Just for the record, I am completely fabricating the interior layout of a Star Destroyer. This is one thing I didn't even remotely attempt to get right.
Rosado reached the security checkpoint just outside the brig. The lines he had prepared for the stormtrooper guard had run through his head at least two dozen times on the long walk from the officer's mess at the bow to the brig near the stern. He just hoped he didn't stumble over his words.
The stormtrooper guard stood in the center of a control desk that was approximately three-quarters of a circle. The trooper snapped to attention as Rosado approached. "Sir!"
"I have come to conduct the interrogation of Captain Ordonia," he said with as much confidence and gravitas as he could muster.
"I'm sorry, Sir, but I'm afraid Lord Vader has specifically stated that no one but him is allowed into that cell unless otherwise instructed."
Rosado had a feeling that would be the case and had a response prepared. "Perhaps you are unaware, trooper, that I have been appointed the director the newly formed Imperial Security Bureau. A direct order from me carries the same weight as if it were coming from Lord Vader." Heh, this is probably the only time I'll actually use the power of my new job title.
"My apologies, Sir. The prisoner is in cell two."
"Thank you, trooper. By the way, I seem to have forgotten to bring my sidearm. I don't want to be unarmed incase the prisoner attacks me."
"Shall I accompany you on your interrogation, Sir?"
Rosado shook his head. "No, the prisoner is in possession of top-secret information which no one but myself and Lord Vader may hear. If you came, I'd have to have you executed." He held out his hand. "Allow me to borrow your service weapon, trooper."
The stormtrooper didn't move at first, surprised at the strange order. Rosado wondered if the solider somehow guessed at his intentions.
Trying to sound as authoritative as possible, Rosado cleared his throat. "Trooper. That was not a request. Give me your weapon."
Hesitantly, the stormtrooper drew his blaster rifle and placed it in Rosado's waiting hand.
"Thank you. Let me just take a moment to familiarize myself with this model…" Rosado turned the blaster over in his hands, making a big show of examining it as he found the setting switch and flicked it to stun. Then, while still holding the blaster sideways, thumbed back the trigger. The stormtrooper was struck by the stun ray and collapsed over on the control desk. "Oops, clumsy me."
Acting quickly, Rosado dragged the stormtrooper into the cell block. He inserted his code cylinder into the cell 1 door control and threw the unconscious trooper inside before relocking the door.
Kneeling on the floor in front of the removed wall panel, Janna held three wires in her hands, the insulation stripped off of the ends to expose the conductive material within. She needed to touch two of these together to open the door and then quickly twist one of those two to the third to keep the door from closing again, and she had to do it fast or the alarm would trigger due to the delay in time between the voltage drop.
And she wasn't actually sure in which order those three wires should meet. Red was power, that much she knew. Now which of the other two, yellow or brown, would open the door?
"Alright, I've got a fifty-fifty shot here. Let's hope I guess right."
She chose the brown, threading the yellow one up and around under a conduit so the end of it could hang suspended in the air close to where she held the red and brown, one in each hand. Janna took a deep breath and slowly moved the wires together-
And then froze as something rapped against the door.
*Clang! Clang! Clang!* "Captain Ordonia?"
Janna frowned. Captors didn't tend to knock on the door to prison cells before entering. "Captain Ordonia, I'm going to open the door. Please don't attack me again."
That voice sounds awfully familiar… Picking up her knife from the floor and holding it defensively, Janna stood and stepped back as the door slid open. Oh…that's why. It was the Imperial Officer she had stabbed in the leg on Corellia….with the knife she was still currently holding in her hand. "Uh…hi."
He hesitantly waved. "Heyyyy…"
Janna motioned toward the blaster rifle hanging loosely in his hand. "You, uh…gonna shoot me with that thing?"
"No…" Rosado's eyes drifted from the knife in her hand to the bent wall panel on the floor, and then to the exposed and cut wiring in the spot where the panel had been. "You, uh…trying to breakout?"
"…Maybe…"
Rosado stepped forward into the cell. "Well, I'm gonna make it easier for you. I'm helping you and your friends escape."
"You…" Janna's eyes flickered to the high-ranking Imperial Officer's insignia on his uniform peaking out from beneath his rain jacket and her confusion only increased. "…What? Why?"
