Hello, everyone.
So, I wanted to share a few things that I plan to do with this story.
Those who followed the story from the start would surely notice that I added 'Year 1' in the title. That's because I intend to write multiple stories, covering the 4 seasons and I even have plan to go beyond them, covering the other 4 years of the GCW that occur after season 4 ending.
This should keep me busy and satisfied until the Ahsoka series will come out (I really hope it will be within 2022) and hopefully we get the search for Ezra, and maybe his retrieval.
In the previous chapter I gave clear hints that this saga will include Ezrabine, and I decided to approach it my own way. Since the Ezra in this AU is a bit more serious and careful in his approach to strangers, I purposefully wrote in the first chapter that Ezra finds her cute, but since he doesn't trust strangers right away, he doesn't go all-in with embarrassing flirts. In my opinion, the fact that he approaches her with respect, would help Sabine seeing him right away for what he is and being interested in his personality, as well as her mandalorian side being interested in his armor, weapons and his combat skills.
There was also a hint that Jaral is in love with a person that will be introduced later in the saga, but this first year will be focused on the siblings, to establish their relationships with the rest of the crew, as well as to stress out that they are a fighting force to be reckoned with and are getting even more dangerous as their power and experience grow, so that will make sense that they will generally come out on top even in desperate situations.
Finally, I want to spend a few words about this 'Force bond' that I created for the siblings.
It's not the first time I write a story about a brother and a sister, but it's the first time I publish one. I always found it an interesting combination of characters. They complement each other and each of them knows that the sibling will always watch its back.
It didn't seem right to me that Jaral would have no connection to the Force even though Ezra has such a strong one, so I thought it would be interesting to let the siblings have this mystical connection, as a more physical representation of their absolute trust in each other.
I hope you liked the story so far. If you have any suggestion don't hesitate to write something in the reviews. And I hope the rest of the story will keep you entertained as well, and maybe will inspire you to write your own fan-fiction, I personally spent many of the last days reading and reading again many of them.
Now, let's get back into the action.
Chapter 10: Idiot's array
It had been a couple of weeks since Ezra got his lightsaber and shocked everyone with its design.
Kanan wasted no time in starting to teach him the forms of combat, which Ezra started to practice every day, both with and without Kanan.
Usually, Jaral would be there to support him, or aid him with the practice by using Jinx to provide some holographic images of stormtroopers to use as target.
Ezra particularly worked on creativity, using both his saber and the blaster included in it to keep the fight fluid and on his terms.
As promised, Ezra also started to teach Sabine how he managed to build two weapons in one. For him, it was a good exercise, dismounting and reassembling the device was a good way to familiarize with its maintenance. However, right on the first time he realized that he was alone with Sabine in the workshop, a pretty private space.
It was Jaral who suggested the place, and Ezra immediately remembered that she had a knowing smirk and winked at it.
Since he came aboard, Ezra had only marked Sabine as a good-looking girl, but he dismissed any other thoughts about her as a juvenile crush, a sentiment he didn't want to deal with. Sabine had already proven to be a capable person and he quickly came to respect her. He wasn't going to ridicule himself and shamelessly flirt just because his hormones told him she had a nice body.
Those sentiments, however, never faded completely, though he didn't notice until the two started their lessons.
Despite that, he retained self-control. As long as they kept distances, that is. A couple of times, their hands brushed slightly and he found his veins tingling, although he could swear that he quickly saw her blushing as well as she tried to act like nothing happened.
When the first session was over, Sabine stammered while simply saying 'Goodbye', smiling awkwardly at him.
Jaral wasn't helping to put him at ease. In fact, she was teasing both Ezra and Sabine about it. Any time his brother came out of the workshop and passed through the common room, she would smirk and ask how it went. Ezra kept denying again and again, but his face and his language body only made her grin and silently laugh even more. She was also relentless with Sabine in their shared cabin. Jaral quickly noticed that her roommate was increasingly nervous any time she came out of their 'lessons', and that she even took time to fix her bangs or some piece of her armor before going to the next one.
Even though it was true that she and Ezra had genuine talks about weapon-building, as it was undoubtedly a shared interest between them, there were more and more small episodes that kept pushing the two on the edge, and Jaral was always eager to find an opening in the defenses of the two anytime she heard one of the two mention that episodes. Despite that, Jaral was also trying to encourage the two of them to express their sentiments openly, but Ezra was still convinced that all of this was caused by his childish crush, while Sabine was a mandalorian, and mandalorian didn't talk about emotions, they acted on them. The elder Bridger respected his brother and the girl that know considered a little sister too much to press the issue and never stepped out of her boundaries as observer, believing that the final result would be much better if her 'little siblings' sorted out their emotions by themselves.
