Dead excited to be back with another chapter for all of my loyal readers out there. I want to again thank all of you for your reviews, your comments, and for just being here for the ride. I've picked up so may new readers throughout this adventure, and I hope that each and every one of you are enjoying reading this story as much as I do writing it. Couldn't do this without you. Let's hop back in and see how Freya's mission is going, shall we?

"Gravity Well t' unknown outpost. Come in, unknown outpost…" Freya said over the radio as the old freighter approached the rebel base. "Haloo down there. I can see yer tower. I know ye can 'ear me."

"Identify yourself, unknown vessel." A voice finally returned.

"I jus' did, bossman." Thorne answered wryly. "This is Captain Rose o' the freighter Gravity Well. We need assistance at once. As in right bloody now. Can ye 'elp us down there?"

"What is your cargo, and what is your destination?" The male voice inquired. "And what is your emergency?"

"We're 'eading to Exodeen with a mixed manifest. Our hyperdrive is buggered out, our shields are down, an' life support systems are minimal." Freya explained. "We need repairs or we're gonna be floatin' off intae the void by tomorrah' mornin'."

"There is no Imperial outpost on this part of Mimban." The controller stated. "If you need Imperial assistance…"

"Nae, ye best no do that!" Thorne exclaimed. "I mean…we'd rather not…involve the Empire in our dealin's. We need a…ah, a civilian pad to set down on." She grinned deviously at Felian, and he retuned her expression with a nod. There was a short silence.

"Gravity Well, please set down just outside the perimeter fence. We will see what we can do." Thorne pumped her fist triumphantly.

"Thank you, outpost." She said. "You heard the man. Set 'er down, Tooka."

"Tooka?"

"Aye. Ye need a false name or whatever." Thorne said. "Yer a hunter. Ever see a cat stalkin' aboot? Pound fer pound, I bet a cat's the best bloody hunter in the galaxy."

"Never thought about it." Felian pondered. "Yeah, cats are primo predators." She grinned.

"See? Perfect."

"And you're Captain Rose?"

"Aye. An' Mets is now Gunner, and Coleth is Po. I already informed 'em of the changes."

"You're having too much fun with this." Felian, now Tooka, muttered as he landed the ship just outside of a fence surrounding the compound. There were already four men standing nearby, awaiting their arrival.

"Let's go meet the locals." Freya chirped, and started back toward the loading ramp. Her smile dropped. "Gah, I hope this works…" She hit the button to lower the ramp, and the hatch hissed open. She stepped out onto the descending platform, her arms folded across her chest. As soon as the ramp touched ground, she stepped purposefully off, and promptly sank to her ankle in mud. She made a disgusted sneer, then continued forward toward the rebels.

"Allo, gentlemen." She greeted. The four men, all dressed in tan jackets, gray pants, knee boots and all carrying blasters, didn't respond. She looked around at the scenery. "Crivens, you folk made out bad on a real estate deal. Thank you lot fer lettin' us land, by the by. Ship's awl pooched, she is. Been through a lot with 'er, but much trouble as she is now…I'm thinking about tradin' 'er off."

"You wouldn't get a land speeder in trade for that hunk of junk." One of the men commented.

"Och. Bite yer tongue." Thorne shot back. "She looks like rubbish, yeah. Part a' her mystique. Bloody Imps nae expect a bucket o' bolts like her to hit lightspeed, let alone outrun their fighters. When she's fixed up, that is."

"So, you're a smuggler." The man spoke again. Thorne bowed.

"Jes' a humble delivery gal, tryin' t' make a credit or two." She stated. "Captain Rose. And you lovely lads are…"

"A couple of men who wouldn't mind inspecting your ship." Another of the men declared.

"Now hol' up. That's me ship an' me cargo yer talking about." Thorne said defensively, surprising herself at how good she was at acting. "I dunnae think I'm gonna let you lot intae me most intimate spaces when we jus' met. You people aren't some pirates or somethin' now, are you?" She narrowed her eyes. "A'cause I know how t' handle a pack o' ruffians, believe you me." The first man stepped forward.

