Hello dear readers, it has been a while since I've updated this story. I've been trying to play catch up with a number of my stories over the summer and hope to get some more updates on various stories.

Fanfic-Reader-88: Dusty isn't found of her as for the reasons stated, he sees her as just as much a problem as the Empire. It's just two groups of elites fighting it out with everyone else caught in the middle. Is there some loss there a little more personal? You'll have to wait and see.

Challenge King: Thank you.

Twilight Warrior 627: It's a fun parody to explore which for the iCarly/Victorious universe it might not be since a recent Henry Danger episode confirmed that the Star Trek Mirror Universe where everyone is evil is actually the mirror universe to them as well where the Terran Empire rules (Both are owned by Viacom). Heck, on that show they have TOS Phaser rifles and working replicators. It's still up in the air if that show takes place in the same universe as the other shows since iCarly for them is a TV show.

It's a trick to balance in mixing them and their cosmologies, but I'm trying to logically play it out especially using background from Prime Directive RPG background that started in the '70s that could explain how humans could be on both sides of the galaxy.

This update by a quirk of timing that I got it done a day after the passing of Kenny Baker, the man, the legend that brought R2-D2 to life. This chapter is dedicated to him and thankfully, there is a bit of R2 in this chapter.

I'm giving a shout out to Tonita Davis to confirm the person she's talking to on twitter with my penname is really me. Thank you for the readership.

Chapter 10: Meeting Old and New Friends

Cloud City
Bespin System

Several hours after escaping from the Imperial flotilla, the Millennium Falcon dropped out of hyperspace about two planetary diameters away from the gas giant then leisurely cruised towards the planet. There wasn't much if any traffic other than the occasional large freighter leaving the atmosphere of the planet.

Freddie idly commented from the copilot's seat, "Not very busy system."

"It's meant to be an out of the way little spot and what people do come around, the drop in real close to get in or out like we've done not to attract attention. There's a thriving tabanna gas production facility, though, so…."

"Tabanna gas?"

"It's used for turbo-lasers and blasters in general. It's a strategic resource and because of that, it's only a matter of time before it starts attracting the attention of Empire and becomes one less safe harbor for us that stick to the Rim and away from them."

Freddie nodded with sympathy as the way things were looking, they could all need some safe harbors. He glanced to the control panel showing a readout of the planet, but couldn't read the text, but he could guess size and the atmosphere composition. "It looks like a gas giant. Are we heading towards a space station?"

"Not really. It's a city in the atmosphere."

The Star Fleet captain partially squinted as he turned his eyes to a partial profile of the freighter captain and asked, "A city? That's a gas giant though."

Dusty nodded his head back and forth and patiently explained, "It's a floating city in the atmosphere like a space station instead of being in orbit. There is a layer of atmosphere that supports life… I think it was terraformed millennia ago."

Benson and Shapiro exchanged perplexed yet excited expressions as it was a scientific marvel and had some disturbing ramifications if it was true. The science officer asked for confirmation, "They terraformed a gas giant?"

"Yeah. It wouldn't be out of the realm of some bright engineers of the older civilizations. There are plenty of things that are still mind-boggling that I've seen engineers accomplished given enough time and money. Heck, the Celestials were able to move entire stars and solar systems as we would move shipping containers. My home system was artificially created."

Freddie brushed his hand over his mouth, trying to cover for the fact that the sheer power and technical know-how that the peoples on this side of the galaxy could be moral shaking, but it was also enlightening. He replied, "We've run into a few systems that were practically identical from my home system and copies of others where genetically similar species have been seeded. The current debate is that they were created by beings we've labeled as the 'Seeders' and perhaps the same as the 'Preservers' that have intervene to transport populations around the galaxy in order to protect them from natural disasters."

Dusty raised a curious eyebrow. "So they've been busy on that side of the galaxy too?"

"Apparently."

"So that means we're probably the same species after all or at least from the same source since my species was seeded on a number of different planets at relatively the same time."

"Maybe when all this is over, we'll get a chance to try to find out some of those answers."

Dusty gave him a sad smile and answered, "I'm still going to assume the only way you'll get those answers after the Empire finishes conquering this side of the galaxy and just takes what you know from your own libraries and institutions of learning."

Freddie returned with a particularly sour expression to show he didn't like that interpretation of upcoming events.

Nothing else was said as the ship eased into the atmosphere, momentarily flaring red against the shields as even the most controlled of atmospheric entries were hot and a bit rough.

Once they settled into the atmosphere, the ship cruised at just under Mach 1 towards its destination as Dusty had entered the atmosphere pretty close to the city.

As the ship approached within several hundred kilometers of the city, a pair of small orange vessels that each looked like to pods stuck together with a joining beam approached the freighter.

Dusty saw the indicator that the ship was getting painted with a weapon's lock. Fortunately, he had not lowered the shields so the light freighter was slightly shaken from the impact of low-powered blaster fire that they hit the ship.

Benson demanded, "I thought these were your friends?"

Dusty ignored him for a the moment and tapped the panel for the ship-to-ship communication and replied, "This is Captain Dusty Hale of the Millennium Flacon—"

Another burst of fire rocked the ship and a voice came over the comlink, "You are not authorized to land without a valid landing permit. You will alter your course away from the city and return to orbit."

Dusty held back a low growl as he was sick of being shot at over a so-called 'clerical error' in not receiving his clearance. He tapped a few controls on the panel, starting the quad-laser cannons to warm up. The fire wouldn't be as accurate as having someone competent in the turrets, but at this range and what little maneuverability they had in comparison to dedicated star and atmospheric fighters, the computer targeting wouldn't have any problem shredding them.

He answered with a voice that clearly indicated that his patience was running thin, "You know who I am, you have my clearance and if you fire on me again, I will blow that little tin-can you're flying around in to bits!"

The twin-pod vessels pulled away from the tramp freighter to a safer distance then an apologetic voice came on the comlink, "Sorry about that captain. Mistaken identity. We couldn't read your transponder."

Dusty mumbled under his breath, "I bet you are."

"We'll escort you to landing platform three-two-seven. Follow my lead."

"Thank you gentlemen," he answered with a barely constrained voice.

The two-pod vessel took the lead to escort the freighter towards that massive complex hovering in the atmosphere.

Tori dashed to the door of the cockpit and demanded while her eyes wildly looked out the window, "Are we getting shot at?"

"Yeah, but they stopped." He threw a glance over his shoulder and gently mocked, "Glad to see you're up. Did you get enough beauty sleep?"

"Yeah, well I had a good nap. It's a surprisingly comfortable bed."

Sinjin muttered, "I wonder whose bed she used."

Dusty answered in a hushed tone, "Don't know, but we can burn the sheets later."

