//------------------------------//
// Uncertain Allies 
// Story: Alone In The Galaxy 
// by Purple Patch 
//------------------------------//

A foreboding silence hung over the Moga Mouth.
Gallius Rax, Parisian Froul and Rae Sloane kept their eyes fixed on the old Duro and their quivering Ishi Tib quarry.
Hands hovered over their blasters, daring the other to move first.
“The Senator’s comin’ with me.” Cad Bane said again, quietly and threateningly.
“Over our dead bodies.” Parisian growled, trying to be just as imposing.
The Duro sighed.
“If you wanna’ go down that route, fine by me.”
“Okay, look...” Rae held up one hand, keeping the other by her weapon “We’re professionals, right? Can’t we come to some sort of compromise?”
Cad Bane cracked a derisive smirk.
“Compromise? I don’t think that’s something the Empire do very well.”
“Well, we all have our bad days. All I’m saying is that it’d be a waste for us to kill each other over this puss-bag.” She gestured at the cowardly Gume Saam.
“Heh...No argument here.” the Bounty Hunter sniggered “But how exactly do you propose we compromise? I need to get this guy to the Black Sun a.s.a.p, so to speak. If I tell ‘em he died under the IVO Droid’s needle, they’ll cut a lot more than my paycheck.”
“Well, that just stopped being an issue as of three days ago.”
Gallius Rax hopped to his feet with a nonchalant smile and stood between the two.
“It may interest you to know, my good sir, that members of the Imperial leadership and its most prominent financial figureheads, including but not limited to High General Cassio Tagge, First Minister Tannon Praji, Grand Magistrate Kren Blista-Vanee and Tapani High Lord Bal Jaset, will be meeting a certain Miss Savan, kin of his grace Prince Xizor, to bring about an alliance of the Black Sun and the Galactic Empire. The plan was put forward by Admiral Mitth’raw’nuruodo three days ago at a board meeting with Admiral-Secretary Wulff Yularen.”
There was a pause. Rae gave Gallius a puzzled look while Cad Bane gave a snort.
“Big names, big talk, big deal. Yer’ point bein’?”
“Well, simple.” Rax shrugged “Gume Saam comes as part of the bargain, a gesture of goodwill on the Empire’s part. We interrogate him, I can’t imagine he’ll put up much of a fuss, he tells us what we want to know then we hand him over to the Black Sun and let them know of your principal involvement in his capture. You collect the bounty, the pact is forged, we know Toora’s contacts, Palpatine’s on his throne and all’s well with the galaxy.” He cracked another boyish smile “What say you?”
The cowering senator was too petrified to offer his opinion.
Cad Bane’s craggy face crumpled in distaste at the man before him. Rolling his crimson eyes, he gave a sigh that sounded slurpy through his breathing tubes.
“The things I do for a score these days...Fine.” He deposited his blasters, prompting Rae to do the same. The Duro gave Gume Saam an impatient kick and growled “The whiner’s all yours. For now. But you’d better not be tryin’ to screw me over on this. ‘Cause lemme’ tell ya, that never ends well for anybody.”
“Fine.” Rae checked around and gave an order “Corporal, you’ll take the ex-Senator here to the Security Bureau. Inform Grand Commandant Salima of the proceedings and...” she caught sight of the Bounty Hunter’s scowl “And take this fellow with you, if he’ll oblige.”
“Oh I’ll oblige real good.” Cad Bane cricked his neck imposingly. Parisian Froul paled under his gaze but saluted nonetheless, the two of them carting the snivelling Ishi Tib out the club with his arms behind his back.


At their departure, the denizens of the club slowly raised their heads and breathed a collective sigh of relief.
It was over.
“Rae!”
Rae Sloane found herself enveloped by a warm, smooth hug as the young Nautolan who had been seated beside Saam leapt into her arms and planted kisses over her cheeks and one long one over her lips.
Her affection was marred by the feeling of Gallius Rax smirking behind her.
Gently pulling the alien girl off her face, she gave a smile.
“Suui Do...” a relieved smile lit up her face “Kid, I haven’t heard from you since I last left Coruscant. You had me real worried.”
“I know. I’m really sorry.” Suui was close to crying “It’s just...after Fong got out of prison...everything went wrong after that...”
“Sit down.” Rae Sloane took the Nautolan’s hands in her own as the two sat down on a settee. Drosby the Er’Kit barman got them drinks, trying not to look at the unimpressed Gallius Rax.
Suui spoke.
“We...we got the money for a ship, like you said. But...” she was close to crying, her wide, black eyes moistening more than usual “The day we were going to head off for Glee Anselm, Fong asked me to get the holocron of our parents. I mean, he’d never wanted it before so I thought maybe...Maybe he was ready to change at last...But then...”
“He didn’t...” Rae prayed.
“He did!” Suui wailed “When I went back inside, he took off...without me! He left me here! He left me!” She broke down sobbing into Rae’s arms who held her close, rubbing her shoulder motheringly.
“I’m so sorry, Su.”
“After everything! After all we did to get him out of jail...He just didn’t care!” The Nautolan shook with grief taking a moment to collect herself, her cries slowly settling in Rae’s chest.
“You don’t need him, baby. You never did.” The lieutenant kissed her former-confidante’s forehead “He’s a good-for-nothing murglack and if he’s not working off a debt in a spice mine in Hutt Space, he’ll wish he was if I find him.”
“Fong Do?” Gallius Rax butted in with an inquisitive air “Ex-death-stick dealer and information broker?”
“Yeah...” Rae glanced at him “Why? What do you know about him?”
“Well...” he tilted his head in a sing-song fashion and held up his hands “Oh, you wouldn’t be interested.”
Fighting frustration, Rae chose not to encourage him and turned back to Suui.
“So what happened afterwards.”
“I...I had to get back with the Blangko’s.”
“Oh, Su, you promised!”
“I know, I’m sorry, I just...” The Nautolan wiped her wet cheeks “I just couldn’t go back on the streets again. So I...did what I had to for a while. Then when the Blangko Brothers went down, I found work in the clubs. Then Hat Lo started keeping that Ishi Tib here and, well, you saw what that led to...”
The Blangko Brothers, Papeh and Pepah, a two-headed Troig credit-lender and pornography king, was once a sizably-powerful criminal around the Coruscant Underworld but was one of many Rae Sloane sent down, that particular job she worked with Alix Balan and Karyn Faro. When she left, like many criminals, Blangko was able to plead unsafe conviction using his untouchable contacts (Several of them among the Senate) and get back up to his old tricks. A few months after the Declaration of a New Order, Rae and Honor Salima were contacted by Balan and Faro to tell her Blangko had been sent down again, for good this time, and any contacts of his were hereby no longer untouchable nay-sayers but wanted men, as they damn well should have been from the very start.
Rae remembered the celebration they’d held on Ord Cestus, specifically the awkward moment when she, Balan, Faro and Salima had woken up in the same room.
In the same bed.
Suui Do had been one of many girls the Blangko’s had abused and exploited, having begun working with them at just fourteen. Rae had been able to help her as best she could.
It still didn’t seem to be enough. Misfortune had stalked after the girl relentlessly, largely through her elder brother Fong who’d had no qualms against using his little sister as a bargaining tool to compensate the criminals he got on the bad-side of. Whenever he slipped up, which was often for a wannabe like him, he’d force her into satisfying them in his stead, one way or another.
It turned Rae’s stomach.


