//------------------------------// // A Friend In Need // Story: Star Wars Episode IV, Rise of the Rebellion // by FourShadow //------------------------------// After driving back to the 'house', Flurry and IG-11 moved the hurt astromech unit inside. They carried him into the ship's workshop area, where various droid parts and tools laid strewn about. Bon Bon always loved to collect battle droids to repurpose them into lives of freedom, so she started collecting anything she could in hopes of bringing new life into the cruel and heartless universe around them. Spike was sat up straight on the floor, standing still in shutdown mode. And nearby were two astromechs; Cheep and G-G. The two were curious to see a new astromech in the ship, and they rolled up close to Flurry like excited loth cats. "Hey guys," Flurry smiled, softly petting them both and giving them both hugs. "Chirup, chirp chirp chirp." "I don't know who he is, Cheep. I ran into him, both figuratively and literally out in the Dune Sea on our way back. We hit him so hard, I thought he could use some repair, maybe we can find out where he came from," Flurry thought. "Veep-oo." "G-G, it's okay, I'm sure he's harmless," Flurry reassured. She plugged in a power cord into the astromech's main port, turning on a small generator to provide some battery power. And just as an extra safety precaution, a restraining bolt was applied to keep the astromech from bouncing around like crazy. And with one adjustment, the astromech's systems started to activate and turn back on again. Spike's head spun in a 360 motion a few times as he finally woke up. "w-ga-b-e-etah- Agh, ah!" Spike snapped, waking up. "I gotta get moving! Wait... who hit me? Where am I? How did I get here!?" "Whoa, easy buddy, it's okay!" Flurry protested, putting her hands up. "It's okay... it's okay. I'm not going to hurt you." The C1 unit was hesitant, especially as he shook and rattled on the spot. "Who are you? How do I know you're not going to hurt me? You put a restraining bolt on me!" "Well, I'm not gonna--whoa!" Flurry yelped, noticing something rather glaring from the astromech. "You can... you can speak Basic?" "Yes, I can speak Basic, now let me out of here!" the droid yelped, trying to wiggle his feet away from the unknown Equestrian. "Hey, hey, wait!" Flurry said, gripping his struts to look him straight in the eyes. "Listen, I promise I won't hurt you. It's my fault for almost turning you into roadkill, that's why I brought you back to fix you. Just let me help, please?" "Ohhhh... alright," Spike moaned. "But I really need to get going, I have somewhere to be." Flurry nodded as she walked over to the workbench, picking up a few tools. "Where do you have to be?" "Somewhere important," he replied, still shaking. "Who are you anyway?" "Oh, I forgot," Flurry tittered. "I'm Flurry, nice to meet you. Oh, and this IG-11," she said, introducing the C1 unit to the assassin droid beside her. "Don't worry, he's friendly." "... Wait. What's your name?" "Flurry," she answered. "I... uh..." Spike sounded confused. Flurry Heart raised a brow to his confusion. "Are you okay?" "Sorry, I... I thought you were someone else. You kinda reminded me of someone, but I can't put my claws on it," Spike said, unsure. Flurry just shrugged it off and continued to try and help repair the astromech's damage; starting with wiping away some of the dust off his paneling. "Say, what's a droid like you doing out in the desert by yourself, anyway?" "I can't tell you. It's a secret," Spike said. "What kind of secret?" Flurry asked, wiping away dust from a panel. "It's just a secret, a very important one, but that's it," the C1 said, refusing to say anything else. Flurry pouted. "Well you're no fun." "I'm sorry, but it's really important." "Well... can you at least tell me your name? I don't know who you are," Flurry asked. "My name is SP-1K. But I prefer you call me Spike," Spike replied, realizing he had no chance of running away. "Nice to meet you Spike," Flurry softly smiled, extending a hand out to try and shake his little claws. And one of the little hands from the side of his dome extended out to shake hers, politely. "Chirp chirp chirp," Cheep said, lightly raising his little claw up to say hi as well. "Oh geez, I'm so sorry guys, where are my manners, Spike these two are my astromechs; CH33P and RG-G1. But I prefer to call them Cheep and G-G," Flurry introduced. "Huh. You have a C1 unit? Where did you find him, I remember getting a memo about us C1 droids no longer being produced," Spike stated. "My mama found him back in the Clone Wars, rescued him from a crashed Y-Wing. Same goes for G-G," Flurry summarized, fixing the dent she made into Spike's torso. "Huh. So if they were to get into a Y-Wing...?" "They would probably have a meltdown or self-destruct," Flurry deadpanned. And she shrunk when she saw Cheep and G-G rattling in place, growling in anger/fear at the word. Even Cheep raised one of his claws up in a fist expression. "Like that." "Good to know. Then they probably would get along with Chopper, he hates Y-Wings just as much as they do," Spike said, looking over at the two astromechs. Flurry scrubbed some more, now grinding the brush a little harder. "Sheesh, that's a lot of carbon scoring. How did you even get any of this, were you on a cruiser or--" By accident, Flurry flipped something and fell on her back, unintentionally activating a holo-recording. There wasn't much, just only the Twi'lek woman that Spike had conversed with back on Coruscant. Only a portion of what she had said back on the planet made it through, but the additional image of her holding a gun and looking back at something to shoot drew more curiosity. "--Find them, and they will take you back to Yavin IV. Now go! Sunset Shimmer is counting on you!” Flurry blinked. "What's this?" "Um, what is what?" "That!" Flurry pointed. "Find them, and they will