The copilot knotted his brow, surprised by the vitriol coming from his captain.

Tori put on a scowl and looked like she was ready to slap him upside his head.

Jade's lips puckered as if she was about to whistle in surprise.

Freddie took a deep breath, growing more concerned about the passive aggressive hostility the freighter captain continued to show towards the princess. He'd have to keep them separated or things could eventually escalate into a serious problem.

Robbie interrupted any potential argument by pointing past the seated up front and softly mumbled, "Whoa… A flying city?"

Dusty was glad for the distraction and answered, "Yep, it's a marvel isn't it?"

Benson offered as he recalled a political stirrup a few months back, "There's this planet in the Beta Quadrant that the Enterprise encountered where they had a floating complex, but it's nowhere the size of that."

Jade looked on fearfully to the mammoth structure grew larger as they approached, "Just imagine if the anti-gravity generators go out."

Dusty glanced over his shoulder and remarked, "I try not to think about that when I visit, but my understanding is that it has multiple layered generators because plenty of people realize the obvious problem of having a floating city that doesn't maintain any orbital velocity."

The crew and passengers had about another minute or so to gaze that the growing and marvelous city before the escorts veered off and the Millennium Falcon slowed to a crawl towards a landing platform. The ship lowered its landing struts just before it made the soft landing on the platform.

Dusty and Sinjin went through the standby procedures, but not a full shutdown. The ship's master didn't want to leave them sitting ducks.

The freighter captain turned in his seat and looked to his passengers. "Okay, after that little display out there, I'm not exactly sure what the welcoming committee is going to be like, so… be on your guard. I suggest most of you stay here until I figure out what's going on. If they start shooting, it'll only be a few of us out there and we can rush back in here and take off.

One of the captured skynauts stood just outside the door threw up his hand, a tall muscular fellow with dark hair excitedly threw up his hand and answered, "Fine by me. I've been shot at enough times today."

The ones crammed in the cockpit looked to the pair standing in their undershirts and underwear in the corridor, each giving a curious, concern or amused look in their direction.

The taller skynaut thumbed to himself with an awkward smile then towards the other to make proper introductions, "I'm Josh and this is Drake."

Dusty looked past the starfleeters and the princess to stare at the individuals for a second and asked in an almost conversational tone as if seeing something odd instead of potentially dangerous, "Who untied them?"

Shapiro cautiously answered, "We couldn't just keep them tied up the entire time."

Sinjin followed up, "And we couldn't just space them either… though I suggested it."

The freighter captain shrugged a shoulder and lazily suggested, "We could shoot them and toss them off the platform. It's long way down."

The captured imperial soldiers looked nervously to one another, wearing almost comical expressions.

Benson interrupted with a firm voice, "You can't just execute prisoners of war."

"They're not prisoners of war because we're criminals. We kidnapped them. I'm not keeping them as pets and I certainly can't let them go here. They'll run to the nearest communication station and call the Imperials on us, so we're limited in our options to deal with them."

The taller one with dark hair and muscular build turned to Tori, laced his fingers to join his hands and pleaded with an almost pathetic expression, "I won't do that to the princess. I want actually to join the Rebel Alliance and have been looking for a way to defect for months. Please Princess, please let me join."

The sudden turn in disposition of the skynaut was certainly a surprise to the odd band of travelers. Tori in particularly was surprised in the apparent desperation in the Imperial shock trooper's demeanor.

The other skynaut with sandy spiked hair rolled his eyes and sighed, embarrassed with the behavior of his fellow soldier. "Stop it Josh. You're embarrassing us."

He turned and snapped at the shorter fellow skynaut, "Drake, this is my chance to defect and I'm taking it. The princess is right here and I don't care how much of a fool I look like."

Dusty softly laughed with an eye roll, "You're doing a fine job at that…"

Drake raised his hands and replied to his comrade with cocky grin, "Hey Josh, you don't have to grovel because you're the one that stunned her…"

Josh's eyes nearly bugged out of their sockets and shouted, "I did not stun her! You stunned her."

Tori crossed her arms over her chest and muttered with a hint of playfulness in her eyes that showed she wasn't holding it against them, "So, it was you two?"

Drake was quick to defend their actions, "Hey, you just blew my friend's head off in front of us, so… a stun isn't so bad."

The princess pursed her lips and eyes went wide then glanced down in embarrassment. She gathered her wits then looked back up and retorted, "You were boarding my ship. My crew is now sitting either in your ship or in an Imperial prison by now."

The shorter skynaut sarcastically replied, "You shouldn't have committed treason now should you?"

Tori deeply frowned and glared at the boyishly charming looking soldier.

Josh shouted in outrage, "Drake!"

Drake lazily shrugged his shoulders and answered, "What? It's the truth and you want to do it too."

Dusty grinned and glanced away, trying to suppress a laugh at the antics of the three.

Tori saw Dusty's reaction from the corner of her eye then looked to the freighter captain and demanded, "What?"

He shook his head and muttered, "Nothing… he's just got a point."

The brunette princess shook her head then turned a slightly amused, perhaps a little flattered expression to Josh and answered, "I ah… we're more than happy to accept those that want to join, but ah… there's a process to make sure you're not Imperial plants."

Jade pointed out with a side roll of her head, "They're clearly not planted agents as they were just random guards we happened to stun. They didn't plan for us to 'capture' them. They already had you."

Dusty remarked in a deadpan tone, "Or they're saying that for me not to shoot them and throw them out the air lock."

Benson sternly pointed out, "You're not doing that."

The freighter captain shifted back in his seat and cocked his head to the side as he met Benson's eyes. He countered with a slow, soft voice, "You don't give orders on my ship."

The Star Fleet captain returned the stare and answered, "And you're not just going to murder them."

Dusty and Freddie stared at each other, potentially turning the situation into a game of chicken with deadly consequences.

Tori spoke up hoping to turn down the tension, "You didn't execute prisoners when you were in the army during the war."

Dusty dismissively snorted out, "What prisoners? They had a droid army that was programmed never to surrender. We had to kill ever last one of them in battle to end it and capturing a flesh and blood commander was not a common thing. Do I need to remind you that they were among the troops that took your ship and killed only the Lord knows how many? Their buddies will make up the firing squads to execute them all. You really think they'll have trials?"

The princess frowned and glanced away, feeling her heart being torn apart about all the brave souls onboard her ship that were now prisoners of the Empire. She hated to think that Dusty was right and they would just be executed in secret and never truly knowing their fate.

Freddie, Jade and Robbie looked upon the princess with sympathetic gazes at the struggling feelings she was experiencing

"That might be the case… but we're not sinking to their level." She looked down to Dusty and asked, "How did you get so lost?"

