"Hold your identification ready for scanning," the Imperial Army trooper yelled as he marched down the line of new arrivals waiting on the landing pad. Behind them, the small transport was already firing up its engines again. No turning back now. Na'tuna waited until the trooper had passed and leaned forward so only Deng could hear.
"Since when are there Imperials in the mining colonies?"
"I don't know. The last time I checked with my brother here, there were barely any guards. What do we do?" he asked, looking up to him like so many had done in the Clone Wars –as if Na'tuna was his personal saviour. A different time and a different enemy but the same young blood dying at first contact with the enemy.
"Will the IDs hold up?"
"Yes, of course," he said, suddenly filled with pride. "I did them myself, they would even satisfy the Emperor himself. We are practically registered citizens."
"So why are you making all this fuss?"
"Well, we –our mining identities– are due for a three-month shift on this rock."
"That's definitely a problem. We will have to deal with that when it comes to it. First, let's get past the gates into the town itself. We have a meeting to attend."
While they waited, Na'tuna observed the enemy positions. All new arrivals were trapped on the spaceport by a six-metre-high fence surrounding the four landing platforms. Army troopers patrolled in groups of six around the outside, eying everyone with a healthy measure of suspicion. Only the gate they were waiting at led out of the encirclement but one would have to fight his way past several dozen army troopers and a combat walker –two-legged and clearly of the AT series but not a model he had ever seen. The gun mounted below the cockpit would be enough to contain any kind of riot. Na'tuna was sure no weapon on the entire moon could even penetrate its armour. The anti-air emplacement next to it would hinder any ships without proper documentation from landing or starting within a day's march of the town. They had this little town firmly under their control.
Let's hope everything stays civil at the meeting later or our small rebellion ends today.
A guard scanned him and Deng. Suddenly he was glad for having resisted the impulse of taking a blade or even blaster with him. While the local security forces might have let it slip –everyone needed something to protect himself after all–, the Imperials were less forgiving and had already taken a handful of people away for various small reasons.
Although he trusted Deng, he tensed up when he handed over his ID. The trooper sneered at him, gave the ID a cursory glance and inserted it into his datapad. A second later it flashed green and the guard waved him on. He met up with Deng again and they moved quickly through the city until they stopped before an unassuming house. No building was higher than one floor and since they were mostly made from the same prefabricated parts that were delivered to this remote city. Only slight modifications –a chimney here, a differently shaped window there– gave any sign of individuality. The people were just as bland as their houses and trotted past them without giving them a second glance.
Deng knocked three times, waited and then another two times. The door was yanked open and they were ushered in by an almost identical-looking Rodian. Deng's brother. Once the door was closed they embraced each other in a fierce hug. Uncomfortable with the sudden intimacy, Na'tuna looked everywhere else.
The inside of the small house was in stark contrast to the dull outsides. Most of the hard plastoid surfaces were covered by some kind of coloured cloth, making the whole room appear more like the inside of a cosy tent. Some children's paintings were pinned to the walls, so Na'tuna watched the room again. Now that he knew what he was looking for, he found plenty of signs. Toys spread over the floor, children-sized bowls and spoons on the table and if he listened closely, he could even hear some high voices from one of the other rooms.
This serenity, this sense of family was foreign to him and for the first time in years, he asked himself if it was worth it. Was this rebellion worth the sacrifices he made? Why did he have to live in dark decrepit houses that he had to abandon with increasing regularity? Why him?
Because no one else was willing or able to stand up for their rights. Due to the unique position he was in, he had possibilities other rebels could only dream of. Once he got this small shipment of hyperspace actuators, this dream could –no, would– become reality.
The two brothers separated unwillingly and looked over at him.
"Do you have it?" Na'tuna asked.
"Yes, the others have already been here. I can't wait to get rid of it all with the Imperials in town now," Deng's brother said and rolled up the cloth on one of the walls, revealing a nearly empty shelf with two blasters on the lowest board. Dust had settled over it all and there were at least a dozen spots on the other boards without dust where until recently other blasters had been.
Deng's brother grabbed them and pushed them at his brother.
