My apologies for this chapter taking so long. I ended up shuffling some of the events that happen in this chapter and future chapters to make the story…actually make sense, and that required some major revisions. Then I had some major writer's block and decided to go work on a totally different fanfic until I could figure out how to straighten out the mess I had created. (This is why I write several chapters ahead of what I post.) The next chapter after this one is probably going to take a little while, too, for much the same reason.

Also, because of the long hiatus since the last chapter, I missed this fanfic's anniversary! July 11, 2019 was the third anniversary of Star (Wars) Vs The Forces of Evil! *Three years* I've been writing this thing! It's been quite the literary adventure. Thanks to everyone who's been along with me on this ride.

Lieutenant Sherrod looked over the destruction below the command deck. Fire crews were battling the massive blaze that engulfed what little remained of the fuel silo. Shrapnel and hunks of metal from the silo and two decimated walkers littered the landing pad and, for that matter, just about everywhere else as well. Among the debris field lay the bodies of several dozen stormtroopers, all slain by just the two intruders and the Jedi.

Sherrod shook his head. He would have to contact Imperial Command about the intruders, especially due to the appearance of a Jedi.

"Sir?"

The Lieutenant turned around. A female officer with dark hair beneath her cap stood waiting, hands clasped behind her back. "Something I can help you with, Fletcher?"

"Sir, the intruders were relieved of their utility belts when they were…uh…briefly…captured. We searched them, hoping to find some way of identifying them-"

"And?"

"The only thing inside that wasn't Imperial standard issue was a datacard they used to download data from the terminal in the officer's mess. It was damaged, likely when the intruders fell from the tree. Technical services was able to recover a little bit of what was on it. It didn't make much sense without any context. Looked like specifications for some type of craft, but it's impossible to tell exactly what."

"So in other words, it tells us nothing?"

The officer shook her head. "Actually, Sir, there was one thing that may be of use. At the end of the file was a location code: One-seven-two-zero-six-four-two."

Sherrod frowned. "Anaxes? The old Republic Navy shipyard? What could they possibly be after there?"

"I couldn't say, Sir. But I suspect Imperial Command will find it interesting."

The Lieutenant smirked. "Indeed they shall."


Toffee gave a respectful bow of his head toward the hologram of Darth Vader on his desk. "It will be done, my Lord."

The holoprojector blinked off as the transmission ended. The Moff reached over and keyed on the public address system. "Commander Loveberry, report to the office of the Moff immediately."

The commander appeared in the doorway in short order. She gave a salute that appeared almost mocking. "Commander Loveberry, reporting for duty, SIR!"

Toffee often wondered if the veritable Mina Loveberry had been a poor choice as commanding officer of his purge troopers. Her mental stability was clearly fractured; Simultaneously both sharp, cunning, and calculated, and, to put it simply, off her anti-grav recliner crazy. But, in all his life, he had never met a more skilled or ferocious fighter. That was something that simply could not be argued against.

The Septarian slowly rose from his desk chair. "Commander. Good news. I have your first mission."

"Oh, boy! Our first Jedi-killing mission?!"

"Indeed. Select ten of your best fighters to accompany you. Imperial High Command believes that Princess Butterfly and her merry band of children friends will be making an appearance soon on Anaxes."

"Anaxes? What do those slimy Jedi want with that wacky place?"

"Unknown, but it is of little concern to you." Toffee looked the Purge Trooper hard in the eyes. "I want Butterfly brought back here alive."

"Alive? But I thought you were sending me on a Jedi killing mission! Not a Jedi capturing mission!"

"I am. Her friends are to be terminated on-site. One of them is a Jedi, you can certainly kill him. But I want Butterfly returned here to Mewni for execution. Have I made myself clear?"

Loveberry saluted. "You can count on me, Sir!"

"Good. You will leave for Anaxes as soon as you have assembled your team."


"So," Janna began, swiveling around to address Rosado, seated behind her in the cockpit of the Raventalon, "before we get there, what should we know about Anaxes? Are they gonna know we're coming as soon as we drop out of hyperspace?"