Rosado looked her hard in the eyes. "Because I will not be a part of a galactic power that thinks it's okay to do the things it does. I have two little kids at home, and I don't want them growing up in a galaxy where they have to live in fear. And the only way that happens is if the Jedi return."
"I can't say I disagree with any of that."
"And seeing as how the only two Jedi I know are still alive are aboard this Star Destroyer…"
"Hey, I'm with you, bro." Janna was already starting to make past him for the door. "Let's go."
"Hang on! We can't just go strolling around a Star Destroyer like we own the place! Everyone knows you're a prisoner!"
Janna was checking to the left and right of the cell door to see if the coast was clear. "Fair point. You got a plan?"
"These." Rosado produced a set of binders. "I'm gonna put these on your wrists, and then I'll follow you with my blaster as if transferring you to interrogation, which is what I'll tell anyone who asks why you're not locked up. It'll work as long as we don't run into Vader."
"I don't know how comfortable I feel about not being able to use my arms."
"I didn't say I was going to lock them. If you hold your arms right, they'll stay on and it'll give the illusion you're restrained."
"Okay. Works for me." Janna knelt down to snap her knife back into the sole of her boot, then held out her arms and Rosado placed the binders over her wrists so that they appeared to be in place.
"Hopefully that does the trick," he said. "Let's go."
"Hey, what do I call you?"
"Huh?"
"Your name. I don't know your name."
"Oh. Well, to the Empire, I'm ISB Director Rosado. You can just call me Hovis, Captain Ordonia."
"Nice to meet you, Hovis. And you don't have to call me Captina Ordonia." Janna smiled, smug. "'Captain' will do fine."
Rosado led her out of the cell and closed the door behind them. He aimed his blaster at her back as they walked, triple checking that the safety was on. "I hope that it goes without saying that I want to come with you and your friends once we break them out, right?"
"I would assume they'd try you for treason, so yeah, I figured."
"Oh, they wouldn't give me a trial. They'd just execute me."
"The Empire sucks."
"Yes, they most certainly do."
They reached the end of the brig passageway and were about to move out into the main corridor when Janna stopped. "Wait! Where's Tom?"
"Tom?"
"My partner. He's a Demonicite? And my astromech, too."
"Oh, don't worry about them. We left them behind on Takodana." Lying unconscious and deactivated in the weeds.
Star's heart pounded. Marco blankly stared back at her, and she could not tear her sight line away from his yellowed iris. His words were rapidly repeating in her mind: I pledge my allegiance to you, Lord Vader. "Marco…Marco what are you doing? You can't-"
"Silence." When Lord Vader commands silence, you cease speaking. The Sith Lord placed a hand on Marco's shoulder. "You will make a fine apprentice, Marco Diaz. With my training, you will become a powerful Sith, and together, we can defeat the Emperor."
"Yes, Master."
"But first, you must prove your loyalty to me."
"Yes, Master." Marco's responses seemed almost robotic, as if they weren't even of his own will. "What do you ask of me?"
"Kill the girl."
Without even a hint of hesitation, Marco replied. "Yes, my Master."
Star's insides turned to knots. "M-Marco…?"
Marco wasn't looking at her. He slowly crossed the room to the restraining table to which he'd been lashed just moments prior. A tall metal lever, at least a meter long, was attached to the side, used to position the angle of the table. With strength Star had never seen her best friend wield, Marco ripped the lever from its pivot. Vader calmly stepped backwards to give him space, saying nothing. The compartment was small, and the Sith Lord found his back nearly against the wall as he sought to give his new pupil room.
Painstakingly slow movements positioned Marco directly in front of Star. The princess could feel tears streaking down her face as she watched the one she loved prepare to strike her down, her eyes unable to look away from the glowing amber iris of his right eye.
"Marco…Marco, please…you can't do this! It's me! Marco, it's me!"
Gripping the heavy durasteel lever with one hand, Marco raised his improvised weapon above his head, prepared to thrust it downward like a spear.
"Good…very good. I sense no conflict in you," Vader said, causing Marco to freeze. "Your intentions are clear and without uncertainty. Very good. Now complete your task. Strike down your new enemy, and take your place at my side."
"Yes, Master."
Star clenched her eyes shut and braced herself for a piercing blow to the abdomen. "Marco, please!"
