Merry Christmas, readers! My gift to you this Christmas Eve is a new chapter! And if you don't celebrate Christmas, you get a new chapter anyway, and I wish you a happy whatever-it-is-you-celebrate!

From the bridge of the Star Destroyer Moonshadow, Vader watched as the YV-560 crested the upper reaches of Elkeenar's atmosphere. It tailed a starfighter that looked somewhat familiar to the Sith Lord, but Vader could not place where he would have seen it before today. The Moonshadow's sensors had picked it up as it dropped out of hyperspace, but the Star Destroyer could not have fired on it even if the crew had wanted to. Unbeknownst to the crew, the weapons system had been disabled somehow, likely by whoever had opened the hanger for those kids to escape.

Somehow, the YV-560 and its new fighter escort had managed to destroy every last TIE-fighter dispatched by the cruiser-carrier. But it didn't matter. The freighter's hyperdrive had been disabled while it was aboard the Moonshadow. Even if it somehow managed to make it past the capital ships to the hyperspace lane beyond, which was extremely unlikely, it wouldn't get far. The Destroyer's weapons system had now been brought back online. It was as good as trapped.

"Both ships are in range, my Lord."

Vader did not avert his eyes from the window, addressing Admiral Oswego with his back turned. "Open fire."


The Moonshadow's turbolasers began their barrage.

"I guess they figured out I disabled their weapons," Rosado said from the dorsal gun turret.

"Sure looks that way," Janna quipped. "Star…it's all up to you now."

Star took a deep breath and relaxed her grasp on the control yoke hand grips. "I am one with the Force…" With quick and precise adjustments to the controls, Star guided the Raventalon between the green-colored lasers, keeping Tom's starfighter in sight through the viewscreen. "…And the Force is with me."

"Keep that thing at full power, Star!"

Star didn't bother replying to Tom's instruction. The capital ships drew ever closer, and the closer they became, the more difficult it would be for the turbolasers to find their target.

Janna felt helpless. There wasn't much she could do now except sit and watch the Star Destroyer fill the viewscreen. The hand of her good arm gripped the armrest of her seat, her knuckles turning white. It wasn't often she felt anxious, but not being in control of her own ship certainly did not put her at ease.

However, if Janna had been flying, she likely would have missed the Destroyer's unorthodox feature. Secured to the underside of the hull was a huge apparatus, appearing as though a large radar dish had been inset on the face of a rectangular prism. It hung from a pair of struts that appeared to angle the apparatus forward and back.

What the heck is that thing?

But Janna didn't have long to dwell on it. The Moonshadow now filled the entire viewscreen, the Xanadu Blood just a few dozen meters ahead. "Stick close," Tom said. "We're gonna buzz the bridge!"

Janna replied so Star didn't have to break her concentration. "We're right with ya."

The two ships skimmed along the sloped surface of the Star Destroyer's hull. From here, it was nearly impossible for the capital ship's canons to hit them, and the cruiser-carrier could not fire on them without hitting the Destroyer. Following Tom's lead, Star hauled back hard on the controls and the Raventalon shot upward along the Moonshadow's superstructure. The bridge windows shot past and were gone far too quickly for Star to see anyone standing beyond the transparisteel, but for a microsecond, she could physically feel Darth Vader's cold gaze upon her.

She shook off the feeling and focused on trailing Tom's thruster exhaust.

"We're past!" Janna cried. "Now we just have to-"

"Star, look out!"

Star was already reacting even before Marco's panicked yell over the comm, having felt the incoming laser through the Force. She juked the Raventalon hard to port and the laser missed the hull by a hair's breadth. The Star Destroyer had wasted no time in firing on the escapees' ship the moment they were clear of the superstructure. It also had already begun to come about, turning to pursue their targets, not about to let it's quarry get out of range. Star could see the overshot streaks of green sailing past the viewscreen as she juked the ship between them. "There's, like, a lot a lot of lasers back there, aren't there?"

"Yeah, pretty much," Rosado replied.

"Just keep going, Star!" Tom yelled over the comm. "We gotta get out of range!"

The Raventalon shuttered as a shot grazed the hull. Warning lights began to flash wildly. "I'm realllllllly not sure I'm gonna make it that far!"


Tom grit his teeth. Star was right. The Raventalon simply presented too large and easy a target for the Moonshadow's canons. He had to put his plan into action, and there wasn't time to explain to Star what he was about to do.