"No ma'am, nothing of the sort." He said. "We're just trying to be cautious. You know, making sure there's nothing and nobody on the ship that can be dangerous to us is all."

"Oh aye. Me crew can be a real hazard when they get their dander up." Thorne smiled. "Or when they're drunk. Fortunately, they're neither right now. Othern' that, I got crates of food, tools, electronics, and assorted gew-gaws. Bought it fer nothing. We was hopin' t' sell it off fer a nice profit…" She looked back at the freighter. "Till the ship decided to go haywire." The rebel chuckled.

"Now you're stuck with a dead freighter on a dead planet." He commented. "Not your lucky day, Captain." Thorne smiled.

"Oh, I dunno…it could get better."

"Galt, what is the status of that freighter?" A commlink sounded. The man, who Freya took to be the leader of this detail, pulled out the device and spoke into it.

"Just a girl smuggler in some old junker." Galt answered. "Everything looks like it's on the up-and-up."

"Copy that. See what she needs to repair her ship." The voice on the commlink stated. He looked to Thorne.

"Well, what do you need to fix that thing?" He asked.

"Hyperdrive is busted. I think we can get it fixed, but I'll need fuel. An' parts for our nav computer." Galt whistled.

"That's some expensive repairs." He stated.

"You have the parts?"

"We might. Can't give them out for free though." The rebel said with a shrug. "You know how hard it is to get those kinds of parts out here?"

"Well…ow's about a trade?" Freya offered. "Like I said, I have electronics, parts, tools. I'm sure you people need at least something. I'll give ye a few crates o' wot I got, in exchange you give me the parts I need." Galt repeated this into this commlink.

"We can do that. Proceed, and see if they have spanner wrenches, radio parts and capacitors." The voice on the device replied.

"You hear the order?" Galt asked.

"A'course I did." Thorne said. "I got ears. Not sure what all I got, but I'll have me crew bring out a couple boxes, and you can have a shifty through 'em. Beggars cannae be choosers, ye know."

"No. They can't." Galt returned sourly. Freya turned to the ship.

"Oi! You lads bring down a few o' those containers. Tools an' equipment! Make it smartly!"

"No foodstuffs, captain?" Mets called down.

"Did I ask fer foodstuffs?" She shot back. She turned to Galt. "You want some food too?"

"We could use some, yeah."

"Oi, Gunner! Bring the food too!" She sighed. "Me loverly crew…" She stared at the building a moment. "And wot you got goin' on out here? Some kind a' commune or something?"

"It's…" Galt answered hesitatingly. "It's a research facility." Thorne wrinkled her nose. What a bad lie.

"Wot in the blazin' Hell ye researchin' out here?" She asked. "All the colors dirt can be?" She kicked at a clump of wet earth and slipped, falling onto her backside in the mud. The four men laughed uproariously. Thorne stood up and wiped clumps of muck from the back of her skirt and vest.

"Welcome to Mimban, Captain." Galt shrugged. Freya shot him a deadly scowl. Just then, Mets and Coleth exited the ship, pushing two of the large cargo containers before them, the boxes' repulsor lifts keeping the crates hovering inches above the ground. Thorne waved toward the boxes of supplies.

"Go ahead. Sort through 'em. Gotta be somethin' ye like." Galt and two of the rebels opened the containers and began sorting through the various tools and pieces of electronic equipment.

"Hey…you have a pretty good assortment of comms parts and relays in here." One of the men stated. "Some of this is Imperial stuff."

"Yeahhhh…" Freya chuckled. "Amazin' how often it just…falls off a ship. Ye can nick some awful good swag if ye know where t' look."

"Can you get more?" Galt asked, looking up from his crate. "I mean…we could always use more of this kind of equipment here. We don't care where it came from, and we could pay." Freya smirked.

"I'll see what I can do." She said. "I'm sure I can bring a bit more Imperial equipment here…if I put me mind to it."

"You don't know where to get an Imperial decryption computer, do you?" Galt asked. "We'd pay top credits for something like that."