Marco pulled back his arm, poised to strike, gathering the Force around him to propel his weapon…
But he didn't throw the lever at Star.
Moving so fast that not even Darth Vader had the time to react, he spun on the ball of his foot and launched his spear across the small room. The durasteel pierced a weak spot in Vader's armor at the shoulder, the lever passing clear through and embedding itself in the wall, effectively pinning Vader in place as the Sith Lord cried out in both pain and surprise.
Star opened her eyes hesitantly at the sound of Vader's cry. She could see him against the opposite wall, trying to wrench the lever through his arm from where it had stuck.
And Marco, turning back to her and rushing to the restraining table's controls. "C'mon, Star!"
Star was dumbfounded. "Marco?!"
The restraints retracted as he fiddled with the panel and he grabbed Star's wrist, hauling her off the table to her feet. "We gotta get outta here! C'mon!" He sprinted for the door, dragging Star along behind him. They sprinted past Vader out into the corridor. Marco chose a direction at random, to the left, and kept running, Star still in tow.
They came to an intersection, and Marco turned right. The first door they came to happened to be the medical bay, and the pair cautiously ducked inside. Three medical droids were the only occupants.
"Quick! Shut them down before they trigger an alarm!" Marco whisper-yelled.
Star's mind was whirling. She could barely comprehend what was happening, and it felt as though her body was moving on autopilot as she and Marco sprinted to the droids and quickly shut down all three.
"Okay," Marco panted as they crouched behind an operating table. "I think we're safe, but probably not for long. We gotta find weapons, and…I don't know what after that, we don't even know where we are!"
Star was only half-listening. She was still looking at Marco's eye. It had retained its amber hue. "Marco…? What…what happened in there? Did Vader…?"
Marco swallowed hard. "He…he was using the Force on my mind. I think he was trying to corrupt me with the Dark Side…and I think he did."
Star bit her tongue. "Were you…were you going to kill me?"
"No. I felt like my free will was gone for like a split second…it was like there was this voice inside my head, commanding me to obey Vader. But then…" Marco snapped his fingers. "Just like that, it was gone and I felt like myself again. When I realized Vader thought he had me, I started acting, pretending to still be obeying him. I figured as long as he thought I was loyal to him, I could get the drop on him."
"…So when Vader told you to kill me…?"
"I had control over myself again by then."
Star breathed, not entirely sure if she believed him. "But…your eye is still yellow, Marco. Like when you lost control on Mewni. Like Sidious's eyes…"
Marco blinked unconsciously. "I…I don't know how to fix that…"
And then the alarm sounded.
In the hanger of the Moonshadow, Galen Erso was working on his prototype. With his diagnostic computer connected to the power generator motivator, he made minute adjustments and corrections to the power-handling strategy and ran diagnostics to check the efficiency. He watched as indicators turned from blue to green and sighed. His prototype was still working perfectly.
Unfortunately.
A ringing clatter echoed through the hanger, drawing Galen's attention, and the engineer turned around. A hanger technician had dropped a spanner wrench. He was about to turn back to his work, but his eyes were drawn to the Corellian YV-560 that filled the open hanger floor space behind him.
Galen could fly. The boarding ramp wasn't far from where he stood. He was willing to bet he could sneak aboard without being seen, and then bring the engines online and flee before anyone even figured out he was aboard.
Galen set down his diagnostic computer. He'd heard rumors of this ship, the one that had helped a pair of fugitive Jedi escape Coruscant. It was said that the ship was fast. Very fast. Perhaps fast enough for him to make it back to Coruscant before the Empire even realized he was gone. He could hurry home, collect Lyra and Jyn, and disappear.
He could do it. He could.
Galen looked toward the hanger crews, down at the opposite end of the hanger. They paid him not a lick of attention. They wouldn't notice until they heard the engines fire, and by then it would be too late.
Galen plucked up courage and took one step toward the boarding ramp.
And then the alarm sounded, red lights pulsing in time with the siren. The hanger crews suddenly scattered, and one raced for the hanger controls enclosure. Before Galen Erso could even cover half the distance to the YV-560 freighter, the hanger was sealed.
The deck officer hurried past. "Sir!" Galen called. "What's going on?"
"Back to your quarters, Erso, on the double!" the officer barked. "The prisoners have escaped. The entire ship is on lockdown."
