Life on Planet Mustafa for Tin was, if he's being honest, quite boring after the first week of living there. Mustafa was a lava world with mining facilities for ores and had a stronghold where the captured 'traitors' a.k.a. 'Jedi' would be interrogated and killed. But the base, or should Tin say; a castle, which he was assigned to on Mustafa wasn't built to have military purpose. It was a place where Lord Vader stopped by to rest or to spend his free time. Rarely anyone except for a supply ship and Lord Vader would visit this place. Actually, Tin and White's team were the first group of troopers to be allowed into Lord Vader's castle.

Since this place was built solely to serve Lord Vader's interests, there wasn't much to do nor any activity going on except for the normal daily routine; unlike the old base on Darim where there were always somethings to do.

In the first week Tin spent his free time on exploring the base. But in the second week Tin ran out of the place to go - ran out of things to occupy his minds; and Luke's betrayal came back to him. A painful memory which started to eat him from the inside out again. Tin missed Luke greatly, and it's killing him slowly – especially when he had nothing to do.

Still, Tin wouldn't wish for an adventurous routine or anything like that, but nearly every day on this lava-covered planet was so… plain, so uneventful. Nothing had changed much since Tin, White, and their team had arrived, and he meant literally everything. He woke up at the same time liked those passed days, he ate the same thing provided by the droids, and then he checked on everything in the base. The systems always functioned perfectly, the droids had never made any mistakes or showed a sign that they needed maintenance. And there was no season on Mustafa, so the days started to blur together until Tin started to forget the date and had to check on the galactic calendar every morning.

Lord Vader was rarely on Mustafa, which was understandable. The Rebel was growing stronger every passing day. It wouldn't be wise not to have Lord Vader out there, making sure that everything was still under the Empire's control. And when he was back it didn't guarantee that anything would change.

When Lord Vader arrived, Tin and his comrades would line up to greet their boss at the platform. But after that Lord Vader would either; 1) spent his time in the mediating chamber where only his personal guards dressed in red who followed him almost everywhere and Vaneé, Lord Vader's personal servant on Mustafa, were allowed to enter; 2) spent his time in the mediating chamber shortly before spending his time in the hanger tinkering with his TIE fighter; 3) spent his time alone in the room on top of the castle; 4) sent Vaneé to get Tin to his room on top of the castle. In this case, White and his men knew not to ask when Tin almost limping back to his quarter.

Sometimes Tin would check on Vaneé. However, since Vaneé had been looking after himself since before Tin was here, so he guessed that the old man wouldn't need his attention much and would do fine on their own. Vaneé didn't talk much either; he wouldn't talk to anyone unless being talked to first.

White and his team also had the same routines every day. They woke up, ate, and went on patrolling the base. White divided his men into pairs and each pairs would take a 6 hours shift per day. Yet, they still had the rest of the day to do whatever they wanted. And after cleaning some unused storage room, they had a placed to workout. That's the first time Tin sent request for anything special than the normal supplies. He requested for treadmills, chest and shoulder machines, and other gym equipment; since he was now the caretaker of this castle and was given permission to request whatever he wanted as long as his request was reasonable. And six galactic days later, the supply ship that arrived on routine brought everything Tin had requested with it. White and his team were very grateful.

Today was like each other day that had passed. Tin woke up at 7 o' clock, he showered and ate, and after that he checked every system of this base, making sure that they're running properly. After that Tin had his lunch, checked the supplies, and then he was free to do whatever he wanted. Mostly he would spend two good hours in the storage-room-turned gym, working out to make himself stay in shape. White and some of his comrades would join him, if they're not on the shift or if they're not watching some holo-vids. Holonet was allowed in the castle and Tin was grateful for that; he was sure that some of them might go mad if they're completely cut off from the rest of the galaxy.

"Yo, good afternoon Tin."

White who was on the treadmill called as Tin entered the gym. The Stormtrooper captain was on his last ten minutes on the treadmill now. Around the room, Tin saw several troopers were doing some cardio and strength workouts.

"Hi," Tin replied, stretching his muscle as eyes the view from the window on the other side of the room. A flow of lava that never stopped. It was as same as it was yesterday. Nothing had changed.

Tin worked out for two hours, just like usual. After that he showered and had nothing to do; dinner would be serve within three hours. So, Tin went to his favourite corridor and just sat there, watching the clouds and the lava.