"Whoah, whoah…what do ye think I am?" Thorne shot as the men began making a pile of stuff by the front gate. "I'm tryin' t' keep a low profile here. I don't steal from the Empire…not directly at least. I just move the stuff, yeah?" The leader of the rebel squad made a sour face and shook his head.

"Yeah, sorry. We're just seriously strapped for supplies out here. This is a pretty isolated outpost."

"For research." Freya winked. The man smiled.

"Exactly, ma'am. Sergeant Meeskan Galt."

"Well, Sergeant Galt…" Thorne said, inwardly grinning that she'd just gotten him to all-but-admit they were rebels. "…I have a couple more crates for ye to…inspect." She motioned to Mets and Coleth, who were moving two more of the containers into position.

"The food, captain." Coleth stated, nodding toward his crate. Galt immediately set to opening the container.

"Oh, thank the stars." He commented. "We'll definitely take this one too. Real food…we've been living on rations and gruel for weeks." He pulled out a canister of freeze-dried meat. "The women and the children will go nuts over this." Thorne almost broke character.

"Wot? Ye say you have ladyfolk and little 'uns? Out here in this dismal place?" She pressed, starting to feel a little nauseous about completing the mission.

"Yeah, some of our families joined us here. It's been a real trial at times for them. Better than living under the hand of the Empire though." He scoffed. "Hell, you probably understand that."

"Aye." Freya said. She swallowed. The mission had to be completed, and she knew it. It was either take the base or risk Lord Vader's wrath. That was a terrifying proposition. If Thorne refused to assault the compound, he'd no doubt throttle the life out of her, the rest of the team as well. If she did what she'd been ordered to do, there was a possibility that some kid could get injured or killed.

Thorne tried to block that out of her mind. They were rebels. They killed Imperial soldiers and civilians for seemingly no good reason. She had been sent here to eliminate this position, and there had to be a good reason to do so. The fact that the rebels had their families with them was unfortunate, a dangerous move on their part. Why would they risk the lives of their children by bringing them to a military outpost? Part of her wanted to break contact, to report this new information to Vader. She gloomed over that. It wouldn't change a damned thing. He would just order her to carry out the assignment. She huffed.

"How many of you are out here anyway?" She asked. Galt looked up at her. "I…I 'ave another crate of food if ye need it. How many mouths ye feedin?"

"Thirty-six." He answered. "Six of them are kids."

"Aye…right." Thorne returned. "Gunner! The other crates o' vittles." She looked at the rebel sergeant. It was now or never. "I cannae jus' leave a bunch a women and little ones without supplies, much as it hurts me purse. Let's get these intae yer place."

"We…we really appreciate that." Galt nodded.

"A pirate with a heart, who'd a thought such a thing existed?" One of the other rebels quipped. "Maybe there is something to that old force thing people used to talk about."

"Just…" Freya began. She still felt a little apprehensive about what was about to happen, but knew she had to forge ahead. "Next time I'm in the neighborhood, you lot pay full-price. Deal?"

"Oh, I think we can work something out for sure." Galt said with a smile. "Control, open the gate. We're bringing in supplies." He spoke into his commlink. A moment later, the tall chain-link gate began to slide open. Thorne turned to see Felian, Mets and Coleth standing by the ship. She gave them a gentle nod.

"You three." She ordered. "Get the six crates of supplies in the back too. I'm uh…I'm feeling generous fer once." That was the signal, and soon, the three were pushing six boxes toward the gate of the rebel compound that contained Daraay, Lago, Dall and Gallen, along with two containing arms. The rebels had already moved their containers of supplies into the packed-earth courtyard of the complex, where several of their compatriots had gathered to see the bounty. Felian intentionally left one of the arms crates outside the wire as the rest were floated inside, and positioned between the group of insurgents and their building. Then the scouts exited the fenced-in area, retrieved two crates of scrap metal and positioned them next to the arms crate near the freighter.

