A/N: Sorry for the lateness of this chapter. I've been moving into my new place and it took a lot longer than I thought it would :/ Well, here's the third chapter. Enjoy!

Chapter 3 A Cause Worth Fighting For

The ride up to Giles's village took only twenty minutes, but Randal's back was so sore from the uneven and out of sync repulsors that he thought he was going to die from old age before they made it. If Rika also felt as uncomfortably as he did, she didn't show it. Instead, she sat calmly and watched the scenery turn from urban sprawl to rolling countryside, to a rocky tall canyon which then gave way to a valley. Situated in this small valley was the miner's village.

The village of New Beginning was definitely an odd looking one. Homes were situated around the village center; each one looking completely different from the next. Some of them were constructed out of natural materials like locally gathered wood and thatched roofing. Others were made out of permacrete stucco, and even others were made out of rusty durasteel. The look of the village caught Rika by surprise, but as they drew closer and she saw the many people who called the village home coming out to greet them, she could see the reason. As many different styles of housing that she could see, there were an equal number of different races present, all of them living in peace with one another and sharing equally with their neighbor.

As the truck came to a stop and the occupants stepped out, Rika smiled and laughed as the children ran up to them, jumping and smiling widely at the complete strangers. One of them, a young Nautolan, grabbed Randal and embraced him in a fierce hug around his midsection. Randal instinctively tried to pull back, but the youngling was too determined. Rika caught Randal's confused and uncomfortable look and laughed lightly at his awkwardness. The younglings' mothers called out to them, and the children left the strangers and ran back to the adults, who were now all gathered around the large rectangular table in the village's center.

"Everyone, I've found our saviors! These two- I'm sorry, but I never got your names," Giles said as he smiled widely and laughed at his hastiness.

"He's Captain Randal Sarn, and I'm his First Mate Ruxandra. We're here to help you out with a little swoop gang problem," Rika said loudly to the crowd. Her statement earned a loud and up roaring cheer from the villagers. The children jumped up and down clapping their hands and laughing loudly with delight. Even some of the adults joined in their excitement. Randal leaned in towards Rika's ear and whispered.

"I told you it was a bunch of yokels." Rika nudged Randal in the ribs with her elbow and then walked forward to meet the villagers. Randal cocked an eyebrow in annoyance and followed her, but while she was shaking hands and telling everyone about how they were going to help bring them peace, he was merely giving everyone his best fake smile and trying not to roll his eyes at everyone he saw.

From the edge of the crowd, Giles walked over and joined both Tolas and Otzz.

"You think these two are going to be able to help us? They look like normal spacers to me," Tolas said.

"Trust me, I saw them first hand handle two of Dalledo's goons in town. They'll be able to help."

"Hmm, you know anything about them? They seem like an odd couple if you ask me," Otzz said as he took a seat at the table.

"They know how to handle themselves, which is more than we can say for ourselves. That's good enough for me," Giles said before he turned back towards the two new comers.

"Just like Giles. Always thinking the glass is half full, but never bothers to see what it's half full of. There's more to these two than meets the eye, mark my words."

"Bah, you say that about everything," Tolas said as he scratched his long snout. "You said that last week when you thought the bantha milk was about to go bad."

"Well, it did," was all the old Arkanian said.

From inside one of the homes that featured the largest kitchen, three of the village's young girls were looking out of the window at the commotion as they finished preparing the daily communal dinner.

"What do they look like? Are any of them cute?" the youngest and shortest of the girls asked as she tried to push her way through to get a look out of the window.

"There's only two. One of them's a girl, Twi'lek I think. The other's a human, a man I think."

"But is he cute?" the same girl asked again.

"Sara, Loran, what are you looking at?" the oldest of the three, and the sister to the youngest, Kayla Lunelle asked as she came through the back door carrying a large pot of steaming soup.

"Giles came back and he's brought two people to help us fight," Loran, the two girls' cousin, said.

"You should know better than to stare at people like that. Now get the other things and bring them out to the table." At the older girl's orders, the two begrudgingly left the window and fetched their usual duty materials. Kayla put the large ladle into the pot of soup, but before she picked up the pot to take it outside, and after making sure the other girls couldn't see her, she briefly looked out the window. Outside, she saw the Twi'lek girl shaking hands and smiling at everyone, and behind her she saw a strikingly handsome man with wild rebellious hair and a saunter that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. For a moment, she was frozen staring at the man, but the sounds of the girls returning brought her out of her trance and she quickly picked up the pot of soup and took it outside.

"All right everyone! Let's give our guests some breathing space!" Giles yelled out and then motioned everyone to the communal table. Giles took his seat on the same end that Otzz and Tolas sat, and motioned the two newcomers to sit with him.

Randal and Rika sat next to each other opposite of Giles. Plates were handed to them, and soon baskets of breads and larger plates filled with foods of a multitude of different origins were being passed around. One of the younger children was walking around the table passing out small soup bowls that was then followed by an older girl ladling out soup from a pot that was floating on a repulsor pad. When she reached Randal, the blonde girl smiled warmly and filled his bowl much higher than she did the rest, all the while staring at him with her rich hazel eyes and smiling. When she moved on down the table, Rika lightly nudged Randal and whispered to him.

"Looks like you've got an admirer."

"Great, just what I need," Randal said with a sigh as he took an offered basket of bread and passed it down the table.

For the first few minutes while everyone filled their plates and then started to eat, everyone was pretty silent. But after awhile, the villagers started to make small talk among each other. Randal swallowed what he was chewing on, and spoke to those around him at the table.

