Chapter 4 is here. Sorry it took so long, but as the cast are being propelled into the main conflict of the story, I had to be sure I got every detail right for the sake of the remainder of the plot. Special thanks to a few friends of mine who assisted me with proofing my initial drafts of the chapter prior to it being posted. As always, leave me a review a let me know what you think of the story thus far!

Chapter IV - "Occupation"

Thorne informed his fellow Jedi of what he knew as soon as he arrived home. The new information was met with much fear from all of the students, however Volka was quick to bring them back under control. When everyone had calmed down, they gathered inside for dinner to discuss what they knew.

"Thorne, are you sure of what you heard?" their master asked, resting her forehead against her hands.

"Yes, Master. I can't confirm whether or not the information is true, but there have been sightings of a Star Destroyer in the system, larger even than a Venator class. That, and the sightings of a Lambda shuttle entering Peche are not a good combination."

"How can we even trust that they knew what they were talking about?" Tarro asked, seeming to be in denial. "It was just a couple of people saying this, right?"
"That's the only reason we haven't already left," Volka replied. "Are you sure they were from Peche? What did they look like?"

Thorne shook his head. "Nothing special. They were dressed in common clothes, all human. The only thing on them that looked upper class was a necklace one of them was wearing. A pendant that was gold, or electrum, or maybe haysian smelt. In the center was a red gemstone. It looked expensive." Both Shen and Sha'veen came to attention at the mention of the necklace.

"I sold a necklace like that today," Sha'veen stated.

"Was it to an older woman?" Volka asked.

Now it was Sha'veen's turn to shake her head. "No, but she said it was a gift for her stepmother who was coming to town…from Peche."

"Could it be a coincidence?" Thorne asked.

Shen was the next to speak. "I don't think so. I think I saw the same group when the two older ones arrived in town. I saw your customer present the same necklace to her stepmother. They definitely came from out of town."

For a few moments, the table was silent. Mila suddenly excused herself, darting for her bedroom without a word. "Mila," Volka called out, following her as she went and leaving the four eldest students alone at the table in another few moments of unspoken dread.

"We have to leave," Thorne stated coldly, looking down at the table. The other three looked at him, not surprised but grieving those words.

"Where will we go?" Tarro asked.

Thorne thought for a few moments before responding. "I say we head for Tatooine."

"That's a wasteland, Thorne," Sha'veen retorted. "It's owned by the Hutts, and the towns are full of criminals, pirates, and bounty hunters. Six of us would stand out too much, and even if we didn't, we can't forget about Mila. That is no place for a child to grow up."

"At least she'll stand a chance there," Tarro offered.

"We'll still stick out too much as a large group. Bounty hunters will sniff us out."

Shen interjected into their debate firmly. "We can't leave now," he said.

"You can't be serious," Thorne replied. "We can't stay here with the Empire."

"I'm not suggesting we stay, but if we flee the system now, it will only raise suspicion. We need to wait just long enough to make it look natural, so that they don't think we're fleeing their rule."

While the four of them argued, Volka and Mila quickly entered the privacy of the girl's bedroom. Though the old master was prepared to begin comforting her youngest student, she was surprised to see Mila pull out a hollo tablet and begin frantically typing in numbers and calculations.

"What are you doing?" she asked, unable to follow the screen as the young Twi'lek quickly entered various numbers and coordinates.

"I'm so close to finding it, I just need another day or two."

"Finding what?"

"The lost sanctuary," she explained, earning a surprised look from her teacher.

"Mila, slow down. You're talking about a legend, a myth," Volka said, sitting down beside her on the bed and looking at her screen. "You shouldn't hold out hope for…" her voice trailed off as she saw the starmap on the tablet. She watched as Mila typed furiously, narrowing down the remaining systems little by little.

"It's not just a story, I'm sure of it. I've read it again and again, there's no mistake. I can find the right system, and we can be safe there."