take you back to Yavin IV. Now go! Sunset Shimmer is counting on you!” "Oh THIS? Um... it's nothing, just a malfunction or some old data," Spike said, rather unconvincingly. "Who is that Twi'lek?" "She's no one. Just an old friend back home, that's all," Spike lied. Flurry pulled herself back up, leaning closer to look at the recording with a better eye. Even Cheep and G-G rolled up to get a better look, trying to decipher anything of importance from that archived piece. "Chup, chirp chup choop," Cheep said. "Bwoop boop, brrrrrrt bweeeep bop." "Nope. Just this short loop," Spike continued to lie. "Who is Sunset Shimmer?" Flurry asked. "She's no one," Spike lied. "Okay, you are clearly lying," Flurry sighed. "Spike, what is this for?" "It's important!" "You keep saying that, what does that mean?" Flurry whined, starting to get annoyed. "Now go! Sunset Shimmer is counting on you!” The message continued to play that same loop over and over. Flurry tapped her foot on the floor, rubbing her chin to try and think. Obviously this woman's message must have been important, but why? What did Spike have that was important? Where was Yavin IV? And most importantly; who was Sunset Shimmer? "This woman is has to be important. Is this what you're hiding, or is it only part of something important?" Flurry asked, giving it some thought. "... Maybe," Spike blurted. "Maybe not." "Well if it's not important, then who is Sunset Shimmer?" Flurry pressed. "She's no one. Just someone I knew a long time ago," Spike lied. "Well maybe we need to play back the whole recording, maybe there's more to it that we aren't seeing," she said, walking over to Spike. She was about to tamper with his body some more until-- "Wait!" Spike protested, putting his little claws up. "I have an idea. You might be able to play back the whole message if you um... remove this restraining bolt," Spike fibbed. Flurry wasn't sure if she should believe it. She could see right through the C1 unit, guessing right away that he just wanted to get away. But upon second thought, she realized there wasn't any chance for him to escape. If he was on a ship he didn't know, maybe he couldn't find a way out. And more importantly, she had plenty of droids on board who could keep him from escaping. Maybe for now, she could remove it... "Well... I suppose maybe it wouldn't hurt, and I guess you're not gonna be able to run away so easily," she said, unsure. But regardless, she slid over and started to yank on the restraining bolt, until she finally pulled it right off. And the moment it was yanked off, the holo-recording shut itself off. "What the--wait, turn it back on! Play back the message!" "What message?" And IG-11 smacked the back of his dome. "Ow!" "The message you were just displaying," IG-11 retorted. "Chirup!" Just then a soft alarm dinged from further down in the ship. "Oh. Someone's calling. Maybe it's Mom and Mama," Flurry thought out loud. "Just give me a minute, I'll go see who that is." She walked out of the room, leaving the droids by themselves. IG-11's scope eyes swiveled and glared at Spike as he stood there, stiff as always. "I require an answer to why you are obscuring the details of your mission," IG-11 asked. "No, assassin. Do you have any idea what's at stake right now? The Empire could get here, any minute, and I'm really starting to dislike you," Spike snarked. "Eleven!" Flurry called. "Can you come here? Mama's calling on the other line, I don't know if it's important!" "I'll be right there," IG-11 called back. The assassin droid marched down the hallway, where Flurry had called. He found her inside the main cockpit; a mostly clean cockpit with four seats. Two for the pilot controls, and two behind for monitoring all vital signs and controls of everything else from within the ship. And there were a few cup-holders for anyone who brought a drink up front! The assassin droid sat in the co-pilot seat, next to Flurry. And once he was down, Flurry flicked the switch, turning on the hologram projector. "Hey Flurry," Bon Bon greeted. "Hey Mama," Flurry smiled. "How goes the bounty hunting?" "Well we're only a half-an-hour away from where the target was spotted. But your mother and I thought about stopping for a moment or two to stretch our legs. Thankfully we did not fall into any Sarlacc pits or run into those Krayt Dragons that apparently still live," Bon Bon replied. "So we thought about checking in with you. How was the Boonta Eve Classic?" "It was awesome!" Flurry squeed. -- Unbeknownst to Flurry, Spike was busy looking around, trying to find a way to sneak off the ship. Cheep and G-G were still standing by, waiting to move in case he tried to make a run for it. Luckily Spike had a plan. First thing was first, he had to get the restraining bolt off. Looking around, he wanted to look for something he could pry it off with. He tried using his little claws, with no avail. They weren't strong enough to yank it off. But maybe... He shimmied across the ground without the other astromechs watching, pressing himself against the wall. He found just the spot and moved his body against it, pressing against the bolt. Just a few more pushes, and finally the restraining bolt snapped right off his body and onto the ground. Now that it was off, he could take his chance. He slowly pushed back to a wall, thinking for a second. He had to get the two astromechs away from the hallway door, that was the only way out, he was sure of it. But how? Wait a minute. He remembered he was in a droid repair bay. He grabbed a tool from the side, slowly raising it over his head. And without making a sound, he chucked it over his head and down the other hallway to get them to move. The tool made enough noise to grab their attention. And so Cheep and G-G spun around and rolled down towards the other hallway towards the noise. Now that they were gone, he could make his escape. He rolled down the unguarded