“Look, Su...” Rae brushed the girl’s head-tails “You need to go with the corporal and the bounty hunter to the head office. Don’t worry,” she held her hand as the alien’s face flashed with fright “I know the Grand Commandant. Honor Salima is a good woman, I’ve worked with her. Say I sent you here and she’ll listen to whatever you have to say and put you in one of the mid-street safehouses. Right now, that’s the safest place for you. Please trust me. I’ll pick you up soon and get you to a friend when this is over, I promise.”
Suui Do sniffed and spoke in barely a whisper.
“Okay, Rae...Thank you...” She kissed her again “Please come see me later...Back when you were around, I used to feel safe. I used to hang out with friends and stuff...” She glanced down “Now anyone who notices me just wants to hurt me...”
“Don’t cry, baby.” Rae kissed her on the nape “I’m back to fix that. When I leave, I’ll make sure you’re safe this time. Now, I need to know, first of all, where was that Ishi Tib due to meet Hat Lo? Did he mention anything?”
“Uh...yeah actually. You can’t go in the Sign of the Tri-Forked Tongue. The place is watertight, even after everything changed. You won’t find anything. But Saam said Lo keeps some of his stuff, important stuff, in a warehouse on Scampac Street. I remember, he said it’s...” she wracked her brains “It’s in between a Koorivar Tailors and a Preserved Gorg Shop. He got drunk with us one night and wanted to scare us so he told us that’s where...” She gave a shudder as her voice darkened
“...He used to work.”
Rae groaned.
"I thought we’d never find it...Never really wanted to. Thanks, Su. You’re a gem.” Clasping the Nautolan’s shoulders, she helped her to her feet with a smile and kissed her forehead “I’ll see you later. Be a good girl for me, okay.”
“Okay, Rae. Thank you so much.” She hopped up and gave her another hug, kissing her again, and turned.
“Honor Salima...” she put a finger to her lips in thought “Tall? Tan? Side-shaved-hair?”
“Yep. You’ll know her when you see her.”
“Yeah, I know her.” The Nautolan nodded “Does she still have that tattoo of a narglatch on her butt?”
Rae blinked.
“How do you...”
“I thought it was a nexu?” The Balosar girl who’d stood by her piped up.
Lieutenant Sloane was nonplussed. Suui Do, meanwhile, seemed in brighter spirits.
“Okay, Rae. Thanks so much for your help. See you later.” And with that, she left with Froul, Bane and the handcuffed Saam.
Sloane straightened her uniform and snapped at her associate, not turning to look at him.
“And you can wipe that look off your face, Mr Rax.”
“As you wish.” Gallius Rax gave a sardonic chuckle “Though I must say, for someone who reacted with such famous indignation when a certain Grand Moff Crodd declared you’d only spent so long in the Coruscant Police so as to plough every working-girl in the Underlevels...”
“Finish that sentence at your peril, Mr Rax.” Rae fixed him with a murderous glare. The insolent investigator held up his hands in mock-apology.
“Very well. Though I will simply say you do seem to have an odd habit of picking up unfortunate stragglers.”
The Lieutenant shrugged.
“Well, someone has to.” she sighed “Now, what do you know about her brother that I don't."
"I said, you wouldn't be inter-"
"Wrong."
Gallius gave his lips a purse and looked around, pretending to feel awkward.
"Let's just say that pissing off the Pyke Syndicate does not do wonders for one's health, physically or mentally."
Rae scowled.
"Fine..." She was done talking to the cocky spy for the day "Come on. I know the place.”


*


“WHAT?!”
Hat Lo round, raw face went puce with fury as he held his commlink close.
Seib Nodd held up her half-concealed hands and bowed.
“Your grace, are you discomforted?”
“Not even close! I’m frakking pissed!” The Crime Lord swatted at his secretary with his cane. The woman didn’t seem to react to it, simply stepping back with another bow.
The two twi’lek girls meanwhile, were backed in a corner, holding each other for support.
And Pipsqueak stood stock still in his cage, hoping not to be noticed, knowing full-well he was the one Hat Lo would be most likely to take his anger out on.
“They have Saam in custody!” The little man was close to exploding with rage “Wiped out my gang in the Moga Mouth! Every frakking one!”
“W-w-w-well...where does that leave us?” Tan Divo mumbled, twiddling his hands nervously.
“Up the Poodoo Nebula without a hyperdrive, that’s where!” Hat Lo massaged his temples a moment, pacing back and forth.
“The claim is that the club was attacked and the Senator abducted by an undercover Imperial Officer under the name of Lieutenant Sloane.” Nodd added.
Pip’s heart sparked with hope at hearing Rae’s name.
She was coming. What started with Gume Saam would lead to Hat Lo.
He was saved.
Hat Lo’s glare wiped the smile from his face. The crime lord gave a growl.
“Of course that schutta would have to be back! Alright...You!” He pointed to Lunae and Ayy who snapped to attention “Get this stuff down to the safehouse, right now!” He snatched the documents the Inspector had been cradling and tossed into Pip’s cage. Divo gave a frightened burble and tried to grab it back.
“No, no, Mr Lo, I need those!”
“Not yet, you don’t. You don’t get your compensation until you make sure that safehouse is locked down and Saam’s out of his cell. Go down to the head office and get that broad to let him out!”
“But she won’t listen to me if I don’t have any barter!”
Hat Lo gave a loud groan, stormed over to the cage, snatched the documents back and opened them a moment.
“Salima...Salima...Okay, say you know who’s been spreading that graffiti art of Tarkin and Daala ‘in a series of intimate situations’ all over the plaza.”
Divo’s milky eyes bulged.
“Her?”
“No, dumbass, her niece. Glira. Just say the word and she’ll crack!”
“What about Balam? And the Yularens? Any dirt on them?”
“I’m not giving you anything on anyone ‘til you do as you’re told!” Lo snapped “Get down there, get Saam out before he says anything and have your droids lock down my warehouse!”
Obligingly, Tan Divo waddled out the room on his spindly legs.
“What about the girls at the Moga Mouth?” Tas Kee spoke up “Knowing Saam, he must have let his beak run away with him when in their company. One of them has to know something and Sloane knows almost every hooker in the Underlevel.”
“Damn it...” Hat Lo shook his head “Okay, Mumpfasoom, that’ll be your area.” He handed the grinning Leffingite a holocron “All my girls are tracked. If any of them head near the station, follow them and...well...I’ll leave them in your care.”
The ugly alien’s smile stretched across his features, drool running out the middle of his lips as he shuffled off.
“Right, Miss Kee, you go with the ladies here and see them into the warehouse. Have it locked down and guarded and then,” he fixed the two twi’leks with a vicious glare “Find out just what was taking our good ladies so long to tell me the Empire were after Saam!”
“B-b-but, boss...” Lunae stammered as Tas Kee grabbed them by the shoulders.
“You heard the big man.”
“Heh, big man...” The little foal was heard to give a small snigger.