The freighter captain regretfully smiled and answered in a quiet voice, "I'm not lost Princess… I'm just… running and doing what I need to do to keep me and Sinjin alive because of what you did to my world…"

Tori took a sharp breath, startled by the defeated look in his eyes then glanced away.

Josh looked back to the princess, seeing his opportunity and pleaded again, "Please Princess, I'll do anything."

Tori had learned to be suspicious, especially those that seemed the most honest. She glanced to the others, perhaps needing the support in making a decision, somehow being far more trusting of them than she rationally should be trusting in the situation.

Dusty closed his eyes and gently sighed. He opened his eyes and volunteered, "He's being truthful. He really wants to join you."

Drake knotted his brow and questioned, "How do you know?"

"Empathic… and he's weak, open mind."

"I am not weak minded," Josh answered with a clearly offended expression on his face.

"You're an open book then… and you're mostly miserable because of him living the charmed life and you having to pay the consequences for his actions. A sane person would have gotten away from him as fast as he could… or shot him. He's the one that would be the most useful to you, though he really just wants to keep his head down until his recruitment is up."

Dusty's unexpected helpfulness actually threw Tori for a moment, but she quickly recovered and smiled to Josh and answered, "Once we get a handle on the situation and settle, we'll talk about it, okay?"

Josh put on a goofy grin, excited to get his chance to prove his sincerity to the princess.

Drake asked the obvious question laced with heavy sarcasm, "We're not going to get shot in the meantime are we?"

Benson answered with an authoritative voice, "No you're not going to get shot." He looked to Dusty to get his point across.

The freighter captain lazily replied, "I'm still going to shoot them if they do something stupid like give away where we are."

Josh nervously chuckled, "Drake is not going to do that." He looked to the other skynaut and stated, "You're not going to do that."

Drake rolled his eyes and muttered, "Fine, fine… I'll just sit here and when you leave, you can just leave me here. I'll find someway to get back."

The taller skynaut looked disappointed with his fellow trooper's decision and replied with what sounded like a pout, "Drake, you have to join."

"Are you nuts? I'm not getting involved with them!"

"Enough!" Dusty interrupted with a sharp tone.

They looked to him as he continued, "You're staying here so you can't alert anyone and if you try to take my ship to leave… the universe isn't big enough for you to get away from me."

Josh wrapped an arm around the shorter trooper's shoulders and laughed, "Drake will behave."

The freighter didn't look amused and dryly answered, "For his sake, he better."

Sinjin interrupted with a suggestion, "If this little debate is done, it might be a good idea to go out there. It might get a little suspicious if we're in here for too much longer."

"Fine…" He looked to the skynauts and warned, "Stay here and don't try anything stupid."

Dusty got out of his seat and the others moved to the side to clear his way to the door.

Freddie got out of his seat and offered, "We're going out with you."

Dusty looked over his shoulder and raised an eyebrow, softly challenging, "You sure that's a good idea? You're the one with the responsibility of bringing about some great alliance between your Federation and the Rebels."

Jade added with a concerned voice, "He's right. There's no point in sticking your neck out there until we know the situation is not a trap. They already shot at us once."

Benson didn't give it a second thought about the look of concern in her eyes for his safety, but he couldn't play it safe when her and the others lives were in the balance. He was the captain; it was his life to risk for theirs when stepping into the unknown even if it was as innocent as stepping out onto a landing platform. "He may be, but…" He looked back to Dusty to answer, "You might need a good shot to get back in here if things get messy out there."

The former Jedi pointed to the skynauts and remarked, "I could always use one of them. They can shoot and make for good cannon fodder."

Josh raised a finger and remarked with a stern yet comical expression, "Sir, I take offense to that."

Dusty crossed his arms over his chest and sarcastically replied, "Well maybe if they hadn't cut training and just threw you into battle without care for causalities, maybe people would stop thinking that way."

Drake cocked an eyebrow and remarked with a smartass tone, "He's got a point. How many guys have we've seen just rush into blaster fire? Look what happened on the princess's ship? That was a slaughter house for us… glad you listened to me about us staying in the back while everyone else?"

Josh rolled his eyes and looked away with a deep sigh.

Freddie interrupted with soft chuckle, "You two can argue while we're gone and maybe you should get some clothes on?"

They glanced down to see that they were just athletic underwear from their red combat uniforms that had been stripped from them.

"What clothes? You took our armor and you're not going to give it back to us."

Freddie looked to Dusty with the implicit idea that perhaps he should provide them some.

Dusty shook his head. "No, we let you use our quarters, but letting them have some of our clothes… no, absolutely not. I have to draw the line somewhere. I'll simply buy them some spare clothes."

Drake slightly squinted and almost rhetorically asked, "You just wanted to shoot us and now you want to buy us clothes?"

"There's a difference in killing you for survival and simply humiliating you." He looked to Robbie standing in the corridor and suggested, "Why don't you have him use his fancy scanner to take some measurements so we can buy you something?"

Robbie raised an eyebrow above the rim of his glasses and nodded, seeing the practicality of his suggestion.

The freighter captain looked to Sinjin and instructed, "Be ready for a quick takeoff and keep the blaster warmed up."

The bushy long haired first mate answered while taking the co-pilot's seat, "I'll keep my finger on the trigger."

Dusty joked as he exited the cockpit, "But don't hit us."

The former Jedi walked down the corridor and around the corridor ring to the ramp exit.

The ramp lowered and Dusty was the first to step out, keeping his right hand relaxed near his blaster pistol ready for a quick draw, turning to his left and heading towards the several dozen meters long causeway towards the door at the end of it.

Freddie followed him and upon Jade and Tori's insistence, followed him out.

Jade ominously commented, "What? No welcoming committee?"

Just as the words left her mouth, the door on the far end of the causeway opened and revealed Beck before he started casually approaching the group with a number of individuals on either side of him armed with sidearms.

Freddie, Jade and Robbie recognized the businessman that had been their contact that started them on their journey, that charming and handsome Mister Beck Oliver. He walked confidently to them in his dull blue tucked in tonic and slacks with a cloak over his shoulders that swayed with the soft breeze.

The former Prime Team member cautiously gazed on the number of security personnel and his fingers became itchy and went on alert. He gripped the tail of the waistband of his jacket to hold it in place in case he had to reach quickly into the jacket and pull his weapon.

He noticed from the corner of his eye that Dusty was resting his hand on the butt of his heavy blaster pistol, ready for the quick draw. He was suddenly reminded of those century old videos depicting the Wild West in the United States in the nineteenth century.

Beck opened up his arms and laughed towards Dusty, "Dusty, I was expecting you yesterday—I assumed you got off the planet before the fighting really intensified."

Dusty cocked and eyebrow and jokingly challenged, "And what made you assume that?"