Luke, what are you doing right now? Tin often thought about Luke. He missed the boy a lot. Luke had been the major part in his life for more than a decade, and now the boy just disappeared. He had no idea of why Luke would betray his father, but Tin was certain that he must be one of the reasons.

To be honest, Tin knew about Luke's feeling toward him. He knew that the boy was attached to him, even more than to his own father sometimes. It's absolutely normal though, most people tended to be attached to something or someone that had been with them for so long. Yet, the problem was Luke's care for him was too strong that when Tin was hurt by his father, Luke wasn't hesitated to put his hate toward his true parent.

Ngh, stop thinking about Luke. There's nothing you can change now. He tried telling himself that, knowing fully that it wouldn't work. Luke had been a major part of his life, and would always be. Tin just wished that he was crazy enough to ask Lord Vader if the Dark Lord knew how Luke was doing. It's not that Tin feared being punished, but he wasn't sure if he could take it if he knew that something bad had happened to Luke.

"Tin"

"Yeah?"

"Lord Vader will be here in two standard galactic days," White said from the holo-pad he had been reading. "Do you think we have to inform Vaneé?"

"I will inform him." Tin replied, perking up from the holo-pad in his hand before diving back down again.

"What are you reading?" White asked from where he was sitting. Normally the Stormtrooper wouldn't be this relaxed, but an uneventful life on Mustafa had finally gotten to them.

"Cooking videos," Tin said, changing his position so he was more comfortable against the cushion behind. "The regular meals here start to bore me. I want to cook." Just like when we're on Carida, when I was in charge of preparing the meals almost every day. But Tin didn't say that out loud, it's still too painful for him.

"Tell me which ingredients you want," White spoke as he skimmed through the galactic news. "I will put those on the request list."

"Will send you the list tomorrow," Tin replied, finishing the video and got up. "I suppose I should go tell Vaneé before I forget about it."

"Totally agree." Came a short answer from White. Tin punched his arm lightly on his way out of the room.

It didn't hard for Tin to hunt down Vaneé. The man had never been far from where he worked. However, despite how little he talked, Vaneé was good at listening and he had never once showed his dislike toward Tin or other Stormtroopers. It's more like he didn't care about them but didn't hate them either.

After Tin finished informing Vaneé about the schedule of their boss, he then turned to leave as always. However, this time it's not like all those conversation where Vaneé would just nod as Tin talked and they ended it with that. This time Vaneé spoke.

"Wait." The old man's voice was weak, showing Tin how old he was. The clone immediately turned back, surprised.

"Sir?" he asked, watching as Vaneé looked at him, liked… actually looked at him.

"Clonetrooper," Vaneé called, taking a slow step toward Tin as he spoke. "May I ask you a question?"

"Of course yes," Tin nodded quickly, a bit excited that he got more than a nod from Vaneé. "If I'm allowed to answer that question, I will."

Vaneé regarded him with a strange look in his eyes. But the old man eventually relaxed and continued. "Clonetrooper, I want to know if you have been serving Lord Vader in a sexual ways?"

What in the… Tin was quite shocked to hear that, honestly. Well, sometimes I didn't even think that he knows about my existence on this base. It's reasonable that I didn't expect him to be suspicious about it.

Because Tin and said that he would answer the question if he was allowed too, and since Lord Vader didn't forbid him from telling Vaneé about what he did – Tin guessed that it was okay for him to confirm Vaneé's suspicious.

"Yes, I have." He replied with a voice deprived of emotions – the voice he used when receiving commands, and waited for the next question.

Something flashed in Vaneé's eyes, but it quickly disappeared as soon as White saw it. He wasn't sure of what it was, until Vaneé spoke again. "That's why he visited this castle more often." And this time the old man's voice was a bit colder and quieter than before.

Is he jealous? Tin thought; it's the first thing that he could think off. However, Tin decided not to think much about it and decided to let his suspicion slid.

He waited for a while to see if Vaneé still had more questions for him, but the old man seemed to completely forget about Tin already. So, after an awkward goodbye, Tin walked back to the room where he had been watching the cooking videos earlier.

Tin wasn't sure if he was imaging it, but today Lord Vader seemed to be…a bit preoccupied. Of course Tin wouldn't voice that out loud, but he did notice that Lord Vader's grip on him wasn't as tight as before, nor did he slam in with such force that would leave Tin bruised for several days.