hallway, swiveling his dome around to look at the various rooms. He found a vac-room, gross meatbag thing. He went past a two-person bedroom, presumably the owners of the ship. And he moved past another room that he could only imagine was Flurry's bedroom. Curiously, he rolled inside to take a quick look. His eyes took notice of a set of pictures that were on display on a bookshelf. But upon closer inspection, he could see the holopictures were only of Flurry and her mothers. "Hmm... guess that answers that." Turning around, he exited the room and went down further in the ship, trying to find a way out. He rolled into the living area, where he could see a holo-chess table with plenty of seats around it, probably for family game nights. Though when he swiveled around and looked at the wall next to him, he almost shrieked. Four electronic docks were holding humanoid droids; three of them were the junky commando units that Flurry trained with earlier that day, and another was an old tactical droid from the Clone Wars; with faded purple and gold paint, but blazed with a Mandalorian symbol on the chest. "Yikes. I thought your model was outdated," Spike commented, turning around. He had to get out of there, now. Rolling across the ship, he saw two hallways on the left and right, he could immediately guess they were gunner seats. But eventually he came across a mostly empty flat section in the only lower section of the ship. Pressing the button, he watched as a ramp extended to open up to outside. He rolled down the ramp, finally landing back on the scorching sand. Activating a rocket, he flew away from the house on Beggar's Canyon and to the bottom of the canyon for more solid ground. He would have to walk all the way to where he needed to go if he had to. Since Flurry and those crazy droids weren't going to help, he would have to be on his own then. And so, he rolled away, determined to find his allies... -- "... So yeah. ... Sebulba died," Flurry winced. "Was surprised to see Gasgano won this time. And hey, at least Quadrinaros actually left the starting line... for three seconds." Bon Bon chuckled. "Sounds like you had a lot of fun. Anything else happened?" "We unfortunately ran--" "--Into a rock!" Flurry interrupted, silencing the assassin droid. "We uh, kinda hit some rocks while driving back. But the landspeeder is fine, just some dust, that's all," she said, trying to sound convincing. "... I see," Bon Bon said, unsure of whether or not to believe her. "Flurry, you know if you run into a womp rat, I'm not going to be mad. Damn things keep flouncing everywhere. But anyways, we gotta get going, we've got to get that bounty before anyone else does. Just make sure you get dinner, and make sure the droids stay fully energized. And if anything goes wrong, please, call us and we'll come home." "I'm okay, Mama. I promise," Flurry reassured. "Well alright. We'll call you before you have to go to bed, kiddo. We'll see you soon!" The Mandalorian waved goodbye and the coms shut off. This left Flurry to stare at IG-11 unapprovingly. "Why can we not tell your mothers about the astromech?" "They're off trying to get the bounty, we can't distract them while they're out. I think we can handle this problem just fine, Eleven," Flurry said, folding her arms. "Very well. But if this situation gets out of our control, we must call your mothers," IG-11 said, standing up and walking out of the cockpit. As afternoon stretched to evening, Flurry decided to wander around the ship to stretch her legs. She had already ate, and she was looking for something to do to enjoy her time for the evening. She would check on Spike later. Standing in the middle of the ship, she walked down to the left and parked herself in one of the gunner seats. She moved the seat around, which in turn, moved the blaster cannons as well. It had been a long time since the family had to use these. And Flurry pondered whether or not they were going to be needed again. Climbing out of the seat, she walked back to her bedroom, looking at the variety of things she had on her shelve. A few plushies that she liked to hold onto; most notably a snail that she held onto for all those years. And a little doll of a white-armored soldier, which her mothers explained was a 'Storm-trooper', a legion of troopers from the old Clone Wars. She wiped the dust off a shelf for a second, and picked up another picture. Within she could see herself as a five-year-old with her mothers out on a beach; on Naboo. A wonderful planet that made the best vacation residence during the summer. Alas, they could never go back. Not with the fear of the dangers that now surrounded the galaxy. And finally, she slid her hand over a necklace; of a Mandalorian symbol. She walked over to her full mirror, looking at herself for a second. And she placed the necklace over her head, so it rest around her neck. She clutched it tightly, making sure it wasn't loose. She looked in her mirror, smiling at herself. She remembered when her mama first gave her that Mandalorian pendant, something she said would keep her safe when she was younger. And out her window, she could see binary suns off in the distance getting ready to go down. Almost time to do one more security check before she would lock up. Walking out of her room, she walked into the cockpit and grabbed a control box that fit in her hand. She walked down the hallways, periodically checking if anything was open that shouldn't have been. The top hatch that led to the ceiling of the ship was sealed tight, no issues there. And there weren't any other windows that needed to be closed as far as she could see. "Flurry Heart," IG-11 interrupted. Flurry looked over to the marching assassin droid as he approached her; with Cheep and G-G behind him. "Eleven, is everything alright?" Flurry asked. "Cheep! Cheep! Cheep!" Cheep grunted, raising one of his claws into a fist motion. "We have