The facility's administrator grinned and answered in a caviler tone, "Because you're you and it'll take more than an invasion to put you down."

The soldier-turned-freighter captain nodded along and casually answered, "Right… well I ran into a little more trouble trying to make it off the planet. It was a waste of time anyway. I made the rendezvous and they didn't show up."

Beck looked past Dusty to spot the Star Fleet captain and remarked, "Apparently so since you still have them…" He called to Benson, "It's good to see you again Mister Benson, though I'm a bit surprised in seeing you. I'm sorry the people you were meeting didn't show up."

Benson returned with a casual smile as he answered with an almost carefree voice, "There was a complication and it's nice to see you too Mister Oliver, but I'm surprised to see you here."

Beck laughed with a cocky grin, "It got hot on that nice little planet, so I had to get out of there too. This is my… cooperate headquarters."

The Star Fleet captain walked several paces towards the edge of the circular landing platform, able to gaze out at the rest of the impressive floating city. He called over his left shoulder, "It's my understanding that this is a fine place for it when trying to keep a low profile."

"I certainly have made it home…" He trailed off when he saw Tori and turned a charming smile to the princess. "And who do we have here?"

The princess put on her well-practiced smile and was about to answer, but Dusty interrupted in a humorous spin on something that wasn't particularly funny, "She's one of the secretaries at the spaceport on Skoleos and in the excitement of fleeing for our lives, she got swept up… just a stray we picked up along the way."

Tori passed a confused glance to Dusty while the businessman walked to the brunette and took her hand, lifting it and bowing his head to kiss her knuckles.

Beck charmingly smiled to her after kissing her knuckles and commented, "Well it was very fortunate you were working that night and that Dusty here is a big softy. I don't know many people that would just let anyone on their ship for free passage even in a situation like that."

Tori politely smiled and glanced to Dusty, finding the description a little hard to believe with how bitter the war had made him.

Dusty returned with a stern expression.

Beck continued as if he hadn't noticed the exchange between her and his business associate. "You're a long way from home though… you're one of the few of your people that have been to this side of the galaxy. You should be thrilled and quite grateful for that."

"Thank you. Yes…" She glanced over to Freddie and Dusty. "I was quite lucky for them to find me and willing to take me with them when the shooting started."

Beck continued with a smile, "Yes, quite lucky… your Basic is quite remarkable."

Tori had to think fast in order to keep the cover of supposedly being a human from the other side of the galaxy, for whatever reason Dusty decided to lie to the businessman, so she answered, "Ah yes… in my line of work, it pays to learn a bit from each of the major languages and I've found it pretty easy to master."

The smooth talking young man replied, "True, it was designed to be that way, though I say it lacks the flare of Corelliera though… with you accent, I'm sure you would fit right in with Alderanian society."

She bashfully smiled, understanding the blatant flirtation, and answered, "Thank you."

He offered his arm to Tori, "You're welcome. Let me give you the proper hospitably my city can offer. I know all of you must be tired and need a good rest."

Tori smiled in acceptance then he began leading them down the narrow bridge and entered through the doorway.

Freddie spoke up as he and the others fell in step behind them, "Yes. We could all use a good meal, proper night's sleep and frankly a nice shower."

"Well you're more than welcome here to rest."

They passed through the door and entered the unblemished white walls and floors of the building with an old Art Deco design. As the businessman led them through the building round several corners and passing the occasional passerby, he glanced to Freddie and asked, "Not that I'm not happy to see you, but what brings you back here?"

Dusty called out behind the trio, "They need a safe harbor to find passage back to their Federation, so I brought them back here so they could book it."

Beck snorted a laugh, "And you aren't paid to take them back…"

The freighter captain evade answering, knowing it would still raise Beck's suspicions, "Something like that."

Beck turned a sympathetic smile to the Star Fleet captain that took up a step to his left and replied, "I'm sorry to hear that your business venture didn't turn out as plan. It might be harder than you think to get bookage back to your side of the galaxy. The more reputable passage carriers are going to be nervous going to that side of the galaxy."

"Why is that?"

"It's gotten hotter there since we last spoke. The Empire has moved on to conquer a good portion of the… Cardassian Union and began invading the… Kligot Empire."

Freddie and Jade passed concerned gazes to one another, clearly that was going to change the strategic balance for the quadrant. He carefully asked, "Do you mean Klingon Empire?"

Beck thought for a moment then answered with a bright disposition, "Yes, that sounds more like it. The Empire is quick to broadcast their victories to reassure the public that their safety is being secured by conquering all the dangerous alien empires. Grand Admiral Thornesmith is making sure that he gets his name on the Holonet to tout his victory."

Freddie frowned, not pleased with the Empire thinking they were scoring major victories, though if the news was correct about the Cardassians and the Klingons, the Federation might have picked up an unexpected ally. Armageddon between the two star nations may have been prevented so they could fight side by side to save the galaxy.

The city administrator pointed out, "You shouldn't look too worried dear captain, there is some good news for you though."

"What would that be?"

"Your Star Fleet appears to have blunted their invasion. The news is trying to downplay it, but two of the Empire's fleets have been pretty mauled and were forced to practically bring the invasion to a halt. There are reports that two of their fleet commanders were killed in the engagement."

Jade sighed in relief while Freddie couldn't help but feel a little happiness with that bit of good news.

Beck continued on a more practical note, "In the meantime, I'll set you up in some quarters and see about getting you a list of trusted ships that could take you back."

Freddie diplomatically answered, "That's very kind of you, but I'm not sure how we could repay you without some hard currency…"

Beck shook his head with his charming smile. "I'm more than willing to accept Federation credits, so don't worry about payment."

Dusty snorted out with sarcasm lacing his voice, "Now that's very kind of you Beck, assuming that there will be a Federation around to pay you."

Jade walking next to him turned a disapproving gaze.

He saw at the corner of his eye and sympathetically shrugged.

Beck sighed and gently mocked, "You certainly have become a pessimist over the years Dusty…"

"I just respect the military power of the Empire and the economic support such an invasion. You do realize that more people live on Coruscant than in their entire Federation."

"I'm aware of the population disparity, but I've always liked rooting for the underdog and I think there's more to them than it appears."

"Now you're really getting optimistic…"

They reached one of the main travel areas of the facility where the open corridors of a main plaza had windows out to view the city and various small shops were people from many different worlds were conducting their business. The Star Fleeters' natural curiosity from being explorers was peaked with the number of new alien species they saw in one place. As for the others where space travel had been going on for the last fifty thousand years, the variety of life that ubiquitously surrounded them.

They reached a lift and Beck allowed Tori to step inside first then Jade before Freddie and Dusty followed him. The soft hum of the moving lift filled the silence among the group until Freddie politely asked, "I understand this is a gas mining facility?"