A deadly silence hung over the room.
‘Stupid!’ Pip cursed himself in his head ‘Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!’
His brow furrowed with so many creases it resembled a roadmap, Hat Lo stomped over to the cage and shoved his cane through. A crackling bolt of electricity shot into Pip’s shoulder and sent him slamming into the bars behind him. The colt cried out in pain and clutched the burn mark that was slightly smoking.
Struggling not to show tears, he stared at the venomous criminal’s eyes boring into him.
“You don’t seem to learn, do ya!” he snarled “You don’t make fun of me in my city, you little maggot! Nobody mocks me! Nobody!”
“Boss, please, don’t hurt him!” Ayy Vida’s voice piped up, fighting to ignore Lunae frantically trying to shush her “He’s just a kid, he won’t-”
“Shut it!”
Slap!
With a whimper, Ayy Vida fell to one knee, clutching her cheek, tears streaming down her cheeks. Lunae was held back tightly by the weequay henchwoman while Hat Lo stood over her like some nightmarish overlord.
“You wanna’ get the same as he does, you stupid little skag?! Do ya?!”
“Hey! Stop that!”
All eyes turned back to Pipsqueak once again. This time however, there was no feeling of guilt or terror. He stood against the bars, poking his muzzle through, baring his little teeth and giving off the biggest scowl he was capable of as he yelled at his captor who moments ago had singed him.
“You leave her alone!”
Lunae Minx held her mouth open in surprise.
Tas Kee raised an eyebrow with disdain.
Seib Nodd gave a long inhale behind her veil in a gesture of outrage.
Ayy Vida stared, a spark of hope in her streaming eyes.
And Hat Lo looked ready to pop a vein.
“You what?” he choked.
“I said leave her alone, you...you...bully!” Pipsqueak gave a short, blunt billow out his nostrils, something he’d seen ponies do when they wanted to look tough.
Hat Lo pressed his stubby fingers into his forehead and massaged fitfully and spoke through gritted teeth.
“When this is over, crap-stain, I’m gonna’ make you wish ya mother never pushed you outta’ her!” he hissed at the colt “You better believe me when I say you will never have felt real pain ‘til after I’m done with you! Kee!”
“Right, boss.” The weequay nodded and hauled Ayy away, pointing to the cage. Tentatively, Lunae obediently opened the cage, grabbed Pip by the forehooves and held him tightly, trying to shield him from her master’s view.
As Pipsqueak huddled against her shoulder, he heard her whisper.
“Look...You’re a good kid...But please shut up...”


Outside, on an elevated platform where a rotund speeder-truck waited for them, Pipsqueak caught a glance of the world outside.
The sky above looked as if it were night but the city below seemed like midday. Aerial traffic was flying past on mid-air roads over warm, yellow lights illuminating the ground. It was like nothing Pip had ever seen before. It wasn’t so much the splendour of the place, it was the sheer overwhelming sensation of it.
Canterlot couldn’t compare, nor could any city Pip had ever seen pictures of.
Tas Kee pressed a button on a wrist-guard she wore and the back of the speeder-truck opened up. She gestured at it, fixing the three with contempt.
“Get in.”
“Okay...But please drive safely.” Ayy mumbled.
It didn’t go unignored by Kee who grabbed her by the chin and growled.
“Listen, I don’t want to have to deal with you the same way I dealt with poor, stupid, little Sel Maa.” she sneered “Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed every moment of it but it took forever to clean up your vomit and if it gets in my truck, it’ll only get worse for you...Now shut up and get in the back.”
Lunae and Ayy nodded, silent in fear, fearing to look at the woman.
Backed into a truck with a long, narrow incline on one side that served as a seat, the two twi’leks sat down. Lunae held the little colt in her hands, gave him an impatient look and handed her to Ayy.
The twi’lek’s hands were soft but cold. So was the rest of her, Pip discovered, as he found himself hugged by the young woman.
“Um...excuse me...” he murmured “I-I-I know you two are having rather a bad time of this but... please could you tell me what’s going on?”
Lunae placed her hand at the bridge of her nose and groaned.
“You’re really not helping.”
“Lunae, please, it’s okay.” Ayy held up a hand “It’s just us here...I...” She turned to Pip “I guess we could um...” She cast a sheepish look to her friend “Can you tell him?”
“Do you want me to hold him as well?” Lunae gave her an unimpressed look.
“No, no, he’s fine. He’s light...” Ayy purred contently as she hugged the little colt “...And warm.”
“Um...thank you, miss.” Pipsqueak said, a mite uneasy, but not uncomfortable.
He was only glad his mother wasn’t around to see this. She’d never really approved of him hanging around with girls.