Back in the common room, the other four students sat quietly. They had discussed at length their options, but nowhere seemed to work. No matter where they went, six Jedi would stand out far too much. Krant was the perfect hiding place for them, but with the Empire closing in, it was only a matter of time. With a somber but determined look on his face, Thorne broke the silence.

"We have to split up," he said, earning surprised gasps from the other three.

"You can't mean that," Sha'veen said, staring at him in disbelief.

"It's the only way-"

"We stick together, Thorne. No matter what," Shen retorted in disgust.

"It's the only way we can stay in hiding. We're too big a target, and as long as the six of us stay together, we'll never be safe."

Sha'veen began to yell. "We'll never be safe, Thorne! We're Jedi, and we can never escape that."

"We can at least give ourselves the best chance possible."

"So what, are you going to send a nine year old girl out on her own?" Shen shouted. "What chance will she stand out there?"

"What other ideas do we have at this point, Shen?" Thorne asked, his voice rising to meet the others. "We have no choices, no chance together!"

Shen waited for a moment, disappointment in his eyes as he looked at his senior student. With a softer voice, he spoke coldly. "You're just trying to save yourself."

Those words sparked an even greater fury in Thorne. Standing up, he began to shout, "I'm trying to save us all! Oh what, are you so wise now? What's the answer then, huh? What do we do now?" Shen didn't respond, for he still did not know what to do. "Come on, Master, since you know so much, what should we do? Huh?"

"Enough!" Volka's voice sounded from the bedroom doorway. She glared at her students with much disappointment. "We are not without hope yet. Have you all forgotten everything I've taught you? It was the will of the Force that brought us together here, do not forget that." Thorne sat back down in a huff, while the other three focussed on their master. "We are not leaving yet. We didn't make it this far by being sloppy, and we can't paint a target on our backs by fleeing as soon as they see us. For now, we will be patient and wait for the right opportunity to leave."

Most of the students struggled to sleep that night. Mila seemed to be the only one not restless, likely because of her faith in what she was searching for. Little did any of them know that that was the last night any of them would know peace. The next day started as normal, with a short training session before Shen and Thorne departed to start their day's work. Sha'veen was without a shift to work that day, so she stayed behind at the house with the others. Thorne and Shen didn't say anything to his senior student as they walked, but any who watched them could easily tell he was unhappy. The words Thorne had spoken the previous night hung heavy on his mind. That silence persisted until they entered through Echoy'la's main gate, where they parted ways from each other.

The town was more somber than usual that day. With rumors of the Empire's arrival in Peche circulating, very few people seemed happy. Shen went straight to the shop to begin his shift. Inside, the other mechanics on the team were prepping the tools to continue work on the rodian's condenser. Hop, the chief mechanic, stood by and watched as the other two on the team did their work, ensuring that they were doing the job well and offering help when they needed it. When Shen arrived, the two juniors stepped aside. As lead mechanic, it was now his job to head the repairs while the team supported him.

"Alright, bring me the ion torch. Ash, clean up those rivets before I make it around. We need a clean seal before we can test the output on the thrusters," he said. The team quickly followed his orders and got to work, while Hop watched on, smiling at them. At the rate they were working, they would be finished right on schedule.

Even though his job was nothing but a cover, he found the work as oddly therapeutic. With every inch he welded down, each wave of steel perfectly in line with the ones that came before. Shen couldn't help but envision the force as he worked, binding the universe together as his ion torch bound the durasteel plates. It was a peaceful mindset, even though his mind was plagued by thoughts of the previous night. It was hard to imagine having to leave the life they had created for themselves, especially right after having been promoted to lead mechanic. Soon enough, Shen was powering down the ion torch and the team was stepping back from the thruster, admiring their work.

"Alright, Hop, what do you think?" Shen asked as the older man looked over their handiwork. "Let's reinstall the thruster and fire her up, see if the compressor makes up for the loss in power."

"Hmm," he grumbled, running his hands along the welded metal. "Are you that confident in your work?"