"They shouldn't. Even though it's a testing ground for fighters and weapons and such, they have very, very lax security systems because the Empire likes to pretend Anaxes doesn't even exist."

Star frowned. "Doesn't exist? Why?"

"They figure the less people who know they're doing anything at all out here, the more secure it will be. I mean, the Empire has barely any presence in the Outer Rim whatsoever. If no one knows there's anything going on on Anaxes, then no one will have any reason to try to attack or come looking for something to steal. They even disabled any kind of communications equipment on-world so nothing could be tracked, traced or intercepted. Only thing they have is an emergency beacon that will alert Imperial High Command. As long as we don't do anything to attract attention to ourselves and stay out of sight from the main complex on our landing approach, we should be fine."

Marco nodded. "Maybe things will actually go smoothly for a change then."

"Way to go, Diaz," Janna said, rolling her eyes. "You just jinxed us."

"Only if you believe in jinxes."

"Well, I do, and you did."

They dropped out of hyperspace a few short minutes later, and Anaxes loomed through the viewscreen.

Tom took a deep breath. "Well…here we go. Beginning the landing cycle."

Janna guided the Raventalon slowly in while PY-HD scanned the planet's surface below. Rosado checked out the rendering on the droid's holoprojector, pointing to a spot which marked the far north side of the assembly complex. "Okay, that's hanger 23, where the stealth ship is stored."

Star frowned. "There's no building there. That's just a mountainside." Indeed, there was no hanger to be seen there; just a long, narrow, smooth-topped mountain peak.

"The hanger is built inside the mountain," Rosado explained. "The hanger doors open from the top here." He pointed to a flat area of the peak. "We'll have to land far enough away that we'll be out of range of their sensors."

Tom checked out the holo while Janna stayed at the controls. The terrain didn't offer many options. "I don't see anywhere to land on that side of the complex. And the ground just falls away on all but one side of that peak, the side which faces the rest of the complex. We'll never get to it from the north side."

"Then we'll just have to land on the south side and sneak through the complex," Janna said firmly, never averting her eyes from the viewscreen. Then, under her breath, muttered, "Wonderful."


With the Raventalon safely nestled away out of sight in a shallow canyon a few klicks to the south of the shipyard complex main entrance, the crew prepared to disembark. PY-HD bleeped to wish it's organic friends good luck.

"Oh, no," replied Janna, "You're coming with us. We're gonna need you on this one."

The droid squealed excitedly.

"What's the plan here?" Marco asked nervously. "Should we be bringing our stuff along?"

Janna frowned. "The heck are you talking about, dude?"

"We're stealing another ship. Does that mean we're just…" Marco waved his hand, hoping Janna would understand what he was trying to convey and not make him actually say the words. "…Leaving the Raventalon behind?"

"Of course not! Don't be ridiculous!"

"Oh…so then…what are we doing?"

Janna checked her blaster and slipped it back into its holster. "Once we capture the stealth ship, we'll just fly it back here and pick up the Raventalon. Duh."

Rosado shrugged his arms into the sleeves of his jacket. Anaxes wasn't a cold planet, but it wasn't exactly tropical, either. "Hopefully you won't even need your weapons. Like I said, they barely have security here. They definitely don't have stormtroopers."

Star laughed nervously, gesturing with her lightsaber hilt. "With the luck we have, I think we're gonna need our weapons."

"Especially since Diaz already jinxed us," Janna muttered.

"Only if you believe in jinxes," Marco shot back.

"Well, I do believe in jinxes and you already did."

Marco crossed his arms defiantly. "Well, I don't. I have a really good feeling about this mission!"

Janna shoved something hard and metal against Marco's chest and he instinctively grabbed for it. It was Inquisitor Hekapoo's lightsaber. He had forgotten she had it. "Good. Then hopefully you won't need this." Janna pushed past him out of the cockpit. "Alright, people. Let's go."