Lunae gave him a look that wasn’t resentful, just fed up.
“So, how exactly did you come here?” she began.
Pip puffed his cheeks bashfully.
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you. I was with an officer. Her name’s Rae Sloane.”
“Oh...” Lunae sighed “Well, at least you weren’t dumb enough to say so when Hat Lo was throwing a fit. Sloane’s been on the bad side of every criminal in the lower and middle cities since she first joined the academy...and the ones in the high cities weren’t too fond of her but most of them are all dead now, thanks to Amedda’s finest. Sloane has cost Lo literal millions since she worked the streets.”
“Do you know her?” a spark of hope shot through Pip’s chest. Maybe they could get him back to her.
“Not personally.” Lunae answered, shooting down that possibility “But she’s notorious. A real go-getter, her job’s her life and when she picked up a case she worked it till she dropped. And now that there’s an Empire running things, when she puts someone inside, they stay inside.”
“So...you like her?”
The two twi’leks gave him an odd look.
“Kid, Rae Sloane scares the crap out of us!” Lunae said bluntly.
“Wh-why?”
“Because she makes Hat Lo very angry and Hat Lo very angry scares the crap out of us! In case you haven’t realised, we aren’t exactly a legal profession here.”
“Yes but...It looks like this Hat Lo character’s forcing you to do what he wants.”
“Of course he is. But that doesn’t change anything. This is the Empire now. If you’re involved with any criminal activity, you go down with the rest of them. You go down hard, and you rarely ever get back up.”
Pip was quiet.
This was a side of his current protectors he hadn’t seen.
He wasn’t under the illusion they were perfect people. Tarkin had certainly struct him as very abnormal. But was Rae part of that strange group?
“Why is that?” he asked quietly.
“Simple. Because the Empire know that if they don’t rule Coruscant’s streets with an iron fist, then the criminals do, as they did during the Republic. No other way works here, not on Coruscant.”
“I see...” Pipsqueak found himself lying. He didn’t see at all.
How was that the only way? How could things have ever gotten that bad?
It wasn’t like Canterlot or anywhere else he knew.
But then, how much did he know Equestria?


“Um...so who’s Hat Lo?”
“Kid, you’ve probably seen enough of him to know who he is...and what he is.”
Ayy rubbed her reddened cheek, wincing. Pip gave it a look.
“I’m really sorry about him hitting you, Miss...”
“Oh, um...thanks.” She gave him a heartened smile “Call me Ayy.”
“You should be more sorry for yelling at him! Do you honestly have a death wish?!” Lunae said impatiently “I’ve been trying to tell you to keep your head down and your mouth shut. That’s the only way you survive in this city.”
“Sorry, I just...I couldn’t let him hit you. You’ve done nothing wrong.”
“Shows what you know...” Lunae muttered.
Ayy cradled him fondly and whispered.
“You were very brave, kid...Braver than I could ever be.”
“So, how did you find yourselves in with...him.”
“Well, we’re not. At least not anymore, not since-”
“Ayy! Shut it!” Lunae hissed.
“Sorry, sorry...” Ayy winced, as if cursing herself.
“It’s okay, it’s okay.” Pip said, instinctively “Look, I’m not interested in whatever this man’s doing or what he’s making you do...I just want to know how it happened. This sort of stuff...confuses me.”
The two twi’leks sighed.
“There’s not much for me to tell.” Lunae said dismally “My dad was a cop, married to the job, even before his divorce. Don’t know where my mom ended up, otherwise I’d have gone with her.” She shrugged “I was an impressionable teenage girl, wanted to go out and experience the wild side of life and my dad wouldn’t let me out the house without his notice and a police droid on the watch...So I snuck out and made friends in the gangs and ended up here...Just to get back at him.” She lowered her head, traces of what may have been tears in the corners of her eyes.
“Shows what a dumbass I was...”
“As for me, well...I was one of the countless refugees that flooded into this planet when the Clone Wars kicked up.” Ayy added “I came here with my mom. She was rich back home but that just made her a bigger target for a spice addiction she caught here. By the end, she was willing to sell anything she had for it...even me.” She shuddered “So I ran off and found protection in the only place Coruscant’s underlevels would provide; from the gangs.”
“Why don’t you leave? I don’t think anyone would know as long as you were careful.”
Lunae and Ayy gave each other a look.
“Sel Maa thought the exact same thing.”
Pipsqueak blinked.
“Well...what happened to her?”
“...She was wrong.” Lunae shook her head “That’s how things work here. I don’t know what you’re doing here or why but take it from me; it was the biggest mistake of your life. On Coruscant, the only way you protect yourself from the worst person you know...is hiding behind someone even worse.”


*


The mask did nothing to obscure Coruscant’s ugliness.
As the Dusk Trooper paced slowly through the streets, he kept his gaze broad and open.
He knew as well as anyone that every city’s high rises hid long shadows. And you didn’t have to be in Coruscant for ten minutes before you dreaded what kind of things those shadows hid.
Though the things in the light weren’t all that much better. Human or alien, those who dealt in such a place as this were a thoroughly sordid sort.
The murky streets were lit up by a giant holoscreen. A conical yellow head with a pair of eyestalks on either side of its head chattered out the screen, its dry lipless mouth clacking indignantly.
Acros-Krik, the Ongree Mayor of Coruscant’s Uscru Entertainment District, a thoroughly corrupt and unscrupulous individual.


‘I am speaking to express my severe disappointment in any Coruscanti misguided enough to be supporting the charlatan, Trey Duma, in this year’s elections. The man is nothing more than an Imperialist self-promoting stooge who I have on good authority fools around with far too many women below his age. And on that subject, I have heard of the accusations levelled against my office and I declare them unbased and biased. She was the instigator, I tell you, and I conducted myself properly by. I never touched her-”