It was a bit past noon. Kanan, Zeb and Chopper were in Jhotal, looking for a job that would allow them to earn enough money to refill their bellies and the Ghost's fuel tank.
The rest of the crew was in the cargo bay when the three came back. Ezra and Jaral were sparring, while Sabine and Hera were working on a speeder-bike the crew recently acquired.
Chopper rolled in first, shrieking angry noises.
Zeb followed behind him and already raised hands.
"I can explain this." he said sheepishly.
"Explain what?" asked Hera.
She didn't have time to hear as Kanan interjected, followed by a dandy man with a dark skin, brown eyes, black hairs, a thin mustache and a confident smirk.
"Hera, Sabine, Ezra, Jaral. This is Lando Calrissian." Kanan said as Lando made an exaggerated bow. "He needs a fast ship to smuggle something past the Imperial blockade."
"Yeah." Lando said. "For some reason, this planet seems to have an unusually large imperial presence."
Kanan rubbed the back of his neck while looking at Hera, who frowned and looked at Lando, crossing her arms.
"But are you sure you can get this vessel past the blockade, Captain...Hera, is it?" Lando kept going, never letting his smirk fade.
"It is." Hera responded sarcastically. "And the Ghost can mask both its signal and signature. We'll get you past the blockade. What's the cargo?"
"I was told 'No questions asked.'"
"That's fine. It just costs more."
"Kanan and I already agreed on a price. But I suppose he requires your approval?"
"He doesn't."
"Excellent." Lando reached his hand to shake Kanan's. "When the job's done, you'll be paid handsomely, and, as agreed, I'll return your droid."
"Return our droid?!" Hera asked in panic.
The teens exchanged worried glares then turned as they saw Chopper angrily chattering and slapping Zeb on his knee with one of its handler.
"Uh, yeah. Funny story." Zeb started with a meek tone. "You see, Lando and I were playing Sabacc, and I kinda...bet Chopper."
The teens listened in horror.
"Garazeb Orellios!" Hera was mad. "Chopper wasn't yours to bet!"
"Kanan said it was okay." Zeb weakly retorted.
Hera pointed a finger at Kanan's chest. "And you should know better! Chopper is a member of this crew!"
Lando tried to make her reason.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. We should go. I need to pick up my cargo, and I don't want to keep my supplier waiting. Besides, if things go smoothly, there won't be anything left for you good people to argue about."
Hera glared daggers at Kanan and punched his armored arm before stepping out toward the cockpit.
It wasn't long before the ship took off. Hera was so mad that the maneuver was shorter than usual, but all went smoothly nonetheless. Kanan was co-piloting, while Lando was sitting in one of the passenger's seats with Chopper next to him.
"That's the smoothest takeoff I've had in years." Lando said with a flattering voice. "You're quite the pilot."
"And you're quite the smooth-talking smuggler." Hera replied simply.
"'Smuggler'? Such a small word. I'm more of a galactic entrepreneur"
Kanan looked with scorn at him.
"That means businessperson." Lando explained.
"I know what it means." he retorted before turning again in front of the commands. "Chopper, I need you to fix the signature modulator so we can get past the blockade."
Chopper chattered something angrily.
"Chopper's right." Hera said frowning. "He's no longer a part of the crew. He doesn't have to do what you tell him anymore!"
"I can see you have some things to work out…" Lando said in the background, then bent to touch Chopper on his dome.
"So, my new friend. I was wondering if you would be kind enough to give me a tour of this fine ship."
As if he was a butler droid, Chopper said something courteous and with efficiency he went to the door, leading the way for Lando.
While the ship was flying, the teens and Zeb were in the common room. Ezra and Zeb were sitting on the couch while Sabine and Jaral were sipping a cup of caf on the other side of the room, talking.
They turned for a moment when they heard the door leading to the hallway open and Lando stepped in, stopping to admire the paint of the Starbird that Sabine drew on the wall a long time ago.
Not long after, Chopper rolled into the room, handing a cup of caf to Lando.
"Why, thank you my friend." Lando said amicably.
Zeb grunted under his breath and slouched on the couch. "I can't believe that rust bucket is already waiting on that guy."