Thorne sized up the situation. The assault element of the team was in position. Felian and the scouts were waiting by the boxes they had prepared as cover. There were now nine rebels standing around the boxes, distracted by the supplies inside. She felt a knot form in her stomach. It was almost too perfect, and yet she felt a pervading sense of coldness about what she was about to do. Whether this attack succeeded or failed, she knew she would be feeling this for some time. Freya closed her eyes for a moment. Now or never…

"I'm gannae go get the readout from th' ship." She said. Thorne walked up the loading ramp, and into the cockpit, where she pressed a button on the comms console. "Execute." She stated.

"One minute." Halresk simply answered. Thorne hurried back off the ship, and made her way to the crates where by stood Felian, Mets and Coleth. Mets opened the weapons container. She watched as Galt approached.

"Alright Captain…" He began. "I admit I was a little wary of you at first, but you guys have been really kind. I guess a person shouldn't judge, huh?" Thorne felt like crying. She let her right hand fall to just in front of her blaster.

"Nae, Sergeant Galt. I'm a far worse person than ye could know." She said sadly.

"We've all done things in our lives we regret." He returned with a sympathetic smile. "It's where we go from there that makes us better people. Just takes a little bravery and sacrifice."

"Yeah…you got that right." Freya muttered.

"So, what is it we can do for you people?" Galt asked, clapping his hands together. Thorne picked up on the sound before anyone else, the low whine of a shuttle's engines running at full-throttle. The rebels heard the sound a moment later, and Galt turned his head to the right, toward the sound of The Huntsman beginning its attack run.

"You can surrender to the Empire." Thorne stated, and drew her blaster, pointing it at Galt. He turned back, his eyes wide with shock and confusion.

"Wh…no…you're Imperials!" He exclaimed.

"Throw up yer hands, Sergeant Galt." Freya ordered. "Please." Galt backpedaled a few steps and tried to unsling his blaster rifle. Thorne felt oddly dizzy as she squeezed the trigger of her weapon. Sergeant Galt stumbled backwards, a smoking wound in his chest, and fell to the ground. Thorne was now aware of blaster fire coming from her right as the scouts pulled heavy repeating blasters from the crate and unleashed a salvo onto the rebels near the crates of supplies.

The rebels took cover behind the boxes, and began to fire back, hoping to at least take out a couple of the Imperials outside their fence. One of them fell dead, the back of her head obliterated by a powerful blast of energy from behind them. Two turned to see a death trooper, two stormtroopers and an Imperial Army marksman behind them. Before they could make a further move or cry out, the entire group of rebel fighters lay dead behind the crates.

Freya watched in morbid fascination as the team's shuttle came streaking in from the west, just as a group of rebel pilots made a mad dash for their fighters. Halresk unleashed a pair of proton torpedoes onto the rebels' comms tower, which promptly toppled over onto three of the X-Wings. A flurry of fire from the shuttle destroyed another rebel ship, and Halresk banked hard as ground fire began to arc upwards toward the vessel. He flew upwards, then dived toward the remaining two snub-fighters, firing another pair of proton torpedoes straight down into the craft just as they were beginning to take off. The ships exploded in a pair of brilliant fireballs.

"Ensign, get down!" Felain ordered, and pulled Thorne to the muddy ground behind a crate just as a string of blaster bolts ripped through the air where she had been standing. She suddenly became aware of everything going on around her, as if she had just shaken herself from a sleep.

"Sorry Felian." She stated grimly. "I'm on the clock now." She fired her blaster over the top of the crate at two rebels on the roof of the building. A single bolt, no doubt from Gallen's sniper blaster, struck one of the men, and he fell three stories to the hard ground below. A siren sounded from somewhere in the courtyard, and the gate began to close. Thorne realized the danger in being cut off from half of the team. "Mets, detonator!" He tossed an explosive to her, and Thorne activated the device, and threw it toward the gate, landing it in the track in front of the slowly closing section of fence. The gate caught on the detonator just as it exploded. The tall metal barrier wobbled in place for a few moments, then fell into the courtyard.

Suddenly the shooting stopped. Thorne risked a glance over the container. The rebel outpost was silent. The alarm had died out, and over the rolling metal hatch of the building, a metal door had slid shut. She cautiously stood, and took in the eerily silent enemy outpost for a few moments. Her squad rose to their feet beside her, scanning the building with their weapons. In the courtyard, Daraay's team were seemingly just as confused, and were hunkered behind the metal boxes, regarding the compound through the electronic sights of their weapons.