The Dusk Trooper gave a sardonic shake of the head.
Acros-Krik was a fool. It was common knowledge that he’d been involved with the dealings of the Black Sun since before the Clone Wars. But after the Black Sun’s leaders lost their heads to a pair of mad Zabraks, many of their so-called friends had jumped ship, taking up with their chief rivals such as the Hutts, the Valarians and the Pyke Syndicate.
Now, however, the formidable new head of the Black Sun was set on teaching each and every one of them the folly of their disloyalty. Acros-Krik knew his life was on the line. If the Black Sun didn’t come after him, the Empire would. He was desperate to cling onto whatever power he believed kept him safe.
Playing the 'Alien Card' had worked for him during the days of the Republic but doing so under the Empire would only land you in even more trouble.
Acros-Krik had made himself the face of Coruscant and learning only too late how foolish that was.
“Get that kid! Somebody stop that kid!” a throaty yell sounded across the street.
A little Togorian girl who didn’t look much older than eight was rushing in terror out of a street corner, wearing a dirty, flaxen dress. Following her was an old man, human or humanoid, out-of-shape and draped in a furry yellow jacket and a strange tubular hat. The Dusk Trooper thought he looked absolutely ridiculous, the look of a wannabe gangster.
As he yelled, an IG Droid followed the direction he was pointing, running ungainly but fast, its block-like feet clanking on the road. The little Togorian gave a frightened squeal as she tried to quicken her pace. But she was a little girl in a long shawl, tripping her every few steps, and the IG Droid, while unarmed, was unrelenting.
No-one moved to stop it. No-one would. Anyone who could afford an IG Droid was a man best avoiding.
The Droid was gaining fast. The Togorian was crying, wailing for anyone to help.
No-one seemed to hear.
No-one except the Dusk Trooper.
His eyes darted like lightning. Glancing through his visor, as if scanning if he were a droid, he noticed a sizable object in front of him. Some old rubbish, compressed into hard but light cylinders about half as tall as a person.
The Togorian passed him.
He waited.
Waited.
Then, deliberately treading on a corner of his cloak, he tripped over the boxes and knocked them to the side of him, right as the IG Droid approached.
The matchstick-shaped robot fell like dead tree, colliding with the garbage and ending up jumbled in the rolling obstacles, unable to find his feet.
The man in the ridiculous yellow jacket gave a scream of anger and lumbered up to kick at the droid impotently, promising it the scrap-heap.
Once the noise had subsided and a handful of Coruscant Guard approached the scene, the Dusk Trooper ducked into another corner, his cloak hiding his feet so cleanly he appeared to hover.
Hoping he’d got the accent right, he spoke.
“You can come out. I’m not about to hurt you.”
He impressed himself with his own knowledge of the Togorian language.


There was a shuffle behind the dumpsters as the little alien crawled out. A fluffy, golden-brown creature with messy black hair, tufted-ears, a tiny pink nose and wide, staring, green eyes restless and frightened.
“You...speak Togorian?” she mumbled.
“A little.” The Dusk Trooper answered, kneeling down to look her in the eye “Are you hurt?”
“N-not really...” She looked down “I’m not a thief.”
“I know. You wouldn’t have called for help if you were. But I’d like to know why you were running.”
The girl shivered, brushing away tears from her eyes, thin silver whiskers on her cheeks and brow shaking.
“That man...He told me to get into the back of an airspeeder. He wouldn’t tell me why and the more I asked, the more angry he got. I-I-I was s-so scared!”
She covered her face and cried. Tentatively, the Dusk Trooper held her shoulders and bowed his head.
“It’s alright.” he said calmly “It’s over now. I’m not going to let them find you.”
A moment later, the girl hugged him, wrapping her little arms around the cowled shoulders.
“Thank you.” she whispered.
“Do you have parents?”
“Y-yes...But I haven’t seen them for three days. We...We came on a refugee ship but it...c-crashed...somewhere in the other district.” she whimpered “Everyone ran out, I fell over and when I woke up...I couldn’t find my mama...”
“I see.” The Dusk Trooper checked round the corner, casting his eye across the streets “I would see a guard and explain your problem at the municipal office. Tell them about your parents and about the man who scared you.”
“B-but...the soldiers scare me.” The girl was biting her claws in anxiety.
“Do they.” The Dusk Trooper gave a slight chuckle “That’s quite alright. They scare me too. But there are some I know you can trust. Give me a moment to check...”
He didn’t need long to watch. Passing by, heading for the escalators for the upper city and the municipal office, was his compatriot, Parisian Froul, accompanied by an apprehended Gume Saam, a Duro in a longcoat and wide-brimmed hat and a Nautolan girl in skimpy clothing, covering herself with a thick black coat.
“There. The young blonde officer with the Duro, and the Nautolan.” he pointed “Go and tell him you need to see the guard. I’m certain he’ll oblige. He’s a good man...”
“Thank you...Thank you, thank you, thank you!” The little Togorian nodded rapidly in thanks and gave him another quick hug before scampering over to Corporal Parisian Froul, hopping over to clutch his leg.
“Er...hello.” the young man said awkwardly, trying to keep steady with the child clinging to him.
“Friend of yours?” Cad Bane asked sarcastically.
“Aw! She’s so fluffy!” Suui Do exclaimed in joy.
“Can I speak to the guard?” she spoke in her best Galactic Speak “I’ve lost my mama and I saw a bad man.”
“...right.” Parisian cleared his throat “I should think that’s fine. Follow us, we’re on our way there ourselves. No worries, little one, you’re quite safe with the Empire’s guard.”
“Speak for yourself!” Gume Saam snapped indignantly.
“Can it, you!” Cad Bane retorted. As the four walked off, the little Togorian turned and waved a grateful goodbye at the Dusk Trooper who nodded in thanks.
Togorians were one of the several species who had recently been put on the ‘Level 1 Special Civility Affirmation’, a list of the galaxy’s species reconsidered by the Imperial Bureau and judged ‘safe’ in the public eye, allowed to live, work and speak as Imperial citizens, a mostly ceremonial act but one many were grateful for. How long they’d stay on that list was anyone’s guess but regardless, however safe the Empire felt in the company of aliens, it was rare that those aliens felt safe in the company of the Empire.
Nonetheless, there were worse people to live under. Hat Lo was one of them.
His good deed for the day done, the Dusk Trooper returned to his scanner.
The object of his attention wasn’t too far.
He paused.
The object had moved. Far outside of where he'd expected.
It wouldn't have been moved unless...
Checking his blasters, the Dusk Trooper found a suitable spot to use his jet-boots and headed for the Sign of the Tri-Forked Tongue.