Beck tightened his smile then casually answered, "Yes, it's one of my primary duties as administrator. It's not as lucrative as my side businesses. We're a small outpost and not very self-sufficient and I've had supply problems of every kind then I've had labor difficulties… just the daily struggles of a businessman."

The lift stopped and the door opened, revealing a foyer with a rounded corridor to the left and right and a straight corridor immediately in front of them. Beck took Tori's arm again and led her out of the lift and down the right corridor, allowing the others to follow.

Beck brought the group to a stop at a set of doors and tapped a few keys on the keypad. The doors rose and motioned his hand inside and commented, "For the ladies."

Tori and Jade to step inside the room and the doctor Jade looked a bit wondered eye at the splendor of the extensively furnished penthouse suite. She walked through the room to one of the panoramic windows and could look across practically the entire wonder of the city. The skyline was as beautiful as any number of cities she had visited on Earth.

Tori took it in stride, being used to such accommodations as being a princess.

Beck asked with a smooth tone as he slipped beside Tori, "I hope these quarters will be satisfactory?"

Jade turned away from the window and answered, "Wow, definitely they will do."

The businessman half smirked, see that he had impressed the lovely doctor.

Tori casually answered, trying to play the role of a lowly secretary on some distant planet, "This is too much."

Dusty dryly asked, "They have a point. What are you going to charge their Federation them for this sweet little piece of real estate?"

"Nothing. Consider it a token of my goodwill. I'm sure the Federation and Empire can come to some kind of understanding and I hope to maintain friendly relations with them."

Freddie casually laughed, "I surely appreciate that."

Jade politely picked up, "Could you be a little more generous?"

Beck turned his charming smile to her, apparently eager to fulfill any request she could possibly make. "And how can I do that?"

She glanced to Tori then answered, "Since we were on our quick get away, we don't have any luggage, so… no change of clothing and I've been wearing this for more than a day."

Beck passed a sly smile to the ladies and eagerly answered, "Of course. I'll send some of the local clothing merchants. It would be a crime to let such beautiful ladies as yourselves have to slum in day old clothes. I'll also see to it that they are cleaned and returned to you immediately."

The doctor returned the smile, turning on a little bit of her own mysterious charm. "Thank you. It would be nice to get a new change of clothing and a warm meal."

Beck looked to Freddie and Robbie to follow up, "I'll make sure you have a neighboring suite. I'm sure you'd like to stay close to your companions."

Freddie nodded his head and answered, "I would deeply appreciate that as well."

The administer glanced around the room again then stated, "If there isn't anything else, I'll see to getting your quarters ready, send some clothiers for the ladies, send a complimentary meal up and see to finding someone that can take you back to Federation space."

Beck left the idea card on one of the end tables and turned and exited the room, the door closing behind him.

Tori shook her head and commented, "He's certainly a slick character…"

Freddie raised a finger to his lips and a stern gaze in his eyes to cutoff any further conversation. He reached into his pocket with his other hand. He pulled out his micro-tricorder and started scanning the room. Robbie mirrored his captain's movement to pull his out micro-tricorder and started scanning the other side of the room.

Tori looked on mildly curious while Jade and Dusty patiently waited for Freddie to signal the all clear.

The Star Fleet captain took about a minute to finish scanning his side of the room then looked to his science officer and asked, "Robbie?"

The science officer shook his head and closed his tricorder. "I'm not reading any listening devices."

Freddie closed his tricorder and slipped it back inside an inside pocket. "Good we can talk freely."

Jade looked to Dusty and asked, "I thought you trusted him?"

Dusty cocked and eyebrow to the doctor and chuckled, "I never said I trusted him, just that this was a place where you could find passage out of here. I wouldn't wait too long though."

Tori spoke up, "Is that why you lied to Mister Oliver about me?"

"I trust Beck to a point and him knowing that you're the princess and senator of Alderaan that's been revealed to be a major leader of the Rebel Alliance is well past that point. Could you imagine the pretty credit he'd get for turning you over?"

A sinking feeling formed in Tori's stomach and she asked, "He'd sell me out?"

The freighter captain lulled his head to the side and answered with a half smirk, "We dropped on his doorstep. If a wanted criminal came to your home, you wouldn't call the authorities? You wouldn't want to be all that eager to go to prison for aiding them—especially one that is guilty of treason."

The princess's eyes nearly popped from their sockets when she shouted, "Treason?!"

Dusty lazily shrugged his shoulder and pointed out, "Nevel is part of the duly elected government. He was duly voted on by the senate—you probably voted for him to save your own skin—so what you and your buddies are doing is treason. It only stops being treason if you win and let's face it, your people aren't going to win anytime soon if ever." He nodded to the three from the other side of the galaxy. "And don't think whatever alliance you can make with them is going to tip the power enough to make a difference. You're in it for the long haul… until Nevel is dead and only if he doesn't have a strong enough successor to maintain control."

Robbie rallied to the defense of his home and what he served, "You're wrong. Beck just said that the Empire has overextended and they're suffering losses. They're going to have to pause and reevaluate. They're going to have to realize that it's not going to be as easy as they thought to conquer us. It'll cost them too much to conquer us."

"There's no way to independently confirm that until you get back and you seem to fail in realizing how a dictatorial empire functions. As long as he can focus on an outside threat—which is you for the moment—the Empire will rally behind him in patriotic fervor and it distracts them from any problems facing them internally. All those life threatening problems seem a lot less important when you have an 'alien' empire at the gates ready to steal everything you have, burn your home to the ground and rape your spouse. It'll cost him too much not to conquer you."

Freddie spoke up with a squared jaw, "He's right."

Shapiro and Tori sharply turned to Freddie.

The starship captain wore a stoic expression as he continued, "It's how the Klingons maintain control of their empire and subject races: though internal force and outside threats; us, the Cardassians and the Hydran Kingdom have them hemmed in and if it wasn't for the Organians, we'd be at war with them right now. Heck, none of us might actually be alive if it happened."

Robbie and Jade understood his references far more than Tori, but she understood his underlining meaning. A settled peace was highly unlikely with the structure and need for conflict to maintain the political stability of the Empire. It was born in fire and needed war and conflict to keep the fire going.

An idea popped in Jade's mind and gave a new look of hope appeared on her face yet feeling a little stupid about not thinking of it before, "What about the Organians? Why aren't they doing something? We're in the middle of the war they stopped us from having with the Klingons?"

Freddie was about to give his opinion, but Tori interrupted, "What's an Organian?"

"They were once physical beings like us, but millions of years ago, they shed their bodies and became non-corporeal energy beings with powers of gods. We were about to fight the Klingons, but they interfered. They literally stopped the war the fourth day in the war just before the first engagement between the main fleets."

