Now.

"Dad..."

Reet Anothis choked on his whispered apology, blinking tears out of his eyes. Through the hot blur, he saw the red blinking light on the remote detonator he held in his hand. Behind him sat the remains of his swoop, the thick smoke from the burned out stabilizers clinging in his throat. He coughed. The wind caressed Reet’s scarred face, rising up to comfort him from the canyons below. Wiping his eyes on his bloody sleeve, Reet took a last look at the far plateau. Columns of smoke rose from what was left of the industrial complex that had sat upon the sprawling mesa. Another pair of TIE Bombers strafed the complex; the whine of engines roared in his ears. The concussion waves from a kilometer away rocked him back on his heels. How many workers had just died? How many people that he knew, that had looked up to him had just been killed? The domed shield tower began to topple in slow motion, trailing smoke all the way down. From where Reet stood, the scene didn't look real. The Empire wasn't there to destroy Anothis Bacta Industrials, they were there to take away his father's company. Just like they had taken the man’s life. His quivering thumb hovered over the button.

Do it.

The Imperial soldiers would be here soon.

The remote in his hand was linked to the pulse bombs buried deep in the plateau. Detonating those pulse bombs would end the Empire’s attempt to take over the booming company. 'Over my dead body', his father had said. Right before the Empire had killed him. A shuttle broke the thick clouds, arcing over Reet’s head. Heading for the remains of the airfield, the Imperial craft disappeared into the smoke on the far plateau. Belching from craters that were all that remained of the three Ion cannon emplacements, billowing gray smoke obscured the installation almost entirely. He had called that place home since he was born. It was place that Reet Anothis had learned about love. And hate. Ravenna's silky brown hair flashed through his mind. Digging in his pocket with bloody knuckles, he pulled out the crinkled red flimsiplast. Swiping the tears from his eyes, Reet brought his hand close to his face to read the smudged words one more time.

Smoke on the water, fire in the sky... Is this all that is left of you and I? For when in time I fall to sleep, Know my love, I do not weep.

Those had been her words to him, before he had known she was the enemy. Clenching his eyes against the memories of her touch, Reet buried his face in the crook of his elbow, grabbing a handful of his own hair. Falling to his knees, he pressed his head into the hard dirt. This had been his fault. Ravenna Geel had gotten her hands around his heart.

"Dad...I'm...sorry."

Then she had squeezed. And Reet Anothis had fallen for it. Another shuttle broke the clouds, this one heading directly towards the plateau he stood upon. Looking down at the remote in his hand, Reet started to shake. This was it.

Do it.

Touching down, the shuttle hissed as its ramp slid down. Four white armored troopers filed out, trotting towards him, thick blaster carbines at their chests.

"Freeze! Get down! On your face!"

Taking one last look at his home across the canyon, Reet smiled, thinking back to a time when things were good. His best time.

Smoke on the water, fire in the sky... Is this all that is left of you and I?

Reet was not afraid anymore.

He pressed the button.

Three months earlier

These people smelled. Ravenna Geel closed her eyes, leaning back on the hard acceleration bench. The constant low hum of the hyperspace engines buzzed just under the incessant conversation in the cramped cargo shuttle. Looking around, Ravenna faked a smile at the man across from her, pulling her brown pony tail out of the collar of her stained tan jumper. She smelled too. That’s what a week and a half without a shower in sight would do to anyone. But with these people, their stench seemed to be more of a badge of honor than a hygiene issue. Ravenna guessed their pride came from jumping from system to system providing cheap labor on the Outer Rim to the highest bidder. Try my job, you simps.

“Anyone know how long?”

“Couple more minutes,” croaked the old man next to her. “Why? You in a hurry?”

“Naw, just anxious.”

Anxious to do her job. It had taken her four months to get in the rotation to work at Anothis Bacta Industrials. That had blown her mind. She could understand a waiting list for the Stormtrooper Corps, or Officer Training…maybe even the Academy…but this? Whatever. The wait shouldn’t have mattered to the twenty year old, but for some reason, it picked at her brain. Digging in the wide pocket of the threadbare uniform, she pulled out a black flimsiplast card with a grainy picture on one side. Palming the photo, she narrowed her eyes, trying to pick out any details she had missed before. Black hair topped a thin, scarred face. Not someone she would ever pursue romantically; and considering his looks, someone who hadn’t had a lot of experience with being pursued. Should be an easy mark. All she had to do was get close to the boy. Close enough to make him turn his back on his own father.

“Boyfriend?” a ragged woman croaked, leaning forward on her knees.

“Yeah,” Ravenna lied,” I haven’t seen him in four months.”

The woman cracked a knowing smile, nodding as she leaned back. “He’s a cutie.”

Ravenna nodded, forcing herself to breathe. These people smell.