"They locked it all down…" Thorne said. "They're trying to keep us out long enough t' destroy evidence an' figure out wot t' do." She pulled out her commlink. "Halresk. Come in."

"Standing by, ma'am." The pilot replied, and the shuttle glided in to a hover near the freighter. "Orders, ma'am?"

"Aye. Keep back a klick, a'right? They migh 'ave tunnels, so scan fer anybody leavin' the area. If they try a frontal assault, we'll need you fer air support."

"Understood." Halresk affirmed, and the shuttle made a slow turn before leaving the scene. Thorne stared at the building a moment, then began walking defiantly toward the compound.

"Ma'am…what are you doing?" Mets called.

"I'm gonna 'ave a talk with the rebels." She answered. "See if they won't go all peaceful-like." Coleth nudged Mets' shoulder.

"I think the ensign is about to go Hellcat on some rebs." The scout trooper said. Thorne passed by Daraay and her contingent, and stopped a few meters from the heavy-looking door over the entrance.

"Hello." She called out. "I want t' know if anyone in this building can hear me right now." She was met by silence. "My name is Ensign Thorne of Imperial Special Forces. I have to ask that you open the door an' surrender at once." She waited a few seconds. "If you do not…I want to resolve this mess without anymore bloodshed. If you surrender now…"

"Then we'll be executed by dawn!" Somebody called from inside the building. "No chance! No dice! We have blasters, and we're using them on the first Imp that tries to get in!"

"Ye've lost a'redy!" Thorne yelled back. "We 'ave two ships, and a squad of troopers out here! When I call in, there's gonna be a Star Destroyer a' hoverin' o'er yer base. There'll be a thousand troopers at yer door!" Give up, an' we won't hurt you."

"Lies!" A female voice called. "You won't get through the blast door. Every moment you stand out there is another moment closer to the end of your Empire!"

"You have children!" Freya begged. "At least let yer bloody kids out! When reinforcements come, they'll blast e'erything in sight."

"Now they want to steal the children!" Somebody called from a window above her.

"What? So you can brainwash them with Imperial propaganda?!" A woman yelled. Thorne was getting angry.

"You're aboot t' cause a lot a' death, ye pack a' paranoid bastards!" She screamed. "Know ye it won't be on me hans wen the Empire comes in an' burns this place rick, cot an' tree! That's yer doin'! You open this door an' let us in so we can at least try an' save some a' yer lives!" She was met by a blaster bolt striking the ground near her feet.

"Fools!" Thorne screamed. "Damned bloody fools!" She ran to the arms crate and drew out the rocket launcher taken from the shuttle. She fumbled around, unfamiliar with the weapon.

"Ma'am…you sure you want to do that?" Felian cautioned.

"Aye. They won't open the door, so I'll kick in in fer 'em I will!" She shot back. Thorne sat the bulky tube on her shoulder and lined the sights up with the blast door. In the courtyard, Daraay and the rest of the team ran for cover. Freya hit the switch to arm the launcher. "Alright rebels, the bogey-woman's at yer door. Best 'ave me a platter o' sweet cakes ready. Clear the blast zone!" She pulled the trigger, and a four-pound armor-piercing projectile blew from the launcher in a cloud of sparks and smoke. Freya wasn't anticipating the kick of the weapon, and she fell backwards, dropping the launcher and landing in a puddle of deep mud.

The HEAP, or heavy-armor-piercing projectile hit the blast door dead-center. Instead of detonating on the surface and destroying the door as she had thought, it blew a three-inch hole through the durasteel. The rocket then traveled into the structure, where it detonated, sending a mushroom cloud of fire tearing through the roof. Thorne sat up, almost completely covered in muck, and looked on as part of the building collapsed. The blast door was forced off of its tracks and fell off, landing with a loud clang.

"Ma'am! Orders!" Felian called.