"They don't belong in a home with children, neither does your rebellion. After this, I don't want anything to do with it and you don't need to bother calling for a while."
"But, brother. I-"
"I have children now. Do you know what danger you're putting them in with your reckless actions? The Imperials have started searching houses and if I had known how to get rid of the weapons safely I would have done it a few days ago. I want them gone, I want you gone, I don't want to see you again."
He interlocked his arms in front of his chest and stared at Deng with hard eyes.
"Please."
"Go."
Na'tuna wanted to save the boy some trouble. There was no use arguing now while the tempers were heated. He took the guns from Deng and pulled him outside without much resistance. The boy didn't speak during their entire walk through the city. He just walked along almost as if he was asleep.
They were all sacrificing something for the cause. While some paid with their lives, some had to pay with something more valuable. He would make sure all their sacrifices would be worth it. All the people who had died in the Clone Wars, all the people who had died once the Empire had taken over and those who had died to the reign of terror of the Imperial Security Bureau.
Na'tuna felt eyes on him as they neared the meeting point. No Imperials were in sight, it seemed they focussed their efforts on the landing pads themselves. Looking around he could see no one who didn't seem to belong in the city. Whether it was his men or the contact's, they were well-trained in keeping a low profile. A necessary skill you either learned when fighting an overwhelming enemy like the Empire or you died. Or worse get taken in by the ISB for questioning. The same result but a much worse path of getting there.
As they closed in on the small shop that was designated as their meeting point, Na'tuna stopped and looked Deng straight in the eyes.
"Hey, wake up!"
He blinked a few times and his vision reorientated and focussed on him.
"Good, I need you now. Your brother isn't actually that mad at you. He just needs time to cool down. You are still family, right?"
"But he said not to call him again."
"Just wait a bit and he will come crawling back but now I need you to focus. You need to verify that we are buying the right components and that they are in working order. Can you do that for me?"
"Yes, Na'tuna."
"Good," he rustled through his hair as if Deng was his child before he knew what he was doing. How long had it been that he had seen his family? He imagined how it would feel to stroke his nieces and nephews lekku and just enjoy some time without worrying about immediate survival. Na'tuna cleared his throat and approached the shop. With the two blasters on his hip, he already felt much more secure. There was still a lot that could go wrong but he was confident he could manage it all.
A bell chimed as they entered the small shop filled with all the unnecessary things you never thought you needed. Not wanting to waste any more time, he went straight to the counter.
"You look bad, old friend," the orange-skinned Twi'lek behind the counter said.
"Can't say the same about you. You seem to have … grown a bit."
Boc'seca patted his round belly and his laugh filled the whole room.
"Yes, yes, time has treated me well for once. We are getting older –you and me– and our time to fight is over. Let the younger generation take over now. We deserve to sit back for once after what we did to save our planet."
"And what did we actually achieve? Ryloth is still under Imperial occupation and our people are suffering more than ever."
"As always you have too high goals. You are just one person. You can't change an entire galaxy or even a planet. I'm taking care of my family and their entire village. That is my goal and I have achieved it. From there I can go on and try something new. But you … are you still chasing that ever elusive dream of restoring the Confederacy of Independent Systems?"
Na'tuna ground his teeth, they had this conversation countless times over the years and always come to the same result.
"Yes, but I am closer than ever. You will see. Within the year I will exact my revenge. We are almost ready."
Boc'seca turned to Deng who had been browsing through one of the shelfs of junk. "Is that what he is telling you? Does your saviour promise you salvation? Listen to someone who has known him for much longer than you. There is nothing behind the facade of false promises."
Deng looked between the two Twi'lek with that childish innocence all the recruits seem to have lately, not sure whom to believe.
"Do you have the actuators?" Na'tuna said, trying to direct the conversation back to a safer topic.
Boc'seca waddled over to three crates in the corner of the shop and retrieved one of the small devices. Deng gingerly accepted the item and inspected it with a practised eye.
"Of course I have, otherwise I wouldn't have called you. But they weren't easy to come by. If my people are right, this specific model was only used in old droid ships like the Munificents or Hardcells. Are you working with these droids again?"
