First chapter of 2022! Enjoy!
"Sir."
Toffee looked up from his datapad. A stormtrooper stood at attention beside him. "Yes, Trooper?"
"You have an incoming transmission from Lord Sidious."
"Thank you, Trooper. I will take it in my office. You are dismissed."
The trooper nodded and dutifully marched away. Toffee waited a moment before leaving the command deck of Skywynne Airbase and heading down the hall to his office.
Once Mewni had come completely under Imperial control, Toffee had ordered all military personnel and equipment be shifted to the captured airbase, deeming it much more appropriate for the Empire's planetary base of operations. He entered the former base CO's office and closed the door behind him, taking a seat behind the desk and flipping on the small holoprojector resting atop it.
"Greetings, Emperor."
"Moff Toffee." The wrinkled face of Darth Sidious grinned an evil, toothy smile beneath the hood of his cloak.
"To what do I owe the honor?" The Septarian asked respectfully.
"I would like to inquire as to the progress of your project."
Toffee's lips curled smugly. "The first twenty units are outfitted and armed and have begun combat training."
"Very good. Very good." The Emperor's grin vanished. "The N-K project was a failure. It was destroyed during its first test against a Force-sensitive opponent."
"Destroyed? Did it experience a fault?"
"No. It lost."
"Against Lord Vader? I'm not surprised."
"Against Padawans Butterfly and Diaz."
Toffee's brow twitched. He was impressed, but he said nothing.
"The N-K project was a most expensive failure. I do hope that your project is worth the cost."
"Not to worry, my Lord. The same credits that buy one reproduction General Grievous can arm fifty of my advanced troops."
"Good. I want all remaining Jedi hunted down and dealt with immediately, especially those two. They have proven to be…impressively resilient."
"Tell me, Emperor. Where are Padawans Butterfly and Diaz now?"
"Regretfully, they were able to escape from Lord Vader, and their whereabouts are currently unknown."
"It has been quite some time since the Princess fled Mewni. I predict that Princess Butterfly will return soon, wishing to free her home world."
"She fled like the cowardly Jedi she is."
Toffee shook his head. "No, my Lord. She fled during my attack because she knew she could not win. I am confident she will return when she thinks she can best my army, and I believe that time is rapidly approaching."
"Do you have a plan to defeat her?"
Toffee answered the question with one of his own. "How badly do you want those two dead?"
Sidious flashed a crooked smile. "What is it that you require?"
"With your permission, my Lord, I would like another Star Destroyer to form an adequate planetary blockade."
"And you shall have it. In addition, I will send you a light cruiser equipped with a new feature that requires testing. It should make escape for any ship all but…impossible." The Emperor stabbed a menacing finger at Toffee. "But you had best pray you do not disappoint me."
"I promise you, Lord Sidious. I will not fail where those before me have."
"You have my full confidence, Moff. Proceed."
The holoprojector went dark.
Tom popped open the cockpit canopy and stood, arching his back to stretch his stiff muscles. "Rrrraaaaaaaahhhhh…oh, man. It feels so good just to stand up." Sitting in the cockpit of the Xanadu Blood for hours on end in a worn out seat with barely any room to move had been extraordinarily uncomfortable. Simply standing up and stretching his stiff muscles felt amazing.
PY-HD was getting restless, bleeping relentlessly to be helped down to the ground. Tom had been unsuccessful several times in getting it to go into low power mode during the long trip. The Demonicite was eager to gain a little personal space between himself and the droid.
"Alright, alright, Pony. In a minute. I need my muscles to actually work again first so I don't drop you."
The droid's complaint was drowned out by the whine of the Raventalon's engines as it slowly glided over Tom's head. He climbed down from the fighter's cockpit and meandered toward where he estimated the boarding ramp would land as the ship gently touched down on the landing pad.
The ships had separated once they'd reached the Iego system. The sensors and navigational equipment on board the Raventalon were still on the fritz, so Tom navigated through the planet's thousand moons while Janna (flying one-handed) followed the course he plotted.