"Pony, set the navicomputer for the jump to hyperspace!"

The droid asked for a destination.

"It doesn't matter! Anywhere that's not here!" Tom keyed the comm again. "Star, just hold the ship steady!"

"Not sure how I'm supposed to do that while avoiding all these lasers!"

"Just-"

He hauled the control yoke over and tilted the Xanadu Blood on its side. Then, as Star continued to dodge enemy fire, he eased the starfighter alongside the Raventalon.

"-Don't crash into me! Okay, Pony, ready the magnetic clamp!"

The astromech indignantly bleeped that it was busy programming the navicomputer.

"Right. I got it." Tom quickly powered up the powerful electromagnet built into the starfighter's underside and began easing over toward the Raventalon. "Star, stand by for docking."

"What now?"

Tom carefully eased over. Both ships still juked and dodged incoming fire from the pursuing Imperial capital ships, so he'd have to time it just right or the ships would collide. The Raventalon dropped below his level as it dodged another laser, and when it came back up again, Tom rapidly erased the distance between the two ships.

The connection was a tad rougher than he would have liked it to have been.


The crash echoed throughout the interior of the Raventalon, the harsh docking maneuver jolting the ship hard enough to knock Janna off her seat and shake the control yoke from Star's hands.

"Jeez, Lucy!"

"Sorry. We're ready to jump!"

"Then go!"

"Jump?" Star asked, still not entirely clear what was happening. "But we don't have-!"

"Right! Here we go!"

A moment later, the stars out the viewscreen stretched into streaks and the conjoined ships jumped to hyperspace.


From his observation post aboard the Moonshadow, Vader watched as the ships disappeared from real space. The turbolasers ceased fire, and the Star Destroyer's bridge suddenly became as quiet as a tomb, save for Vader's breathing. So quiet was it, Vader could actually hear Admiral Oswego swallow nervously beside him.

The Sith Lord turned away from the viewscreen as if to leave, and Oswego very nearly sighed with relief before he realized that Vader had stopped after only three steps.

"I am going to the med bay to have this removed from my shoulder," Vader said, gesturing to Marco's makeshift spear still impaled through his arm. "While I am indisposed, I want the traitor who helped those kids escape identified and arrested!"

"Y-Yes, my Lord! Right away!"

"And Admiral?"

Oswego felt his heart drop into his stomach. "Yes, Lord Vader?"

"When I have been mended, we will discuss appropriate recompense for this…failure."

And he vacated the bridge without another word.


Star let her hands slip from the control yoke as she sank down in the seat. She looked over at Janna, who had done the same.

"You good?" Janna asked.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm good. Allllll good. Just…"Star let out a whoosh of air. "Wow. That was…wow."

Janna opened her mouth to reply when Marco came bounding into the cockpit, followed a few seconds later by Rosado.

"Star! That was amazing!" The young Jedi rushed toward her, arms open to embrace his best friend, but froze when she winced and shrank back. Marco retreated a step. "…Sorry. Forgot."

Janna sat up, raising a confused eyebrow. "Something happen with you two I don't know about?"

Instantly, both Padawans found more interesting places to look than directly at Janna. "No. Nothing happened," Marco lied.

"That's right!" added Star, very clearly acting. "Nothing at all!"

Janna's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Okayyyyy…"

Rosado appeared at the captain's side. "Awesome flying, Star."

"Thanks! Nice shooting, by both of you guys."

"Why, thank you." The former Imperial then addressed Janna. "How's the arm?"

"It burns. Quite a bit, actually. You wouldn't happen to know anything about first aid would you? I'm usually the doctor on this ship."

"Unfortunately…no."

"Who's that? Who you guys talking to?"

Star spun back to the control panel. "Oh, right," she laughed. "The comm channel is still open."

"Hey, Tom!" Marco called. "Thanks for the rescue!"

"No problem, buddy! Glad you guys are okay! You know, for the most part."

Rosado cleared his throat. "Hi, uh, Tom. I'm Hovis. Hovis Rosado."

"He helped us escape!" interjected Star.

"He's also the guy I stabbed in the leg on Corellia."

Rosado rolled his eyes. "Yes. You did. Thank you for bringing that up again."

"That reminds me," Marco said, addressing Rosado, "What Star said about you helping us escape, not about Janna stabbing you in the leg," he quickly specified. "Why did you help us?"

