Salaarg:

Kara was almost back at the homestead when Via appeared ahead of her. Kara could see she had a large bandage wrapped around her shoulder, soaked red with blood. 'Did you get him?'

Kara nodded. 'We can go back for his speeder later if you want to. Were you okay?'

'I found a third bounty hunter skulking behind the homestead' replied Via, gritting her teeth as she turned around and begun heading back towards the homestead. 'I killed him' she added.

'Is it repairable?' asked Kara, not wanting to know the extent of the damage, as she took off behind Via.

'Not easily. I was able to recover the parts you bought in Venos and the Bounty Hunters didn't find the ship, despite the massive hole you left in the ground. It's time to get off this stink hole.'

'Even if we fix the transport and get off Salaarg, where will we go?' asked Kara.

'I'm going to Bellassa. You can return to the Empire there, and I'll rescue my brother. Then we can be enemies again.' responded Via. 'It's time to leave here, whether we want to or not. Venos is too and the homestead is ruined. It could be far longer before we can fix it.'

'What about Tanandra?' inquired Kara. 'I'm sure Kuwugra wouldn't mind us staying.'

Via shook her head.

'Can you fly the transport? I can fly a TIE, but that is something different entirely.'

Via shook her head. 'I flew it here, to Salaarg but I don't want that ship in my hands. We'll need a pilot who's more skilful, and can get us away from the Kobane.'

Kara nodded, immediately thinking of Wes.

They climbed over the final incline, looking down to the homestead. The flames had gone out, but smoke still curled up gently, floating skywards. The moisture well was beyond repair and the pen had broken down on three of four sides. The buildings had collapsed on each other, a massive pile of metal, stone and debris. Resha trotted down the hill, stopping at Artax's side where he began to silently mourn.

Via quickly retrieved the pieces she needed to repair the engine. 'See if you can find anything we can salvage' called Via, lugging the scraps in the direction of the transport. Kara nodded.

'Does your ship have a particular name?' asked Kara.

'Well, during the war, it was called the Vigilance' responded Via, clearly thinking about something else as she spoke.

'I guess that suits it' responded Kara, speaking up as Via walked away. 'It's remained vigilant. In a way.'

'Sounds good' called Via absentmindedly, disappearing over the hill. Kara turned away, shaking her head when a sick feeling flooded through her. 'KT!' She sprinted toward the wreckage. The last she had seen of the little droid was just before the attack. KT could have been caught in the collapse. Kara walked in, searching frantically when there was a resounding beeping sound behind her.

Kara spun around and saw KT sitting patiently on top of the pylon that had pinned Via earlier. Kara sighed in relief as she reached out, scooping the droid up. 'You gave me a scare, girl.' KT let out a trill, happily settling into her favourite spot on Kara's shoulder. 'We need to look for anything we can salvage from the wreckage' explained Kara as she walked further into the mess that was their home. Kara found the large tarpaulin that had provided cover when stretched between the two huts and dragged it aside. Most of the shelter and work space was unharmed, only the fringes caught between the two huts. Kara moved to the saddle bag across from her and removed the power packs Merian had sold them in Venos. She clipped them to her belt and holstered her pistol in the belt. She moved further into the wreckage, picking out a cord and pack of the preservative spices Via had used to preserve the Kor-Bantha. She found her rifle and slung it over her back, strapped to her staff. Grey light filtered in over the horizon as morning broke. Kara grabbed a few packs of Sagkor meat as well as a tuft of the Kor-Bantha's leg and stuffed them into a pack with the other tools they'd need. She quickly slung it over her shoulder, allowing KT to resettle herself.

Kara walked up towards the Vigilance. She walked up the dune, readjusting the straps holding her prosthetic leg as she walked. She reached the large transport, buried in the sand. The hole she had burrowed had stayed open and Kara slid down the sand, climbing through the entry hatch. She moved to the back of the ship where the engine was located.

Via was on her knees, with a pair of goggles pulled over her eyes as she welded the TC-5 shell onto the engine. Kara dumped the sack on the floor. KT jumped out of the sack, chirping angrily. Kara snorted with laughter. Via looked up at Kara and nodded before turning back to her work. 'How long will it take to get the ship mobile?' asked Kara.

'I don't know and I can't guarantee anything, but I should be able to get it ready before the day's up' responded Via. 'I think we should stay in here for the time being. The Kobane will be onto us. There might have been more than the three bounty hunters and you can trust the Kobane will come if they hear word of this.'

'Then what?'

'I'll fly it to Venos, then we get a pilot and get off this planet' responded Via. Kara shrugged. 'I want you to find as much food as you can, go into the bunker and carve up a little of the Kor-Bantha if you have to. I have a backup supply of water canteens in the bunker. Bring it all in here and send Resha away into the wild. Come back quickly.'

Kara hurried out the hatch with KT on her shoulder and back towards the old homestead. Resha trotted over from Artax's body and to Kara's side. 'Hey Resha' called Kara gently, smiling. 'I'm going to have to set you free. You can go now' explained Kara, hoping that Resha would make it easy and leave but the massive Kargran didn't move an inch. Kara turned around and pushed the sand aside to reveal the bunker. She pulled the trap door open and walked down the steps into the bunker. As she reached the bottom of the stone steps, she realised just how big it was. The first time, she had only seen inside from the top of the stair case. Kara wandered around, looking through the mismatched collection of items that Via had gathered during her short time on Salaarg. The Kor-Bantha was still wrapped up on one side and Kara quickly spotted the supply of water canteens. She grabbed the box holding the canteens and rested it on her shoulder with one hand when she spotted something in the corner of the room. It was a dark grey, much like the sands of Salaarg.