"Giles didn't really say what sort of trouble you were having here. I mean, other than a swoop gang riding in whenever it pleased them."

"Yes, the swoop gang has been riding into our community for the past month now. At first they only came about once a week, but now they've started to come more frequently. It's all that Dalledo's doing, though. We all know it, but we can't do anything about it," Tolas said as he continued to eat.

"Giles mentioned him before. But why would he want them to do something like this?" Rika asked.

"It's simple," Otzz said as he refilled his glass with bantha milk. "He owns the majority of the mines on this planet, but he'd rather own them all."

"It's not that simple," Giles explained. "While we mainly pull magnium out of these hills, what we're really after is Aurodium. We know these hills are filled with it, and Dalledo knows it too. Back before the war broke out, Dorvalla Mining was purchasing large tracts of land here to use for their mining operations. Me, everyone you see here, and a few others, bought into this valley after a geological survey showed that there was a good chance for Aurodium in these hills. Well, after the war, and the collapse of the Dorvalla Mining Corporation, one of their senior officers bought out their claims to this planet and he's been stripping the land as fast as his mining droids can operate. But while he's found all sorts of wealth in his mines, he still remembers that geological survey, and he wants Red Canyon for himself. But since we all have legal claims to this land, the only thing he can do is try and scare us out. That's when he brought the swoop gang in."

"And you think if you can fight off this swoop gang, then he'll leave you alone?" Randal asked with a raised brow.

"Well, maybe us fighting back won't directly, but it'll definitely put the word out about what he's trying to do. He has connections with some of the elected officials and they've been passing a blind eye over his operation, but if enough rumors get out there, they'll have to finally do something."

"That's a lot to be hoping for," Randal said as he leaned on his left elbow.

"Having something to hope for is better than no hope at all."

Further down the table the younger people were sitting, all of them fixated on the two strangers who were said to be here to help.

"Who do you think they are? You know, like what do they do?" a young boy asked.

"Maybe they're pirates!"

"Or smugglers!"

"Stop making things up. It's not nice to make up rumors about people," Kayla said, admonishing the younger children around her. "They're here to help. Which is something that we should all be thankful for." The children grumpily agreed, and continued to stare at the newcomers while they continued to eat. Kayla let her gaze fall again on the handsome stranger, and for a moment forgot she was sitting at the table. There was something about the man that she found highly interesting, but she couldn't figure out what it was.

"I told you he was cute," the youngest girl, Sara, said.

"He's definitely cute, and dangerous looking. I like that," Loran said as she brushed her hair behind her ear.

"Loran! Don't encourage Sara like that," Kayla said.

"Me? What about you? Practically everyone saw you give him more soup than anyone else."

"What? I don't know what you're talking about. Now help me clear off the table." Kayla stood from the table and turned around before she let them see her face turn red. As the girls stood from the table and began to clear it off, one of the young men was busy watching Kayla.

Cal had heard everything that they had said, and he too had noticed Kayla paying more attention to this newcomer than she should have. He decided then and there that if she was attracted to a dangerous kind of guy, then he would do everything in his power to show that he could be the best one she would ever see.

After dinner, everyone in the village started to retire to their homes, and Giles showed Randal and Rika to one of the smaller houses.

"This house used to belong to one of us, but he left a few months ago after he had given up on his claim. It might not be much, but it's yours as long as stay." Rika thanked Giles, and after accepting an armful of linens from one of the house wives, they went inside.

The house was rather small, consisting of one large room that had a couch and a small kitchen area with an adjoining refresher and one door that then led to the only bedroom. After the door closed behind them, Randal shook his head and gave his assessment.

"Well, Giles wasn't kidding. This place sure ain't much."

"Would you give it a rest all ready? Yes, I know you don't see the importance of helping these people, but I do. The Force led us here, Randal, and I'm going to do everything in my power to do what I can. The least you can do is try to help." Randal let out a long breath and walked into the small kitchen, shaking his head all the while.

"Look, I know you want to help out every lost cause we run across, hell, you've been programmed to do that since you were little. But I keep trying to tell you, you're not a Jedi anymore. The Order is gone, and any of those who survived have gone into hiding, just like we did. It was a risky move to come to this planet, but you insisted. Now you're wanting to help these people out in a cause that I frankly think is lost even before it begins. Now, I'll stand with you no matter what you decide to do, but you need to realize that the more you try and do, the closer you get to being caught by the Empire, and then its game over. You understand what I'm saying?"

Rika looked away from Randal and held her arms close to herself.

"Yes, I understand what you're saying," Rika said quietly. "But you can't expect me to see something like this happening and then not do anything about it. I couldn't live with myself if I were to do something like that."

"Yeah, I know. I heard someone once refer to these days as being dark times. I think that's pretty accurate after seeing what's been happening lately. But let's just stay careful, all right? After this job's done, let's get out of the Empire and back to where no one cares who you are again, okay?"

"All right, after this job's done." Rika then looked directly into Randal's eyes and pointed a finger at him. "But I want your full cooperation in this, and no more negativity, all right?"

"Okay, okay. You win," Randal said as he gave her his patented smirk, and then opened the door leading to the bedroom. Inside, they both found only one bed. Rika tried to dismissingly laugh it off, but she found her own embarrassment had stolen her voice. Randal lightly scratched the back of his head and shrugged before he turned and headed for the couch.

"Well, looks like I'll be sleeping on the couch," he said as he flopped onto the old worn couch, sending a large cloud of dust into the air.