"Um…I'll give you the short version. The Empire is evil and I don't wanna work for them anymore."

Star nodded. "Mm! Good reason!"

Rosado chuckled. "Yeah, I thought so! And, if you don't mind me asking, where exactly is it that we're going?"

"Good question," Tom replied. "I don't even know. I just told Pony Head to pick somewhere. Hey, Pony, where'd you set the destination?"

Before the astromech could reply, the gang in the Raventalon's cockpit could hear a warning chime over the comm.

"Lucy, what's that?"

"The hyperdrive is overloading!"

Star, Marco, and Hovis all reacted with equal amounts of silent panic. Janna remained unfazed.

"Not surprising. It's probably straining to keep the mass of this big freighter in hyperspace. It's only a little starfighter hyperdrive."

"I gotta drop us out of hyperspace! Sorry, guys!"

The swirling colors of hyperspace shifted away, and the conjoined ships fell back into real space. Beyond the viewscreen was nothing but the empty nothingness of space; a dark canvas flecked with distant pinpricks of stars.

"Oh, good," Marco groaned. "The middle of scenic nowhere again."

Rosado frowned. "Again?"

"We drifted through space for like a week after we escaped Coruscant because our engines were damaged."

"Sounds…boring."

"Oh, it definitely was."

"So where are we now?"

Janna was already checking the instruments on the copilot's console. "I don't know. A lot of our sensors are scrambled from all those hits we took. It'll take some time for them to cycle and recalibrate. You got anything on your end, Lucy?"

"I do. The nearest star system is abouuuuut…forty-nine parsecs away. Should be able to make it there in a day on sublight power." There was a pause. "Looks like…Iego."

"Iego?" Rosado repeated. "That's perfect!"

"…And what makes you say that?" This inquiry from a suddenly suspicious Janna.

"Because the Empire has zero presence on Iego. At least, as far as I know. And it's a waypoint for deep space trade pilots and smugglers, so it shouldn't be hard to get parts to repair the Raventalon here."

Janna nodded, content with that explanation. "Tom and I have been there a few times. Good to know the Empire doesn't care about it any more than the Republic did." She stood and motioned for Star to vacate the pilot's seat, which the young Padawan did. Still working one-handed, Janna programmed the autopilot. "There. Course is set for Iego. It's gonna be a while, so I guess we might as well relax."

"Guess I'll power down and get comfy in here," said Tom dejectedly. "Which is not gonna be easy. This seat is all wore out from Rasticore's big lizard butt. No lumbar support at all."

PY-HD bleeped at him to suck it up and then the comm line was disconnected.

Janna stood. "Alright, who wants to take a crack at first aid?"

"I will," Star said. "And once we take care of your arm, let's get something to eat. I'm starving!"

"I know, we haven't eaten since Takodana!"

The girls left the cockpit, leaving Marco alone with Rosado.

"So…" the older man began slowly. "What do you guys do when you aren't being chased by the Empire?"

"Well, when we're not stuck on this ship in the middle of nowhere, Star and I spend a lot of time training. Lightsaber combat and using the Force. You know…Jedi stuff."

"Cool. Cool." Rosado sank into the seat behind the copilot's chair. "I have a lot of respect for the Jedi. I met a few back during the Clone War."

"Did you ever meet Kit Fisto?" Marco almost couldn't get the question out of his mouth fast enough.

Rosado shook his head. "No, I never met General Fisto, but I did meet a clone trooper who had served under him. He spoke very highly of the general. Why do you ask? Was he a friend of yours?"

Marco nodded. "He taught me everything I know about lightsaber combat. Well, almost everything. He actually offered to take me as his apprentice as soon as the war ended, but…"

Rosado grimaced, giving a knowing nod. "But then Order 66 happened?"

"Well, that's the simple version of what happened…" Unconsciously, Marco's hand fiddled with his lightsaber, which hung from his belt. When he realized what he was doing, he unclipped it and held it up for Rosado to see. "This was his. He gave it to me right before he died because I'd lost my own."

"Oh, wow. That's pretty special, then."

"Yeah. It is." Marco returned the weapon to his belt. "Come on. Let's go see if we can find something in here to eat."


"Aaaaaand…there. How's that?"