Maybe he's tired? It seems like the Rebels has heightened up their game. Tin thought as he arranged his clothes, half worried about the Empire and about Luke. However, he pushed that thought away as soon as he caught what he was thinking.

"Sergeant"

Lord Vader suddenly spoke up, and it spooked Tin. His boss had barely talked to him after sex, mostly Tin would be leaving quietly after the activity ended.

"Yes, sir," Tin managed to answer though, despite his body still trying to catch its breath.

"Do you still miss my son?"

Then came an unexpected question. Tin almost jumped. He had a feeling that Lord Vader knew all along of what he thought. Then why he asked me this? I'm pretty sure that he can read my mind anytime he wants.

"I do, sir," but since Tin didn't want to upset his boss, he decided to be honest.

Lord Vader didn't say anything after that, just turning and walking toward the balcony of his quarter. Tin took that it's time for him to leave, but as he turned and was about to exit the room, his boss called him again.

"Sergeant, come here."

Okay, this is totally new, Tin thought as he turned back and walked toward Lord Vader. In the past Tin would have internally freaked out over this, but now he had developed some resistance after serving under the Dark Lord for a long time. He's still afraid of Lord Vader, of course, but it's not as strong as before.

Lord Vader was standing at the edge of the balcony as Tin approached him. The clone stopped several meters away from where his boss stood. And in front of them was a river of lava. Hot and bright, and always moving.

"This is where I was born." Lord Vader spoke, his voice still deprived of any emotion. However, what he said that startled Tin. His boss had never addressed him about his personal matters before - despite Luke, of course, let alone his past.

He was born on Mustafa? Well, kinda suit him. But…does that mean he has a family here? His parents? Seriously, at first I think that he's born from pure darkness. Tin thought as he watched the lava moving down toward a waterfall, lavafall, whatever.

"I was a Jedi," as if knowing what Tin was thinking, Lord Vader continued. And that knowledge made Tin blinked with surprise.

A Jedi? He was…a Jedi? He was one of them? The ones that betrayed the Empire? Tin's thought was going a mile per second now. He looked at his boss and almost jumped when he saw that Lord Vader had turned back to look at him.

However, Lord Vader didn't continue and Tin just stood there looking at his boss – waiting for instruction. It took a while, but in the end Lord Vader turned away and Tin decided that it's a time to leave.

Nothing eventful happened after that. Lord Vader stayed for two days and then flew back to continue whatever business the Emperor wanted him to attend.

The days had blurred together for the next few months. Nothing happened much. Lord Vader barely visited the place, and some of that visited he didn't call Tin to his private quarter. Tin then learnt from the CCTV later that his boss spent most of his time in his mediating chamber and in his private hanger where he adjusted his TIE-Fighter. And the several occasions that he called Tin to the quarter were brief. The sex was not rough, rather quick but still satisfying. Tin guessed that his boss probably just wanted some relief after a long days of working and working.

One day after all those months where Tin had stopped counting the date, White approached him with a holo-pad in his hand. The Stormtrooper's voice showed excitement.

"You've to read this." White handed the holo-pad to Tin. "I was skimming through the mission reports when I came across it."

"What… 'A mission on Vrogas Vas'? A… Rebel refuelling station?"

However, as Tin skimmed thought the report, he then understood why White wanted him to read it.

Lord Vader must had confronted Luke on this planet, I'm sure of that. Tin thought as he read through the report. Nevertheless, a mission was marked as successful even though several Rebels had managed to escape. And Tin had a feeling that Luke was one among those who managed to get away.

"Thanks," he said to White after he finished reading and handed the holo-pad back to the Stormtrooper. "Thanks for sharing this with me."

"No problem," White smiled at him and then walked away. Tin watched until the other was out of the room that he started to think about Luke again.

I wonder where Luke and his father might meet next. The clone thought as he looked at the lava river from the window. The bright and hot matter still flowing toward the cliff, just liked always.

This was the first time since he arrived, that Tin was called out of the Mustafa. Lord Vader had requested his presence, and Tin packed his stuffs without asking a question.

An Imperial shuttle came out from the clouded sky was soon as it's time. White and the other would remain on Mustafa. They lined up on the platform and watched him aboard the shuttle in silence. The pilot and co-pilot were called Ja-1 and Ja-2; Tin had a feeling that he would never have a chance to know their true names.