So far, Janna and Rosado had encountered no resistance. They'd passed other officers and stormtroopers walking the corridors, but none had even spared a second glance at the man they knew as the new director of the ISB. They were about halfway to where Rosado knew the Jedi were being held when his commlink chimed an alert to an open communicate. Rosado quickly answered. He was surprised to hear Darth Vader's voice, and even more so to hear that deep, intimidating voice, sound weak and pained.
"The Jedi have escaped. Sound the alarm and lock down the ship."
"Sounds like your friends may not have even needed our help," Rosado said as he returned the commlink to his pocket.
Janna shrugged. "If I've learned anything during the time Tom and I have been with them, it's that trouble always seems to find those two. Even if they did escape, I think they'll still need our help."
"Then we'd better hurry and find them before someone else does. C'mon."
The muted tone of the alarm blaring outside the med bay reached the ears of the young Jedi Padawans, interrupting their uneasy conversation.
"We need to move," Marco said. "They'll find us before too long in here." He stood, scanning the walls and ceiling for what he hoped would be their ticket out of the med bay. To great fortune, it was directly over their heads. "There. Air vent. Let's go!" Pushing off the floor with the Force, Marco shot up and grabbed the grate, popping it off the ceiling. He set the grate on the operating table beside he and Star. "You first."
Pushing her concerns to the back of her mind, Star switched to survival mode. "Right. Let's get outta here!" She leapt into the air just as Marco had and grabbed onto the lip of the duct opening, pulling herself inside. When he was sure Star had had enough time to clear away, Marco followed. Once he was securely inside, he turned around and used the Force to pull the grate up from the operating table where he had left it, leaning through the duct opening to grab it. He lifted it back onto its latches and gave it a firm yank to secure it into its rightful place.
"Okay, let's go," he whispered. "Quietly."
"Ooh, hang on a second."
Janna stopped as Rosado placed a hand on her shoulder. They stood and patiently waited for a squad of stormtroopers to hurry past.
"What's up?" she asked.
"In here." He motioned for her to back up and led her through a door they had just passed, then used his code cylinder to disable the door controls from the inside.
Janna frowned. "What the heck is this? The laundry?"
"Yup! Here, give me back the binders."
The idea struck Janna as she shrugged the cuffs off. "Oh! I get where you're going with this." She grabbed a clean officer's uniform and quickly pulled it on over her clothes. It was a bit difficult to get the pants on over her skirt, and it bunched up awkwardly below the waistline. She completed the outfit with the standard officer's hat. "How do I look?"
"As stiff and uncomfortable as every other officer on this ship. Now let's just hope no one looks at you too closely."
The ventilation ducts were cramped and narrow, even for two teenagers. Marco figured that was an advantage. There was no way a stormtrooper in bulky armor would fit in here, so they had to be relatively safe. On the other hand, he hadn't the slightest idea where he was going, blindly pressing forward and briefly glancing through the vent grates they passed to get an idea of the surroundings. Most of the rooms they passed over were empty of life, but occasionally Marco would choose a duct that would take them over a main corridor, and they could see squadrons of stormtroopers rushing about, searching for the pair of escaped Padawans.
Marco ignored a duct junction and continued crawling straight ahead.
"Marco! Wait!" Star whispered.
"What?"
"We should go this way," she said, pointing to the duct to the right.
"Why?"
"I can sense my lightsaber crystal. It's down there."
"Oh. That's a good reason. You go first, I don't have room to turn around."
"…That's okay, I'll back up."
Marco frowned, but didn't argue, figuring it was probably better to go with his best friend's feelings than risk making more noise discussing it. He carefully crawled backwards until he could turn right down the adjoining duct and continued. There were very few vents in this passage, and the already dim light became dimmer still.
"Still feel it?" Marco whispered back to his companion.
"Yeah. And it's close."
Marco pressed on. The duct cornered ninety degrees and almost immediately ended in a vent. Marco peered through the grate into a dim room. It appeared empty, and he could not sense any living beings nearby. "Coast is clear. Let's go." He popped the vent off its latches and carefully slid it inside the duct so it wouldn't crash to the floor. Then he hopped out, landing in a crouch. Star followed.
The space was large, but mostly empty, save for several pieces of equipment of unknown use. To the side against one wall was a long countertop, and laid atop it were Star's lightsaber, her purple bag, and her horn headband.