"You don't have any right to complain." Ezra told him. "Good thing I wasn't there. You probably would've bet my armor."
"I-I wouldn't...besides, I think Calrissian cheated."
"Do you have any proof of that?"
"No…"
"Then you're just acting like a sore loser. And Lando doesn't seem that bad, for now." as usual, Ezra never completely trusted strangers.
"Sorry if I interrupt you lovely ladies…" Lando said to the girls. "Sabine, I understand this is your work?" the smuggler said pointing at the Starbird.
Sabine walked to him.
"Reminds me of Janyor's protest paintings on Bith." Lando continued.
"Janyor of Bith is a major influence." she admitted.
Ezra felt like something was chewing at his brain.
"Well, it's simple and beautiful at the same time. Impressive." Lando commented.
Then he turned to take a look at Jaral, who had followed Sabine.
"And you must be Jaral Bridger."
"You know who I am?" Jaral asked, but didn't seem surprised.
"Everybody on Lothal knows about you and your brother over there. The Empire has put...a considerable bounty over your heads." he tried to sound informative rather than interested in the bounty.
Jaral made a step forward and looked at Lando in all seriousness.
"Tell me more."
"Well there are some fliers around here and there on Lothal, and they have your faces on it, of course. They also advise that you are extremely dangerous and that people should summon the authorities rather than try to stop you." he said with what seemed to be admiration.
The siblings exchanged a quick glance. This was the confirm that the Empire had at the very least reconstructed their basic profile and knew their faces. This could be problematic whenever they would need to blend with the population on Lothal.
"Although…" Lando now was on flirtatious mode. "The picture doesn't make justice to your charm, miss Bridger." he bowed a little.
Ezra now actually glared at Lando as if he was about to shoot lighting bolts at him.
It wasn't the act of flirting per se: he knew very well that Jaral, by all accounts, had a very pleasant physique and face for human standards.
However, he still remembered that, a few months before they joined the Ghost, some street thugs had tried to capture her and sell her into slavery, probably to one of the brothels in the capital. Luckily, Jaral was smart and Ezra too, and they managed to slip away.
That said, Ezra was understandably pissed that an adult man was trying to flirt with his still 17 yo sister.
"How cute." Jaral said with a glacial grin.
"I stand corrected." Ezra mumbled to Zeb. "That guy can't be trusted."
Luckily, he knew that Jaral would never fall for such a ladies' man and that she could very well kill him if he ever attempted anything stupid, but the boy was still very annoyed. It was to his relief that Hera announced on the PA that they were about to arrive at the coordinates Lando had given them.
"Miss Bridger." Lando said. "Perhaps you might help me for this transaction?"
Jaral thought for a second, then shrugged.
"If it helps us finish the job quicker, then I'm in."
"Perfect. Then would you mind wait for me at the air lock?"
As the Ghost navigated into deep space, it spotted a C-ROG merchant vessel. Lando stepped into the cockpit and hailed the ship.
"Merchant-One, this is Calrissian. Requesting permission to dock."
From the other side came a male voice.
"You have the goods?"
"Of course." Lando answered giving a clever wink to Hera, who rolled her eyes.
"Ah, then permission granted."
The Ghost finally docked with the Merchant-One. Lando went into the air lock and the docking bridge, where Ezra and Sabine were waiting with Jaral.
"Now, whatever I say, just play along." Lando instructed Jaral.
Ezra gave her a very worried gaze, but Jaral gave him a confident nod.
The door opened, revealing two armed guards waiting for them in the greenish corridors of the other ship.
"I hope you have a backup plan in case things go wrong." Jaral whispered.
"No fear, milady." Lando whispered back. "If a comet hits, this ship has escape pods."
They had already stepped into the freighter at this point and the joint door between the ships had already closed, leaving Ezra waiting impatiently.
Sabine put a hand on his shoulder, trying to reassure him.
"You know she'll be fine, right?" she said confidently.
"I hope so...for him." Ezra answered ominously.
On the Merchant-One, Lando and Jaral were escorted in front of the crime lord Azmorigan. He was a Jablogian, and right now he was eating messily the fruits that his servant droid was holding on a tray at his side.
He immediately gave Jaral an aura of repulsion. That being was the epitome of everything she hated: arrogance, opulence and non-existent hygiene.
"Azmorigan!" Lando greeted amicably.
The red-skinned, overweight crime lord nodded a greeting.
"I have what you ordered." he said before biting a jogan, splashing the juice around.