Shen hesitated for a moment, feeling as if he was being tested or even asked a trick question. But through the force, he could sense the intentions of his boss, and realized that there was no such test in play. Instead, he sensed a feeling of pride in Hop. He soon replied, "Confident in the team. This thing will work, or I'll eat my left shoe."

Most of the team chuckled at his remark, but all smiled when Hop gestured for them to proceed. Moments later, the two junior mechanics were using a winch to lift the condenser off the ground. Shen and his boss stood by and watched them work, supervising their use of the heavy machinery.

"You did good on this one, Shen," Hop said, nudging his subordinate's arm.

Shen chuckled. "Thanks. I can't take all the credit though. A general is worthless without a few good soldiers at his back."

Hop laughed at that remark, eyeballing him quizzically. "Soldiers? That's one way to put it, I suppose. You're right, in a way," he said, now looking Shen in the eyes with sincerity. "You need a good team to rely on to run a shop like this. A team that respects you enough to follow your lead, and competent enough to pick up the slack when you can't keep up." He realized that Hop wasn't talking about him. "I'm getting old, son. Too old for all these new ships, and too old to deal with customers like yesterday."

"That's why you've got us," Shen said, offering a confident smile. "You run the shop, and we follow your orders."

"No, they follow your orders. You showed me that these last two days, and you've shown me that you possess the qualities of a leader. You are someone who could run a shop like this, maybe even better than I could."

Shen narrowed his eyes as the old man. "What are you saying?"

"I'm too old. It's time I start thinking about retirement, and you seem like just the right person to take over for me. If you're interested, then I can take you on as my apprentice and teach you everything I know."

The two of them were silent for a time. At first, the young Jedi was excited beyond belief. A large smile spread across his face as he beamed. What an offer; what a chance! But reality starchily took hold. The Empire had arrived on Krant, and it was only a matter of time until he would need to flee the system. As much as he wanted to accept, he knew he could never head the shop himself. His smile quickly faded, and his eyes fell to the floor, causing Hop to feel guilty. Both of them opened their mouths to speak at the same time, however they were both silenced by a loud banging on the front door. The muffled voice of the rodian whose ship they were repairing could be heard, sounding even more frantic than the previous day.

Hop let out an exasperated sigh. "Dank Farrik, does she have no patience?" He shouted, marching from the pit over to their main lobby.

"Keep going, guys. Get it hooked up but don't fire her up until we get back," Shen ordered, before following his boss. The two of them entered the lobby quickly and headed straight for the door. As they got closer, they could start to make out her voice and what she was saying.

"Leave now! Please, open! Open door! Leave now!" She shouted, her voice desperate for a response. The hair on the back of Shen's neck stood on end as they approached the door; something didn't feel right.

"We're almost done!" Hop bellowed, pressing the switch to open the door. "Take a breath, lady!"

The rodian quickly tried to force her way past the older man, continuing to desperately scream. "Leave now! No time, leave now! Empi-" Suddenly, her voice was cut off by the sound of a blaster firing off. The rodian instantly fell dead to the ground with a steaming hole in the center of her back.

…

Thorne arrived at the shipping lot at almost the same time as the rest of his crew. Nobody was ever early, resulting in work starting exactly on time each day. Today, they were all able to take an easier start as shipments coming in and out of Echoy'la were light. The crew worked in relative silence, even more so than usual. Each of them would occasionally exchange an uneasy glance. "The rumor is spreading," Thorne thought to himself, looking around at even the townspeople who were walking by.

"Come on, pick up the pace!" Their supervisor ordered. "Just because we're light doesn't mean we're lazy. The faster the work gets done, the more time you'll have to rest in between. At this rate, our shipments will overlap."

The crew members all grumbled to themselves, but did speed up their efforts moments later. As their energy levels picked up, a few of them began to chatter. "Did you hear that the Empire is occupying Peche?"

"You mean it's true?"

"It's just a rumor."

