LONELY STARS | A Star Wars Story

F I V E

"I did it," I say, not really believing it. I trapped a Star Destroyer in space. For now.
"Not too bad. For the record, I was planning to shoot the hell outta that place once I got the Tie working," the stranger says. I had almost forgotten she was behind me.
"I'm Kiera," I say, "Kiera Duno." I turn behind me. I see two purple lekkus coming from her head- she is a Twi'lek, an alien race from the planet Ryloth. Maybe a smuggler or Bounty Hunter, by the way she is dressed.
"Rela Bosa," She answers, turning in my direction. She has purple skin, rare for most Twi'leks. There are goggles strapped around the top of her head, and she has some sort of jumpsuit on. A long beige scarf wraps around her neck, and she wears a holster belt around her waist. The belt is full of stuff- detonators, about 3 comms, and two blasters. One is a DL-44- a pretty standard weapon. The other is some sort of sniper. It's smaller than a regular one, but by the looks of it, it was expensive.
Rela lifts out her hand. I take it and we shake. I notice her eyes- pools of blackness. They look like they've seen a lot- death, wars. Now that I think about it, that's probably what my blue eyes look like too.
     We both turn back. Me working at the piloting, her at the guns. (Not that we need them. I don't really know what she's doing.)

     "What might you be doing in a Star Destroyer?" I question her.
     "Lost my identification. They ask for it. I tell 'em- 'I don't have it! I lost it!' They don't believe me. I end up there. Worst six hours of my life. So I escape, naturally."
     "Naturally. And, what do you do for a living?" I ask the Twi'lek.
     She sighs. "Ah, well, some smuggling here and there," Called it. "What about you?"
     "Destroy.. Star Destroyers?"
     "You're funny, Kiera Duno." She laughs.
     "Really? How so?"
     "I'm not stupid. Smugglers need to be smart in the head to stay alive. I've been through plenty of tough situations, but maybe not as tough as you. You really don't need that stormtrooper armor to hide who you really are. You fight wars. You save planets. You destroy the Empire. You're a Space-Wizard."
     She's definitely onto me. "How did you-"
     "Your belt," she says without hesitation. I look down and see my lightsaber hanging off it. I shake my head. Yeah she's not stupid, but I might be.
     I thought about correcting her, telling her it's Jedi, but at the same time I didn't want to give her anymore personal information.

     "You smuggle for the Rebellion?" I ask her, still staring at my saber like an idiot.
     "Occasionally. I just don't usually agree with the Empire,"
     "Me either," I mumble.
"You must have a pretty high bounty on your head," Rela says.
"Uh... I wouldn't say high." I tried to say it with confidence. I certainly did not trust this smuggler to not turn me in for the credits.

Silence again.

"So- where are we supposed to land?" I switch the subject.
     "Well, I don't think any planets around here would be too hot to the idea of an Imperial Tie Fighter landing on their lands. Most planets around here are part of the Rebellion."
     "What about the factory in Tatooine? The one the Destroyer landed over?" I ask, remembering the woman who told me it was the Empire's routine check.
     "They have been rebelling against the Rebellion. The Rebels have tried to help them for years, because it's a big town, which means more allies. But they say the Empire gives them more goods and tools, and patrols more. Strict, but they like it."
     "That's not what the people said."

"The only thing bad about Ties are they lack a Hyperdrive," I sadly mumble. "Bee-Dee, pull up a map of- well- of anywhere around here that's safe to land."
"You like that pink droid, don't you?" Rela asks from the back.
BD mumbles: not pink.
"He's new. I like him, though." I rescued BD- an unplanned rescue- when I was at a market four months ago. I was walking around, buying things, minding my own business, when a white BD unit hops up to me and says he's being chased. I didn't know what to do, and I was alone. I thought it'd be nice to have a friend. I told him he was welcome to tag along, and sooner or later a Stormtrooper squad went around town asking if anyone had seen a white BD unit. So, I bought some paint, colored some of his parts red, and bought my ship. The ship I previously crash landed. I guess I'm not known for my flying.
I had asked BD why he was being chased by the Empire, and he said (with hesitation) he stole something from them. He wouldn't explain what it was, but he said he didn't know it was that special to them. He wasn't a friend of the Empire, so he was a friend of mine.

     "Bosa! Bosa, you there?" Suddenly one of Rela's comms sparks to life. I can hear her fumbling for it.
"Yeah?" She asks into it.
"Bosa, one of my men was taken prisoner at the Imperial camp on Vandor."
"And?"
The voice was deep, and seemed annoyed.
"If- if you can find them, I might have some credits here for you. A lot of credits."
"Wow. This person must be important," Rela remarks.
     "You know what to do, Bosa."
And with that, the comm shut off.
"What was that about?" I ask.
Rela sighs- "nothing much, but maybe you could drop me off on Vandor?"
"Bee-Dee, set course for Vandor," He whirrs, and we turn East, heading to the icy planet.

It's pretty much an expansion site for the Empire. Except for one lonely mountain village, Fort Ypso, the planet is like a ghost town. Plus a few hundred wampas here and there.
They must've taken camp somewhere on Vandor. Could be a labor camp.
The planet itself looks dark. "Bee-Dee, scan for settlements," I command. A holographic image produces in front of BD. It shows Ypso, and it's smaller than I expected. The map zooms out, and to the south, a larger Imperial Camp appears. I gently bring down the ship, and we land.
"Good luck-"
"Wait." Rela says. "Maybe- maybe I'll have some credits for you if you help. I mean, the job'll be a lot faster if I have a magic wizard with a glowy stick tagging along. Besides, I know how hard it is for people like you to find decent jobs around this side of the galaxy."
I consider this. It could give me some extra cash to spend. Maybe I could even buy another ship. "Yeah, I guess so."
"Great. Let's start moving." The top of the tie pops open, and Rela climbs out, me trailing behind her. BD hops along behind us.

The first thing we find are crates, sitting in the middle of nowhere. Of course we open them all, and I found some sort of grey poncho. I took off my remaining stormtrooper armor, and put the poncho on over my black pants and undershirt. The sweat in my boots finally evaporated. The temperature is most likely below zero. Snow is falling from the sky, dotting my hair with the white specks.
Rela, BD and I keep walking, until we see a hangar up ahead. Two Ties rest there.
"Hold on." Rela takes out her sniper. She checks our surroundings, then focuses on the hangar. "There's about four troopers, one scout, and one officer. I'm guessing they keep prisoners of war somewhere underground the hangar. The prisoners are most likely from Fort Ypso, and possibly they were taken because they were evicted."
"Are the villagers from Ypso on the Rebellion's side?" I ask.
"They're neutral. I read somewhere they settled on Vandor for peace. About six months ago the Empire set up camp here. No one really knows why. Why would the Imperials want something on a planet in the middle of nowhere?"