Doing their best to remain shrouded in the shadows and out of sight of the assembly complex, the crew made the trek across the uneven terrain. The massive base, easily quadruple the size of Rory Outpost, loomed ominously. Approaching from the south, the main entrance was on the adjacent side. A smaller, free-standing structure lay in their path.

"I think that's the clerical building," Rosado said. "It'll probably be empty, but there's probably a terminal in there where Pony can plug in. Hopefully, she can get a map of the facility."

Janna nodded. "Perfect. Let's go."

They all stealthily darted inside and Rosado locked the door behind them. They passed through the vestibule and through another door into the main clerical office, void of life and occupied only by rows and rows of cubicled desks, each with a small computer terminal.

"Wow," Star marveled. "I think this might be the most boring room I've ever been in in my entire life!"

"No argument here," Tom muttered. "I'd sure hate to work in a place like this."

Marco plopped down in a nearby chair. "Hey, at least there's no one here to raise the alarm."

Star rolled her eyes. "If it were full of stormtroopers, at least it would be interesting."

Meanwhile, Janna found a socket where PY-HD could patch into the facility's main computer. "Pony! Over here!" The droid rolled over and connected via scomp link. "See if you can find a map of the entire assembly complex and hangers. And quickly."

The droid chittered something about being patient and not getting various undergarments twisted. It didn't take long before PY-HD projected a holomap onto the floor. The others inspected it. Janna, taking charge as she was oft to do, traced the corridors and tunnels with her finger as she vocally worked out the plan. "We enter through here, what I assume to be the loading dock?"

Rosado nodded. "Yes, supply loading dock."

"Take this corridor here, turn right, left here, cut through the breaker room, through here, down the ramp, and then this tunnel leads under the mountain to hanger 23."

"Sounds like a cake walk," said Tom. Janna was unsure if her partner was being sarcastic or not. "Compared to the base on Rori, it should be," she said, "since this place is nearly empty."

With the map in PY-HD's memory banks, the crew vacated the clerical building and crossed the landing pad to the loading dock. A set of stairs provided a way up. Two sets of huge center-parting doors divided the dock from the building. One set appeared to have jammed halfway open.

"That's lucky," Marco observed. "We won't have to make any noise opening them." He shot Janna a smug grin. "And you said I jinxed us."

"You're only making it worse, Diaz."

Rosado had taken the lead and was the first to slip between the doors. Not even halfway through, he jumped backwards in a panic. Janna collided with him and was herself crashed into by Star.

Janna grunted in pain and annoyance. "Dude, what are-?!"

"Shhhhh!" he hushed sternly.

"What is it?" Star whispered as Rosado carefully peeked around the edge of the door.

"Security droid. I didn't know they had security droids here."

Marco slipped past the others to have a look for himself. His cybernetic eye allowed him a very clear and closeup view of the droid. It stomped along through the wide storage warehouse beyond the loading dock some fifty meters away, currently facing away. It was tall and skinny with spindly limbs.

"Looks like a D1-series battle droid," Marco reported. "A Techno Union design typically used for facility security." When he turned away, he was met with stunned stares his companions. "What?"

"How do you know?" Janna asked.

"What, I'm not allowed to know things?"

Star took a turn checking out the droid. "Why is it so…so…so like it's made out of twigs?"

"Makes it a tougher target to hit," Marco answered.

Tom drew his faithful WESTAR-32. "Don't worry guys, I got this."

"No, Lucy!" Janna scolded. "We're trying to be stealthy here, remember? Shooting it out could give us up in at least four different ways."

"Four?"

"Yes, four."

"Like what?"

"I'm not going to list them for you!" Once more, Janna carefully peered around the door. The corridor through which they needed to traverse was on the opposite side of the warehouse between two rows of massive shelving units packed with long-dusty crates and components. Two-dozen or so meters of open floor space separated them from the end of the shelves, which would place them out of the droid's line of sight. The droid, meanwhile, had turned around and was steadily marching back the way it had come, toward her.

Janna ducked back. "Hey, Star?"

"Yeah?"

"Think you can use the Force to knock something off a shelf at the far end of the warehouse? Just something to make a little noise to distract the droid."