"I heard there's a fleet Moff taking over the whole district."

"Yeah, he's supposedly some monstrous dictator."

Thorne listened closely, wondering how much information was circulating and if there was more for him to learn. Their chatter was generally unhelpful, each of them debating the validity of the rumors, what kind of ships were seen flying where and when, and eventually it devolved into a debate over which shuttles and cruisers were superior. Thorne couldn't help but chuckle at how easily his crew lost track of what they were originally discussing. He shook his head as he activated the anti-gravity suspension on a particularly large crate and pushed it towards the next transport.

"Enough chattering, you lot!" Their boss shouted. "Next shipment is scheduled to arrive in ten minutes. That docking bay had better be available or all of you are taking a pay cut!"

Each of the workers quickly upped their pace, most of them grumbling in irritation as they did. They finished loading the shipment almost exactly as the next one arrived, giving them no time to rest in between before they had to begin offloading. As Thorne worked, his conversation from the previous night hung heavy on his mind. He couldn't shake the words Shen had spoken from his mind. "Just trying to save myself?" He thought, pondering those words. Of course he hadn't been thinking only of himself. None of them stood a chance if they continued on in such a large group. Every other surviving Jedi, if there even were any, would be on their own, keeping to themselves. Going it alone was the most logical choice, yet his mind lingered on Mila. No matter where she went, Mila wouldn't survive. The Empire would sniff out the young girl in an instant if she didn't have the help of the others to hide her. Thorne growled to himself as he moved the heaviest of the crates, using the manual labor to channel his negative emotions and fight off the feeling of despair which was creeping into his mind. As he picked up another box, he took note of how many were left in the shipment, counting twelve. After moving another two boxes, he came back and counted again expecting the load to be nearly complete. He counted ten.

"Come on, guys, are you even moving any?" He shouted, looking around as his fellow workers.

Thorne narrowed his eyes as he panned his gaze around. Each person in sight was essentially ignoring him, and instead had their eyes directed towards the entrance of town. Each and every one of them had a look of horror painted on their face, which made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. Nervously, Thorne turned his attention to the entrance of town, where he saw something he never wanted to see. A battalion of storm troopers had entered Echoy'la, each armed with the standard E-11 Blaster Rifle. At the front of the small legion, multiple troopers stood with orange pauldrons signifying their rank. In the middle of them all stood one single officer dawned in his gray imperial uniform. He stood proudly, with his arms relaxed at his sides. His eyes stared straight ahead at nobody in particular, as if the entire crowd was one entity; he saw no individual, only the collective. The town fell completely silent as his posh voice carried through the streets, amplified by a loudhailer system.

"Attention all. This system, and all of its inhabitants, are now under the jurisdiction of Moff Yittreas. You no longer need to fear. Order will soon be restored on this little world plagued by rebellion. Thanks to the gen-" he was cut off by another voice calling out from the crowd.

"There's no rebellion in Echoy'la, we don't need you here!" It shouted, and was met by murmurs of approval from the rest of the mob.

The officer looked less than pleased; a fact which made Thorne feel uneasy. His arms which were once relaxed at his side moved to cross behind his back as he spoke. "I assure you all, the rebellion is here. Our agents have caught a shipment of rebel contraband entering Peche, and we have traced that shipment to the transfer station here in Echoy'la." Uneasy glances were exchanged throughout the crowd, but most of the stares traveled to Thorne's crew. "But as I said, as new citizens of the Empire, you needn't fear. We shall restore order. And thanks to the generosity of the Empire, you will all be given the chance for a new start. At this very spot, we shall construct a station where you can register for your very own imperial chain code, and exchange old devalued currencies for imperial credits at no extra cost."