After briefly noting the scraped-up underside of the Raventalon's hull, Tom watched the boarding ramp extend to the ground, touching the landing pad right at his feet. He expected to be greeted by a very excited and enthusiastic hug from Star, and he was correct.
"Tom!"
"Hey, Sta- oof!" Despite knowing the embrace was coming, Tom could not prevent the air from being squeezed from his lungs. Star's new cybernetic arm made her joyful affection even tighter than usual.
"Ooohhhhh thank you thank you thank you!"
"You're…*gasp*…welcome…*choke*…Star!"
She released her death grip and Tom sucked in a hard breath, only to find Marco moving in to take Star's place.
"You really saved us, bro!"
Tom didn't bother saying anything this time, not that he could have if he wanted to. His lungs lacked the capacity to do so. Man, how is it that enthusiastic hugs from Star are somehow worse than being Force-choked?
When Marco relinquished his embrace, Tom found Janna waiting behind him, her arm in a sling. She gave him a half, somewhat disinterested smile. "Hey, Lucy."
"Hey, Janna."
"Thanks, man."
"No big."
"No. Very big. If it wasn't for you…" She fell silent.
Tom smiled and lightly punched his partner in her good shoulder. "Well…You know. I owed you."
Janna nodded. "Thank you, Lucy."
Tom hadn't really been expecting any big display of affection from Janna, but he did wonder why she seemed to be looking past him instead of making eye contact.
One last passenger disembarked from the Raventalon, a dark-haired human male in his mid-thirties sporting scruffy facial hair and what appeared to be an Imperial officer's uniform.
"You must be Hovis," said Tom.
"I must be," the man chuckled. They shook hands. "Nice to finally meet you face to face."
"Likewise." Tom turned back to Janna, pointing to her sling. "How's the arm?"
Captain Ordonia shrugged. "It hurts, but not as much as it did. I can't really move it much, though."
"We should get you to a doctor right away, then."
"Eh. Let's eat first. I'm hungry and eager to eat something not cooked on that dumb little stove in the galley."
"Oh, thank goodness! I didn't want it to seem like I wasn't thinking about your injury, but I just spent like a day and a half in the cockpit of that stupid starfighter without anything to eat. I'm getting ready to chew off my own arm."
Janna cracked a smile. "I guarantee you I know who else is hungry." She pointed toward Star, who had wandered off while the others were talking. The Padawan was standing near the edge of the cliffside landing platform, looking out across the spiky mountain range stretching off into the distance.
Tom smiled. "Haha, yeah. Star the Bottomless Pit." Then he noticed Marco standing a few yards away, behind the boarding ramp, intently examining the various scrapes and gouges in the hull from Star's unorthodox "flying." It was strange enough that they weren't attached at the hip, but they seemed to be avoiding even looking in the other's general direction. Tom leaned a little closer to Janna, his voice hushed. "Is something up with the two of them?"
Janna and Hovis exchanged a glance. They had just endured a lengthy and very boring sublight space journey with the two young Jedi, and, despite Hovis being a very recent addition to the crew, it was just as obvious to him as it was to Janna that Star and Marco were avoiding each other. It had been so uncomfortable that Hovis and Janna had privately discussed it during the long trip. "We think something happened aboard that Star Destroyer," Janna said. "But I couldn't bring myself to ask them what."
Tom looked back and forth between the two Padawans. "What could have possibly happened that would cause those two to actually avoid each other…?"
The crew headed into the town built into the mountains beyond the cliffside landing pad. A tiny tavern tucked into a corner in the town square provided the hot meal they all looked forward to.
There was no shortage of conversation topics. Everyone had plenty of questions for Rosado, him being the new addition to the group. He explained how he had come to serve the Imperial Army since he'd already been enlisted in the Grand Army of the Republic, and all about his wife and children, whom he hoped had made it safely off Coruscant to safety. He told them about the Inquisitor and how they'd tracked the quartet of teenagers, and the kids in turn filled in the blanks from their perspective. Star and Marco detailed as much of their duel with Hekapoo as they could remember, and Janna explained how she had escaped from the brig of the Moonshadow. And all throughout, Star and Marco, sitting at opposite ends of the table, refused to look at or even speak directly to each other.