"Pfft! Easy!"

The girls swapped places. Star spotted a crate which would be the perfect candidate for the task at hand. It hung off the side of the over-crowded shelving unit two rows behind the security droid. Reaching out with the Force, she gave the crate a shove. It toppled from the shelf, tumbling to the floor with a crash which echoed throughout the warehouse. The droid quickly about-faced and hurried toward the sound of the disturbance.

"Okay, let's go!" Star urged, and she lead the charge across the open floor to the space between the central row of shelves. They hurried through the door and Rosado quickly disabled the door controls.

"Let's be quick about this," Janna said, "but not careless. If there was one of those things, there's bound to be more."

Tom nodded. "Yeah, let's not raise any alarm. Check around every corner before we turn."

"Yup. Pony, you've got the map, you take the lead. Use your scanners and try to detect anything that might be ahead."

The droid grumbled in binary something about being made to go first because it was expendable before rolling to the front of the line and heading off down the corridor.

Everything went smoothly until they reached the breaker room. The electrical service area was centrally located between the huge space of the main assembly floor and the rest of the complex, accessible from both sides. Cutting through it was the quickest way to hanger 23 on the far end of the facility.

Halfway through the room, PY-HD abruptly stopped, bleeping something which roughly translated as "Hold up!"

Everyone halted behind the astromech, and Janna quietly asked, "Pony, what's up?"

For several seconds, PY-HD remained statue still, it's sensor relay slowly rotating atop its dome. When it replied, it's beeps were softer, as if whispering.

"What is it?" Marco asked.

"Pony says she thinks there's a droid in that corridor."

Marco nodded, motioning for the others to stay back. "I'll check it out." He crept to the door and triggered it open, carefully easing his head through the doorway to scan the corridor.

The droid was half a meter away.

"GAH!" yelped Marco in surprise.

"YAHH!" cried the droid, equally startled. It jumped backwards. "Intruders! I must alert-!"

Janna swung around the doorway, blaster in hand, and fired past Marco's head. At nearly point-blank range, the slender droid was not difficult to hit, and it was thrown backwards and to the floor, effectively destroyed.

"Okay, this is really bad," said Janna. "They're gonna know we're here now."

"How?" Star asked as she and the rest of the party exited the breaker room. "There's no way it had time to raise the alarm before you shot it."

"Doesn't matter." Janna was already hurrying onwards down the corridor, explaining to the others as they went. "It probably broadcasts an operating signal to the central computer. If it goes offline, it'll dispatch a recovery team to find it. When they see that it's been shot, they'll lock down the base. We gotta get to the hanger before they do!"

And so, they ran.


"Commander! We're beginning our landing approach."

"Excellent!" Commander Loveberry switched off the commlink and headed for the cockpit. The attack shuttle serving as the purge troopers' transport was a bit cramped for eleven troopers clad in bulky armor, so Mina was forced to awkwardly clamber over her compatriots.

The pilots assigned to the mission were not purge troopers, but rather ordinary Imperial Navy pilots. "Do you have specific coordinates where you'd like us to set down?" one asked when Mina finally reached the cockpit.

"Coordinates! HA! Land this baby right in front of the admin building. I need to have a word with the base commander!"


Still at a dead run, the Raventalon crew followed PY-HD down a ramp, bringing them to a lower level of the facility. Corridors branched off in five different directions. The horned astromech knew their destination and led them down the tunnel straight ahead.

"I don't know…*pant*…how long I can…*pant*…keep up this pace…" Rosado gasped as he ran alongside his much younger companions. "I'm not as young…*pant*…as I used to be!"

"We're almost there!" Janna replied. "It's just at the end of this tunnel!"

Sure enough, the tunnel ended in a bisected door, which appeared locked. Rosado handed his code cylinder to Star, who unlocked the door while the former Imperial caught his breath. Once they were all safely inside the hanger, Star locked the doors behind them.

The hanger was nearly empty, dimly illuminated by a scant few lights. Besides the four teenagers, their adult companion, and PY-HD, the only other thing occupying the space was the stealth ship. It sat beneath a thick blanket of dust, patiently awaiting the day it might once again be among the stars.