a potential problem," the nurse droid stated. "What problem?" "Veep boop," G-G spoke. "He has escaped." “Wait, what!?” Flurry ran down the hatch and back onto the ground, holding up her binocular lenses. She looked down the long stretch of the canyons, and saw nothing. And in a quick emergency check, she pulled out a small scanning device, checking for any droid signatures. Sadly the only ones that were within her vicinity were her, IG-11, and all of the droids on the ship. “Blast it! Spike’s probably long gone by now,” Flurry huffed. “Perhaps it was for the best,” IG-11 responded. “Excuse me?” Flurry was appalled. “That droid needed help, he crash-landed here, didn’t he?” IG-11 stood still, while his eyepieces kept swiveling around. “This is true.” “Look, I have a suggestion.” “Proceed.” “Since it’s too dangerous with all of the Tuskens, how about we leave in the morning, and get Spike back here?” IG-11’s eyes focused back onto Flurry. “This is acceptable. However, I do not feel it is right to lie to your mothers.” “We kinda have to. Let’s tell them we’re just going to look for something to buy in Mos Eisley,” Flurry said. “That alibi is a 25% chance of failure,” IG-11 stated. “Well it’s one we have to roll with,” Flurry sighed, walking back into the ship. And so IG-11 followed her back inside, and the hatch began to rise back up and close, locking down for the night. Far from Tatooine, three Imperial Star Destroyers were hovering outside of Lola Sayu; a volcanic world that had a large piece of it's lower mantle exposed, now revealing a bright lava and energy inside. It once was a planet of conflict between the Republic and the Storm Empire, now it remains an Imperial controlled world. Inside one of the Star Destroyers was one of the prisoners, one of the escapee Rebels who had received more torture than some of her fellow allies. She was being held in a containment field; arms and legs immobilized while hovering. The multiple electric shocks didn't help matters either. "I really don't see why you are being so stubborn. Just give me the information that my masters require, and the pain will stop. Or don't. I must admit that I'm finding this quite enjoyable." the protocol droid snapped. His red eyes glared at the captive ominously. The rebel weakly raised her head to look at him, but she just slumped back down. She was exhausted, hurt, and she could barely bring herself to speak. Just then, the doors opened. A figure in a dark cloak and mask walked inside. This figure was shorter than the one who pursued the Rebels and Spike on Courscant, and her mask was different as well. "000, have you succeeded in getting the information?" The masked woman asked. "This woman refuses to talk, no thanks to you slapping her face multiple times, and stabbing her mates in front of her. If you just gave them to me, I could have had the information ready hours ago," the protocol droid replied. "And I told you once before, I am Triple-Zero." "I don't care," the masked woman said. "Give her another electric shock." "I'd be happy to!" He said, waddling over to the controls again. Another electric shock surged through the Rebel's body, making her scream in agony and pant heavily as the shocks stopped. "If you cooperated, this procedure could be less painful than it is now," the woman in black stated. The Rebel panted as she looked at them. "You.. will... never... get... me... to... crack!" "Inquisitors always have a way of getting the weak to crack," the woman snarled. "Especially when it comes to hunting down things of importance, Rebel. Or would you prefer I use your actual term... Jedi?" The Rebel woman looked up with a scared look, although it wasn't as big as the Inquisitor had hoped. She had been tortured and hurt so much that she could barely express any horror outside of her misery and pain. "Jedi Knight, Mystery Mint," she said, reading from a manifest. "Survivor of the Great Jedi Purge, and ally to the Rebel scum. Oh how the mighty have fallen." "At least we're fighting for something worth fighting for," she moaned. The gloved hands of the Inquistor grabbed her face, pressing into her cheekbones as she yanked her head forward, gazing into her unseen eyes. "The Rebellion is nothing more than a group of insurgents, disturbing the peace. You call us evil, call us tyrannical. But every day, we ensure the galaxy stays safe from your kind. I'll ask you again; where did the rest of your Rebels go? Where is the Rebel base... where can I find Sunset Shimmer?" "I... will... never... talk," Mint weakly moaned, her head dropping down again, almost on the brink of blackout. The Inquisitor's impatience was growing. But just as she was about to raise her hand to signal the protocol droid-- "Sister." A Midnight trooper walked into the room, holding his gun in the safety position. The Inquisitor lowered her hand, and stood up straight to listen to the trooper's words. "We just received word from Captain Phasma. Her team has found the tracking signal from another one of the escaped Rebels. It's hailing all the way from Tatooine." The Inquisitor was quiet for a moment. "Tatooine... very well. Tell the crews to prepare my shuttle, I will be embarking with the Fourth Sister to go after them. As for the prisoner..." "May I kill her? I would love to finish her off," Triple Zero offered. "No. She may have some use for us," the Force-user said. "Oh yes, of course! If you think it's best to leave the prisoner alive, giving them the chance of escaping later! By all means, certainly!" "Take her to the site of our new project. Perhaps she would be more useful in construction," the Inquisitor declared. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have plans to obtain..." "Yes Sister," the Midnight trooper nodded. And as Mint stayed up in the hovering containment field, her head weakly fell just like her hands and she passed out. She wanted to get out, she had to save Spike. But everything just went black. The very next morning came, another hot day on Tatooine. But it didn't bother Flurry Heart or IG-11 as they sped along the narrow gorge that was Beggar's Canyon. They had to find Spike, and fast! Flurry once again, drove the landspeeder, and thankfully she did not slam into anyone this time. At least, she hoped she wouldn't do it again. And their trip was accompanied by a holotape cassette playing some music, spoken in the Mando'a. Ooh, lek! Tettar ohira ner kar'ta Dinuir bic a ohira! Ooh, lek, ik'aad! Ooh, lek! Tettar ohira ner kar'ta, Vercopaanir bic draar gev! Ooh, lek, ik'aad Dressed just for emergency, Flurry now wore long pants and black boots that could protect her feet from the hot sand. She still donned a tank top, and she strapped on a pair of goggles to protect her eyes, along with fingerless gloves. And on her left arm was some padded armor, white armor with minty-green highlights, branded with a Mandalorian symbol right on the shoulder piece. "There's a droid in the scanner, just up ahead!" IG-11 stated, his scopes swiveling down on the radar console. "Understood! Hang onto something, I'm going to hit the accelerator!" She slammed her foot on the pedal, and the landspeeder sped up. They raced around several corners until finally the green and purple droid was visible. Flurry slowed down the speeder, not wanting to slam into him again like before. The two of them finally pulled over, parking it as they rushed towards Spike still waddling away. "Whoa, whoa, where do you think you're going?" Flurry asked, jumping in front of him. "I told you, I need to find my friends!" "You cannot walk away from us with a vague response," IG-11 intervened. "Are you serious right now?" Spike deadpanned. "You're lucky you haven't been scrapped by any bounty hunters," the assassin droid continued to argue. "Okay, hold on 11, it's fine, maybe we should just go back to the ship," Flurry suggested. Suddenly, Spike started shaking in fear, rattling the metal on his body."Guys! Shut up. I'm picking up several life forms. Type-4 bio-signatures east of us," Spike worried, jittering and wobbling in place. "Oh no. Tuskens," Flurry thought, pulling out a weapon from the landspeeder to fight. IG-11 whipped out his guns to take a stand as well, eyes swiveling in circles to monitor his surroundings. Everyone listened carefully, hearing the sounds of the wind blowing through the desert sands. Rocks crumbled near the canyon walls, and all three of them were standing in guard positions, ready to fight if necessary. But just then-- "Urrrrrrk!" Flurry yelped, and pointed her gun up at the top of one of the canyon walls. But her fear washed away and replaced with a smile as she saw who was yelling at her. "Oh. Hi Hoar!" Flurry waved. "Urk urk urk!" The Tusken Raider shouted, waving at her. "Sorry, we didn't mean to trespass on this area, we were just looking for him. We'll get out of here in a few minutes, I promise," Flurry shouted up. "Rukh urrrrr!" The Tusken Raider waved his gun in the air some more, but gave her a few hand signals that gave her the okay, and left. Flurry sighed, thankful that he wasn't going to attack. "Hoar, sometimes, I swear... anyways, look, Spike, maybe you do have somewhere to go, but--" "Flurry." The girl stopped talking, waiting for the C1 unit to speak, hearing him talk louder than before. "Do you have any idea what's at stake here? What I have in my possession could mean an upper hand on the Empire, something we desperately need right now. I barely got here with my circuits, and I watched a bunch of my friends get killed!" His voice was raised, and Flurry was starting to understand he wasn't joking. The astromech was scared. "If I don't get these plans to my friends, this could mean the end of everything we worked hard to build, everything we've tried to fight for! I've come all this way, and I'm not stopping. Shoot me if you have to, but you're not stopping me from leaving," Spike argued. Flurry Heart and IG-11 exchanged glances, looking at each other puzzled. Nothing they would do would stop him, and Flurry couldn't find a way or a loophole to counter Spike's argument. The seventeen-year-old looked back at Spike, and squatted down to stare at him straight in the eye. "How important is this information?" "Very important," Spike replied. Flurry thought some more. "What even is the information?" "I can't show it to you out in the open, you don't know who's watching. But if you let me go, I could take you to where my friends are, and maybe you could see what we're after," Spike offered. Flurry and IG-11 looked at each other again, thinking things through. "Your mothers would want you back home, safe and sound," IG-11 stated. "Yes, but they also said if I wanted to go out every now and then it's fine, as long as you're accompanying me," Flurry sassed with a smirk, folding her arms. "This is true." "So... I have another suggestion," Flurry proposed. "Proceed." "You and I will go together, with Spike, and we will look for whoever he's after. I will be safe with you, and we can still help this droid. Mom always said to help someone in need, and right now, he needs our help." The assassin droid thought things over, and came with a reply. "This is acceptable." Flurry then looked at Spike. "Do you want us to help?" Spike looked around. "Well... looks like I don't have a choice. And it'd be nice to have some help. Sure!" "Great. Then come on, let's get moving! Eleven, you're driving" Flurry agreed, sitting back in the shotgun seat of the landspeeder. IG-11 marched back, and threw himself back into the driver's seat. Lastly, Spike hovered with his rocket, and laid down on the edge of the landspeeder. And just as extra safety, a small attachment from his back opened up and clamped onto the landspeeder so he couldn't fall off. Adjusting the brakes and stick-shift, IG-11 set off on the sandy