Episode Two
The Ballad of Self-Preservation

"Two?" The pilot spat through the comlink that was tightly gripped in Rokkna-1's hand.

"I-I didn't think it'd be a problem."

The transport shuttle increased speed and navigated away from the pick-up zone with a steady hand. Vrina busied himself while the two argued by plucking larger shards of glass from his sand-brown tunic. He winced after extracting a particularly long specimen. The Humanoid, now tilted by the heated debate between him and his pilot, examined both guests while a grimace strained his face.

"Critical mission failure, Kaz. Remember when you said we wouldn't be wasting our time? And now—blast, we have sky skiffs on our trail."

"Easy. Open the hold and keep us steady." The man brandished his brand new DL-44, straightened his wrist, and locked his shoulder.

A long pause preceded the pilot obeying the command. Vrina felt the air escape his lungs and held onto a groove in the wall. The still-unconscious Zabrak was only a short distance away in case he had to reach out to save him from slipping out of the shuttle.

Kaz was greeted with a powerful bolt striking the hull just above his head. He recoiled and recovered within the same movement. The weapon's ironsights hovered over two slender vehicles that struggled to maintain ascension. Their noses were pointed at the shuttle and fired off another debilitating round. Only one struck the underside of the ship, but the impact was enough to knock the Humanoid to his knees.

He threw himself into what insignificant amount of walled cover there was between the open door and bay. The pilot shouted, "It's not like this thing has shields! It's not military!"

"That's right," Kaz exhaled under his breath and steadied his breathing and brought the comm to his face to respond. "Slow down and descend—hard."

Panicked but attentive, she asked, "Like, cut engines?"

"That works!" Kaz turned to the Mikkian. "Hold onto your pal."

Vrina stretched to grab ahold of Wegil's arm and brought him closer. "Just so we're clear, I wouldn't really call him my 'pal'."

The Humanoid frowned, his posture suddenly tense. "Then why is he here?!"

A lurch from the shuttle drew Kaz back into the plan. He pulled himself up and aligned his heavy blaster onto one of the two sky skiffs. Its pilot had a difficult time readjusting the nimble vehicle's altitude and left its underside open for a volley of well-timed shots.

Two struck the skiff in its tail, flipping the pilot off after an explosion launched the nose upward. The shuttle made a hard bank to the left and Kaz was tossed to the ground. His new weapon tumbled out of the open door.

Vrina was desperate to maintain upright while struggling with the limp weight of Wegil. He shouted to the bearded man and asked if he was injured.

"I'm okay," the man crawled backward and found himself back behind the same feeble amount of cover as before. Into the comlink: "Tam, what happened?"

"They're called buildings, Kaz. Maybe you've heard of them."

He rolled his eyes but could not prevent a smirk from creeping onto his face. To Vrina: "Hey, throw me that blaster I lent you." The Mikkian's eyes widened and he patted his chest and hips before shrugging. "Are you serious?! Then, I don't know, use some kind of Force power and knock this guy out of the sky!"

The skiff had managed to catch up to their shuttle but missed each shot as Tam gently bobbed the ship from side-to-side.

Vrina let go of Wegil long enough to rub either eye with his palms. "I don't know what you're talking about! I don't even know where we're going!"

"Well, buddy, as of right now, we're all on the same page." Kaz's eyes searched the small cargo bay for some kind of answer.

Adjusting himself and the unconscious body, he shouted, "Why did you set off a detonator in Wegil's club?" The Mikkian raised his voice and repeated his question after a moment of silence from the Humanoid who appeared to be lost in thought.

Kaz looked up to Vrina and grinned. "Quick, turn on that grav-lift and shove it my way. Tam," he spoke into the comlink. "Nose up and route everything you've got to engines. Seal the hatch in sixty. Does this thing have a charged hyperdrive?"

"Surprisingly."

As soon as the Mikkian stood, the shuttle began to pivot and he nearly lost his footing. A stray bolt from the skiff struck the interior of the bay and a shower of sparks washed over both Vrina and Wegil—though, the latter of the two did not seem to mind much. Completing his task with only minor difficulty, a waist-high crate rolled toward Kaz after a dainty push. The Humanoid drew another sticky detonator from his belt. "It's too slow!" Another blast hit the underside of the shuttle and an alarm began to blare.

Wegil slid down the bay floor while peacefully snoring. Holding onto a wall panel, Vrina could not extend his arm far enough to fetch the Zabrak.

"Perfect." Kaz set the detonator on a ten-second timer. Just as Wegil's body struck the crate, the Humanoid attached the explosive and helped guide the heavy package out with one final exertion. In another movement, he crouched and whipped the body back inside just as the bay door began to seal.

Looking down and through the open cargo bay door, Vrina watched the crate skid off of the ramp and arc into the path of the skiff. The pilot was quick to pull right, but the compact explosion caused a nebulae of glittering debris to strike both him and his vehicle. The door sealed seconds later.

Kaz let go of the Zabrak and turned on his comlink. "How long before we find a route?"

"Routing power to stabilizers in thirty, will be free to jump in three minutes."

"No more friends?"

