04: The Grand Moff

The Princess was holding up surprisingly well. In spite of repeated interrogations, long stretches confined alone and perhaps even a little rough handling, she refused to budge from her obviously bogus story of the diplomatic mission. Finally, the Imperials had decided to take out all the stops and subject her to the one thing even her iron will couldn't withstand.

Kaori was led by a trio of guards down endless lengths of corridors, enough to make her realize that they weren't on the Implacable anymore. Her elbows were bound together in front of her as well as her wrists, and two more guards followed at a discrete distance. She was almost flattered; after her performance on the Blockade Runner, they weren't taking any chances.

She was confident. There was absolutely nothing that could break her cool.

But when they finally arrived at a great control room, she saw three things that made her blood run cold. The first was Darth Nochichi far away on a command deck, but she'd faced him before. The second was her homeworld, Alderaan, through the titanic viewport that made up one whole wall, but that didn't necessarily mean anything.

Neither compared to the third. She stopped dead in her tracks and just sort of stared for a few seconds, mouth dry and stomach turning. "Step it up," one of the guards ordered, thumping her between the shoulder blades with the butt of his rifle. This snapped her back to reality, and she was able to compose herself before the object of revulsion drew near.

"I wondered who was holding Nochichi's leash," she greeted icily, "I should have recognized your foul stench as soon as I came on board… Grand Moff Kimura."

"It's good to see you still have spirit," Kimura replied, leering through (thankfully) opaque glasses. "I like that."

The very notion that this… this creature liked her made Kaori feel a little sick. She'd heard many terrible stories about the Grand Moff. His ruthlessness and lechery were legendary (and hopefully greatly exaggerated.) It was also said that he was a fan of classical literature, which led the underground press to dub him the Bloody Poet in much the same spirit as they had named the Bespin Strangler. He had appeared in his share of cartoons as well, where he was often depicted with a ridiculously wide-open mouth. Their creators had about the same survival rate as Nochichi's.

"Well, we searched your ship from stem to stern, interrogated the whole surviving crew and even scanned the surrounding space. It sure looks like you're telling the truth… but there are still a few loose ends. We're missing the captain of your guard, for instance."

Kagura! Determined as she was, the Princess couldn't fully conceal the wild surge of hope that filled her. Kimura noted it with a guarded smirk, then turned away from her. "Whether or not you have those plans, we know you're an executive in this Rebellion, and we suspect you know where their base is."

"What are you talking about?" she gritted, filling her voice with indignation. "We…"

"Don't be so coy." Something about the way he said coy set off a fresh wave of nausea. "Do you know where we are?"

She looked around. To all appearances, it was a standard command deck, though much larger than she was used to. Alderaan hung above them peacefully, but something about the layout of the room gave her the feeling that it was in a set of crosshairs. What kind of a vessel or station could…?

Station. Oh, no.

"That's right," Kimura smiled at her shocked look. "It's not just a schematic anymore. This is the N2 Prototype Imperial Battlestation." Kaori struggled to cover her reaction. Her homeworld really was in the crosshairs! "I've been trying to think of a more poetic name, though. Mjolnir, maybe, or Tartarus. Some people are saying Death Star, but I don't think that'll stick."

"We're ready to start drawing power," one of the technicians called.

"So, about that base…" Kimura said, throwing an arm over Kaori's shoulder and facing the viewport as if expecting a show. She swallowed.


Kagura had expected the heat. Tatooine was a desert world, after all. She would have been disappointed if it wasn't hot enough to melt the soles of her boots. The thing that really got her was how bright it was outside… though she should have known, what with the two suns and endless plains of white sand.

She had to squint even through the sunglasses Owen had given her, and if she tilted her head back more than forty degrees, daggers of sunlight stabbed the back of her skull. Irritatingly, Chiyo sat next to her in the landspeeder, wide, clear eyes completely unshielded and unbothered.

Well, by the sun, anyway. She kept glancing over at her charge uneasily, adding tension to what should have been a companionable silence. Kagura realized that it must have been a little off-putting to be ferrying a Rebel around, but jeez…

"So, ah…" she faltered for a moment. The silence was getting annoying, but what could they talk about? "You're headed to the Academy, then?"

"To- to be an explorer," the girl replied quickly, "Not a soldier."

"Hmph." Kagura leaned out of her seat to let the wind rush through her hair. A sharp blast of scouring grit yanked her back in, though. "The explorers aren't any better, you know."

"Really?"

"The Empire doesn't have a very good track record when it comes to indigenous cultures. Who was it here? There was a race here, wasn't there?" Kagura didn't remember her schooling too well, but she was pretty sure about this one.

"Do you mean the Tuskens?"

"That's right. They had a civilization before the Empire decided to colonize this place and crushed them. But then, it does stuff like that all the time."

"I've never heard anything like that…"

"It's not something you'd advertise."

"Mm." Chiyo looked troubled. That was a relief; most people exploded when you challenged their view of reality like that. "I'm… I'm not calling you a liar, but that sounds a little… unlikely?"

Kagura was curious to know if her companion were always so polite or if it was because she was stuck in a small vehicle with an armed Rebel. She shrugged. "Well, I didn't come to recruit you. Do your thing."

"I've always wondered about—" Chiyo cut herself off in mid-sentence and brought them to a skidding halt. Kagura, who hadn't bothered to buckle in, was knocked painfully into the dash. "Ow! Dammit! What are you--?"

"Sorry!" Chiyo put a hand on the wounded woman's shoulder. "Oh, my God! Are you all right? I didn't mean to-"

"Fine, I'm fine! What did you stop for?"

"Look…" Chiyo pointed down a slope to the West. In the distance, Kagura could just make out a cluster of… something. Why was it so damn bright out? "What is that?" she asked.

"Tuskens." The girl's voice held a touch of fear and a certain hardness Kagura wouldn't have expected of it. She watched in disgruntlement as her host snatched up a pair of binoculars and slung a hunting blaster across her back.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"I have to see where they're going! I mean, the Grissoms don't live too far from here, and if they're going to raid…" she hopped out of the speeder and started up a nearby ridge.

Chiyo threw herself down on the ridge and put the binoculars to her face. She could see a cluster of five banthas in the distance, the tiny figures of the Tuskens moving around them. "Five of them," she said to herself as Kagura started huffing up the ridge after her. Not the smartest thing to do on a crutch. "But… one, two, three… where's the fifth Tusken?"

The answer came as a clear, sharp crack, sending her binoculars spiraling into the air. She fell backwards with a startled yelp, fumbling for her blaster as the Tusken crested the ridge before her with a fearsome howl. She just managed to get the weapon off her back before the Tusken's staff streaked down and the world shattered around her.