"Where were you guys during all this?" Tom asked as Janna reached the point of her story where she and Rosado found Star and Marco dueling with N-K Necrosis.
Rosado frowned. "Yeah, how did you guys escape? I don't even know where you guys were locked up."
The Padawans stiffened as if they had been frozen in carbonite right where they sat. Marco's fork paused halfway into his open mouth.
"Well, uh, you see…" Star stuttered, "we, uh…"
"They didn't have us restrained or anything so we just used the Force to open the door, and then we climbed into the ventilation shaft and Star sensed her lightsaber, so we found our weapons and then we kinda just started running and crashed into some old guy who pointed us toward the hanger but we got trapped by the blast doors and they sent in the General Grievous lookalike after us and he had Master Fisto's lightsaber and we fought him and…and now you're pretty much caught up."
Everyone, (including Star for a brief moment), stared at Marco, who had managed to fit his entire rapid-fire sentence into one breath. Janna was first to find her voice again.
"Oh…okay, then." She turned to Tom. "Well, I guess that about catches you up on everything since we were captured. So, what were you up to, Lucy?"
Tom chewed a bite from a roll, swallowing before saying, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."
Their hunger well satisfied, the gang left the tavern.
"Alright. Time for this pilot to seek medical attention." Janna addressed Tom directly. "While I'm getting my arm looked at, why don't you head back to the ship and start looking at the hyperdrive with Pony Head. See if you can- Wait a second, where is Pony Head?"
Tom's trio of eyes widened. "Aw, crud, I forgot she was still in the cockpit of the starfighter."
Janna chuckled. "Dude, she is gonna be maaaaaad. Anyway, see if you can figure out how the Empire disabled the hyperdrive so we can fix it. Can you help, Hovis?
Rosado nodded. "I'll help however I can."
"Great! You two get on that!"
Tom frowned. "Us two…?"
Janna interrupted before he could continue. "Yes, you two. Star and Marco are coming with me."
The Padawans, currently standing on opposite sides of the group, froze. "Uh, I don't really think you need both of us," Marco said. "I should stay and help Tom-"
"Nope. You're both coming with me."
"Why?" the Jedi asked simultaneously.
"Because," said Janna, fluttering her eyelashes and adopting as innocent a tone as she could muster, "a teenage girl such as myself shouldn't be all alone on this strange planet, especially considering I've only got one arm to defend myself. Just look at all these hostile beings inhabiting this town!"
The others glanced about at the handful of sentient humanoids wandering the streets. None of them paid the teenagers and their adult companion a lick of attention. Every one trudged about slowly, looking bored, tired, and/or drunk.
"Janna, what are you talking about?" Tom said. "Even with one arm, you're more than a match for-" His words died in his throat as he caught Janna glaring daggers at him. "I mean, uh, of course you should have a pair of Jedi with you for protection in your weakened state. Good idea, Janna."
"Thanks, Tom. C'mon, you two," Janna said, motioning for Star and Marco to follow her as she started down the street.
"Uh, Janna, I don't think-"
"No time to argue about it, Star. My arm is starting to really hurt, and I really need to get it looked at. Please."
Marco slowly looked at Star, who met his gaze for just a split second before looking away. "I'm coming, Janna." He hurried to catch up with the captain.
Janna grew impatient. "C'mon, Star! Let's go!"
Star sighed and reluctantly followed, leaving Tom and Rosado alone.
"Well, I guess we should head back, huh?"
Tom didn't reply. He looked perplexed.
"Tom?"
"Huh?"
"I said we should probably be heading back to the ship?"
"Yeah, right. Let's go."
"You okay?" Rosado asked as they headed back across town. "You look like you've got something on your mind."
"Yeah. Janna called me 'Tom.'"
"…But that's your name."
"Well, yeah…But…" He shook his head. "Never mind." Janna never calls me "Tom."