roads once again to leave. The landspeeder raced across the desert. The ground the landspeeder hovered across wasn't exactly smooth, and Spike clinging onto the back, next to the engine in the middle. The trip was a bit bumpy, but he still had a tight grip. "You okay back there, Spike?" Flurry hollered. "I'm okay! Just watch out for the--" The speeder slammed over a rock, and it sent Spike flying off the landspeeder and bouncing back on the ground again. "---AGHHH!!!!" "Blast it! Third time! Third time, I swear!" Flurry ranted. -- The trio finally made it to a stop (after basically strapping Spike down on the landspeeder to keep him from flying off again) and they huddled together on an edge of rock, staring off into the wide empty deserts that stretched as far as the eye could see. And just with a binocular view, they saw a large spaceport just beyond the ridge. And just as extra precaution for cover, Spike was covered in plenty of sand and dust as partial disguise; mostly accidental thanks to him flying off the speeder. "Mos Eisley Spaceport," IG-11 stated, looking through the binoculars. "I believe a wise legend once said, 'you will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.'" "Who said that?" Flurry asked. "Your mother says it was quoted an old hermit that used to reside in the Dune Sea," 11 replied. "Well Mos Eisley is where I need to go. That's where my friends are hiding. I just hope our ship is still intact," Spike worried. -- The outside of the spaceport was rather quiet. Only a few womp-rats and passer byes hung out there, and most of the time they had to jump or run for their lives if a speeder was coming by to avoid roadkill. Most of the time, this wasn't the case. And IG-11 completely ignored the womp-rats as he slammed into a trash-can, scaring the living daylights out of them, even hitting one of them in the process. "You just hit a womp rat!" "I drove at the appropriate speed, it had enough time to get out of our direction," 11 sassed. "But you can't drive like a maniac! We're not in the Dune Sea!" And IG-11 sassed back with a recording from his hard-drive. "First rule; don't play the hero. Shoot anything that can't shoot back. Like porgs, circus people, peasants, tourists, dust, banthas, and little womp rats." Flurry glared. "Mama said that as a joke!" Regardless of their spat, they drove further inside and Flurry finally got a better look of what this spaceport was like. It was a rather large town, filled to the brim with the lowest of the lows. Servants of the Hutts, smugglers, fugitives, all types of evil were residents of this lawless space port. Even the droids were cruel and harsh , as Flurry noted from one worker droid smacking the scrap out of a hovering drone. And Flurry gulped as she saw one scary looking Devaronian point a gun at a nearby dweller, forcing him to hand over his money and then shove him straight into a garbage can. "Just look forward Flurry. The less attention we draw to ourselves, the better," 11 advised. The little girl, not wanting to be seen, lowered herself in her seat, trying not to be seen by anyone passing by. Even the sweet Palliduvan lady at one of the vendors looked at some customers mean with malicious intent. But Flurry's face shrunk when she saw what was up ahead. Scary looking troopers in dark purple armor patrolling the streets, talking to a few people who were passing by in landspeeders. "Oh no. Those guys are Midnight troopers, they're looking for me," Spike whimpered. "What do we do!?" "Spike, wait, calm down! Maybe we can slip by." "And if we can't?" "I'll sic IG-11 on them," Flurry said nonchalantly, before going back to scared. "But I hope we don't have to go to that..." Their landspeeder slowed down as they drove further into the port, and they watched as the towering troopers marched towards their speeder to talk. Flurry was shaking as she looked at them, but she had to keep it calm. Slowly she breathed in and out, and gave them her undivided attention to speak. "How long have you had these droids?" The trooper asked. "About all of my life sir. They're family," Flurry said, calmly. "Let me see your identification," the Midnight trooper asked. "Oh, of course," Flurry nodded, pulling out an identification card and giving it to him for verification. The trooper looked at it, and back to the girl. "And the assassin droid is registered?" "Yes sir," Flurry nodded. "I'm asking as part of the routine questions; what business are you here for?" "Groceries and trade of parts," IG-11 answered. The troopers took one brief look at Spike who laid there, playing dead to avoid attention. He prayed that the dust and sand would be decent enough and waited for their response... "This isn't the droid we're looking for," the trooper said to his comrades. His helmeted face looked down at Flurry. "You can go about your business. Move along." "Yes sir, thank you sir," Flurry replied. And IG-11 speed off in a flash, taking the group far away from them as soon as possible. Their speeder made a turn, passing by some more civilians and criminals moving around on their business, and they avoided crashing into another rolling speeder that moved on by. Eventually they found a place to park, and so they moved the landspeeder over to a building wall, with a little bit of shade to cover it. Not a lot, but it would have to do. "Wow. I can't believe that worked. That is just gross incompetence," Spike stated. He felt the straps coming off his body, and so he pulled himself onto the ground and extended his wheels. The other two joined him, and so the group marched off into the port. Not surprisingly, the rest of the port was just as filthy and disgusting as the entrance. More low-lives and criminals around, making trade and deals with the market people. And Flurry saw some more familiar races that her moms taught her growing up; Mimbanese, of course. Some out of place Gungans as