"What do you have to offer in return?"
A realization immediately dawned on Jaral's mind.
"Her name…" Lando pushed her forward. "is Nala."
It was exactly as the girl feared: Lando was "selling" her into slavery. This wasn't a purchase, but a barter.
Despite that, Jaral was always a level-headed person and she immediately got into the part. She put a hand on her hips and put on a gentle smile. Her blue attire wasn't designed for sex appeal, but it was tight enough to reveal her body shape.
Azmorigan looked with a smirk and a finger trembling on his chin.
"Hmm." he inspected her for 5 seconds. "Yeah, uh, She'll fetch a very good price. The trade is accepted."
Jaral kept smiling and hint submission, though one of her veins seemed about to explode in anger.
Lando then stepped forward to get his part of the trade: a hovering cage.
Jaral simply step aside and let Lando pass with a humble bow. At least, she though, he had the decency to not give away her real name.
"Thank you, Lord Calrissian, for delivering me to my new master." the girl said.
"Please, no need to thank me." Lando answered with his usual grin.
"Ah, enough prattle." Azmorigan gestured. "Eh, you disturb my supper." then he soundly belched. "Take your cargo and go."
"As always, a pleasure doing business with you, Azmorigan."
With that said, Lando was escorted back to the air lock with its crate levitating.
When he crossed the door and went back into the Ghost, Ezra and Sabine were waiting there.
As the door closed, Ezra noticed that Jaral wasn't there.
"Where is Jaral?" he asked taking a step forward and clenching his fists.
"Jaral is following the plan." Lando said cautiously and raising his hands. "Which is what we should do if we want to get her back!"
Ezra wasn't listening anymore, however. He dashed forward and grabbed Lando by the hems of his jacket, bringing him down just a few centimeters to look him straight into the eyes.
"What did you do?!" he screamed.
Sabine immediately reached his arm.
"Ezra! Calm down!" she commanded.
Ezra took a deep breath, though his bloodshot eyes never deviated from Lando's terrified gaze. Then the boy released the man.
Lando wiped off the cold sweat from his forehead. "You are strong, uh?" he commented jokingly, but Ezra didn't seem in the mood for listening at him, or even being in the same room as him.
Sabine as well was frowning at Lando.
"I'm just gonna...deposit this." he said as he pushed away the crate.
When Lando finally left the bridge, Sabine moved in front of Ezra and grabbed his shoulders.
"Ezra, I know you're mad right now…" she started with a firm voice.
"You damn right I am." he whispered.
"But Calrissian is not worthy of your time. Right now, we need to be ready in case Jaral needs us."
Ezra looked at her in the eyes, then bowed his head and exhaled. "You're right. Let's stay on the mission."
Sabine smiled at him and let him go.
"Though you might need to tell those words to Jaral too." Ezra joked, figuring that Lando would be in great danger no matter how the plan would go.
"Are you kidding?" she smirked devilishly, before gazing in the direction Lando disappeared. "I can't wait to see that."
In Azmorigan's office, Jaral was still standing, awaiting instructions. The Jablogian was now eating another kind of fruit in a very uncivilized way.
"You need food?" he asked, to Jaral's surprise.
Although the half-eaten fruit was certainly enough to nauseate Jaral.
"I think I have lost my appetite, lord Azmorigan, but…" she graciously stepped in front of him. "Perhaps you would like me to serve you?"
Azmorigan threw away the shell. "Ah, yes, yes, yes...Good practice for you. Uh, serve me, serve me." he stammered a bit. "Be quick about it."
The girl took the tray from the hands of the servant droid and bowed to the point were the food was right in front of the slaver's face.
"And perhaps you'd prefer to dine alone?" she said with an incredibly soft voice and an alluring expression.
Azmorigan seemed quite intrigued at the prospect. "Leave us. Go, go." he ordered to the two guards and the droid, and they complied.
Once they were gone, Azmorigan grabbed another piece of fruit.
"Please, take the whole tray." Jaral said.
"Uh, what?"
The girl suddenly hit the jablogian in the face with the tray, then lifted it and crashed it on his head, making him pass out.
Jaral now activated her armor and went to the door. Only one guard was left outside and Jaral immediately punched him with all the fury she had accumulated in the last half an hour, crushing his helmet. Then she rushed to the escape pods.
Luckily for her, those were pretty close, and Azmorigan was still suffering a concussion when she boarded a pod and departed from the ship.