Tin hadn't felt it until the door closed, that's when the loneliness hit him full force. The clone almost choked on how lonely and isolate he felt right now. But he's a soldier, and a soldier would follow the order without complaints, so he sat down and pretended to be napping on the journey toward a Star Destroyer.

After several hours, trying to nap was no longer working, so Tin decided to skim through the mission reports instead. He and White do this sometimes when they had nothing better to do.

As Tin came across the latest mission report of Lord Vader, he just came back from the Shu-torun. It seemed like some barons of that planet had rebelled, so Lord Vader went there to educate them.

After reading the full report, Tin sank back into his seat. Okay, so Lord Vader just went back from a successful mission. Right now he must be departing from Coruscant after reporting the mission to the Emperor. So…what do he wanted from me then?

Yet, before Tin had more time to consider the possibilities, the shuttle suddenly came to an abrupt stop.

"What…the…" Tin grunted as the seatbelt kept him in place and prevented him from knocking his forehead against the wall in front. He heard shouts from the cockpit and decided to untangle himself as soon as the ship was still.

"What happened?" Tin asked as the door slid open. "Why did we stop?"

"We're pulled out from the hyperspace," Ja-1 - the lead pilot, answered. His eyes had never left the console. "How's the hyperdrive?" he turned to ask his co-pilot.

"It'll take ten minutes before we're able to take off. The abrupt shut off damage the engine; it needs time to cool down," Ja-2 replied, panic was clear in his voice. Tin then understood the situation when he saw something on the screen of the console. It showed that beside them was a Rebel's ship, and it's pulling their shuttle in.

"That's not enough, all we can do is warn the Empire about this attack," Ja-1 said, one hand reached out and pushed the emergency message button. It would send an auto-message to the nearby Imperial ships, reporting that they're attacked by the Rebel. "Memo; this is Captain Ja-1, we're pulled out of the hyperspace by the Rebel. They're pulling us toward their ship. We'll proceed the protocol self-destruct. Ja-1, out," the captain then proceeded to send a voice-memo after the first auto-message.

"We're finished. Black box away, hope those Rebel scums won't notice it," Ja-2 grunted, clearly giving up the chance to escape, as he pushed the eject button for the black box of the shuttle. In case they're not around when the Imperial arrived to rescue or investigate the scene, which was likely the later choice, at least there was still a black box around. And from that device, the Imperial would get the rest of the information of the shuttle before and at the time of the attack.

"They won't. The box is too small. It's magnetic and electronical signals are too low to read when there are big ships around," Ja-1 said, grabbing a blaster from a nearby holder. "Now, let's follow the self-destruct protocol."

"When should we detonate the ship?" Ja-2 asked, sitting back and reached for a blaster too.

"Detonate it as soon as we're in their hanger bay," Ja-1 replied as he handed Tin the blaster and quickly typed in the order. "If we're to die, at least take as much of them with us as possible."

"Understood," both Tin and Ja-2 nodded. Tin went out from the cockpit with a blaster in his hand. He watched as the Rebel's ship came closer and closer to them. His hands felt so cold but Tin stood still. Disciplines had been drilled to him for the first ten years of his life on Kamino, he's not going to fall just because he's about to die. If he died, he took the enemy with him as much as possible.

Yet, if there was one thing that made Tin didn't want to die, it would be the chance to see Luke again. Yes, he missed that boy so much, but not everybody always got what they wanted, so Tin buried that thoughts and told himself to focus solely on the present.

As the Rebel pulled their shuttle toward the large ship, Tin couldn't help but wondered where the Rebels got this ship from. It's quite huge, able to house small to medium-size shuttles at the same time. He also spotted star-fighters and several attack ships.

This must be their medium-size fleet, or larger. It's not as massive nor efficient as Imperial's, but adequate to cut us off guards, Tin thought as they're closer and closer toward the hanger bay. He saw several Rebels approached their shuttle, armed and ready to kill. Yet, Tin knew that this Rebels wanted them alive, or at least alive until they got the information they wanted.

"Surrender!" one of the Rebel spoke through the speaker, "there is no way for you to run!"

"I'll draw them closer," Tin called, tightened his hold on the blaster only to remember that he probably wouldn't be using it if they're going to go with self-destruct protocol. "I'm going to open the door."

"Do it," Ja-1 called from the cockpit. "I'll set the self-destruct to 60 seconds countdown. 60…59…" he started to count it down as Tin approached the opening door.