Dusty cocked an eyebrow with them casually talking about gods walking among them as if was a common occurrence while Tori nodded along with an equally shocked expression then remarked, "Oh… the intelligence was kind of sketchy exactly how the war stopped between you two. We thought it was a problem with translations."

Freddie squinted and asked, "You knew about that?"

She embarrassingly smiled and laughed, "We had to gather intelligence on the major powers on this side of the galaxy to determine which we should make contact first in forming an alliance against the Empire." She lazily shrugged a shoulder. "Shelby, a confidant and commander, wanted us to contact the Klingons seeing they were more militaristic. I'm glad most of us thought to approach the Federation."

The starship captain nodded along and casually answered, "I am too… if we would have found out, I might be with one of the Imperial commanders right now negotiating a way to end the war and ally against you."

The smile left Tori's face and she glanced down the floor, clearly not liking the idea of being on opposite sides with the handsome starship captain. She cleared her throat, trying not to blush in embarrassment, then asked, "So what about these Organians?"

"I don't know if there have been any overtures to them about interfering. I'm sure someone on the Council or in Star Fleet had to make the suggestion and if they did… they obviously were turned down."

Jade spoke up, "But we don't know? Maybe we should see them on our own and get an answer?"

Robbie knotted his brow and asked, "What? Just go to Organia and asked why they didn't interfere this time?"

The doctor nodded her head to the side and answered, "Why not? What do we have to lose?"

Dusty had to interrupt with an expression that questioned their sanity, "Wait a second, you want to go meet some gods and demand they swoop in to save the day?" He followed up with a deadpan expression and tone, "Really? Really?"

Jade shrugged a shoulder and answered, "It worked before."

The freighter captain shook his head and rolled his eyes.

Freddie slightly frowned and remarked, "She's right. We have to at least try and if all else fails… our only other option we have is to kill the Emperor and hope in the chaos the local planetary governments can reassert power in their Senate."

Robbie cleared his throat and pointed out, "It's illegal to assassinate the head of a state."

The starship captain glanced to his first officer and answered, "When facing subjugation, a lot of rules go out the window. When war broke out with the Klingons, 'Prime Directive what?' General Order One was waived… heck, it's waived right now."

The science officer nodded him reluctant agreement.

Dusty laughed to interrupt the tense moment, "You can discuss more treason and espionage all you want, but I think I'll be going. Since Sinjin and I are now wanted men, I'm going to scurry the star maps and find some place where we can disappear." He passed a smile to all of them as he finished, "It's been a trip in more ways than one and I truly wish you the best."

He turned to head out the door, but Jade caught up with him and gently took him by the elbow. He stopped and looked to her with a curious raised eyebrow.

She returned with a sympathetic smile, "Then why not take us back? You'll be safe in Federation space… a lot safer than you would be on this side of the galaxy. We haven't charted everything and there are a lot of places to hide just in the Federation territory. There's the WYN star cluster where millions get lost from the other star nations… they'll never find you in there."

Freddie spoke up in a casual tone, "Unless they use their hyperdrive to bypass the radiation cloud…"

The doctor turned a disapproving gaze to her Captain, signaling that he wasn't helping.

Dusty let a small smile form on his face as he gently took Jade's hand off his elbow, turned it over to rest in his left palm and pat the top of her hand. "It's an intriguing suggestion, but kind of pointless since it's kind of problem to keep fueled up and get replacement parts with such dissimilar technology bases. Where would I get a hydrospanner? There are still the Outer Rim territories to get lost in, so we'll be alright, but I do appreciate the suggestion."

Jade gave him a sympathetic smile as he let go of her hand, passed another glance to the quartet then headed for the door. It slid open, but he stopped just before he stepped out and glanced over his shoulder, "It was fun… take care of yourselves." He turned and walked out of the suite.

Tori crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head. "He's something, isn't he?"

The doctor kept her eyes at the door and mumbled out, "Yeah, he's something alright…" She turned and looked to the others, taking a deep breath then continuing, "You can stand around, but I'm going to see what kind of shower this place has."

Freddie looked to Robbie as he nodded to the door with a half smirk and commented, "That's our cue to go. Let's see if Mister Oliver decided to take care of the suite first…"

Robbie nodded in acknowledgement and headed for the door while Freddie reached into a front jean pocket and pulled out a palm phaser. He reached out for Jade's hand and lifted it so he could palm the weapon into her hand.

Jade lifted a curious eyebrow.

He lazily smiled as he answered, "Just a little more protection for you two…"

The doctor lazily smiled and teased, "I already have a phaser."

He shrugged a shoulder. "Just in case…" He let go of her hand and joined Robbie to exit the suite, a swoosh of the door signaling their departure.

The ladies eyed the door for a moment and Tori commented, perhaps with a little jealousy lacing her voice, "He cares a lot about you."

Jade turned her head to meet her eyes and answered, "I'm an officer under his command and you're now his responsibility being a representative of the Rebel Alliance. He's doing his job."

Tori slightly knotted her brow, not believing for one moment that was the whole story.

The darker haired young woman turned away and headed in the direction she assumed was the bedroom and bathroom. "I'm using the bathroom first. Keep a look out for that food and clothes he promised."

The brunette crossed her arms and rolled her eyes as she answered, "Fine."

Jade disappeared into a connecting room and Tori turned to have a seat on one of the couches. She looked to the large video monitor and noticed a remote on the coffee table. She picked it up and turned on the monitor, skimming through the channels to find some news.

Dagobah System
Outer Rim

The modified Z-95 dropped out of hyperspace about a million kilometers from the heavily clouded world in the system located on the Outer Rim. On the incomplete star charts, there wasn't anything particularly interesting about this particular system in the sparsely populated and largely unexplored portion of the galaxy. The last time there was any heavy traffic in this region of space was during the sieges of Confederacy planets and bases during the final year of the war.

As the fighter sped towards the clouded planet, the friendly astrometric droid swiveled his head back and forth, feeling some dread and let his feelings be known on one of the screens in the cockpit.

Trina casually answered the droid, "Yes, that's it. Dagobah."

Artoo beeped again and a new message appeared on the screen for the pilot.

She shook her head and answered, "No, I'm not going to change my mind about this…" As she studied the sensor HUD as they got closer to the planet, she nervously remarked, "I'm not picking up any cities or technology. Massive life-form readings, though. There's something alive down there..."

The backseat droid beeped again that came through the cockpit speakers as a worried tone.

Trina cracked a smile, feeling a little humor in the situation, "Yes, I'm sure it's perfectly safe for droids."

She continued piloting the craft towards the planet for another few minutes before, banking the fighter to her right and along with the rotation of the planet to slip into orbit. Several more seconds passed and she crossed the twilight then dipped down into the atmosphere.