Janna waited until she and her companions reached a street intersection and turned right before acting on her plan. A land speeder had been parked parallel to the building on the corner, reversed until it nearly touched a vendor's stall. Perfect. She hugged the side of the speeder and waited until Star and Marco had passed it before abruptly turning around. "Alright, you two." She aggressively stepped toward them and the Padawans moved back, stumbling between the building and the land speeder. They were boxed in, Janna blocking their escaped. "What's going on with you guys?"
"Nothing's going on with us," Marco said defensively.
"Don't give me that bantha fodder. Something happened with you two that you're not telling us. Spill."
The Padawans exchanged a nervous glance, making eye contact for the first time since escaping the Star Destroyer. Star raised her hand and waved it past Janna's face. "You don't need t-"
Janna smacked her hand down, staring daggers at her friends. "Did you seriously just try to Jedi mind trick me?" Star shrank back, her face red with embarrassment. "I can't believe you guys! Tell me why you've been avoiding each other, or I'll leave you here on this backwater planet! Tell me what is going on!"
"Vader turned me."
Janna blinked in surprise at Marco's blunt answer. "Huh?"
Marco sighed. "Vader sensed that I was naturally aligned with the dark side and did something to me with the Force to corrupt me."
"That's awesome!"
"What?!"
"Can you shoot lightning out of your fingers now? You said Palpy could do that, didn't you?"
"Oh my gosh, Janna, are you nuts?" Star exclaimed. "Vader corrupted Marco with the dark side, he could be a danger to all of us!"
"That's why you've been avoiding him?"
"Duh!"
"…Why?"
"Because-!" Star looked sheepish. "…Because I'm scared." Marco clenched his eyes shut as if in pain as Star went on. "What if Vader can manipulate him somehow through the Force and he kills us all?"
Janna thoughtfully stroked her chin with her good hand. "Nah. Won't happen."
"How can you be so sure?"
"Because he's Marco," Janna said, as if it were obvious.
Star was speechless.
"Janna, it's not that simple," Marco tried to explain. "The dark side of the Force…it does things to you. I mean, look at what it did to Master Skywalker. You met Vader. You saw what he's become."
Janna shrugged. "Okay. So what has the dark side done to you?"
"…Um…"
"It turned his eye yellow," Star said.
"I'm pretty sure that's just a photoreceptor."
"His real eye, Janna!"
Captain Ordonia smirked and looked carefully at Marco's left eye. "It's brown. Same as it's always been."
"But it was yellow!"
"And now it isn't." Janna shook her head again. "Look, I'm really not understanding what your guys' issue is. Didn't Glossaryck tell you that Star was your counter or whatever, and kept you from becoming corrupted?"
"But Vader did corrupt me. I felt like my free will was gone."
"For how long?"
"…Like…a second. And then…I felt like myself again."
"Yeahhhh? So then Star still kept you grounded in the light."
Star looked down at her boots. "What if I'm not able to keep him in the light, though?" she whispered.
Janna was getting fed up. As far as she was concerned, she had just resolved the issue. "Why would anything about this situation suddenly be any different that your Force-whatevers wouldn't be able to keep Marco's dark side of the Force-whatevers in check?"
Star just blinked. "Um…because…"
"Because before I wasn't corrupted?" Marco offered.
Janna shrugged. "You don't look corrupted to me. You look like Marco. Do you feel any differently now than you did before Vader did…whatever he did?"
"…I…I don't think so."
"There you go."
"What about when I lost my free will?"
Another shrug. "But it came back. How long did you say you felt that way?"
"…Maybe a couple seconds."
"So Vader turned you while doing something with the Force, right?" Janna asked. Marco nodded. "And then he stopped. Vader wasn't able to keep his control over your alignment or whatever and you came back to yourself because Star brought you back. Don't you see?! You're not corrupted!"