well. Zygerrians, Pykes, Rodians, Weequays, quite the variety of people here. Some looked suspicious, some looked less suspicious than others, and only a few rarities of people who actually looked genuine and didn't look like they were up to anything bad. Regardless, their walk took them directly into the slums. “Okay Spike, we’re here. So where should we start to look for this Rebel group of yours?” Flurry asked, looking around. “I don’t know. My friends just told me to find them here, they never said where,” Spike replied. Flurry sighed. “This could complicate things…” The trio looked all around them. There had to have been somewhere for them to go to. Someone or something had to be helpful. Flurry’s attention turned to across the street, right before her was a local cantina. She could hear music blaring from inside, the Modal Nodes, she loved their tunes. Sadly that was a bar, and she was not of the legal age to go inside to drink. But since her mothers were not around… “You know, we could take a look inside that cantina? Some of the best pilots come there—” “—We are not allowed in that kind of establishment, and you are underage,” IG-11 said, putting a stop to her immature desire. Flurry pouted. “Come on, I’m not going to drink anything, I just wanna look…” “Flurry, we can’t get in even if we want to.” “Why?” Spike’s projector eye flashed a holographic screen before them. -- In front of them was the point of view of another droid, one roughly the same height as herself, presumably. This droid, whoever he was, was walking right into the bar along with a human; one dressed in a white work outfit and flowy blond hair. They were walking right through the bar until— “Hey! We don’t serve their kind here.” “What?” said the man next to him. “Your droids, they’ll have to wait outside, we don’t want them here.” “Just wait out by the speeder, we don’t want any trouble,” the man said, looking at the protocol droid’s eyes. “I heartily agree with you sir.” -- And the hologram shut itself off. “And that’s why we can’t go in,” Spike replied. “Also people die in there a lot, and no one bats an eye if you slice off someone’s arm.” Flurry blinked, rather disturbed at that sentence. “You think I’m kidding? A friend of mine back at base told me so; two drunk guys started threatening him, and then a minute later, one of their arms got sliced off, and barely anyone reacted. Just went straight back to drinking.” Flurry gulped. “And now I think I understand why Mama said never to come down here alone.” “You are not alone. I am right here with you,” IG-11 replied, comfortingly as he patted her shoulder. Flurry yanked the assassin closed in a tight gripping hug. "Thank you, I really appreciate that." Some awkward silence passed as the people around them kept about their business. "... So. We should uh... keep looking then?" "Yeah, yeah, we uh... we should," Spike said, rolling forwards. Flurry and IG-11 just proceeded to follow him, ready to keep on searching. Hopeful they would find Spike's allies... and also hope that Flurry's moms wouldn't be upset that she was helping a complete stranger. Beyond the Dune Sea, stood a curved building with sandblasted metal and pitted stone. This palace belonged to Jabba the Hutt; one of the most powerful gangsters in the galaxy. He led the the Hutt Cartel, a powerful crime syndicate like the Black Sun or the Pyke Syndicate. Jabba himself was one mean, slobbering, slug. If you made a mistake, you wouldn't get any second chances. His eyes may appear sleepy, but he wasn't someone to take lightly. He laid there atop a stone dais within the throne room, enjoying having a smoke from a hookah pipe. Also by his side was Salacious Crumb, a monkey-lizard and court jester, and on his right was Oola; a lime-green Twi'lek who had been kidnapped and forced into a life of slavery and debauchery. She stood at the end of the flatbed chair, not wanting to touch that slimy beast that kept her on a leash and revealing clothes. Inside the palace, some soft music was playing as part of the warm ambience, while members of his entourage chilled in his main room. There was the majordomo, like Big Fortuna. Tessek, Jabba's accountant. A wide variety of entertainers, of course. Some who were hired, some forced with no choice of escape. And of course, the obligatory Gamorreans who acted as guards. But the guards stepped aside as some visitors were approaching. Bib Fortuna led some guests down to the center of the room; a metallic floor that was one of the only bits of outside light coming into the palace. The arrived 'guests' were a cuffed Nitko with scars on his face, a dark blue Mandalorian with light pink highlights on her helmet, and another bounty hunter, wearing a big cloak that disguised the body, with only a golden helmet with a black faceshield covering the head. The Mandalorian turned her gaze to the left, noting another Mandalorian-clad figure among Jabba's entourage; with olive green and yellow armor. And the golden helmeted figure noted the Trandoshan in a yellow jumpsuit, kicking back in his chair, hissing and drinking as he stared at them. Great. Just the bounty hunter we need who could ruin my cover. "Ohhh..." The big Hutt said, smoking some more from the pipe. "Coo sa da?" "Greetings, Exalted One," Bon Bon introduced. "Allow me to introduce myself; I am simply the Mandalorian; or Mando. And this is my partner, Vigo. We've captured the assassin that you put a bounty on, for not paying up front when you gave him some very kind services." The Nitko sneered. "The services were bantha poodoo! They didn't mean anything!" Jabba the Hutt let out a big chuckle as he sat there, staring at the Nitko. "Chuba Stoopa. Uba canta caiot ritke nan wata, boya bo see mah pankpa an mah bukee, an tee wamma mi jop?" "I had no choice! The Empire boarded me!" "Which is why you fight for your life," Bon Bon snarked. "Mando. Jee katka bauuot, Dobra kacmhata. Jee