Kara cautiously strode over to it, kneeling down besides the old, abandoned armour. It was made of chrome, with red lines accenting the joints. It had a red Imperial crest imprinted on both shoulder pieces. It was a Phantom Trooper's armour but it wasn't her armour. It belonged to someone else and Kara had seen Wolfe's armour upon arriving on Salaarg. Hers was scraps, Wolfe's was buried in the shelter. This belonged to Tarkin. Via had killed Wolfe when he had tracked her to Salaarg and now his armour lay before Kara. Kara looked down at her leg, remembering how Via had used her old armour to forge the leg. She looked up at Wolfe's armour. She wouldn't fit it, but maybe she could? If she could deliver the armour to Bronto, Kara knew he would be able to fix the armour and give it back to her. She grabbed a pack and loaded the armour into it, slinging it over her shoulder, holding onto the crate of water with her other hand. She walked back to the trapdoor and walked up the durite steps. Resha was still waiting patiently at the top of the steps. Kara was about to emerge from the trapdoor when a blaster bolt streaked across Kara's vision, catching Resha on the neck. Kara's instinctively leapt back into cover, drawing her pistol. Resha toppled over, already dead from the fatal shot.

'Ha. Serves the filthy Kargran right' chortled a nasal voice from behind the trapdoor. Kara immediately recognised it. Gutso, the Toydarian scrapper and she instinctively knew he was responsible for Resha's death.

'You sure the two girls came here' growled another voice.

Gutso let out a snort before responding, 'positive. I followed them with the bounty hunters. One of the girls had a lightsaber. The hunters bombed the homestead but the two girls killed them. I managed to escape of course, and immediately went to the Kobane.'

'You call skulking around in the desert going directly to the Kobane' snarled the other voice, hissing and Kara knew it belonged to a Salaargi. Gutso had led the bounty hunters to the homestead, and informed the Kobane. Kara's hatred for the fat little beast went up trifold, and she felt an urge to reveal herself and shoot the foul Toydarian, but Kara knew there could be several Kobane above the bunker. She knew she was lucky the open trapdoor had not yet been spotted. Kara crept up the stairs, peering out of the trapdoor to look in the direction of the voices. She immediately spotted Gutso, hovering a few feet above the ground. A tall, dark green Salaargi stood next to him, carrying a massive war spear. Several other Kobane scrappers were spread throughout the homestead, searching the wreckage.

'Look, here are tracks right here in the sand' snapped Gutso, pointing to the ground where Kara had been walking only a few minutes earlier. Kara knew she would have to sneak back to the Vigilance without being spotted. KT let out a quiet trill of distress. Kara looked at Gutso and knew he had led the Kobane and hunters to them. He was responsible for Artax and Resha's death and Kara fought the urge to leap out of hiding and throttle him. Whilst she guessed she could probably kill the Salaargi and Gutso before she was captured, she knew there was no way she could fight her way out of the homestead, yet she couldn't help feeling as though Via would know exactly what to do.

Kara peaked over the edge a little further to see Gutso and the Salaargi turn their backs on her. She sprinted across the dunes, diving behind the collapsed fence that had once marked the pen. Checking to make sure no one was looking, she crossed the final stretch to the Vigilance. She came over the hill and slid down the tunnel, jumping through the hatch.

'Is everything okay?' asked Via, as Kara emerged into the ship, breathing heavily.

'The Kobane are here. They've discovered the homestead. Gutso, a Toydarian scrapper I met in Venos led the bounty hunters here and informed the Kobane' explained Kara. Via's eyes shot open in alarm and she made her way to the hatch.

'Did they spot you?'

'No. But they'll find the bunker and are already scrapping the homestead' responded Kara, slamming the entry hatch shut behind her.

'Can we fight them off?' quizzed Via, eager to know the details. Kara shook her head. 'We'll have to camp out in the Vigilance and hope they don't find us. I want you to cover the hole you burrowed to the entry hatch.' Kara nodded and reopened the hatch before scrambling back out. She started pushing sand back into the hole to cover it up, spreading it across the exposed wing. Within a minute, she had almost covered the entire ship, leaving a narrow gap to allow her back into the ship. Only a moment later, she heard voices coming up the hill behind her and threw herself down the slot, dragging sand down behind her. She slipped through the entry hatch just as the sand begun to pour in. Via pushed Kara out of the way and slammed the hatch shut, sealing it.

'We're trapped' exclaimed Kara, as she realised what they'd just done. It was completely dark in the transport, the small crack of light completely closed off. 'We're completely surrounded by sand. We can't get out.'

'It shouldn't matter if I can get the engine working. We're only under a thin layer of sand and I should be able to fly us out after I fix the engine' explained Via.

'If you fix the engine' snorted Kara. 'What am I supposed to do now?'

'Wait' responded Via, entering into the back of the ship to continue working on the engine. 'You haven't slept in over a full cycle. You'll need some rest.'

Kara snorted and grabbed a sack and cloth and spread them out on the floor in the middle of the hold, gently settling down on them to sleep. With the gentle hum of the engine behind her, she slowly fell into a deep sleep.