Today was that day.

"There she is," said Tom, marveling at the ship's sleek, cylindrical design. "For a military prototype, that is one beautiful ship!"

Janna was already heading for the amidship boarding ramp. "Let's just hope it still flies."

They filed inside. The ship was not large, so the interior was rather cramped. The radar, scanner, and comms were operated from a pair of stations, one on each side, at the rear just before the narrow passage to the engine room and housing for the cloaking device. Otherwise, the entire cabin was a single, empty corridor running the length of the ship. At the front, the deck angled steeply up to the two-seat cockpit, which had no dividing wall.

"Definitely not as homey as the Raventalon," Marco observed.

Star made a face. "It's straight-up boring, is what it is."

Janna hopped into the pilot's chair, Tom climbing in alongside. "It's a military ship," she said. "They don't typically come loaded with creature-comfort amenities and painted in pastel colors." She turned her attention to the controls. "Kriff. Another different set of flight controls. Why don't they build all ships the same?"

"I've got it, I think," said Tom, his fingers rapidly flicking switches. The control panel lights glowed as the power came online, followed by a low whine from somewhere behind them. "Converters are warming up. Should be able to try firing the engines in a few minutes."

Star, Marco, and Rosado climbed the ramp to the cockpit, leaning over the pilot's seats. "If this ship is gonna be this boring," Star said, "it had better at least have a really cool name."

Rosado scratched his temple. "I actually don't think they ever gave it a name. It was just a prototype, after all."

"Every ship needs a name!" said Marco. "If it doesn't have one, then let's give it a name ourselves!"

Star liked the sound of that. "Yeah! It's gotta be something that just oozes cool! Something that will strike fear into the hearts of all who dare cross it's path!"

Tom spun his chair around, a gleam in his trio of eyes. "I've got just the thing," he said. "There's a legend of a band of space pirates, long, long ago, who plundered merchant and trader ships on their way to settlements and colonies in the Outer Rim." Janna softly snickering beside him drew his ire. "What?"

"'Plundered'?" she mocked.

"It's a pirate word! Anyway, the pirates' ship was called Queen Anne's Revenge, named for the first queen of Corellia, the planet from which the pirates hailed. Since we're stealing this ship, that basically makes us pirates, so this is our pirate ship, and-"

"We are not calling it Queen Anne's Revenge," droned Janna.

"I wasn't done!" Tom snapped indignantly. "This is our pirate ship, and we're going to use it to help us free Mewni from the Empire! I was going to suggest we call it Queen Moon's Revenge, for Star's mom."

All eyes turned to Star, wondering if the Mewni princess would approve of such a name.

"Tom…that is…" The padawan's face suddenly lit up with excitement. "THE COOLEST NAME EVER!" And she gave Tom a celebratory high-five.

"Dude, that is a really awesome name," Rosado agreed.

Janna nodded. "Good work, Lucy. Let's see if the Q.M.R. still has any life in her engines."

So Tom turned his attention back to the controls and diverted power to the motivator. The engines whirred to life, but they coughed and spluttered.

"Increase the fuel output," suggested Janna. "Lubricant, too. That oughta help burn the gunk out."

So Tom carefully adjusted the fuel delivery to the engines. The entire ship vibrated on its landing struts as the long-motionless engines stretched and yawned back to life.


The Imperial pilots did as they were told, setting the ship down right on the walkway directly in front of the administration building just to the side of the assembly complex. Ten purge troopers filed out two-by-two as Mina led the way.

Having seen the ship landing outside her office window, the base commander, accompanied by a pair of subordinates, met them halfway.

"Welcome to Anaxes," the female officer greeted. "I'm Captain Hawthorne. I'm in charge of this installation."

"Well, Captain Hawthorne," Mina replied mockingly, "Youse ain't in charge no more! Commander Mina Loveberry here, I'm in charge now! You've got a Jedi problem in your base, Captain, and we're here to do some exterminating!"