"Make entry…take down the building…set blasters to stun…go!" She exclaimed, getting to her feet and pulling an E-11 from the crate. The team quickly organized and entered the building through the void left by the blast door, Daraay and Felian leading the assault. A lone rebel appeared in a ruined doorway to the first room, a large storage area, and was immediately hit with a stun bolt from Felian. Freya looked around the room. The bodies of six rebels lay about, nearly destroyed by the blast. She gulped. Vader was going to be enraged if she had killed the rebel he was after. She hoped that Skywalker guy wasn't among these. Then she did the math as the team moved on into the next smoke-filled room; six rebels here, nine outside. Halresk had killed at least six more, and there was the guy on the roof. If Galt had been telling the truth about their numbers, that meant they had already killed twenty-two of the rebels, most of their number.

"Clear." Felian called out. Daraay kicked open a door.

"Room clear." She stated. They traveled down a corridor, clearing room after room, with no sign of the enemy. Upstairs, they found two of the terrorists in some sort of control room. The two men were trying to destroy the computers in the command center. The team stunned them, and Daraay stayed behind with Lago to secure the prisoners and to start copying files from the terminals. Before the rest of the team moved on, Thorne had one thing to do.

"Lago. Get me Lord Vader. I gues I 'ave t' make a report." The young stormtrooper nodded, and drew out a holopad. Freya tried to straighten her muddy clothes, and removed her helmet. She came to attention as the pad lit up, revealing a miniature image of Vader.

"Laird Vader. Ensign Thorne, Me laird." She greeted. "We have taken the rebel compound. We're currently capturing the enemy who remain. You can bring yer troops in now, sir."

"Very well." Vader stated. "Carry on, ensign." She saluted.

"Yes, me laird." The holographic image shut off, and Thorne motioned to the team to continue clearing the building.

They finally came to a hatch that when opened, led downward into a subterranean area. Cautiously, the team moved down the steps. They arrived at a short hallway, and Freya, in the lead, crept down the dimly lit corridor, which she could see opened up into a room of some sort up ahead on the right. It was too quiet, and her instinct told her that something was amiss. At the end of the hall, she held up a fist to halt the team, a moment before a blaster bolt struck the corner of the wall. Another bolt hit the end of the wall next to her.

"Stay back!" A female voice called out. "Don't come any closer!"

"Imperial Special Forces, ma'am." Thorne shouted back. "We 'ave your base. I beg ye t' surrender and stop this. Ye won't be hurt if ye throw down yer arms." She heard screaming from the room, and another blast of energy struck the wall. Thorne sighed. "A'right…'ave it yer way. Felian, flash bangah." A moment later, the sergeant tossed a stun grenade around the corner. There was a bright flash and a loud pop, and the team entered the room. Thorne froze as her troopers began firing stun bolts into the armed rebels trying to recover from the shock of the flashbang device.

There were five armed rebels in the room, now laying on the floor unconscious. All five were women, and only two wore anything resembling a uniform or equipment. The others looked like civilians. In the corner were six children, huddled together with the two older ones in front, as if trying to protect the rest. Thorne realized what this was; in a last bid to protect their children, the rebels had bought themselves enough time to move them down here into the basement of the facility. These women were the last of the rebels. Part of her didn't blame them for being frightened and not being willing to surrender.

"Cease fire." Thorne ordered. "Lower yer weapons, troopers…" Dall and Mets lowered their blasters from the young children. She approached the youths, who cringed away. She stopped just short of the two older ones, a boy and a girl of about twelve years old. "Hey…" She said softly. "…it's alright…"

"Get away!" The girl cried out, and brandished a short section of steel pipe. Dall looked up from cuffing one of the unconscious rebels, but Freya held a hand out to stop him.

"We're not goin' t' hurt ye, lass." Freya tried to calm the child.

"She's a monster…" A little girl about four or five whimpered. "The Empire monsters are going to kill us." Freya felt tears in her eyes. She knelt down, and removed her muddy helmet, knowing how she must look at this point.

"Nae…Ahm no monster, see?" She said softly. "I'm a good guy, yeah?" She looked between the children. "My name's Thorne…I'm uh…I'm with the Empire, an' we're 'ere to 'elp."

