Star Wars: Saviors of the Broken

Chapter II

"Sometimes, we find companionship in unexpected places" - Carenna Zhagel, from Collected Wisdom of the Jedi Masters

Frank Iero, better known to the galaxy as Fun Ghoul, had heard the news about the Jedi. He knew that they had turned against the Republic. He knew that the traitors were dead now, killed by the clone troopers they'd once commanded. He knew that there had been a raid on the Jedi Temple. He knew that Chancellor Palpatine had responded to the Jedi Order's betrayal by reorganizing the Republic into the Empire. He knew that Palpatine had made himself the Emperor, but Frank couldn't care less about any of it. For him, there was no difference between a corrupt Republic and a tyrannical Empire. What mattered to him were the diamonds.

There were dozens of sparkling jewels tucked away in a government vault on Coruscant, worth thousands of credits on the black market. For hundreds of years, they'd been hidden away, but Frank was sure that he could be the first person in the galaxy's history to break into the vault. He'd been planning this heist for months. Who cared if the vault belonged to the Empire now? The new regime was nothing more than a continuation of the old, and Frank was more than happy to lighten their wallets.

Frank pushed a lever forward, and his ship glided to the ground, landing in a small shipyard in a back alley next to the vault. Already, he loved the handling on his new TIE fighter. The Black Mariah was a small, light ship with incredible speed, and since the Imperial Army was buying up the TIE line starships like crazy, it blended in perfectly with the Imperial fleet.

Of course, he'd felt the need to customize his ship, and as he stepped outside, he admired the graffiti sprayed across the two vertical wings. There was a spider, a scorpion, a cowboy, a jack o'lantern, a gigantic dog. If he was going to fly a stolen Imperial ship, he might as well make it his own.

He pulled a bandana over his face, adjusted his bright yellow jacket, and walked down the street, where a motley crew of thugs and thieves had assembled outside of the vault, ranging from a green Rodian to a human girl around Frank's age to a huge, hulking Wookiee. All of them owed him a favor, and they were repaying him by helping him with the robbery.

"Fun Ghoul," the girl said. "You're late to your own party again."

The Wookiee growled, and Frank suddenly took his blaster out of his holster and pointed it at him. "Call me short again, and I won't be afraid to use this," he said. It was an empty threat, but the Wookiee went silent. "That's much better," Frank said. "Now, why don't we go over the plan?"

The others nodded, and Frank reminded them of the details of the heist. It was a simple plan, really. Frank and a few of his associates would bust open the front doors and intimidate the guards, while the others unlocked the back door. While the guards were distracted, Frank would sneak through the vault, find the diamonds, escape through the back door, and unload them into the Black Mariah. Frank was sure that there was no way that the break-in could possibly go wrong. Soon, he'd have those diamonds, and once he sold them, he'd be living in luxury for years.

The girl and the Rodian headed toward the back, while Frank and the rest of his crew went toward the main entrance. Frank took out his blaster, aimed, and fired a hole through the door. He fired a few more times, and the door crumbled to pieces.

So far, so good.

The robbers ran into the vault, and there were only a few human guards and a dozen or so droids blocking their way. Now, Frank was even more sure that he could pull this off. He could fight off bigger groups in his sleep. There was no reason why he couldn't take on a handful of lightly armed Imperial guards with a heavy-duty blaster. "Let us in to the vault, and we might let you live," one of his associates growled as Frank fired into the air.