"Bingo!" Star quickly snatched up her belongings. "Didn't even know this was gone," she said as she set her headband back in its rightful place atop her head. Next to her things was a familiar looking blue jacket. "Oh, hey. It's Janna's jacket." Star picked it up and found her friend's shoulder holster and DC-17 beneath. "And her blaster. Janna must be here somewhere, too." Star shrugged on the holster and pulled the jacket on over it, leaving it open in the front the same way Janna would.
"Guess before we can escape, we'll have to find her." One last thing on the counter caught Marco's eye (the cybernetic one, which was better at seeing in the dark.) It was a lightsaber. "What's this?" He picked it up, clutching it tightly in his hand. Cold, dark energy within the Force seemed to permeate his hand from within the weapon. "I think this is one of Hekapoo's." Marco ignited the blade, the crimson glow confirming his suspicion. "Guess it's better than nothi-" He was turning to Star, and she was shrinking back away from him, her eyes wide. "Star?"
His amber eyes, both organic and cybernetic, the crimson blade, the scar across his face. And the all-too-recent memory of him calling Darth Vader "Master." Marco looked evil. Like a Sith.
The fear written on his best friend's face was all the explanation Marco required. He switched off the lightsaber. "Star, I-"
"Marco, how do I know if I can trust you?"
He was taken aback. "Star, I…I told you Vader didn't have control over me."
"You said he did."
"Only for a split second!"
The two stared at each other, silently.
"It doesn't matter how long it was, Marco. What if he can do it again? What if you're not even telling the truth? What if you're under his control right now?"
Marco knew he was acting of his own volition. But how could he convince Star?
He had an idea.
"You'd know."
Star frowned. "Huh?"
"You're really good at sensing the presence of things and people with a strong connection to the Force. It's your gift." He took a cautious step closer to his best friend. "You were physically affected by the strong presence of the dark side on Moraband. You felt the Empire's arrival on Mewni before the rest of us could see it. Heck, just now you could sense your lightsaber crystal enough to pinpoint its location. So…what do I feel like? Does it feel like I'm being controlled?"
Star looked deep into Marco's amber right eye, ignoring the cybernetic one, focusing on his presence in the Force. "You…you just feel like…you."
Marco smiled at her warmly. "Because I am me."
"…But your eye is still yellow."
"Like I said, I think Vader was trying to corrupt me with the dark side and I think he did."
"So how come you're not all 'I have the power of the dark side, I'm going to take over the galaxy, mwa-ha-ha-ha-ha!'?" Star did a quiet impression of Sidious.
"…I think because of you."
"Me?"
"Yeah, remember what Glossaryck said? You're my counter. Or whatever. I'm naturally aligned with the dark side, but, because we're, like, a part of each other in the Force, you keep the dark side from corrupting my mind."
"…I guess that makes some kind of ridiculous sense…" Star took a deep breath. "Okay, Marco. I trust you."
Marco smiled. "I knew you would." He stepped forward to give her a hug, but Star shrank back again.
Both froze.
"I'm sorry, I-" Star began.
"No. No, it's okay." Marco walked past her, giving his conflicted best friend a wide berth. "I understand. Come on. Let's find Janna and get out of here."
Star nodded. "I'm right behind you. Let's go."
Admiral Oswego winced. "Lord Vader…are you sure you don't require medical attention?"
The Sith Lord stomped down the corridor, ignoring the durasteel shaft still protruding from his shoulder. His right arm hung limp at his side, the cybernetic connections to his nervous system severed, rendering it useless. "I will have my arm repaired once the Jedi have been found, Admiral." At the end of the corridor, the door slid open, and Vader and Oswego walked onto the bridge. "Have the prisoners been located yet?"
A female officer seated in front of a screen stood. "Lord Vader, we've been unable to locate the escapees on the cameras."
"Then they must be in the vents. Seal the ventilation system to the entire ship and then reverse the fans so the entire duct system becomes a vacuum. Either they'll suffocate, or quickly reveal their position."
"Yes, Sir." The officer resumed his seat and picked up his commlink, contacting engineering. A moment later, the previously unnoticed hiss of the ventilation system disappeared, and then another moment later, a soft clang as the electronically controlled vents sprang shut.
Vader clenched his remaining operational hand into a fist. "Now we will have them."