"Then why did you kill everyone…" The boy returned, his voice full of fear and anger. Freya winced.

"Felian, Daraay…take the troopers an' do a right sweep o' the buildin'. Make sure we didn't miss anything, a'right?"

"Yes ma'am." The two sergeants answered, and the unit carried the prisoners out into the hallway before leaving to search the compound again. Freya turned back to the kids.

"Listen…I didn't want to do what we did…really. These people were bad. They wanted to hurt other people…to make war. Ye' understand wot I'm sayin', right?"

"My parents weren't bad people." The girl stated. "They said we were going to get rid of the bad people…so everybody could be happy." Freya had no idea how to respond to that. She came up with the best thing she could.

"I'm sure they believed that, lass…" She began. "…but e'erybody is already happy. Well…more or less. Some people jes don't like the Empire, an' want to destroy it. If they do, it would be very bad."

"Why?" One of the children, a young boy asked.

"I…I guess 'cause ye got to have some rules…ye know, somebody to be over everything. Imagine if nobody told anybody what t' do, an' e'eryone jes did whatever they pleased. Things'd go to pieces in a day, wouldn't they?"

"Don't listen to her." The older girl told the others. "Dad said to never listen to the people from the Empire. They lie."

"And they kill people." The boy added. Thorne felt helpless in the face of the children. Then again, she couldn't blame them. They had just seen probably the most traumatic thing they'd ever experienced, and to them, she imagined that she must seem like some beast from a nightmare.

"I'm not tryin' t' be mean, and I'm not lying…" She said, trying to sound more stern. "But in a little bit, more soldiers are going to come. They're going to take all of you, and they'll make sure you're taken care of. Don't ye be getting' rotten with 'em neither. Some o' them guys in the white aren't the sweetest a' fellas. Just do what they say, and go with them."

"They're going to kill us, aren't they?" The boy asked.

"Wha? No! Gads no!" She exclaimed. "They'll likely get ye a meal, and find a nice school for ye t' go to. Ye won't 'ave t' see so much o' this anymore." The older kids still looked unconvinced. "That doesn't seem so bad now, does it?" She heard a commotion from upstairs, and instinctively reached for her blaster. She heard orders being given, and the tramping of feet, and realized that the reinforcements had come. She relaxed. "Here comes the boys in white…" She muttered, mostly to herself. She tried to give a friendly smile to the children. "Won't be but a minute now. You lads and lassies'll be jes fine. Ye wait an' see." She heard footsteps in the corridor, and a moment later a squad of stormtroopers entered the room. Thorne stood, and turned to the troopers.

"Gentlemen. Ensign Thorne. I'm the officer in charge 'ere."

"Not anymore, ma'am." One of the white-armored soldiers replied. "Command of the operation has been assumed by Lord Vader, ma'am."

"L…Laird Vader's here…personally?" She stammered. She had assumed he would command the reinforcements from orbit, not actually show up in all his wicked glory.

"Yes, ma'am." The stormtrooper nodded.

"Aye, well…you fellows secure these children. Be nice to 'em. They're scared, an' don't trust us very much."

"Should we use binders?" The stormtrooper commander asked.

"Nae, ye not use binders, trooper. What would ye use 'em on yer own kids then?" She shot back in disgust. "Ye lot get 'em a nice hot meal like I promised 'em. Then take 'em…"

"Take them to a ship and place them in a cell, Sergeant." Vader stated, entering the room. The children immediately shrank back, trying to melt into the wall. The dark figure looked silently at Freya a few tense moments. "They will need to be questioned before we…decide what will be done with them." Vader gave her another silent stare. "Well, ensign?" He asked expectantly. "Are you not going to explain how you defeated this many rebels, and why you are out of uniform?" She looked down, just remembering her appearance. She came to attention and saluted.

"Right, sorry sir…me laird!" She barked. "We used disguises to trick the enemy into openin' their gate and lowerin' their defenses. It enabled us t' initiate an assault on th' base, me laird." He said nothing, so she continued. "We destroyed their fighters an' their comms array. They 'ad some kind a' blast door o'er the entrance, so I breached it with a rocket launcher, an' we made entry."