*


It was fortunate that the Arcona had been placed on the Special Civility Affirmation with honorary status for their open support.
Glandon Froul had always loved their music. He had it playing through his office as he worked, his free hand idly gliding back and forth to the soft but inspiring rhythms.
To say he was busy would be an overstatement but he was occupying himself, checking through the collected data for the upcoming battle. The Empire would have more than enough heroes leading the front.
He liked to know who he’d be working with before a battle.
And, if possible, who he’d be fighting.
An ugly assortment, and not just in the aesthetic sense.
Guun Cutlax was such a fearsome-looking Dashade he was surprised the holoprojector didn’t break. Pale, razor-teethed, one-eyed and hook-handed. Looking at his list of horrific crimes, it was no wonder he had earned the death sentence on a hundred systems.
Pugglugg was a warty, sunburnt Gamorrean, morbidly obese even for one of his kind, walking around on a set of cybernetic stilts, his skin almost orange, his warts purple, discoloured after a lifetime of faring close to suns to hide from his quarry.
Jerd M. Waunkitongo was a squat, saucer-eyed Toong, a bloated, flat, green, egg-like face on legs, dressed up with fanciful decorations of his own creation.
Then there were Aqualish. Tusked, spider-eyed creatures. Though Senator Vagger represented the Andoan Free Colonies, sizeable and wealthy territories of their species, the majority of Aqualish were fiercely anti-Imperial, as much as they’d been anti-Republic several years before.
Kendu Ultho, Warden of Andro Prime, bedecked in rich, winter-clothing that befitted both the icy coldness of Ando Prime and the even icier coldness of his four menacing eyes.
Daragi Hoba still served as the First Minister of Ando, the de-facto ruler after Po Nudo’s death, still wearing mourning garb decorated with a collar of furry, crimson curls from some unknown animal or plant.
There was also a Neimoidian among them, Marath Vooro, Customs Vizier of Enarc, finely-garbed and possessed of a strange infection that left one of his eyes swollen and surrounded by fleshy, orange bags.
He couldn’t yet determine if Toora would stand among them personally when the fighting began.


There came a tap on his door which he opened from his desk.
A young Imperial officer, one of the Praji family from the looks of her, saluted and spoke.
“The Senator of Alderaan requests an audience, your excellency.”
Glandon Froul felt something hard jump in the pit of his stomach and for a moment, he considered excusing himself on grounds of ill health. Conversing with the Senator of Alderaan had always been a dreaded duty among the officials. Bail Organa had always had an unfortunate reputation, military minds seeing him as sanctimonious, self-righteous, rigid in his impractical ideals and showing no respect to the men and women who really protected the Republic he was so proud of.
Glandon hadn’t actually ever seen him as that. Despite all the problems Bail Organa had with him, Glandon Froul had always quite liked the man. Since he’d gone into hiding after Order 66, he’d hoped Organa was working to make peace with the Empire in what he hoped had been a catastrophic misunderstanding.
Yet many more now missed him. For in his place was another, even worse in reputation.
With a sigh, Glandon Froul massaged his temples and nodded.
“Send her in.”
A young woman entered all in white. Her face was pale and tight, her gleaming lips thin and pursed, her sky-blue eyes restless and suspicious. Her thin nose, line-thin eyebrows and slightly sunken but powdered cheeks made her look elongated, as if stretched. Her hair was clay-brown and tied up in a curling bun behind her head with intricate pins and brooches. Alderaanian dresses were famous for being incredibly rigid and this was no exception. The dress below the belt was so cylindrical and the collar was so high that if she turned her back to him, he could mistake her for an unusually tall wastebasket.
Senator Elenwen Juben, the new Senator of Alderaan, carried herself with poise and elegance but many among the Empire knew her to be delicate in disposition, and not in a good way. Tapped against and the glamour would shatter and she would lash out. How and why she was appointed was anyone’s guess. She was no friend of the Organas, this was common knowledge.
But neither was she a friend of any in the Empire.
She walked past the young Praji, flatly pushing her aside with her fingertips, not caring to look at her. The Praji girl gave her a scowl but said nothing.
“I will speak with you in private, Governor.” Juben said without a shred of courtesy or patience “Immediately.”


Glandon Froul looked up and gave the woman an unimpressed look.
“Senator, while you are in my office, by your own volition, you will speak with me when I choose and with whom I choose.”
“Do you presume to intimidate me, Mr Froul?”
“Miss Juben, if I wanted to intimidate you, I’d send someone else.” The Moff replied quietly. He gave a nod to the Praji girl who saluted and left the room.
“I have come on behalf of the Delegation, governor.”
“I did not doubt it. Now, how may I help you?”
Juben raised an eyebrow.
“Is that a genuine query or false courtesy?”
“Whichever is less of a hassle.”
“If you genuinely wanted to help me, governor...” the Senator tossed her head “You will pull your troops out of the Mid Rim, take them back to your outpost, disband them there and secede any and all military and political authority before heading back to Coruscant to tell your Emperor and his Inner Circle and Moffship that the Delegation demand they do the same.”
There was a pause.
“I see.” Glandon said mirthlessly “I would ask where such authority comes from.”
“A stupid question.” Elenwen snapped “It comes from the Galactic Senate of the Republic!”
“That particular authority does not surpass those of the Moffs or, for that matter, the Emperor.”
“That is where you are wrong, Mr Froul.” The woman gave a tight smirk “Under the rules of the Republic, if the Chancellor, or whatever he’s calling himself, chooses not to abide by the Senate’s expressed wishes and/or instructions, his authority is vetoed and passes to the Senate, the chief elements of which are represented in the Delegation. And now, we will make our wishes known by one means or another.”