When the officer was finished speaking, all was quiet. He stood there, smiling an arrogant smile, as if waiting for some kind of applause or cheering for their arrival. Instead, they were met with silence and hateful stares. Thorne's mind raced, looking for some kind of solution. Not only was the Empire within a stone's throw, but their target was the very transfer yard where he was employed. He wondered what shipment they could be referring to. What contraband had they sent through? Thorne was usually the one to assist in inspections, and he recalled nothing but general goods. Suddenly, he remembered the final shipment from the previous day. The one that only their higher up had inspected and sent through without a second set of eyes.

"That snake," he thought. "He's brought the empire down on all of us!"

A new voice, deep and rough, soon made itself heard. "If you want the transfer crew, they're all here!" It shouted. All eyes turned to see a stout dug, pointing with one of his legs towards the yard crew. The lot of them all shifted uneasily, Thorne more than the others, and some of them even began trying to throw blame about. A small squad of Storm Troopers broke from their ranks and began pushing through the crowd towards the crew.

"Karabast, what now?" Thorne thought. He'd be sniffed out if he ran, and sniffed out if he was captured. His mind raced, wondering if this might be the end of his cover on Krant. How could he escape? Would they torture him? Would he be able to resist them, or would he give up his friends? Fear overtook his psyche.

Slightly farther up the road and around a corner from the gathered crowd, a middle-aged rodian woman was walking. She seemed nervous as a standard, fiddling with her own hands and darting her eyes in every direction. She slowly turned the corner onto the main road through Echoy'la, and as soon as she glanced towards the entrance of town, she froze. Her eyes bulged out of her skull as she saw a legion of Imperial Storm Troopers. At the front of the group of them, an Officer stood directing a smaller number of the troopers off to the side, but his gaze soon fell upon her. With a shrill scream, she turned and began to flee deeper into the city, towards the merchant district.

The officer quickly redirected the Storm Troopers who were on their way to the transfer crew. "After her!" He barked, sending them running. He followed behind them at a slower pace, obviously not eager to exert himself.

The rodian woman fled as fast as she could, however the trained military unit was faster. Little by little, she was losing ground. Many of the pedestrians going about their day were shocked to see Storm Troopers running through Echoy'la's streets. Many of them screamed or ducked into their houses on sight, while the few imperial allies quietly supported the troopers as they ran by. When she passed into the merchants district, she quickly began to scream with a desperate and panicked voice.

"Leave now! Leave now!" She cried, making a beeline for the door of a starship mechanic.

Losing patience, the officer in persuit took the communicator from his belt and spoke roughly into it. "Enough of this. Make an example of her!"

"Leave now!" The rodian shouted, banging on the door of the shop. "Please open! Open door! Leave now!

Right as the first Storm Trooper had taken aim at her, the door finally opened to reveal an older human. "Take a breath, lady!" He shouted.

She quickly tried pushing her way into the lobby, screaming, "Leave now! No time, leave now! Empi-"

Before she could get to safety, the trooper fired a single shot into the center of her back. She was dead the moment the bolt impacted her, and her body slumped against the old man before falling to the floor. Hop and Shen stared in horror as their customer lay dead before them, unable to find the words to say. Shen was able to pull himself together faster than his boss, as he had seen death on far worse a scale before. The young Jedi's eyes traveled out the door to see a squad of Storm Troopers lined up. Walking in front of them at a brisk pace was an imperial officer, who smirked as he saw his target was delt with. Holding that smirk, he walked up to the doorway with his arms crossed behind his back and looked Hop straight in the eyes.

"What business does this criminal have in this establishment?" He asked, glancing around the room.

At first, Hop said nothing. The silence made Shen nervous, and the delay only seemed to irritate the officer. When the old man finally spoke, his words only served to make the situation worse. "What the hell is wrong with you?" He shouted. "You killed her!"

"The rodian was a criminal likely allied with the rebel cell on this planet."

"You murdered her in cold blood!"

"I have served the Empire by eliminating an enemy. Now I ask again, what business did that traitor have here? You dare not make me repeat myself again," he stated coldly, sneering at Hop who only met his gaze with a sneer of his own. The officer's right hand moved forward to rest on his blaster.