Janna inspected Star's work on her arm. Medical supplies onboard were still lacking, so Star had fashioned a bandage out of a few strips of cloth torn from an old blanket. "Not too shabby, given what we have to work with. Nice job, Star." She slid off of Tom's bunk, once again musing to herself just how many times this bunk had been utilized for medical purposes. The cabin was a wreck, dried streaks of mud on the floor, medical equipment strewn about, still just how it had been left after hauling in an unconscious Star and Marco post-inquisitor encounter.

And speaking of which…

"Oh, hey." Janna pointed to the two packs tossed beside the door. "I forgot. You guys went grocery shopping right before…'the incident.'"

"Oh, yeah. We did…" Star looked at the metal joints of her new mechanical right arm. In all the commotion, she'd almost forgotten that it was no longer her own. She'd been forced to use it to fight immediately and hadn't even had time to think about the prosthetic. "Before…" She didn't finish her sentence.

"Star? Are you…okay?"

She didn't answer.

"Star?"

"…I don't know."


Rosado stood awkwardly by the galley door while Marco searched through the storage compartments for something to eat.

"Empty. Empty. Empty. Man, there is nothing to eat in here!"

"There is in here." Janna entered, followed by Star, each carrying a pack, which they placed on the table.

"Oh, right. We were shopping when…yeah."

"Hopefully something in here isn't so waterlogged and/or smashed that it's inedible," said Janna, opening the pack she'd been carrying. "I found this, too." From within, she produced Marco's hoodie, which she'd found in the cabin.

"Hey! I was wondering where that was!" He caught it as Janna tossed it to him. "Aaaaand it's still damp and gross." He dropped it to the floor. "I'll clean it later."

They took seats around the table and began digging through the packs for anything still consumable. Fortunately, the packs were at least somewhat waterproof, so the food inside wasn't really wet. It was, however, smashed. Most of it was still edible, just not particularly appetizing.

Marco felt a pang in his chest as Star took a seat next to Janna on the opposite side of the table. It hurt that his best friend didn't trust him, especially since the reason why was beyond his control. He sat beside Rosado on the bench seat side of the table.

All four were exhausted and ate in relative silence. No one, not even Star, currently had the energy for conversation.

"I feel like I'm about to collapse," Janna said wearily when they'd finished.

"Same," Marco agreed.

Star just moaned. She had already put her head down on the table.

Janna found a blanket for Rosado. "There's only two cabins, so you can sleep in the crew lounge."

"Works for me. Anything not aboard an Imperial ship is a honestly a step up."

Janna headed for her own cabin. Star headed for Tom's. Marco, too tired to give it any thought, followed close behind her. She stopped just short of the door, abruptly turning to face him.

"Marco, please-"

He froze, taken aback.

She clenched her eyes shut, unable to make eye contact with him. "I can't…I think maybe you should sleep somewhere else tonight."

Poor Marco felt as though his heart were being ripped from his chest. But he understood. "Oh. Yeah. I-" He fell silent, unsure what else to say. Star slowly opened her eyes, briefly glancing at him before quickly turning away and hurrying into the cabin and closing the door behind her.

She didn't look back.

Marco sighed. "Goodnight, Star…" he whispered.

With both cabins occupied and Rosado in the crew lounge, Marco made his way up to the cockpit. With a heavy sigh, he sank into the pilot's seat. While he perfectly understood Star's apprehension concerning his admission of Dark Side corruption, it still hurt that her trust in him had been shaken. Aside from his iris supposedly turning yellow, he didn't think he had actually done anything that should shake her trust in him.

For a long while, he stared at the stars beyond the viewscreen, but, tired as he was, he could not force himself to sleep. His hand shifted in his lap and brushed against his lightsaber.

Kit Fisto's lightsaber.

Marco pulled the weapon from its clip on his belt and held it aloft, inspecting it closely, having a chance to do so for the first time since retrieving it. It looked exactly how he remembered. The durasteel had not been damaged or tarnished in any capacity. He wondered how it could have possibly made its way from Corellia to be aboard the Moonshadow in the possession of a droid resembling the late General Grievous. He could feel the familiar presence of the kyber crystal within the hilt. He'd formed a bond with this crystal in the time since the weapon had become his, yes, but he had also crossed blades with it many times, both in the hands of Kit Fisto himself during training duels, and wielded by N-K Necrosis. But the reality was it was Kit's lightsaber, and holding it in his hand, Marco felt as though he could almost feel the Jedi Master's presence.