Galen Erso stood back against the wall to allow a squad of stormtroopers, traversing the corridor at a brisk jog, to pass by. Just ahead around the corner at the next intersection was his quarters.
He wished he'd taken his opportunity sooner. If he'd decided to make a break for it just two minutes earlier, his absence would have been completely overshadowed by the escapee Jedi.
No time to fret over that now. Technically, he was a contractor for the Imperial Army, not an officer, so protocol dictated he was to return to his quarters and remain there until otherwise instructed.
Galen turned the corner and crashed into a pair of teenagers. All three abruptly found themselves knocked to the floor on their backsides.
"Ouch…" Slowly rising to a sitting position, Galen Erso was met by a girl with long blonde hair helping a boy with a cybernetic eye to his feet.
"C'mon, Marco, we gotta keep going!"
"You two are Jedi, aren't you?" The teenagers froze. Galen didn't need them to answer. His eyes had already found the lightsaber hanging from the boy's belt. "I bet you two are looking for your ship."
Star blankly stared "Uhhhh…"
Galen pointed back the way he had come. "It's that way. Turn left at the end of the corridor and follow that passage all the way down to the hanger."
Marco raised a suspicious eyebrow. "Um…thanks?"
Galen rose to his feet. "I have to report that I saw you. If it's discovered that I did and didn't report it, the consequences could be…dire. But…I'll give you a thirty second head start."
"Why even help us at all?" Star asked.
"Because…it's the right thing to do. Now go. Hurry!"
Without another word, the Padawans took off down the corridor. Galen meanwhile resumed his trek to his quarters. He would wait until he was safely inside his room before contacting command.
"Sir, we have a problem."
Admiral Oswego snatched the commlink from the officer's hand and addressed the engineer on the other end. "What problem?"
"The ventilation fans aren't drawing a vacuum on the duct system, Sir."
"The Padawans must have removed one of the grates and not reinstalled it," Vader surmised. "Turn off the fans. There's no reason to keep them running."
Admiral Oswego's own commlink chimed. He tossed the Officer's back to its owner and answered his own. "What?"
"Sir, the prisoner's weapons are missing from the lockup!"
"So the Padawans have their lightsabers…" Vader said thoughtfully. "Then we might as well utilize the younglings for the intended purpose for which they were captured."
"To test the Emperor's new weapon?"
"Indeed. Activate N-K Necrosis."
Admiral Oswego smirked. "With pleasure, Lord Vader."
By his estimation, it was likely longer than the thirty seconds he had promised. "Command, this is Erso. I just spotted the escaped Jedi. They're heading toward maintenance."
Maintenance was in the general direction he had sent them, but wasn't exactly the hanger. He hoped that, to command's perspective, it would sound more like they were heading for the escape pods.
"Very good, Galen. Deploying N-K Necrosis now."
Galen's heart skipped a beat. They were sending that after those two kids?
If I had known…I would have waited another thirty seconds.
Rosado lowered the commlink, perplexed. He and Janna had been eavesdropping on bridge communications, and had just overheard Admiral Oswego relay information to Galen Erso.
"What the heck is N-K Necrosis?" Janna asked.
"I have no idea. I've never heard of it. But if command is sending it after your friends, it can't be good."
"Well, Galen…whoever that is…said they were heading toward maintenance. We'd better get there before whatever it is does. Which way?"
"This way." Rosado turned around and Janna followed close behind as they took off at a dead run. "Maintenance is in the direction of the hanger. I wouldn't be surprised if your friends are actually heading to your ship and either took a wrong turn, or Galen Erso gave command bogus info. Either way, there's a good chance they'll be intercepted. C'mon, we'd better hurry."
"Lord Vader!"
Vader turned toward the communications officer who had called out to him, but said nothing.
"Incoming transmission from the Emperor!"
Vader gave a slight nod and turned toward the holoprojector. "Put it through."
The holoprojector lit up with the hooded figure of Darth Sidious. "Lord Vader. I sense a disturbance aboard your ship." He frowned, noticing the durasteel shaft still protruding from Vader's shoulder. "From the looks of things, it appears I was all too correct."
"Master. We captured two Jedi Padawans to test N-K Necrosis against in battle," Vader explained. "They managed to escape from their restraints, but we are deploying the droid as we speak. I am confident two mere Padawans should be no match for its power and ability."