“Miss Juben...” Glandon stood “Your wishes are impossible for...a great number of reasons.”
At this, perhaps more by Glandon standing up than his words, Elenwen Juben slammed a fist on his desk.
“We are not to be perturbed, Froul! We are the Senate!”
“No.” Glandon raised one finger in the air, undisturbed “Palpatine is the Senate...I think you’ll find.”
“No longer!” Juben retorted “No man, whatever his station, is allowed to interfere with the decisions of the democratically elected leadership of the Republic. As such, we have cut ties with the man who calls himself ‘Emperor’. It is we who represent the Republic and its interests until this farce is at an end.”
There was another pause.
“So...let me understand this?” Glandon said slowly “You present yourself as a representative of an independent party?”
“Indeed.”
“In that case, madam, I must ask...” he cleared his throat “What authority do you have over an empire you have cut all ties with?”
Juben blinked a couple of times.
“...Don’t change the subject!” she snapped “You are to bring our demands to the Emperor and have them met, without delay!”
“Ah...no. I don’t think I will.” Glandon said quietly.
“To refuse the declaration of the legitimate-”
“Now, I’m going to stop you there a moment, madam.” the Moff held up a hand “You yourself accepted that you were an independent party. If so, you are called to present your demands to the Emperor himself...as wishes, not demands. If you are not part of the Empire, milady, then you don’t make any any sort of demand on those who are.”
“That is a threat!”
“No, madam, it’s simple logic. You can be part of the Empire and try to influence it or you can act as an independent party and remain that way. Not both.”
Juben’s lips pursed in frustration.
“You make me sick.” she hissed “You Moffs are all the same, a bunch of senile, cold-hearted old fools who spit on those who defend the Republic!”
“Defend the Republic, ma’am?” Glandon rose to his feet again. Though old and grey, he was still well-able to stand to his full height “You are a high-born young heiress born and raised on one of the galaxy’s richest and safest planets who, despite their very loud and physical opinions on just about every action taken in the Clone Wars, stayed out of it. You know next to nothing about what it’s like to defend the Republic and you should thank the stars that, thanks in no small part to a bunch of ‘senile, cold-hearted old fools’...you’ll never have to.”
Elenwen Juben was near white with indignation.
"You...You cannot speak to me in such a way! I am a Senator of the Delegation.”
“And I am a Moff of the Empire, equal standing to your own position. Here, in my office, you will speak to me as an equal, repaid in both courtesy or contempt, and if you do not care for that, milady...the door is just behind you.”
The young Alderaanian’s eyes blazed and after a weighty glare, she spun on her heels and left with one final word.”
“We are far from finished, Froul.”
“Arguable.” Froul sat back down as the door closed behind Senator Elenwen Juben.
Pondering a moment, Glandon measured events.
The Delegation had always made a show of non-violence.
Yet, from what he’d heard from Yularen, they’d been in contact with this murderer, Favon Berec.
Could Juben have been involved?
The longer she represented her planet’s interests, the closer she brought it to war.


*


The van came to a stop at last. They felt it in the back, the sudden jolt of motion and then stillness.
Ayy Vida was now clutching at Pip. Terror was in her eyes. She was muttering something.
Pipsqueak could just make it out.
“I don’t want to go in there...I don’t want to go in there...I don’t want to go in there...”
“Shh...” Lunae shook her shoulder firmly but not forcibly “Let’s just do this and get out of here.”
“Where are we?” Pip piped up. No answer came. The two twi’leks stood still as the door was opened.
Tas Kee gave them a threatening look.
“Out” she growled. The twi’leks obeyed without a word.
They were parked squarely in an alley, facing the exit, blocking anyone even looking in on the small dark lane in the lower street (Though who would want to was a mystery.)
A door was a solid grate, barely noticeable in the scant light. As the weequay held a fob to a small switch hidden in the works, the grate slowly opened with a dull, almost deathly rattle.
“Well,” Tas Kee gave them a sardonic smile “Welcome to hell, girls. In you go.”
Ayy gave a slight whimper as the two walked in, the door giving another rattle as it closed behind them, Kee bringing up the rear.
The first thing Pip noticed was the smell.
It was revolting. Unlike anything he’d ever smelt before, it nearly brought his eyes to water, throwing a forehoof to his muzzle as he gave a sickened muffle.
The closest he’d ever come to any scent like this was when a pig got loose from Sweet Apple Acres and the CMC had volunteered to get it back. They’d found it stuck in a tank of mud that they’d had to jump in to push it out of, only to get stuck in turn and require their sister’s personal aid in rescue from the mud.
Then it transpired that it wasn’t mud.
Rarity’s shriek could have been heard in Trottingham if he’d been back home at the time.
But this was worse, old, musty, rotten.
Another scent he was reminded of was when some ponies he lived close to went on holiday but nopony told the milkpony so the bottles were just left there for weeks until summer ended and during an early rainstorm, one of the bottles smashed on the pavement, leaving behind a sickly, yellow sludge with patches of grey that wouldn’t wash away with the rain. All the foals in Trottingham gathered and regarded the spoiled milk as something of a local curiosity, daring one another to prod it. Thankfully he’d never been singled out but the smell was horrid enough.
All he knew for certain was that it involved more than one kind of bodily excretion left some time ago with no-one cleaning it up and made him feel as though there was a rusty object scraping at the inside of his nostrils.


The place was virtually lightless, bare, dying lamps flickering above them down a dingy staircase.
Tentatively, they paced down and opened another door, a manual one.
They entered on a large, dark room.  A filthy toilet and sink was spreading mold up the ceiling but strangely the scent wasn’t just coming from that. Half the room was taken up by grimy shelves full of jet-black canisters and other things. Strange instruments that all carried the rancid stench. Most were metal and had gone to rust some time ago. The other walls were plastered over with some kind of paint-like fluid that had bubbled and cracked over time. Presumably it had been placed over the original walls to cover up whatever had left the stink.
The two twi’leks stepped tentatively into the middle of the room, making space on the shelves for Pip and the box of plans. Tas Kee threw Lunae a pair of cuffs and gestured to the colt. Without a word from either of them, the twi’lek cuffed Pip by the neck to the shelf through a hole in one of the boards.
Ayy Vida wouldn’t stop whimpering.
“Why do we keep having to come back here? After everything that happened here?”
“Look, he’s dead. He’s not going come back to hurt you.”
“I’m not worried about him hurting me, I just hate it here! All the stuff he did here, to all those girls!”
“Don’t think about what he did here. I don’t think about what he did here and you shouldn’t either, just put it out of your mind.” She leaned in close “Do you have it?”
“Yeah.”
“Give it to me, quick.”
“Alright, that’s enough time to sort things out. Both of you, up against the wall” Tas Kee barked. The two young twi’leks obeyed wordlessly. The Weequay fixed Pip with a venomous leer before turning to Lunae, clasping her by the chin.
“Now...where to start?”
“Ms Kee...Please...” the lilac twi’lek mumbled, giving Ayy a desperate look. Whatever she’d been asking for was still clutched in her hand “Look, no-one asked us anything! I don’t know how they found Saam!”
“But you knew they were after him.” Tas Kee’s knive drew close again “You were on their ship. You’re seriously telling me you never once thought to look in on it?”
“We couldn’t tell you! You just wanted us to find the documents!”
“Oh...” The weequay’s eyes widened venomously “So what you’re saying is that this is all our fault?”
“N-n-no, I...I just mean...”
“You know what? Frak this.” Kee spun the knife and aimed it at Lunae’s eye “I’m doing this on principle.”
Pip shut his eyes tight and turned away, curling up in a ball, unable to watch this torture.