canta wa votetka see u kulle rah nah bacdop cay bu bacaka see tee dan," Jabba interrupted, grabbing her attention. "Well good Jabba, I might be a lowly hunter, but if there's a challenge and good pay, I'll take it. Besides, I had to meet you personally." Bon Bon said. The Hutt chuckled, with a few other backgrounders chuckling as well. After he stopped laughing, he glared at the Nitko with a smug expression, at least, Bon Bon assumed it was smug. "Peee che uba, Nitko, Jee canta hihnoba du mah jacdee hatkocanh woy bu koudanwohola. Jee caiit yom boya che uba hocan. Tah kung kacaheu mi see Solo. Bacaka tee uba, Solo paknee ata bo yoyohba bai wahpiha mi. Paknee ata jen koumhaptecee." Two guards came in, yanking the Nitko lowlife out of the Mandalorian's hands and off to Jabba's prison-area. Now only the two bounty hunters were left standing in the middle of the room. Jabba directed his attention towards them. "Peee che uba dopa, Jee sonpa bacdop. uba gee woy mi wa lhonu bargon, an che da, Jee bacaka bai wamma uba bacdop sonocha, 000." Bon Bon did not like the sound of this, at all. "Your wanted ads said you were offering fifty thousand for the bounty." Jabba grunted, this time sounding uninterested. "Fortuna. Bunno bai hoohah." Bib Fortuna stepped up, looking over to Jabba, and then to the two bounty hunters. But before he spoke to the two hunters, Jabba spoke to him first. "Jee hatkocanh lee chalya hoohah huntodon cuee, um da doth fa. La caiot paknee ata fa, mo jot." The majordomo nodded, and glared at the couple with his red seething eyes. "Jabba doth yo ho soducha, 000. Da doth hea uba dopa doth meeto toe yoieu," Fortuna said, moving towards them. Some uncomfortable silence filled the room, as everyone was waiting for their response. The two masked figures stared at each other, giving silent nods. Finally, Bon Bon said something. "Kark fa. Ta woha paknee ata fa." "She agrees," Fortuna said, breaking the Huttese language for only a second. "Tessek! Lee chalya hoohah twa beeska mu-moolee!" Jabba barked. A Quarren stumbled over from a corner with a brief-case, revealing the credits inside. Once it was sealed and locked, he passed it over to 'Vigo' who accepted. But before they were about to leave-- "One more thing, mighty Jabba. May I have a quick look at your slave?" "Gahke." Bon Bon slowly approached the Twi'lek girl, not wanting to frighten her. Although she did lean backwards on the dais, not wanting to be centimeters near this stranger. Bon Bon examined her, eyeing her up and down. And softly she took one of her hands, opening her palm. The Twi'lek didn't understand, until she felt something soft and hard land in her palm, only for Bon Bon to disguise the object by making her fingers fold up. The Twi'lek finally understood her intentions, but she kept quiet. It wasn't much, but she would use it. The Mandalorian silently nodded to her, while 'Vigo' stared at everyone around, wondering what their next moves were. Thankfully nobody had done or noticed what Bon Bon was doing, and watched as she backed away and stood next to her partner. "Just curious. Considering looking into Twi'leks, possibly. We best be on our way; thank you very kindly, Jabba. May you and your entourage have a wonderful day," Bon Bon concluded. Once all was said and done, the two figures went up the steps to leave the palace. Nobody stood in their way or tried to stop them, and the Gamorrean guards stepped out of the way to let the two depart as the palace gates opened. Once they were out, the two of them proceeded to walk as quickly as they could, far from the palace. They finally got enough distance from the palace so anyone close couldn't see their faces or hear their words, which provided them the opportunity to remove their helmets for a moment. "There, now we are done, and we got paid thirty-five thousand credits," Bon Bon said with a grin. "And we didn't have to kill anyone." Lyra used all of her strength and yanked the golden mask off with a pop! Her hair stuck up on end, and she had to rub her hand through it to get it all back down. "Couldn't I have worn literally any other mask? This thing is heavy," Lyra pouted. "I don't even know how that Zorii girl could wear this, this is impossible!" And her hair poofed right back up on end again. The Mandalorian giggled. "You know you look cute with that puffed hair." "Bonnie..." Lyra playfully pouted. Bon Bon gave her a loving peck on her cheek, helping her brush her hair down. "I do appreciate you giving that slave the knife," Lyra smiled, softly. "I had to. I'm not positive of her chances, but better she get a chance to escape than to be stuck there forever. Now come on, let's go home," Bon Bon said, walking with her wife to the bikes. Lyra, placing the helmet on the back of her bike, Lyra raised her com device. "Lyra to Sweetie Drop base. Lyra to Sweetie Drop base. Come in, Sweetie Drop." She got static for a brief moment, until one of the astromech voices came through. "Chirp chirp chirp churp," Cheep spoke. "Cheep, where is Flurry?" "Chur... churup?" Cheep said, sounding unsure. "What do you mean you don't know? How do you not know?" "Cheep cheep cheep!" "Eleven too?" Flurry questioned. "Lyra, wait. Stay calm, if Eleven is gone, then he's probably with her." "Yeah, but where?" Lyra questioned. "Cheep, where did Eleven and Flurry go?" "Chirp, chup chup chup choop," The C1 unit replied. "Wait, with who!?" "Chirp choop," Cheep finished. Lyra and Bon Bon looked at each other. "We gotta go to Mos Eisley, fast." Not another word was exchanged. Quickly the two put their helmets back on their heads and jumped onto their bikes. The engines revved and so the couple raced off from the palace, on their way to Mos Eisley. Whatever Flurry and Eleven were doing, this didn't sound good to them. Who was this stranger they were aiding? Either way, they were going to have to have a serious talk when they find Flurry.