"Can I assume that is why part of the building is destroyed, ensign?" He asked accusingly.

"Aye. Yessir." She said. "I think they aimed t' fight to th' last, but we were able to capture those rebels in the hall…" She motioned upwards. "And three more upstairs."

"It was believed that your team might not survive this mission, ensign." Vader said. She felt a chill travel down her spine. "I however thought otherwise…and it appears that you, like your commander have a talent for…ingenuity, and succeeding where others would fail."

"I…I do me job, me laird…"

"You've done well, ensign." Vader corrected her.

"Thank you, Laird Vader." He looked to the group of children being rounded up by the stormtroopers.

"And perhaps one of these prisoners may know the location of the rebel fleet…or of Skywalker." He remarked.

"Aye. I wish I could've captured more…" She lamented. "I prefer prisoners o'er killin'."

"Yes…prisoners can be much more useful." Vader agreed. Thorne nodded.

"An' the wee children, me laird?"

"They will be questioned for information. Then the suitable ones will be placed in an Imperial academy. Likely the taskmasters will find a use for them…"

"But…"

"I don't want to go!" Thorne heard the oldest girl shout. She turned her attention to where the child was struggling against the grip of the trooper who was trying to goad her into moving. The girl broke free, and seized the pipe she had been wielding earlier. Before anyone could stop her, the young girl bolted across the room toward where Vader and Freya stood, the pipe raised. "You killed everyone!" She cried, tears in her eyes.

"Stop!" Thorne screamed. In a flash, Vader had drawn a metal tube from his belt, and a shaft of red light sprang forth. In one sickening instant, he had swiped the laser sword to the right, and the young girl fell to the ground, her head rolling several feet away. "No!" Freya shrieked. Vader snapped his attention back to her.

"You will…" He began.

"Wot 'ave ye done, ye monster?!" Freya sobbed, bringing her hands to her face. She felt like throwing up, and her head was spinning. "How…wh…ye killed a kid…ye feckin'…gack!" She felt an instantaneous tightening of her throat, and Freya's hands went to her neck as her windpipe was squeezed shut by an unseen force. She felt her feet leave the ground, and the next thing she felt was her back impacting the wall hard. Vader stood before her, his hand outstretched in a claw-like pose. She slid up the wall almost half her height, tearing helplessly at her throat as her face began to feel hot and her vision began to blur.

"You will not try my patience again, Ensign Thorne." Vader said threateningly. "It is a lesson your Commander Tharcourt learned, and you too will take to heart. Is this understood?" Terrified and fighting for her life, Thorne nodded to the affirmative. Vader dropped his hand, and Thorne fell to the floor, collapsing into a coughing, gasping heap. She felt the cold shadow of the dark lord fall over her. "One must be willing to employ brutal methods against such an enemy as this to achieve victory, ensign. In the eyes of the emperor…there are only those who serve…and those who stand in the way of this Empire. Do you wish to serve?" Thorne coughed, and forced a breath into her lungs.

"Y…yes…me…laird…" She wheezed, lacking the strength to even look up.

"Then do not allow feelings of…pity to interpose upon your duty…and do not mistake my generosity for weakness." He turned and started to leave, then stopped. Vader's head turned slightly back to Thorne. She rose to her hands and knees, still gasping, and her green, tear-filled eyes turned upward to the imposing figure standing over her. "You have performed well today…lieutenant."

Ohhhh...snap. Freya just got force-choked...then promoted. Stars end, don't you feel horrible for her right now? And what is Drakken going to make of all of this when he comes back from his mission with Ver...oh yeah, that's a thing. I wonder what those two are up to right now. I suppose we should go check in with them next, eh? I'll try to have the next chapter up sometime between the day after tomorrow and when Disney makes a movie about The Yuuzhan Vong Invasion, so if you haven't already, don't forget to punch those little 'like' and 'notification' buttons so you'll never miss an update. Oh, and reviews are MORE than welcome for this chapter. I couldn't see your faces as you read this, so at least tell me what they looked like! I'll be back soon, my loyal readers. Until then...Cheerio!