Grrzzzzzzt!
A sharp, sudden buzz sounded suddenly, causing Pip’s eyes to snap open with shock.
The formerly-timid Ayy Vida had lunged forward and pressed some form of pointed utensil into the side of Tas Kee’s neck. A jolt of electricity crackled out its nub and the weequay woman jolted and spasmed, her face twitching in pain.
The buzzing subsided and Tas Kee flopped unconscious to the ground. Pipsqueak stared in shock as the two twi’leks stoof over their comatose overseer.
Her face screwing with rage, Lunae Minx gave the prone Kee a solid kick to the side.
“Schutta!” she yelled, kicking her hated supervisor a second and third time “Schutta! Schutta! This is for Sel, you murdering frakker!”
“Lunae! That’s enough!” Ayy grabbed her by the shoulder, taking Tas Kee’s knives, fobs and other utensils “We don’t wanna’ kill her. You said it yourself.”
The lilac twi’lek took a step back, breathing heavily.
She shook her head and sighed.
“Okay...” she said quietly “C’mon.”
“Wh-wh-what are you doing?” Pipsqueak found his voice at last.
“Something we’ve been waiting to do for years.” Lunae said, scowling at the unconscious Tas Kee “We’re getting out of here. Thought you’d approve.”
“Y-you’re not going to...kill her, are you?”
The twi’leks glanced at him.
“It...It wouldn’t be right...to kill her.”
Pipsqueak gulped. Though, in the short time he’d known her, Tas Kee had been unpleasant to know at best. But he didn’t want her to die.
He wasn’t sure he wanted anyone to die.
“No, it’s okay.” Ayy said, walking over to him gently “We’re just gonna’ leave her in the alley, take the key to this place off her so she can’t get you, take off in her van and get off this lousy planet.”
“Uh, okay...wait...” he relayed her words back in his head, tugging at the cuff around his neck “You mean you’re...leaving me here?”
Ayy and Lunae looked at each other and noticed very similar looks in their faces.
The lilac twi’lek’s eyes narrowed and spoke in a stern tone.
“Ayy...”
“C’mon Lunae, we can’t just leave him here!” Ayy pleaded.
“Ayy, we’ve been planning this for months!” Lunae was speaking through gritted teeth.
“He’s just a kid!”
“Exactly!”
“But Lunae-”
“Ayy! Listen to me! We are not taking him with us!” Lunae was close to yelling.
Pip stared at the two. It was more than a friendly relationship these two had, Lunae was acting like some stern mother and Ayy was acting like the sentimental daughter.
The only time he and his mother ever came close to arguing in this way was when she’d disapproved of him spending time with Dinky. All the tension from either side was real.
And as he realised he was the centre of their argument, he felt a pit in his stomach and his words came in a strangulated tone.
“I-it’s okay...” he managed to say “Y-you don’t have to take me with you...”
“But, Pip...” He didn’t quite know if this was the first time Ayy was calling him by name “We just leave you in the underworld like this.”
“Rae’ll come get me.” Pip said, brightening up at the thought.
“Right!” That at least brought a smile to Lunae’s face “Remember, Ayy? Rae Sloane’s on Hat Lo’s trail. She’s already got Saam, he’s bound to talk if he hasn’t already. They’ll find this place, pick up Pip, by which point, we’ll be long gone. They won’t follow us where we’re going and we’re hardly worth the price of the chase anyway. Does that make you feel better?”
Ayy looked at her with a morose expression, looked to Pipsqueak then back to Lunae.
“Can I say goodbye to him?”
Lunae gave an exasperated sigh.
“Fine.” She picked up the unconscious Tas Kee “But I’m leaving in two minutes, with or without you.”
And with that, she made her way out, carrying the limp weequay with her.


Ayy Vida knelt down beside Pip and ruffled his scruffy chocolate-brown mane.
“You’re gonna’ be okay?” she mumbled.
“Um...well, if you could undo this cuff, that would be nice.” Pipsqueak gestured to the makeshift collar latched to the shelf.
With an awkward nod, Ayy undid the cuffs, taking them with her while Pip gratefully stretched his neck.
“Thanks, Miss.” He gave her a grateful smile.
Ayy Vida stared at the brave, bright little colt. He’d only turned up yesterday but it somehow felt like she’d known him for years.
It hurt to know she was saying goodbye.
In a sweeping motion, the twi’lek gave Pipsqueak a warm hug.
“I’m sorry I dragged you into this, Pip.” she sounded close to crying “You don’t deserve any of this.”
“Neither do you.” the colt said quietly.
“No, I knew what I was doing...or I should have known anyway. You just wanted to help me.”
“Do you...still need help?”
“Yeah. But I’ll get it my own way.” She gave him a gentle kiss on the forehead. Pip’s face screwed up with bashfulness.
Lunae's voice came from up the stairs.
“Ayy! C’mon!”
The tropical-coloured twi’lek shook her head and got to her feet.
“Goodbye, Pip. Good luck.”
“You too.”
And with a light patter of footsteps, she was gone. The clatter of shoes on stairs grew fainter and fainter.
He then paused.
‘Now what?’ he thought.

He confessed, he hadn’t really thought this through. He was surprised that, in his haste to make sure Ayy Vida and Lunae Minx were okay, he’d almost completely neglected to make sure he was in a safe position.
He was alone, in this large, foul-smelling room (Which was really starting to get to him now) with no idea how long it would take for anyone to find him, if indeed they would.
How long could he last?
There was no food around, at least none he fancied looking for in this place, and we wouldn’t chance touching that filthy sink no matter how thirsty he became.
He started wondering if this was actually a very good idea after all.
‘Helping others isn’t about why. It’s about why not.’
That sweet voice, calm, bright and ever so gentle.
Pip’s eyes widened as he stared into space.
“Dinky?” he murmured.
There was nothing. But her words never left him, he’d promised that since he first heard her.
‘If you keep on helping others, things will look up for you as it did for them. It’s always worth it it some way. So keep the best you can for others and the best will come for you.’
Dinky Doo. Wise beyond her years.
How he missed her.
There was a spatter of moisture at his forehoof.
Looking down, there was a small, growing puddle on the hard, dirty floor right below his muzzle.
As Pipsqueak finally noticed he was crying.