-Than-

I found Ster by one of the rear guns, away from the rest of the Specs. He noticed my approach and nodded at me tiredly. I stood by him for a while and watched as space flew by outside.

Finally, I said "Why did you come for me?"

He gave a slight laugh, a tired, half-hearted sound, before saying "I needed to know."

"It was suicide."

"So was staying with the Alliance."

I looked at him curiously, confused as to what he meant.

He noticed the look and said "They claimed you were a traitor. But then I watched them gun down Seyley in cold blood. I made an executive decision."

I nodded and we sat in silence for a few minutes. Finally, I said "And if I was a traitor?"

"I would have brought you in to the Alliance myself. Or killed you."

I expected nothing less. I noticed him stifle a yawn, and asked "When did you sleep last?"

He shrugged.

"I can man the gun. Go rest."

"I'm fine. I don't need sleep."

"If we get in a fight, you'll need to be in top shape, not exhausted and barely standing. I'll cover it for a bit."

He wanted to argue with me, but gave up and walked off. I settled down and stared out into the vastness of space.

About an hour into me being lookout, I heard light footsteps start to approach behind me. Bree walked over quietly and took a seat next to me. We stared out into space for a few minutes before I looked at her. The confidence she seemed to so easily flaunt when I first met her was gone. In its place was fear. For the first time, it hit me that she really was a kid. She was an innocent child that didn't deserve to have her world ripped away from her.

"Why aren't you sleeping?" I asked her softly.

She looked at me before quickly looking back. "I see them. In my dreams. My family."

I nodded.

"I just can't shake that feeling. When I reached out, and I could not feel them anymore. They all felt empty. Lifeless. It was horrible."

A little confused, I asked "What do you mean by empty?"

"You know. They were full of life. Like when I found you on the rocks. You looked really dead, but I could feel that you were barely alive. It is that thing in everybody. You can connect with it. Feel it. But they are gone, and now I cannot connect with them anymore. I just feel… alone."

I stared at her curiously. She noticed this and said "What?"

"You can… feel life?"

"You cannot?"

"No. No I can't."

"Oh." Her face fell and she said "I am sorry. I thought everyone could do that."

Curious, I asked "What can you feel?"

She looked at me curiously before saying "The pilot is old. I do not know how old, but old. One of the stumpy guys, he was injured. Hurt pretty bad. His body is recovering though. No infections. One of the tall ones like you, they are missing a finger. Left index to be exact. A different stumpy guy is in the beginning stages of some sort of foot fungus. Not sure what kind yet." She smiled sheepishly and said "It is not that impressive."

"Are you kidding me? That's extremely impressive." A realization suddenly dawned on me. "Are you Force-sensitive?"

She looked at me curiously and asked "What does that mean?"

"Can you use the Force?"

She stared at me blankly.

"Do you know what the Force is?"

She shook her head.

"How do you not know what the Force is?" I asked incredulously.

"I have never heard of it before," she said defensively.

"Fine. Fine. But I'm not the best person to explain it to you."

"Try."

I sighed, thought for a moment, and said "I'm not Force-sensitive, but from what I can gather, the Force is this… thing that's everywhere. It's rather uncommon, but some individuals are born with the ability to use it somehow. I don't know how they use it or what it is exactly, but these individuals are referred to as Force-sensitive."

Bree stared at me curiously and asked "What is so special about being able to use it?"

"Force-sensitive individuals possess innate power. The person I worked for was Force-sensitive. And one of my old friends. And one of the people that tried to kill me."

I could see her back stiffen slightly thinking about that. The people that tried to kill me killed her village.

I said "I've also fought many Force-sensitives. They are not to be trifled with."

"Why? What sort of innate power could they possibly have?"

I thought back to the first one I fought. "Well, for starters, they're fast. Their reflexes are superb and they can move faster than anything I've ever seen. They're also able to mess with your mind. Your thoughts and emotions."

"Mind control?" Bree asked.

"Kind of. It's difficult to explain. If you've experienced it before and know of it, you can resist it. They're also telekinetic."

"What does that mean?"

"They can move things without touching them, almost as if by magic."

Her eyes widened considerably. "That is impossible."

"Oh it's quite possible. I've seen it happen. And some of the more powerful ones can shoot lightning out of their hands."

"Now I know you are joking."

"Believe what you want. Pray you never have to face one of them."

We sat for a moment before she asked "Why did you think I was Force-sensitive?"

"A Force-sensitive friend said that that's how he learned he had the gift. He could sense the life around him."

"Oh." She sat quietly before asking "You do not have it?"

"Nope."

"But you have faced them before?"

I nodded. "I've killed many of them."

"Why?"

"I was ordered to."

"Did they mind control you?"

I shook my head.

"Then why?"

"It was war. And I believed in what we were fighting for. I believed in the Sith. The Jedi were the head of an oppressive system. Tyrannical rulers of the planets they controlled. Took what they wanted and stepped on the populace. Total disregard for morality and truth."

"You do not believe that anymore?"

"I still believe it. I just no longer believe in the Sith. For no reason, they labeled me a traitor and tried to have me executed. Then according to Ster, they started killing Seyley. Innocent Seyley died. My people, slaughtered. That is something I cannot support."

"Do you think maybe the Jedi were not so bad then? Maybe the Sith lied?"

I sighed. "No. They're still awful. I've seen civilians slaughtered. Families torn apart. The Jedi are the root of a lot of suffering. That much wasn't a lie."

She sat quietly and absently rubbed the ring on her finger.

"Hey," I said. "Things will be alright. Okay?"

"How do you know that?"

"Because I won't let anything happen to you."

She gave me a small smile before letting out a yawn.

"You should head to bed."

"Yea, yea, I know," she said before letting out another yawn. She stood up to leave.

"Sleep well" I said.

She smiled and thanked me before walking off.

I stared out into space. I meant what I had said about protecting her. We needed a place to go. To hide. A place that they'd never look.

Tatooine popped into my head. It was in the middle of Hutt space. It had no useful resources to speak of. It was a mainly barren planet. One that neither the Sith nor the Jedi had any reason to care about. A perfect place to hide. I got up and went to tell the pilot.