Expressions of confusion and exasperation fluctuated upon Captain Hawthorne's face. "What?! There are no Jedi here!"

"They're very sneaky-like, those Jedi. Always sneakin' around, being all sneaky like…ssssssneaky little snakes. We have it on good authority that they're either here or are going to be here!"

Captain Hawthorne was about to reply when her commlink chimed. She opened the comm channel. "What is it?"

"This is Nigel in engineering, Sir. One of my security droids has gone offline."

"Ha! You see?!" exclaimed Mina. "Probably destroyed by one of them Jedi!"

Hawthorne was becoming perturbed. "An offline security droid is hardly proof of intruders!"

"Actually Sir, the droids I sent out to find and retrieve the offline droid reported that it had been shot-"

"Lock down the facility!" Mina commanded to anyone within earshot. "Seal all exits and deploy your entire security force to sweep the facility. My troops will join the search! And whatever you do, DO NOT sound the alarm! We don't want the Jedi knowing that we know they're here!"

Before Hawthorne could protest about an officer not assigned to that sector giving orders at her installation, Nigel, still listening on the comm, called, "Yes, Sir, right away!"


After several minutes, the vibrations from the engines of the newly named Queen Moon's Revenge waned. Tom adjusted the fuel delivery accordingly and the engines smoothed out.

"Systems are all looking good," Tom reported as he scanned the instruments. "I think she's ready to fly."

"I'll go get the hanger door," Marco volunteered. He hurried back down the boarding ramp and found a small control console on the wall behind the ship's stern. "Bingo." A center-stop lever was clearly the hanger door controls. Marco pulled it down, but nothing happened. The ceiling didn't move, nor was there any hydraulic or mechanical whirring to suggest the doors were trying to open. He pushed the lever up, then back down again, but still nothing.

"What the heck…?"

He tried a few more times before heading back to the ship. "Guys, we've got a problem. The door controls don't work."

Janna shook her head. "I told you you jinxed us, Diaz."

"I didn't-!"

"Yeah, yeah. Pony, go see if you can activate them through the network."

The astromech chittered in annoyance but complied. Marco followed. He was not particularly sure why he was bothering; it wasn't as if he could somehow be of assistance.

Just as PY-HD connected to the terminal, however, Marco's role became apparent. The pedestrian doors slid open, and in stomped the most unsettling solider Marco had ever seen. Clad in black, intimidating armor a full-face helmet wholly different than that of a stormtrooper, the trooper appeared almost inhuman.

"I've located them. Hanger 23," it droned as Marco ignited his lightsaber.

"Pony, get that door open now!" Marco yelled, and he charged toward his new opponent.

The trooper raised its blaster, squeezing off a few shots as Marco erased the distance between them. Marco deflected the shots easily, pushed off the ground with his cybernetic leg as he came within range, and sailed toward his opponent poised to slash downward through the helmet.

But he suddenly found his lightsaber blocked. The trooper had dropped its blaster and activated a pair of electrobatons. Crossed, they caught Marco's lightsaber between them. The Padawan was stunned.

"What the-OOF!" Marco grunted as the trooper kicked him in the gut, sending him sprawling backwards onto the floor as his lightsaber flew from his hand. "…Owww!" Marco gasped. He didn't have long to recover. A tremor in the Force caught his attention, and he quickly rolled out of the way as an electrobaton streaked toward him, sticking into the duracrete where his chest had just been.

Marco scrambled to his feet, trying to put some distance between himself and the trooper while he regained his bearings. The trooper retrieved his electrobaton with calm, ominous movement as Marco called his lightsaber back to his hand with the Force. The emerald blade hissed to life once more and the opponents stood prepared for combat once again.

And duel they did.


"Do you guys hear something?" Janna asked.

"Something besides the engines?" Star frowned. "I don't hear anything."

Rosado shook his head, as did Tom.

Janna was not convinced she was imagining things. She swore she heard blaster fire. She stood from the pilot's chair and pushed past Star and Rosado, heading for the entryway.

She was shocked at what she saw.