Star hesitantly looked at her best friend beside her and found him nervously looking back. Their eyes met. Aside from his cybernetic eye, Marco looked just the same as she had always known, the same warm and trustworthy face that had been her faithful companion all these years. "I guess…I guess you could be right…"
"I'm always right," Janna said with a smirk. Then she turned serious. "Look, we just escaped a Star Destroyer and a General Grevious clone AND Darth Vader. Not to mention you two defeated that inquisitor that had been after us for months. The Empire isn't just gonna give up on us. They'll send more of their forces to kill us. The only way we stay alive is if we all work together, and you two avoiding each other isn't good for any of us."
Star gave an embarrassed sigh. "You're right, Janna. Marco, I…I'm sorry."
The boy gave her a gentle and reassuring smile. "It's alright, Star. I understand. I probably would have reacted the same way if the roles were reversed." He held up his arms, inviting her in for a hug. "Friends?"
Star managed a small smile. "Always." And she hugged Marco back.
"Ouch!"
Star jumped back. "What's wrong?"
"The joint in your metal arm pinched me."
"Guess we'll have to work on that," she chuckled nervously.
Janna was feeling rather pleased with herself. "Good. Glad we got that cleared up." She motioned for her friends to follow her as she returned to the street. "Alright lovebirds, let's go. I've still got a blaster wound that needs addressing."
"Right behind you, Janna Banana!" Star called as she followed.
As they meandered down the street, Janna added, "By the way, that's the second time I've had to fix your relationship. Can we please not make it a trifecta? I'm a smuggler and a pilot, not a counselor."
With her organic arm, Star took Marco's hand in her own. "I promise, it will never happen again."
Marco smiled. "Me too."
"Come on, Pony Head, please? We really need you to- OW! OW! Stop!" Tom's voice echoing along the corridor was punctuated by a crash and several loud, aggressive beeps. Marco stopped in surprise. "What the heck was that?"
Janna smirked. "Sounds like Pony hasn't forgiven Tom for forgetting about her yet."
The trio found Rosado in the cockpit, doubled over with laughter as he watched Tom frantically haul himself off the floor and onto the pilot's seat as PY-HD attempted to impale him with its horn. "I said I was sorry!" Tom pleaded.
Janna stifled her laughter. "Alright, Pony, I think he's learned his lesson."
The astromech's dome spun around, and it squealed with delight as it's photoreceptor spied Janna and Star, scurrying over to greet them with excited bleeps. Tom breathed a sigh of relief, relaxing slightly but still remaining perched safely atop the pilot's seat.
"I know, Pony, I know. Lucy is definitely a pile of poodoo-"
"Hey!"
"-But we really need your help figuring out what the Empire did to the hyperdrives. Do you think you can forgive him for forgetting about you?"
PY-HD swiveled it's head around to look at Tom, then looked back at Janna. It remained silent.
"Can you at least put your well-deserved revenge on hold until we get this ship back in the air?"
The droid looked back and forth between Tom and Janna a few more times, still saying nothing.
"Please, Pony?" Star pleaded. "Puh-leeeeaaaaase?"
"…Blorp-zerp boop."
"Thank you, Pony," Janna smiled. "You're the best."
The droid gave a very conceited response and headed over to plug into its console.
Tom hopped down from the pilot's seat. "Thanks, Janna. I thought I was a goner."
"You still might be."
Tom nervously glanced at the droid. "Yeah, well, I'll cross that skybridge when I come to it."
Rosado cut in. "How's the arm, Captain?"
"It'll be fine." Janna pulled up the sleeve of her jacket (which still had a hole in it from the blaster shot), revealing a bacta patch affixed over the wound on her arm. "I'll be fit to fly in a day or two."
"Nice."
Janna pulled her sleeve down. "Now, while Pony Head is running diagnostics, who wants to help me patch up the hull? …Again."
Rosado raised an eyebrow. "Again?"
"Remember I told you we were stranded in the middle of nowhere after escaping Coruscant?" Marco asked.
"Yeah?"
"Turns out we weren't actually in the middle of nowhere and we kinda crash landed."
"You're kidding! On what planet?"
"Moraband."
"Maraband? Can't say I'm familiar with it."
Janna shoved Rosado out of the cockpit. "He can tell you all about it while we're patching the hull. We've got work to do."