The Ghost had been waiting in the vicinity so the rescue happened smoothly. As Jaral stepped into the air lock, the pod was detached and the Ghost jumped into hyperspace.
As Jaral walked over the door of the bridge, Ezra immediately hugged her.
"Missed me already, lil bro?" she joked while powering down the armor.
Ezra let her go. "Of course I did."
Then Lando stepped in, walking toward Jaral with Sabine and Chopper behind him.
Ezra resisted the impulse to punch him. Jaral, on the other hand, just crossed her arms and seemed tranquil.
"You played that perfectly." Lando smiled at her. "Thank you."
"Oh, you're welcome." she said softly while putting a hand on his shoulder.
The next second, she grasped the shoulder and swung the free arm to punch Lando's groin.
A loud crack resonated in the bridge, making even Ezra shiver and hissing in pain. Lando was bent over, coughing from the pain.
Jaral was tempted to punch him in the face too, but Lando raised a hand in excuse.
"I deserved that…" he said in a high-pitched tone. "But can we get back to the job at hand?" he finished.
Jaral understood immediately. After all: no job finished, no money and no Chopper back to the Ghost.
"What was in that crate?" Jaral asked severely.
"Come on, I'll show you." Lando said after recovering enough from the pain.
He led the group back into the cargo bay, where Zeb was looking at the cage.
"This, my friends, is my cargo. Sophisticated mining equipment."
The cage moved and a sound came from it.
"Uh, your 'sophisticated mining equipment' is snorting." Ezra said skeptically.
"Just remember not to scare her." Lando admonished as he crouched and opened the cage.
What came out of it was a small, but compact animal with a small trunk as its mouth.
"A puffer-pig." Ezra exclaimed.
"Oh, it's so cute!" Jaral couldn't resist.
Zeb bent a little to sniff it, but when the pig saw him, it started to squeal in terror and ran away.
The pig managed to ran past them and even climb on the yellow ladder leading to the cockpit.
"Catch it!" Ezra said as he and Zeb sprang into action, chasing it.
The two climbed up the ladder, though it was Ezra that reached the pig first in the hallway, catching it in his arms and lifting it.
Zeb was right behind them, and the pig kept squeaking in terror.
"Purple guy, you're scaring her! I told you not to scare her!" Lando said once he saw them.
"I'm not scaring her!" Zeb spat back.
Just as Ezra was walking back to the cockpit to bring the animal back, the puffer-pig inflated abruptly in a matter of a second, bouncing Zeb and Ezra off and effectively separating the group into two sides.
"Oh no." said Hera. "This is bad."
"Nah, she'll stay like this for only a while." Lando tried to reassure her.
"No, it's a problem because Chopper still needs to repair the signature modulator, and its panel happens to be on the other side of the pig!"
Now that was a problem.
"And we're about to leave hyperspace." Kanan added.
Ezra quickly thought what to do.
"Zeb, please get out of the pig's sight." he said calmly.
Zeb grunted, but followed the instruction, getting into another room.
Ezra closed his eyes and stretched his arm, sinking his mind into the Force.
In a few moments, he created a connection with the puffer. The animal slowly stopped screaming in terror and went back to a more peaceful snort.
When Ezra's hand touched the head of the pig, it shrunk back to its regular size, to Lando complete amazement.
"Good girl." Ezra smiled to the pig, which was nestling its head in his hand.
The boy gently picked up the pig.
"How did you…?" Lando asked pointing at him.
"No time for that!" Jaral interjected. "Would you mind asking Chopper to repair the signature, before the Empire blows us to pieces?"
Lando noticed that they just exited hyperspace and were in sight of Lothal, and the blockade.
"All right, my little friend. Would you mind be a hero, and fix it for me?" Lando asked Chopper.
The astromech made his version of a bow and grunted in affirmative before rolling out to make the repairs.
While Ezra started descending the yellow ladder to the cargo bay, helped by Jaral, Hera turned behind the pilot's seat to face Lando.
"Why would the Imperials set up this blockade, by the way? What do they hope to find?"
"Rebels?" Lando guessed.
"Besides that."
"Unauthorized mining equipment, perhaps."
"And why would they be looking for that?" now Hera was facing Lando with her sternest face.
"Maybe because I tried smuggling some here a week ago." Lando replied with its trademark smile.
Hera and Sabine looked at him with annoyance.
"Don't worry. The Imperials are scanning for equipment, machinery. But our girl down there is 100% organic. Their scanners won't detect her, so long as your ship can mask its signature."