Realizing that the situation was about to turn sideways, Shen spoke up. "She contracted us to make repairs on her ship," he said, trying to sound as cooperative as possible. "We can provide all the documents about the ship if they would help your investigation. The last thing we want is business with rebels."

For a moment, all in the shop was silent. Shen's heart raced as the officer's eyes zeroed in on him, his fear making it hard to reach out and sense the emotions of the intimidating man. Suddenly, the officer let his arms drop down to his sides, assuming a more relaxed physique. "A wise choice, boy," he said, before shifting his gaze back to look Hop in the eyes. "Far more sensible than your elder."

The older man sneered and opened his mouth to speak, but he was quickly pulled back by Shen. "Thank you, sir. You know how quickly the mind goes, but we're more than happy to help. Nothing wrong with a bit of order finally making its way to Krant."

The officer chuckled, now turning to face the door. His smirk persisted, but his arms once again crossed behind his back. "Nothing wrong indeed. Be that as it may, this entire system is now under imperial control. The traitor's ship and all documents will be seized for our investigation," he said, beginning to walk out the door. "You are to halt all operations here, until you and all employed are issued proper imperial chain codes. Oh, and you will need to file a registration for this…business…with the Empire before you resume any operations."

"What?" Hop shouted, enraged by what he had just heard. The officer did not stop; he ignored the protest and continued outside. Though Shen tried to stop him, he was quickly pushed aside as the older man chased down his new enemy. "Wait just a damn minute, you can't just shut us down! I've got workers to pay, people to feed!"

"Then I suggest you file quickly," he replied, not even turning around.

His demeanor only furthered the mechanic's fury. "Now you listen here!" Hop said, quickly lunging forward to grab the officer by his shoulder and forcing him to turn and look him in the eyes.

Before any more words could be said, Hop was already on the ground. The officer was clearly well trained, and used a combination of fists and elbows to knock the old man to the ground. Blood dripped from a new cut on his forehead, but that was hardly even a concern as Hop now had every blaster nearby aimed at his head. The officer sneered at him, drawing his own sidearm and taking aim.

"Attacking an Imperial Officer," he stated coldly, a new devious grin appearing on his face. "Traitors like you have only one purpose for the Empire: to serve as an example for all. None shall defy us."

Just as he was about to pull the trigger, Shen bolted out of the shop and placed himself between them. "Wait!" He begged. "Please don't!"

"Move out of the way, boy!" The officer ordered. "Your loyalty bought you my good graces, but it will not save you here."

"Please, you must forgive him. H-he's old, unwell. He meant no disrespect," Shen continued to plead. While talking, he did his best to quiet his mind and connect with the living force around him. Reaching out with his feelings, he tried to connect with the mind of the imperial officer before him and hoped beyond hope that his mind was weak enough.

The officer hesitated for a moment, glancing around at the crowd that had begun to form around them. "He assaulted an imperial officer," he stated coldly, not dropping his blaster.

"He meant you no harm, I swear. He was upset…the rodian, she hadn't paid us yet. We spent hundreds of imperial credits making the repairs to her ship. She was supposed to pay us for that, and now all the parts we used are being seized. His mind is frail, it was just too much for him. He's no traitor, I swear!" The young Jedi couldn't tell if his mind trick was having any effect. The officer had an amazing Sabacc face, showing not even the slightest hint of consideration. "Please, I will handle him and file all the paperwork myself."

For a few moments, there was only silence. Shen held his breath as he stared down the barrel of a blaster only inches from his face, wondering each moment of it might be his last. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the officer relaxed his posture and holstered his weapon. No sooner than he did did every nearby trooper follow suit, causing Shen to breathe a deep sigh of relief.

"Thank you," he said. "We will not forget your kindness. If you need anything, anything at all, the Empire will always have friends in this shop." Those words felt to Shen like vomit spilling out of his mouth.

The officer scoffed. "Keep that man on a tight leash, boy. Next time, I will not be so generous."