"Oh, Master Fisto…if only I could talk to you," Marco whispered aloud, barely audible. "You would know what to do. Star would believe it if you told her there was nothing to worry about, or you'd…know how to, like…un-corrupt me, or something…" He took a long, deep, slow breath. "I wish you were here…"

Marco stared at the lightsaber for a while longer. Eventually, unable to clear his mind and find peace enough to sleep, he left the pilot's seat and crept as quietly as he could to the galley, where there was more floor space. He removed his boots, then picked up his damp hoodie from where he'd left it and folded it neatly. He placed it on the floor as a cushion to kneel upon, placing his lightsaber on the floor in front of him. He closed his eyes, held his hands loosely and open in his lap, and took slow, deep breaths as he let his subconscious drift into the Force.

Master…can you hear me? It's Marco, Master Fisto.

Marco wasn't expecting a reply. Everything he had been taught about the Force explained that all beings lose their individuality after death, and become a part of the Cosmic Force. But Marco figured he had nothing to lose giving it a shot anyway.

Please, Master…help me. Be with me. I need your wisdom and guidance.

"Hm? Guidance, need you?"

Marco's eyelids sprang open and he fell over backwards onto the floor. Heart pounding, he quickly scanned the galley, searching for the source of the voice.

But he found only himself.

"Janna?" he whispered. No response. She must be playing a trick on me. "Janna?"

But I swear that voice was right here, right in front of me… "I must have imagined it."

Marco resumed his meditation, but found it difficult to resume the deep connection to the Force he had achieved earlier. He merely focused on steady, quiet breathing until, after almost an hour of quiet meditation, Marco finally dozed off, slumping over onto his side.


When the silence of the conference room was abruptly broken by the loud whoosh of the door sliding open, Admiral Oswego jumped from his chair with a start.

"Admiral," Vader droned from the doorway.

"Lord Vader!" Oswego squawked, quickly snapping to attention.

The Sith Lord strode slowly into the room. "I can sense your unease at my presence, Admiral."

"Apologies, my Lord. You startled me. I was not expecting you yet." Desperate to change the subject, he motioned to Vader's arm, now missing the durasteel shaft that had been protruding from his shoulder. "I see your arm has been repaired."

Vader wasted no time responding to the man's desperation. "I am eager to hear the results of your investigation, Admiral."

Oswego swallowed. "I have accounted for the entirety of the crew roster. All nine thousand two hundred thirty-five officers, and all twenty-seven thousand eight hundred fifty-two enlisted, including those slain by the J-" He froze, wondering if it were wise to say that word in front of Darth Vader. "…By the escaped prisoners."

"The ship's weapons system was disabled. Only someone with high-level clearance could shut down the system. Who aboard has the ability?"

"Well, um, myself, and the executive officer. We are the only two on the crew roster with high enough clearance," Oswego explained. "But we were both on the bridge during the entire incident, and according to the logs, the shutdown was performed from the hanger."

"The traitor likely fled aboard the prisoners' ship," said Vader.

"But, my Lord, there is no one missing from the crew roster."

"Than the traitor must be someone who is not listed on the roster."

Oswego had not thought of that. Who aboard was not part of the normal crew? Besides Darth Vader. "Galen Erso is not listed on the crew roster, but he does not have the clearance to disable ship systems."

"It is not Galen Erso. He is not capable of such treachery," said Vader bluntly. "But I think I know who is."

"Who do you suspect, my Lord?" Oswego asked politely.

"That is no longer any of your concern, Admiral. I believe the time has come to discuss punishment for your failure."

Before Oswego could react, Vader raised his right hand, outstretched and curled in the air as if around the hapless Admiral's neck. Immediately, Oswego's hands began to clutch at his throat as invisible hands gripped his windpipe, cutting off his lungs from their supply of oxygen. He gagged and gasped, his feet slowly rising up off the floor as Vader held him aloft.

"I shall have your successor issue an alert," said Vader calmly. "You need not trouble yourself with such issues any longer."

The Sith Lord's curled hand tightened into a fist, and an audible crack! reached his ears as Admiral Oswego's neck snapped. Vader let his hand fall to his side and the lifeless body crumpled to the floor.

With that, Vader turned and left the conference room, heading for the bridge. Vice-Admiral Dega was due for a promotion, and his first act as Admiral would be to issue an execute-on-site directive against ISB Director Hovis Rosado.