-Darin-

I stepped onto the landing pad at the Jedi Temple and started going to my room. The troopers would be along soon. The two platoons seemed to be getting along well. I was worried for a bit about if they would mesh. Well, I was worried about Tag's platoon. They were the wild card.

I dropped my stuff off and made my way to Sadies house.

I walked up to the door, which was slightly open, and knocked on the frame. I heard Sadie trip over something before she poked her head out.

"Hey."

"Darin! Did you pass?"

I nodded.

"Oh my god congrats!"

"Thanks. How are you?"

She smiled nervously at me.

I knew that face. "What did you do?"

She opened the door and I saw boxes stacked in the living room. I walked inside, looking around the empty space in shock.

"Surprise."

"You're moving."

"Yea."

I turned to her. "Why?"

She looked to her Grandpa's old room. "I couldn't stay here."

She got back to packing her stuff. "I don't have much time. They're coming tonight."

"I can help. Where's the new place?"

"There… uhh… isn't one."

"What!?"

"I couldn't find one."

"What are you thinking?!"

"I'm not."

"Clearly. Where did you plan on staying?"

"I haven't gotten that far yet."

I closed the box she was packing so she would actually look at me. Calmly, I asked "What are you doing?"

"I don't know. Don't worry about it."

"See, I can't do that. And you know I can't do that."

"I need to pack."

I let go of the box. "I'll see if I can find a place."

I searched through every database I could think of, and found nothing. Jeez. I never realized how bad the housing situation was. The people were supposed to be coming any minute. Her stuff was outside.

"I got nothing."

"I know. I already checked everywhere." She looked at the boxes and smiled. "Maybe I can build a fort to stay in."

"That's a terrible idea."

She elbowed me. "Lighten up."

"I can't. Not knowing that probably the one friend I have is sleeping on the streets while I'm at my…" I trailed off as a thought popped into my head.

"What?" She looked at me curiously.

"You can stay with me. The new place they gave me is big. It can hold all your stuff. That way, you don't need to be on the street. And you can still look for a place of your own."

"That's a terrible idea. The Jedi and I don't mix."

"You trust me, or at least I hope you do."

"But won't you miss the privacy?"

"I don't care about that. I can find enough privacy in the library or on the roof. Look, it's the best option available, and you know I won't stop until you agree."

She gave up. "Fine. But I'm paying rent."

"You don't have to."

"I'm going to. Now shut up and help me move my stuff."

Sadie was in awe of the building. She looked like a child at a toy store, her eyes darting every which way as she took in her surroundings. She was speechless as I led her up the lift and through the halls to my room. I opened the door and moved the boxes that I was levitating inside.

She walked into the main room and did a little spin as she took in her new surroundings. "Woah. You live here?"

"Yea. Make yourself at home."

"I'm kind of afraid to touch anything. It all looks so fancy." She walked to the right of the main entrance and examined the fancy vase in the middle of the glass table.

"Yea, I feel the same," I said as I started moving her boxes into my room, which was in the hall to the left of the main entrance.

"No don't. I can stay on the couch," she protested.

"You will have the room. Don't make me use the Force to make you accept it."

She wanted to argue, but I used the Force to keep her from speaking. Not by choking her, but by blocking the neural signals to her vocal cords. I let her struggle to speak for a few seconds, then let her go.

"That's unfair."

I shrugged. She followed me through the only door on the right of the hallway and was immediately transfixed by the bed, which was against the left side of the wall and took up a large part of the room.

"That bed is as big as my old room," she muttered, then turned to me and asked "You live here alone?"

"Yea. As I said. Place is too big for me." I opened a door opposite the bedroom door. "Bathroom's here."

She nodded. I pointed to a panel on the wall of the bathroom. "These are in all the rooms. They control light and other stuff."

"What other stuff?"

"To be honest, I have no idea. Never actually got to testing the buttons. Now come on. I've gotta show you something."

I led her back to the living room, opened a door, and led her to the balcony. I leaned on the edge of the rail and looked out to the city below, and she followed suit.

"Oh man…"

We stood there in silence, admiring the view.

"Can I ask you something?"

I turned to her. She had her eyes closed as she felt the wind ruffling her hair.

"Sure."

"Why are you like this?"

"Like what?"

"Like this. Why do you care?"

"I have no other friends."

She gave a small laugh. "Fair enough."

The ringing of my commlink interrupted the silence. It was a message from Tag that they had landed.

"I've gotta go. Troopers arrived."

"What'll I do?"

"Unpack. Feel free to put stuff wherever."

I left Sadie there on the balcony and traveled down to the Jedi Temple. Once there, I found them milling about, unsure about where to go.

One of them spotted me and shouted "General!"

I walked over to them. "Everyone have a good flight?"

The soldiers all nodded.

"Barracks are over there." I pointed down a hall. "I'll meet you guys here tomorrow. You guys know all the formations and tactics already. Tomorrow we'll get you guys to do them together. Go on. Rest up."

Most of them said "Yes sir!" in unison and left for the barracks. Tag stayed back. When the others left, he asked "You got a place already?"

"Uhh kinda. I'll get it tonight."

He nodded. "Sounds good. I'll make sure they're ready tomorrow morning."

I walked inside Bebo's suite. The guards went to stop me, but I showed the hilt of my saber and they stood down.

I walked through the hall and entered the room where Bebo was. There was no party this time, so the place seemed much emptier. It still smelled terrible, but that was just Bebo's funk. Inside, Bebo was stuffing his gut with some weird looking food that looked absolutely nasty. Kali was holding a tray with the vile-looking gunk.

When he noticed me, he waved Kali away. She went to leave but stopped when she saw me raise my hand.

"Hey Kali. How've you been?"

Her eyes widened slightly, surprised that I remembered who she was. She glanced at Bebo.

"I've done well," she said timidly.

"Pay increased?"

She nodded.

"Good. May we please have some privacy?"

She hurried out of the room. Now it was just me and the smelly slug. And the translator droid.

"Evening Bebo."

"What do you want?"

"Right to the point, huh? Fine. I need to use the arena."

"No! You already ruined one of my most lucrative businesses! You know how expensive it is to smuggle animals in? Or acquire droids or vehicles?"

"I'm not gonna use any of that. I need the arena and its ability to change the environment. And I need specialized equipment that is rather cheap for you."

He grunted at me. "How long?"

"Two weeks at most. You'll have to skip one of the Arena Nights."

"No! That's my only revenue source now!"

"Look, we'll pay you. Not as much as you'll make from one Arena Night. Not by a long shot. But imagine this. You never skip a week. So you tell your spectators that you are preparing something extra special. Something extra big. Extra large and spectacular. Tell them that this will be the biggest event you've ever put together. Tell them to bring more people. You also advertise like crazy, saying that it'll be the biggest event ever seen in the Arena. Imagine how many people will come. Think about the swarm of people. Thousands upon thousands of people eager to watch the battles. And think about how glorious the battle will be if you combine two weeks worth of attractions. You're a skilled businessman. I'm sure that someone with your talents could make a tremendous profit from something like this."

He shifted in his seat. I could see that he liked this, but it wasn't enough. I groaned inwardly and said "And I will owe you three favors."

His eyes lit up. "Ten! Ten favors!"

"I will cut you into ten pieces. I offered you three favors, and that is as many as you will ever have offered. Try for more, and you lose them."

"What sort of favors are we talking about here?"

"The Smuggler Code kind."

I could see the greedy smile forming as he imagined the benefit of having a Jedi owe him.

"We have a deal, Jedi. Come. Tell me what you need."