Marco was locked in a heated battle against a helmeted trooper wielding twin electrobatons. Marco's lightsaber, gripped in his right hand, pined one electrobaton above their heads. The other gripped the trooper's right wrist, twisting the hand over backwards until the trooper could not help but drop the electrobaton. For a moment, Marco thought he had just gained the upper hand, until the gloved hand he was holding became a fist and punched him between the eyes. For the second time in less than four minutes, he found himself crashing to the floor on his back. Quickly retrieving its dropped weapon, the trooper stalked toward him.

"Marco!"

Acting entirely on instinct, Janna drew her DC-17 and squeezed off half a dozen shots. All but one found its mark.

The trooper turned away from Marco, and Janna now found herself face to face with its unsettling helmet. The blaster shots hadn't so much as scratched it's armor.

"Uh-oh."

The sound of Janna's blaster fire was much more audible to her friends, and they quickly rushed to her side.

"What is it, Janna?" Star asked, reaching for her lightsaber. Her eyes landed on the trooper, now stomping toward the boarding ramp. "Never mind, I figured it out."

"My blaster didn't even hurt it!" Janna said.

Tom drew his WESTAR-32 and fired. The bolt squarely hit the trooper's helmet, and for a moment, it ceased advancing, staggering backwards a step from the laser's impact. Tom continued firing, but the being inside the armor seemed to tense up, fighting through the heavy fire as its boots clomped ever closer.

"I don't think this is working!" Rosado cried.

Star ignited her lightsaber. "Get behind me, you guys!"

Meanwhile, Marco was gingerly picking himself up off the ground. His head had made sharp contact with the ground, and he felt a bit dizzy. He spotted Star atop the boarding ramp, weapon at the ready, prepared to make a stand as the trooper drew nearer, and Tom, firing past her, trying to slow it down.

"Alright, you, whatever you are…" His lightsaber flew off the floor into his waiting right hand, and he grabbed inquisitor Heckapoo's weapon from his belt in his left. Shaking off the dizziness, he ignited both blades. "No more messing around."

Propelled by the Force and his cybernetic leg, Marco sprinted toward the trooper with superhuman speed. He vaulted over its head, coming to stand between it and his friends. He went on the offensive, striking fast and ferociously, emerald and crimson lightsabers blurring as they crashed against the trooper's electrobatons.

The trooper simply could not keep up. Mere seconds into the duel, and Marco broke its defenses. The green blade slashed downward past the countering electrobaton.

And it bounced off the trooper's wrist as it dropped the weapon grasped within. The blade had burned a groove into the armor, but did not penetrate it.

"Seriously?!"

Star had seen enough. She hurried down the boarding ramp as the fray resumed. Now defending against a pair of blades with only a single weapon in defense, the trooper didn't stand a chance. Marco landed blow after blow to his opponent's armor, but each time the strike was glancing, damaging the armor, but never piercing it.

So when Star came alongside, she took a different approach. Marco had the trooper's electrobaton pinned between his lightsabers, so she thrust her own weapon straight through its chest.

Finally, this was the tactic which broke the barrier. Burning through the armor still took far more effort than Star ever would have predicted, but penetrate it did.

Marco felt the tension holding back his blades slacken, the trooper's aggression quickly waning. He freed his lightsabers from the electrobaton and aimed for the tiny space below the helmet, the only weak point in the armor he could spot. It still took a bit of effort to get the lightsaber through, but, nonetheless, the trooper's head was cleaved from its body, the helmet striking the ground with a loud thunk! The body collapsed behind it.

Star and Marco switched off their weapons. Janna, Tom, and Rosado hurried down the ramp toward them.

"Hovis, what the heck was that thing?!" Marco asked the former Imperial.

"I have no idea! I've never seem a trooper like that before!"

Star gingerly removed the electrobaton from the trooper's lifeless hand, triggering on the violet electricity. "Whatever it was, it knew how to counter against a lightsaber and had the weapons to do it."

Marco inspected the body. "Yeah, and the armor reminds me of Hekapoo's."