"Put your weapons down! Your hands above your head!" one of the Rebel screamed. Tin wondered if this man had ever taken a prisoner before, it sounded like he's afraid.

"Alright, geeze, take it easy," Tin shrugged, holding both of his hands up to be handcuffed and let the blaster fell to the floor as he stepped out of the ship and on to the hanger bay. "You sounded like it's your first time seeing an Imperial shuttle," he added, aiming to make the Rebels angry and came at him. The more they're closer to the shuttle, the better. Behind him, Ja-1 and Ja-2 slowly exited the cockpit and walked to join Tin.

"Take them away," the Rebel that seemed to be the captain ordered as more Rebels poured in to handcuff Ja-1 and Ja-2. "And search the shuttle!"

Tin almost grinned at the last order as he was pushed forward. Two Rebels were by his side as they leaded them away from the shuttle. Behind him, Tin guessed that Ja-1 must be counting down.

The only warning Tin got before the shuttle exploded was a fearful shout from inside the shuttle. The explosion was bigger than they'd hoped for, and it knocked Tin's off his feet – sending him forward and flatted on his front. His back felt like it was burning and there were shouts and screams everywhere.

Tin's back felt like it was on fire but the clone didn't care. He pushed himself to stand up as soon as his vision stopped spinning. Not so far away from him, Ja-1, Ja-2, and the Rebels who were to escort them were all down on the floor with no sounds nor movements.

Yet, the clone had no time to worry about them. It didn't matter if Ja-1 or Ja-2 were alive or not. The protocol was to bring as many Rebel with him as possible, and that's what Tin's going to do.

Tin grabbed the nearest blaster from the Rebels laid moaning in pain beside him. He sent them both out of their misery by a blast to the head. I'm lucky these fools decided to put my hands in the front when they handcuffed me, Tin couldn't help but smirk as he turned to shoot at every Rebels he saw. The explosion was a good distraction; it was several seconds before any Rebels realized that Tin was shooting at them.

However, what surprised Tin was the order from a Rebel captain. "Stun only! We need him alive!"

So…they truly want information from us, Tin thought as he shot another Rebel down. Maybe I should kill myself before they can stun… but his thought was cut off at that as one of the Rebel managed to stun him. The clone's work immediately turned dark as he collapsed down.

Tin woke up to find himself in a bacta tank, with only his underwear, and with his wounds all treated. The clone blinked in confusion, almost mistook this place for an Imperial infirmary if not because he saw the medic first. As soon as he saw the uniform, Tin realized that he's still the prisoner of the Rebel.

This is not good, the clone thought as he looked around. The room he's in was small, but with adequate medical tools. There was a possible Rebel medic working on a console at one corner and a medical droid. This is not good at all. I can't escape while I'm still in here, or maybe I should drown myself? The clone was so deep in thought that he nearly missed the second the medical droid notice his raising heartrate and turned to inform the medic.

"Oh, you're awake!" the medic immediately approached the tank. Tin noted from her appearance that she's a Twi'lek. "It's been three days! Man! You're lucky you survived that explosion."

I wish I didn't, Tin thought, but he said nothing as he watched the medic. The clone decided to say nothing as she fussed over his injuries, telling him that she had been deprived of sleep by staying up and making sure that he didn't die.

"…never mind my babbling," it took several minutes for the medic to get to the topic that Tin wanted to hear. "You're clear to get out of there tomorrow. After that you'll recover in the next room," the medic said, smiling. "Are you exciting about it? Being out of the water?"

Tin closed his eyes and decided not to reply. He heard her muttering something about 'emotionless Imperial puppet' as he let his conscious slowly slipped away.

The next time Tin woke up, he was on a bed and wearing a white patient clothes. There were bandages on his arms and legs, but overall he was fine. His back still hurt, but not so much that he couldn't lie down.

The clone grunted softly that an attempt to sit up stretched the newly healed wounds. It took him several minute to be able to sit up properly and looked around. The room he was in was surely in an infirmary. He's on the bed on the far left of the room, and there was two more bed between him and the door.

Tin also spotted several cameras around the room, it's obvious that he's being watched.

So, the question is, when they will start asking questions and how long I can stand the torture, Tin thought, staring at the door as he waited to be approached.

It didn't take long for the door to slide open. Tin straightened his back and prepared to meet one of the Rebel's interrogator, but the person that actually walked in shocked him.

"Master Luke…?"