The fighter expectedly streaked through the thick atmosphere like a shooting star for about a minute, bleeding off more of its speed. However, as the fighter descended further into the atmosphere, the cloud cover was thicker than she expected and caused the fighter to pitch and yaw, making her practically bounce in her cockpit.

She looked to her instrument panel, knowing she was going to have to fly by instruments. However, an alarm went off and Artoo started wildly beeping and whistling. She shouted back at him, "I know, I know! All the scopes except the altimeter are dead. I can't see a thing! Just hang on, I'm going to start the landing cycle..."

The mass sensor was the only one getting a sensor reading simply for the fact that she was over a planet, so the computer could autopilot an approximate landing, which meant it wasn't detecting the vegetation and only had a rough measurement of the terrain.

The fighter rocked as the wings and underbelly of the craft began colliding with presumably tree limbs as the unmistakable sound of them cracking echoed into the cockpit. Several more seconds of the rough ride came to a sudden, but thankfully nonfatal jolt of the snubfighter coming to an abrupt stop as the repulsers did their job and preventing them from becoming a fierier crater.

Trina took several deep breaths, shuddering a little bit from the adrenaline rush through her system of the near death experience. She licked her lips then asked into the speaker, "You okay?"

Artoo returned with an assuring whistled and a stray of text one of the screens.

The barely trained Force-sensitive pulled a small switch to the side of her right arm and the canopy popped open. She unbuckled her harness and pulled herself up then glanced around, seeing that she was in the middle of a swamp with a misty shroud over her surroundings.

The landing and navigational lights of the fighter were still on, but did little to cut through the thick fog with a green tint. The mist was so thick that she could only make out a few of the twisted, gnarly trees that littered the swampy area and the murky brown water where the nose of was sunk.

Trina shook her head then climbed out of the cockpit, carefully started scooting down the long nose of the craft. Artoo rose out of the droid socket and anxiously whistled out.

The fighter pilot looked over her left shoulder and called out as Artoo slid over the engine and onto the left wing, "No, Artoo, you stay put. I'll have a look around."

The droid let out a short beep, being ambiguous to Trina's ears whether he would listen to her instructions. She scooted further down the end, debating that she would actually have to jump into the water to get to dry land or at least semi-dry land. The next moment, she heard a sharp beep, causing her to snapped her head back to look at him just in time to see him lose his balance and tumble over into the water with a large splash.

Trina shouted out in fear, "Artoo?!"

She grabbed over the edge of the side of the nose and leaned over, desperately scanning to see if she could spot him in the brown and calming water. She watched for several seconds, but only saw the still water and no sign of the charmed droid.

She shouted again, her voice carrying deep into the swamp, "Artoo! Where are you?"

A moment later, a small periscope poked out of the water and a happy gurgling beep was heard underneath it.

Trina sighed out, relieved that he was alright then stood up, calling out in the process, "Artoo! You be more careful! Tori would have my butt if anything happened to you!" She finished walking to the end of the fighter just where the nose dipped into the water. She looked up with a sour expression on her face to see the opposite shore was still a good five meters away. She looked back to the cockpit, down the facet cylinder that made up most of the length of the fighter than to the opposite shore.

She snorted a breath then turned to walk back to the cockpit. She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself and reach out to feel the Force. She opened her eyes then ran, making to good strides then leaping off the end of the nose. She soared above the water with an Olympic level leap and landing a good meter into the shore. She steadied her feet then started laughing, shocked she had made it then turned to look back at Artoo steadily moving towards her.

The fighter pilot waved her hand towards her body and urged, "That's right, over here Artoo."

Trina's eyes squinted as she thought she saw something from the corner of her left eye, a large ripple crossing the surface of the water. She looked towards where she guessed was the direction of the unknown source of the ripple since the water was just too cloudy to make out anything. She heard a loud clunk of something striking metal then hearing Artoo letting out a high pitch whine as his periscope disappeared under the water.

She pulled her heavy blaster pistol from her thigh holster and pointed it towards the water, desperately scanned her eyes over the water to see any sign of Artoo or the creature. She let out a scream, "Artoo! Artoo!"

The water remained calm, causing a sinking feeling in Trina's stomach that she has lost her little companion. Several more seconds passed until some bubbles began to appear, causing her to train her weapon on the spot, ready to put a couple of blaster bolts in it.

The droid went flying out of the water like a shot and arced over her head and crashed several meters behind her. She blinked for a moment in shock then turned back to look at the water, sweeping the ripple of the creature moving under it. She trained her weapon in it and fired a few shots, flash heating some of the water. She may not have hit him, but she knew it had to feel the suddenly boiling water scorching it.

She turned away and ran to Artoo to see if he was alright. She grabbed the sides of his legs and pulled him back onto his feet. She hugged the messy and rugged droid and sighed in relief. She pulled back, not caring that her cheek was now muddy, and desperately asked, "Are you all right?"

The droid answered with a few low and garbled beeps.

She sighed, grateful that apparently he was alright, then commented, "You're lucky you don't taste very good."

He let out a series of beeps, perhaps indicating he didn't find the joke funny.

Trina snorted out with a sardonic half-smirk, "If you're saying coming here was a bad idea, I'm beginning to agree with you." She focused on his eye sensor and admonished herself, "Oh, Artoo, what are we doing here? It's like... something out of a dream, or, I don't know. Maybe I'm just going crazy."

Artoo let out a slow, soft long beep that sounded like a sympathetic noise.

Trina glanced around their surroundings again, seeing nothing but swamp that seemed eerie and send a shiver through her bones. The tense mood was interrupted when Artoo spewed out a stream of the murky water from one of the blue panels on his dome. She patiently and sympathetically smiled to him and vainly brushed some mud off the 'face' of the dome.

After about half an hour after the crash landing, Trina was wadding through the water and pulling the last equipment box from the starfighter's hold along with her. She made it to the shore and walked to the camp. She dropped it next to Artoo then had a seat next to the droid on the log. She reached over and turned on the portal fusion furnace that doubled as a power supply, giving the pair a source of warmth in the misty and gloomy swamp.

Trina smiled to her droid companion and asked while she took a power cable and connected one end into the power supply and plugged the other end into a socket underneath one of the vertical protective plates, "Ready for some power? Okay. Let's see now. Put that in there… there you go."

Artoo whistled his thanks while Trina started undoing the laces of her boots then pulled them off. She unbuckled her utility belt and inner thigh strap to take it off then pulled the zipper down the over orange flight suit then carefully pulled her arms out of it and pulled it down to her waist. She stood up and pulled the suit down her legs, freeing her of the space flight suit and leaving her in her dull grey flight jacket and cargo pants.