"Here we are. The signature modulator is online." Kanan announced, right on cue.
Luckily, the plan worked and the Empire let the Ghost pass undisturbed, thinking that it was the freighter Tontine, authorized for travel between Boz Pity and Lothal. After being scanned by the Star Destroyer, the Ghost was allowed to proceed on the planet undisturbed.
Hera parked the ship in front of what seemed a small farm with a square fence.
The entire group, and the now freed puffer-pig, proceeded to enter the fence. There was only a small building in the center and a few crates lying around.
"This is your land?" Hera asked.
"Bought it off a charming fellow named Vizago." Lando informed.
"Ok, and why was it so important to get the pig here?"
"Because these babies have a nose for precious minerals. One of them can do the job of a dozen mining scanners."
"And the Empire doesn't want private landholders mining Lothal." Jaral understood.
"We're done here." Kanan took a step toward Lando. "Pay us, and we'll finally be on our way."
"He has other debts to pay." a voice surprised them from behind the crates.
It turned out to be Azmorigan, with 6 of his armed guards, holding a blaster pistol as he slowly stepped out of the shadow.
"Azmorigan?" Lando said surprised.
The Jablogian snickered. "Did you forget, uh, that I introduced you to Vizago? Ah, I knew where you were headed." he said narrowing his eyes.
"But your ship." Lando said in surprise. "You couldn't have hidden it anywhere close. You mean you walked here? You don't walk anywhere."
"Well, I do what's necessary to claim my property, Calrissian." he raised his blaster at Lando.
Jaral, however, loudly sighed in frustration.
"We don't have time for this. Ezra!" she said.
The siblings stepped in front of the group and activated their armors. This definitely startled Azmorigan and his guards, who were aware of who those two were.
"Now listen here, you rotten bag of ketchup." Jaral said menacingly. "Here is our offer. Get the hell out and I don't give all of you a concussion."
Azmorigan stuttered and backed off, but didn't lower his weapon. "Kill her! Kill her!" he screamed before firing his weapon, followed by his guards.
Jaral simply put up her Omni-tool's shield function, and a rectangular protection spawned in front of her as she walked toward the pirates.
Two of them were shot by Ezra, who put them down with his lightsaber's blaster, stunning them.
The rest of them desperately tried to break Jaral's shield, but that held up until she was close enough to throw a stun grenade in the middle of the remaining pirates and Azmorigan.
What followed in the few seconds later was a savage beating of the pirates by a very mad Jaral, which the rest of the crew found a bit unsettling.
By the end of it, all of them laid on the ground, after Jaral literally took their weapons one by one and cracked them on the owners' heads.
Azmorigan wasn't spared. As he regained part of his senses, Jaral stood over him, her Tl-50 pointed at the Jablogian's face.
"Start-Moving." she snarled.
The criminals ran away in panic and Jaral went back to her companions, who were chuckling at the scene.
"Remind us never to make you mad." Zeb commented.
"I was a fan of everything that just happened." Lando said. "Except that you left Azmorigan live. That will be a problem for me later."
"Precisely. It will be a problem for you, not us. You still owe us the credits and Chopper." Jaral said, stopping in front of him and crossing her arms.
"Oh, I can give you back your droid, alright. However, there is a small inconvenience…"
"Let me guess. You don't have the credits."
"No, I have some. Just not enough to cover the price we established." Lando said sheepishly.
Without breaking eye contact (even though she was still wearing her helmet) Jaral kept going.
"Kanan, how much did he promised?"
"10.000 credits." Kanan said, amused at the scene of Jaral putting Lando back in line.
"And how much do you have in your pocket, Lando?" she returned to the smuggler.
"Ehm...a bit more than 7.000." Lando rubbed his hands nervously.
Jaral gave a quick look around, and noticed something that the Ghost desperately needed.
"All right, then. We only take 3.000, but we take that as compensation." she pointed at a big canister full of fuel.
Understanding that he had no other choice, Lando conceded. "Sure. It's all yours."
Jaral wasn't done, though. "And since you pulled that nasty trick back with Azmorigan, you're gonna owe me a favor. I'll call it whenever I want and however I want."
Lando now felt intimidated. "S-Sure." he tried to keep a smiling face.
"Marvelous. Zeb!" Jaral finished.
Zeb happily obliged the request and confiscated the canister, while Lando handed Jaral the credits he promised.
Then the Ghost crew finally went on his way.