Before giving him time to answer, Boc'seca asked Teng, "Is he working with these droids again?"
"Yes, I am and no matter how much you protest I won't stop. They are not our enemies anymore."
"These battle droids were the first to plunder our cities, bomb our villages and leave everything in waste. How could you? You are betraying everything we fought for."
"You are stuck in the past, Boc. The Republic has become the Empire. Are they still our allies? You don't look like you're on the right side of the law of this Empire. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. If we still harbour ill feelings about what happened in the past, we will stay divided and achieve nothing. I know you have heard about the Mid Rim Offensive despite the HoloNet's best attempts of suppressing all information about it."
"They are just a group of desperate freedom fighters."
"And what were we in the Clone Wars? Armed with nothing more than a blaster and sometimes even without that, we fought an invading army with more numbers and better weapons. It is exactly the same but the Empire might still be worse than the droids were. We should be allowed to be free enough to live the life we want."
"I hate the Empire more than anything else. One of the reasons I'm here today but I'm not ready to forget the past. Otherwise, we're just repeating its mistakes. Are you planning to put these actuators into droid ships?"
"You know I am."
"Then I'm not selling."
"Are you kidding me? You let me come all this way, you went to all this trouble to get me here only to tell me that you're not selling. I have known you for too long to be fooled by that. How much do you want?"
A grin stole itself on Boc'seca's face. "Let me see, I bought them for eighty, had a lot of expenses gathering it together, then some to get them here, then some money for bribes. Twenty percent profit and fifty percent because you're buying for battle droids. And a bit extra because I'm too close to the imperials for my liking. That comes to two hundred flat."
"Two hundred thousand credits! Are you insane? I'm not paying more than a hundred."
"Na'tuna, I'm not here to negotiate."
"One hundred and twenty"
"You are in no position to negotiate. You need the parts and I have them. From the sound of your message, it is quite urgent so you can't hire anyone else to find them for you."
"I don't have that much money. I can do one hundred and forty but that's all I have."
" The Imperials are securing the system more every day. If you don't take this offer, I doubt you will get another chance. You have no choice."
"We always have a choice and you leave me with only this one," Na'tuna said and retrieved one of the blasters, pointing it at Boc'seca's enormous belly.
"You don't want to do this," he warned. Even the last bits of their former comradery were gone and now likely lost forever.
The bell chimed as two brawny Twi'lek with scars all over their bare chests entered the shop. Each was pointing a blaster at Na'tuna.
"Did you think I would escort such a valuable shipment alone?" Boc'seca asked and spat at Na'tuna.
"What made you think I didn't bring friends as well?"
Boc'seca's eyes darted out of the window, looking for any suspicious activity.
"You're bluffing."
"No, I'm not. Not with you," Na'tuna said and pressed a button on his comlink. They immediately heard footsteps as more than a dozen people made up mostly of Rodians but mixed in were several other species appeared in view of the window. The Twi'lek at the door looked around, not sure who to threaten.
"Don't do this," Boc'seca said.
"You left me no other choice. Tell your guards to put the weapons down."
Boc'seca growled but nodded and the Twi'lek dropped their weapons.
"Boys, get in here and get the crates to our safehouse."
"You will regret this."
"There is an old tree growing next to the southern road leading out of the city. If you dig there you find one hundred thousand credits. I think that's a fair price for these items, don't you think?"
They waited in silence as his men carried the crates out of the shop and around the corner.
"Always a pleasure doing business with you," Na'tuna said, internally weeping at one of the last bridges to his past being burned.
"You will regret this and sooner than you think," were Boc'seca's last words before the door fell shut behind them.
"What do we do now?" Deng asked when they had reached the safe house.
"Now we have everything we need to banish the Empire from this sector. We just need to get it all together in the same place. We might also need to accelerate our plans with the governor. I need to talk to TC-344."
"I don't like this. The plan was in the works for years. We can't just rush it and what happens if Boc'seca wants to take revenge and what-"
Na'tuna placed one hand on the boy's shoulder and said the two fateful words he had said countless times to all the new recruits.
"Trust me."