"Then it must be a trooper trained to hunt and kill Jedi," said Rosado. "I had heard rumors that some kind of trooper was being developed to assist the inquisitors, but it was all very hush-hush, nothing for sure."

They made their way over to PY-HD, who was still plugged into the computer terminal. "Pony, what's up with the hanger doors?" Janna asked. The droid gave a distressed chitter. "Aw, kriff."

"What?"

"They locked down the base. All controls systems are locked out."

"Hovis, can't you override it with your super code cylinder?" Tom asked.

The former Imperial shook his head. "Not from here. I'd only be able to from the central command office."

Marco sighed. "Alright, so how do we get there?"

"We don't," said Star. She was looking through the small windows in the pedestrian doors. The others hurried to joined her.

What they saw was not encouraging. From the far end of the tunnel marched a massive squad of security droids led by two more black-armored troopers.

"Well, that can't be good," Tom said bluntly.

Janna turned back to her droid. "Pony, can you override the lockdown on the hanger doors and get them open from here?" The astromech twittered an affirmative. "She says she can, but it'll take time."

"And that's something we don't currently have much of," Marco said.

"There's no way we'll be able to fend off all those droids," Tom exclaimed, "and those two troopers!"

Janna shook her head. "We don't have a choice. We're basically trapped in here."

For a moment, all fell silent save for the clicking of PY-HD's scomp link and the far-off rhythmic marching of the approaching droids.

Star sighed. "We have to split up."

Her companions began to protest all at once.

"I know! I know!" the Padawan groaned. "But it's the best chance we have! Look, if those creepy things-" She pointed to the body of the defeated trooper. "-are meant to kill Jedi and they're here, then they know that Marco and I are here, too. So Marco and I will lead them away and buy Pony as much time as possible to get the doors open."

"How are you gonna get back here, though?" Rosado asked. "You'll lead them right back to us."

"They won't come back here," said Janna. "I'll go with them. The three of us will make our way back to the Raventalon and get out that way. Tom can fly Queen Moon's Revenge. Hovis, you stay here so Tom has an extra set of hands plus Pony Head."

Tom slowly nodded. "…Okay. Where do we rendezvous?"

"Ummm…"

"Tatooine?" suggested Rosado. "As far as I know, the Empire currently has no presence there."

"Yes, perfect. Hide the Revenge in Beggar's Canyon and then come find us in Mos Espa."

Tom nodded again. "Okay. I can do that."

"They're getting closer, guys!" Star called, still watching the droids approach from the window.

"We gotta go," Janna said simply, turning away from her copilot.

"Wait!" Tom slid his WESTAR-32 from its holster. "Switch blasters with me. I know neither of us could shoot through that trooper's armor, but mine at least slowed it down."

"You're right. Here." Janna shoved her DC-17 into Tom's free hand and accepted his offered weapon. She started to turn away again.

"Wait!"

"Now what, Lucy?!"

He looked her hard in the eyes. "Be careful."

"We will be."

"No. You be careful." And, much to everyone's surprise, Tom threw his arms around Janna and hugged her tightly.

And, once she got past the shock of what was happening, Janna hugged him back. "I will be, Lu- …Tom. You be careful, too."

"Awwwww!" Star cooed. "That's so sweet!"

They parted, and Janna flicked off the safety on Tom's WESTAR-32. "Ready, guys?"

Marco ignited his lightsabers, giving his green and red blades a flourishing twirl. "Ready!"

Star's blade added to the colorful glow. "Me too!"

Tom hurried over to the panel beside the doors. "I got the doors for you."

"May the Force be with us all," Marco said. PY-HD twittered a goodbye. Rosado made sure he was well to the side of the doors, so as not to be struck by any blaster fire that might slip through when the doors were opened. "See you guys on Tatooine."

The sound of the marching grew steadily louder. Janna nodded to Tom. "Okay, Lucy. Open the doors on three."

"Okay!"

"One…two…three!"

Tom hit the panel. The doors slid apart. Star, Marco, and Janna dove through the doorway.

And the battle was on.