARGH! My. Luck. Is. Horrible!" Garfield uttered every word with a thump against the wall, debating if something was secretly twisting a knife into his back with the amount of bad luck he was having in just one day. "I need to go change the coordinates, otherwise we are sailing right to our deaths."

Garfield started heading towards the stairs up to the catwalk, groaning and rubbing the bridge of his nose. He made it to the stairs when he remembered that he had guest who didn't know their way around the ship, stopping for a second to sigh and turn around to the group who stared openly at him in confusion.

"That door over there will lead you to the rec room, go straight through and up the stairs, it will be the first door on your right at the top of the stairs." Garfield explained, pointing towards the door to the left of the stairs. After that he climbed up the stairs leisurely and made his way towards the bridge, grumbling about having to call in a favour that he really didn't want to.


Author's Note: I hope this is a good opening chapter, and I hope that I introduced the characters well. Yes, the perspective is mainly focused on Garfield, I will keep it this way unless I need to add in another person's perspective in if need be. I am trying to make this a space opera, a bit of comedy, adventure and action.

Not all chapters will be this length, they will vary but there will be a 2000 minimum word count.

Upload times will vary as I have another story in the works, and a writing project as well.