"Just the ones you brought on board. Hope they're worth it, Kaz. I saw what you did with our credits."

He chuckled and relaxed with his back against the bay door. "They were fake, anyway."

"Yeah," Tam's voice lilted. "But we could have done a lot of damage with thousands of fake credits."

From Kaz's point of view, the Mikkian held onto the panel for dear life. To his right, a groan from Wegil. "Hey," he greeted the disoriented Zabrak with a salute. "How was your nap?"

"M-my… What?" He blinked thrice and frowned. His gravelly voice dragged against their ears. "What's the clown doing up there?"

Vrina cleared his throat, his typically blush-hued skin became red with effort.

Both the Mikkian and Zabrak were ushered to the passenger hold and were instructed to find a seat from either row that lined each wall of the shuttle. The air was polluted with smoke that carried with it a scent of charred plastic.

With crossed arms, Kaz watched the two sit opposite each other. "You two really aren't friends, huh?"

Wegil clicked his tongue. "I barely know this fool, now I'm swept up in some anti-species terrorist attack. Some kind of protest, kidnapping."

"That's not quite what's going on here," the bearded man attempted to calm the Zabrak's nerves. He remained at a distance, choosing to hover in the central corridor that led to the cockpit. Vrina could make out a shorter figure operating the pilot system. Kaz looked to Wegil and offered a weak smile. "I'd like to start by saying, I'm sorry that I, erm, knocked you unconscious."

"Alright, so it was you, then."

"Nobody was supposed to get hurt. Well, maybe one or two people. You, uh, the one with the head wrap."

The Mikkian blinked and touched the side of his head. "Vrina Hon."

Kaz nodded once. "Okay, Vrina Hon. I'd like to ask about your involvement with the eff-ess-ess." He watched the Mikkian's expression wilt into confusion. "You hid a lot of truths in your, I guess, comedy set. You knew that Gil's Gab was a meeting ground for several high-ranking members."

"I… Didn't."

"You—wait, what?" The Humanoid's confidence diminished. He turned to the pilot and she shook her head, eyes still on the control panel.

Wegil lifted himself from the seat and approached Kaz with weighted steps. "Hey, now. That's an unfounded claim. Who are you to blow up my club and whisk me away into hyperspace?" The two were face-to-face, though the bearded man had no fear in his eyes as he stared down the irate Zabrak.

"We are agents of the New Republic, commissioned by Senator Hamato Xiono to piece together nuggets of intelligence regarding the networking and goal of the eff-ess-ess."

The Zabrak exhaled through a wide grin. "Your faith in yet another totalitarian regime stuns me." He turned and seated himself, this time much closer. "A flag can mean many things, agent, but it comes down to those who uphold its original intention."

"And we do."

"Republic, Empire. Good, evil. These words are ultimately meaningless."

Kaz furrowed his brow and straightened his posture. "What is the Federation of Six Systems, then?"

"It doesn't have a flag, I'll tell you that much." Wegil maintained a wild grin. "And it's name is subject to change. Our friend here, the joker—he was right on the money."

Vrina blinked. "You mean… About the name?"

"Six systems, sixteen systems. When news spreads, the name will, too."

The Humanoid cautiously approached the Zabrak but kept several feet away. At that moment, he was glad to be unarmed. "You're giving away a lot of information."

"Just what I know."

Tam called back to her companion, her voice straining to compensate for the distance. "Breaking into neutral territory. We're going to need to find a place to hide out while are-nine and I change the shuttle's signature."

"Copy that." Kaz crossed his arms and pouted. He scanned Wegil's expression for a long moment before being interrupted by Vrina raising his hand. "Erm, yeah?"

"I know you already said we'd be back in time for breakfast, but I'm going to need confirmation on that." His shoulders shrunk. "I have a tooka to feed."

Wegil shuddered. "Disgusting things."

The Mikkian frowned and leaned forward with both hands on his thighs. "I happen to like mine and don't want it to starve."

A chain of electronic squelches sounded from the pilot's den. Tam removed herself from the cockpit and stood by Kaz with stiff eyebrows. "Who exactly are these guys and why did we waste our entire day and all of our resources to bring them on board?"

Kaz gestured to The Mikkian and introduced him with a bright disposition. "This is Vrina Hon, a comedian and Jedi."

Equally astounded, both Tam and Wegil repeated, "Jedi?" The Zabrak continued, humored. "Since when?"

Vrina wagged his hands and scrunched his shoulders. Through a grimace, "I'm not—sir, I'm going to need you to stop telling people that I'm a…"

"Got it," the bearded man winked. "You're undercover as a stand-up comedian and it's all super secret. Makes sense why your jokes were so bad." Both he and Wegil shared in laughter. Tam made her way to stand in front of the blushing Mikkian.

"I don't think he's lying." She craned her neck to take in his outfit. "No laser sword. Nothing useful utilitywise. Kind of run down shoes." The pilot turned her attention to the Zabrak. "And what about him?"

Wegil stood up from his seat and cleared his throat. "I'll introduce myself. I'm—" His voice trickled away at the sight of Tam's blaster. The line of sight was secured to his chest.