The brunette took off her socks and laid them next to the heater to dry them then propped her feet up near it to dry her feet. She reached over and pulled a tin onto her lap and opened it up reveal her processed food rations. She pulled out an energy bar and opened the sealed food. She took a bite out of an energy bar and sighed, glancing around the ominous swamp, "Now all I have to do is find this Nug Nug...if he even exists." She pushed down her growing apprehensions and absently commented as she glanced around, attempting to keep appraised her surroundings, "Still...there's something familiar about this place. I feel like...I don't know..."

A slightly raised pitch voice called out behind her, "Feel like what?"

Trina turned in an instant, drawing her heavy blaster pistol from her holster and pointing it at the unexpected visitor sitting on one of the large protruding roots of one of the dozen massive trees within sight of her camp. She finished with a guarded tone, "Like we're being watched."

The stout creature raised his arms, covering his face with the raggedy end of his billowy sleeve then motioned away as he panic shouted, "Away with your weapon! I mean you no harm."

The starfighter pilot cautiously studied the lightly pinkish skinned tone—the shade of an Earth domesticated pig—and slightly wrinkling skin. Sensing that the creature was no threat, she holstered her weapon while Artoo watched with concern.

The unknown lifeform lowered his arms and curious asked, "I am wondering, why are you here?"

The Jedi-in-training answered in a near flippant tone, "I'm looking for someone."

The apparent native lifeform mockingly grinned and answered, "Looking? Found someone, you have, I would say, hmmm?" The apparent native creature followed up with a soft laugh.

Trina answered in a light tone, fighting to keep a smile off her face, "Right."

He eagerly continued, "Help you I can. Yes, mmmm."

The brunette slightly smirked and offhandedly remarked, "I don't think so. I'm looking for a great warrior."

The unknown creature laughed dismissively, "Ahhh! A great warrior." He shook his head and mockingly pointed out, "Wars not make one great."

She slightly squinted and slowly remarked, realizing she wasn't dealing with someone that wasn't too bright, "I didn't say it did… the term means that he's good at being a warrior."

The creature slightly squinted for a moment, surprised by the answer. He shook his head and tightened his grip on his staff and climbed off the root to approach the encamped pilot and her droid. He circled around and with help with the staff, moved to one of the cases of supplies. He opened one up and started rummaging through it.

Artoo rolled to the side of the case, meeting the creature eye-to-eye that was searching through the supplies without concern. He squeaked in a disapproving tone, one which the apparent native lifeform was ignoring.

The strange visitor stopped searching and turned to the container Trina had set to her left and picked up one of the energy bars, cautiously taking a bit off the end of it.

The lovely pilot shouted in frustration, "Put that down. Hey! That's my dinner."

The native creature spat the food out in disgust and asked, "How you get so big, eating food of this kind?" He sat it back down in the tray without waiting for an answer then turned to another one of her supply cases.

Trina strained to remain patient as she answered, "Listen, friend, we didn't mean to land in that puddle, and if we could get our ship out, we would, but we can't, so why don't you just..."

The stout creature playfully mocked as he spotted something in one of her cases, "Aww, cannot get your ship out?" He grabbed the item, unsure the nature of the square item, so he tossed it away then started digging for something else that may be interesting.

She deeply sighed out as her patience was running out and grabbed the case way from the creature, but not before he was able to grab a handheld power lamp and started looking at it in content. She called out, "Don't do that. Ohhh...you're making a mess." She took a moment to pick up what he tossed and examined what could have been a diagnostic scanner. "Hey, you could have broken this." She noticed that he had retained the lamp and stuck out her hand and demanded, "Hey, give me that!"

The short fellow backs way and cradles the lamp to his side, shuffling backwards and shouted, "Mine! Or I will help you not." As he stepped back, he didn't notice that Artoo had rolled around and one of the vertical rectangular compartments on the little astrometric droid had opened and a thin mettle rod with a claw at the end was moving towards the lamp in the creature's hand.

Trina sighed and answered in an acerbated tone, "I don't want your help. I want my lamp back. I'll need it to get out of this slimy mudhole."

The fleshy pink creature crunched its face in offense and retorted in outrage, "Mudhole? Slimy? My home this is."

The claw made it to within reach of the lamp in the native lifeform's hand and grabbed it, setting off a tug-of-war for it as each struggled to get the device.

He suddenly turned around and shouted back as his fingers seemed to put a death grip on the lamp, "Ah, ah, ah!"

Trina sighed in frustration, "Oh, Artoo, let him have it."

He started smacking the droid with the end of his staff and shouted, "Mine! Mine!"

Artoo initially refused to listen to her and attempted to pull back the claw, having the clear mechanical advantage.

She ordered again, "Artoo!"

The droid finally and reluctantly opened the claw and let him have the lamp. He retracted the rod and lowered it for the door to close.

The creature looked to the lamp and looked to the droid then poked him with the end of his staff again, drawing a startled squeal from him.

Trina sighed out again, visibly showing she was fed up with his intrusion, "Now will you move along, little fella? We're got a lot of work to do."

The stout creature shook his head and emphatically answered, "No! No, no! Stay and help you, I will." He followed up with a laugh, "Find your friend, hmm?"

She retook her seat on the log and picked up the energy bar that the creature had taken a nibble. She took a quick whiff of it then broke off the tip where he had tasted then tossed it away to try to peacefully eat it. She lazily answered, "I'm not looking for a friend, I'm looking for a Jedi Master."

"Oohhh. Jedi Master. Nug Nug. You seek Nug Nug."

Trina snapped her head to face him and eagerly asked, "You know him?"

He nodded along and innocently answered, "Mmm. Take you to him, I will." He paused to laugh then continued, "Yes, yes. But now, we must eat. Come. Good food. Come."

The unknown creature hopped off the log and began scurrying away out of the camp at remarkable speed, cheerfully laughing.

Trina stared after him, watching him begin to disappear into the dense fog with only the faint light of the small lamp that she had swiped from her. She contemplated for a few moments whether she should trust the odd creature then decided to follow him.

As Trina had been contemplated whether or not to follow him, the apparent native had covered a considerable distance, so his voice echoed as he called out over his shoulder, "Come, come."

Artoo started letting out a series whistles of warning, but she responded with an assuring tone, "Stay here and watch after the camp, Artoo."

The little droid's beeping and chirping became more frantic, but the padawan patted Artoo's dome then started off after Nug Nug. He watched as his mistress began disappearing into the fog, it grew quiet with only sounding off a soft electronic sigh.

Author's note: We'll it looks like our heroes get a little bit of a breather and Trina has found the person that going to help her become a Jedi. Nothing could possibly go wrong from here, right? Later, OneHorseShay