Sidious frowned. "Who are the two Padawans you have captured?"
"Star Butterfly and Marco Diaz, my Master."
Sidious lowered his eyes. "I am sending reinforcements to your location."
"We have the situation under contr-"
"Those Padawans," the Emperor interrupted, "should not be underestimated, Lord Vader. They seem to have an uncanny ability to escape. The cruiser-carrier Tormentor is two systems away. It will reach your position shortly."
And the transmission abruptly ended.
The younglings reached the end of the corridor and turned left, only to find a squadron of stormtroopers running a search grid around the corner.
"Oh, no."
"There they are! Open fire!"
It took only a split second for Star and Marco to have their lightsabers in hand, deflecting the stormtrooper's blaster bolts away. Six troopers fell to that same deflected blaster fire, clearing the air enough for the Padawans to move in. They dispatched the remaining nine troopers seemlessly, and it wasn't until the last Imperial solider hit the floor that Star remembered she was engaged in combat using her new cybernetic arm for the first time. Though it may not have been as meticulously crafted as Marco's leg, it operated well enough, and Star did not find it had hindered her at all.
"Come on," Marco said, extinguishing the inquisitor's lightsaber. "We gotta keep moving."
The pair resumed their sprint, the straight corridor empty as far ahead as they could see. So far away was the hanger, though, that it was out of their sight.
Star wasn't sure she had ever run so fast before. Even on Mewni during the Empire's invasion, as she raced back to Butterfly Castle, she hadn't run as fast as she did now, Marco keeping pace at her side.
They passed through an intersection, and Star thought she glimpsed something approaching from the right, but it was gone from her sight so quickly that she could not make out the object's design.
And then the blast doors ahead began to close.
"Blast doors!"
"Go back!" Marco cried.
They skidded to a halt and spun on their heels, only to find the blast door behind them closing as well. The corridor was now sealed off in both directions, confining the pair to a segment of hallway about twenty yards long.
Marco frowned. "Okay…that's less than ideal…"
"An impressive performance," boomed a voice. The public address system echoed through their cell, the voice of Darth Vader speaking slow and smooth. "You have not only managed to escape from me, but you've also recovered your weapons. Good."
Star and Marco exchanged a confused glance. "'Good'?"
"Indeed. I told you that I had your injuries healed because I required you for testing. Since my own test appears to have failed, it is now time to begin testing you against the Emperor's latest project."
The blast door in the direction from which they had come slid open once more, revealing a droid nearly twice the height of either Padawan. It's large, taloned feet clicked on the floor as it slowly advanced toward them, and Star and Marco retreated backwards until they hit the blast door on the opposite side. They were all-too familiar with the droid's almost skeleton-like appearance, having seen it in holograms many times in the Jedi Temple. But it was supposed to be dead, destroyed by Master Kenobi.
Their mouths hung open in surprise as the droid came to a standstill and the blast door sealed behind it, trapping them once again. "General Grievous?!"
"Not quite," Vader's disembodied voice told them. "N-K Necrosis, a droid assembled from the late cyborg general's spare cybernetic components and programmed for combat using data compiled by his onboard sensors. It should prove to be a quite unstoppable tool for disposing of the remnants of the Jedi Order. You two shall be it's first test. I shall grant you the opportunity to strike first, a courtesy which will not be granted future victims."
The droid raised its arms to its sides and, accompanied by a series of mechanical pop! noises, split each arm up the middle all the way through the hand, effectively equipping the droid with four arms. Then it reached down to its midsection and in each hand grasped a lightsaber hilt, igniting the quartet of glowing laser swords in sequence, a pair of blue and another of green.
Star nervously clutched her own lightsaber. "Marco, I know we've practiced a lot, but are we good enough to beat that thing?" She looked to her left. Marco was staring at N-K Necrosis, his jaw hanging open as if in shock. "Marco?" And then her own lips parted in surprise as the iris of his organic left eye faded from evil and glowing amber back to its familiar, natural brown.
"I…I don't believe it…" He whispered.
"What?"
He pointed to the droid, specifically to its lower left hand, which brandished a lightsaber with an emerald-colored blade. The hilt was rather simple, sporting no embellishments, the durasteel dull and gray. "That lightsaber…it's Master Fisto's!"