"I didn't ask you."

"Yup, that's fair." The Zabrak seated himself and held both hands next to either ear.

Her eyebrow cocked. "Well, Kaz?"

"Yeah," the bearded man stroked his chin and took in a sharp breath. "He's the owner of the same club that's been welcoming captains of the eff-ess-ess. He seems to know quite a lot about their affairs. All in all, maybe the mission was more of a success than we expected?"

Tam sucked on her teeth and mulled over the stream of potentials. "You seem pretty intelligent," she nodded to Wegil. He shrugged one shoulder. "Why are you wasting your time running a comedy club?"

"You have to be intelligent in order to know how to profit off of others while refusing to be profited off of yourself."

"Solid logic. And you've chosen the side of the Federation because they are a better option than that of the New Republic, or retrospectively, that of the Empire?"

"An individual alone can not choose to join the eff-ess-ess, though one can agree ideologically. The Federation makes an offer to the lower levels of planetary government, specifically federal and local. If the offer is pleasant, they are then hired to install the Federation's circuitry onto the entirety of the planet—not just measly occupations scattered about towns or cities."

"And you've decided to give us this information for free?"

Wegil leaned back in his chair. For the first time since waking up, he appeared to be completely relaxed. "What other ways are there to prepare you for the inevitable paradigm shift of shared galactic ideals? Brute force? Vrina," he swung his gaze to the Mikkian. "How many were killed while I was unconscious?"

He forced a hard swallow and looked to the Humanoid with glossy eyes. The man's face hardened. After a quiet exhale, Vrina responded: "Just one." The lie scalded the inside of his ribcage.

"Just one?" The Zabrak bounced a loose nod. "And do you believe it was justified?"

Immediately, "Yes. Of course."

"Of course the death was justified," Wegil teased. "Of course murder was necessary." He turned his focus to Tam. "Now, I've only known you for a handful of minutes, but I know you wouldn't lie to me. Even with your blaster pointed at my heart, you'd at least grant me the courtesy of honesty. How many died—from the detonation, from your desperate escape?"

Her eyes flashed and her trigger finger shuddered. "One." Then, through her teeth, "It's about to be two."

"You agents truly are an extension of the New Republic. Go on, then. Eviscerate me."

A smirk creaked onto Tam's face, but she was mindful of her tone. "Why would we do that?" The blaster dropped to her side and found its way back into its holster. "We'll be more than happy to drop you off at the nearest waystation. I'm sure there are other shuttles who wouldn't mind making the trip to Coruscant."

Vrina stretched his arm upward once again, but did not wait to be called on. "My tooka," he shook his head. "What about my tooka?"

Kaz frowned. "I thought Jedi were discouraged from having attachments. I guess that doesn't extend to pets—"

The Zabrak scoffed. "Why do you keep insisting this one is a Jedi? The myths of the temple on Coruscant are false. It's no more than a glorified museum."

"Maybe," he crossed his arms. "But why would a museum need cycle-long protection?"

A small voice peeped from the Mikkian's throat: "I just want to go home."

After a click of the tongue, Tam shook her head. "No can do, not for hours. Are-nine," she called back to the cockpit and craned her head. "Anywhere we can dock?"

Three distanced chirps were ostensibly translated by everyone except Vrina. Tam and Kaz glanced at each other with exhaustion painting their faces while Wegil shook his head. "What?" The comedian who was very much not fluent in droidspeak scanned the room. "What did it say?"

"I'm bringing it in," Tam elbowed Kaz as she passed him. He nodded and resolved to take a seat on the row opposite from the Zabrak. The pilot sustained a playful conversation with the astromech droid hidden somewhere in the pilot's den.

Wegil pressed his gaze on to the Humanoid until he was forced to make eye contact. "I'd rather you just eject me now." Vrina furrowed his brow and shifted in his seat; frustration wound its way up his limbs and into his throat. Recognizing his body language, Kaz ignored the horned man's prod and turned to the comedian.

He proceeded to explain that their shuttle was to dock at a droid-operated refueling station called TIL-03. "A once-asteroid-turned-moon of the planet Kerrond. It's… It's perhaps not the most joyful place to land, but the droids are efficient to say the least."

Vrina straightened his spine and huffed. "I've never heard of any of these places." His peripheral caught a glimpse of the pilot's den. A massive, water-laden planet filled the window. The shuttle twisted its pathing left and carefully locked onto one of many empty landing pads. "Not a lot of business?"

"No need to pay droid employees, right?" Kaz scratched the tip of his nose and relaxed into his seat. "It can be as busy or as quiet as possible. Doesn't make much of a difference."

The Zabrak rolled his eyes and leaned forward with a sniff. "I never had droids in my club. I'm glad to have nourished the economy for organics. What?" He hissed at the two men who stared him down. "I'm not evil or anything. They are slaves, after all."

Vrina stretched either leg and began to massive his knees. The right side of his leg throbbed in a dull ache, a large, hidden bruise spread from his right thigh and past his ribs. "Can I stay on the ship?" With hope in the Mikkian's heart, he looked to Kaz who stolidly shook his head. "Ah. Dosh."