“Effective immediately, Anothis Bacta Industrials is to cede ownership to the Galactic Empire.”

Aban Anothis leaned back in his padded chair; one hand coaxed his gray goatee. Wrinkled eyelids narrowed as he shook his head. As the transmission continued, the small holographic figure on his desk tried to stand taller.

“The Emperor is aware that his protection is needed for your business concerns and the stability of our new Empire. An Imperial detachment will arrive at Spiar within two days to effect this transfer. I have encoded instructions with this transmission to accelerate the transfer of ownership. I trust you will be prepared.”

The recorded holographic image of the man in Imperial naval garb fizzled and died, leaving Aban Anothis alone in his office. Spears of red light from the setting sun splashed a hellish glow through the room. His room. His office, his factory. My life. Scratching the salt and pepper stubble on the side of his leathery face, he thought about replaying the transmission. Deciding better of it, Aban leaned forward, hopping to his feet quicker than a human of seventy years should have been able to. Outside the wide transparisteel viewport, filling the sprawling plateau beneath him was the love of his life. The massive compound of buildings ringed a wide square filled with off-duty workers. From his viewpoint, Aban Anothis could see two of the three massive KDY-150 Ion cannons that protected his home.

“Cede ownership?” he echoed to himself, shaking his head," stability…stability.”

Folding his hands behind his back, Aban rocked back and forth on his heels. A grin curled his lip as he looked up the length of the massive domed shield tower that stretched into the sky. Within ten seconds, the dome would protect the entire plateau with a coruscating field of impenetrable energy. Let this new ‘Empire’ try to take what was his. Turning back to his mirror black desk, Aban leaned over, tapping the comm button.

“Yeah?”sputtered the voice over the static.

“Reet, come up here.”

“Dad, I’m right in-“

“Now.”

Aban heard the resignation in his son’s silence; the comm clicked off. Sitting back down in his black katarn skin chair, he rested his feet on the desktop. Pushing past some requisition orders, he plucked the small globe from the corner of the desk, leaning back. A viscous, bluish green liquid sloshed inside the globe, distorting the small ABI icon floating within. Bacta. Rolling the globe in his palm, Aban pursed his lips. He hadn’t worked his entire life to see the fruits of his labor swiped out from under him. He had watched Spiar’s colonists work themselves to death to establish a foothold on the planet. He had watched his own father wither from the intense labor that the planet had exacted. Aban’s eyes glazed over as he held the globe in his palm. The door hissed open; Aban’s head snapped up. His son strode into the room, an expectant look on his scarred face. Plopping down in one of the chairs opposite his father, Reet Anothis tossed his head, sweeping straight black hair out of his eyes. Shifting in the chair, Reet started to say something, stopped, then began again.

“Dad, I was checking the pump relays on that mixer in seventeen-nine.”

“I know what you were doing, Reet. Your girlfriend can wait. You need to see this.”

Reaching over, Aban clicked on the Imperial recording again, watching his son’s face redden. As the miniaturized man flickered into existence and delivered his recorded ultimatum again, Reet cocked his head. The recording ended; Reet looked over at his father. A moment of silence passed between them.

“They…can’t do that…can they?”

Aban leaned forward on the mirror polished desk.

“Not while I’m still alive, son, not while I’m still alive.”

The older man leaned back in his chair, meeting his son’s eyes. The CEO of Anothis Bacta Industrials was not concerned in the slightest. For the first time in his seventy years, the father was.

Admiral Mok Arvan watched the tiny hologram of the woman swinging a squealing girl in circles. Spinning away, the woman twirled the tiny girl until both fell to the ground. The Admiral studied every move, every nuance, searching for some detail of the recording he might have missed in seven years. It had been seven years since his only remnant of his wife and child was this small hologram. Seven years since his family had died on Mantessa. Mok leaned back at his workstation, crossing his arms over his chest. Seven years ago, on Mantessa, an outbreak of Candorian plague had torn through the population. His wife and child had been unfortunate enough to catch the disease. Mok Arvan had been concerned, but due to Mantessa’s possession of one of the largest pharma-guilds in the sector, he had thought his family’s ration of medicine was prepared. Mok stood up, flicking the recording off, watching the image fizzle and evaporate. Like his life. His wife and daughter had been denied treatment. Later he found out that their denial of the life saving vaccine was caused by a careless clerical error; a faceless worker in a faceless company. It had been a careless swipe of a pen, a mistaken keystroke. They should have lived. A beep at his door snapped his head up.

“Come.”

The door hissed open, revealing a young gawky man in pressed Imperial greens.

“Lieutenant?”

“Admiral, we nearly to rendezvous. Fifteen minutes and we will exit hyperspace over Spiar,” he paused, studying the other man’s face,” you had ordered me to notify…you, when we were close to reversion.”

“Thank you Lieutenant. Have you-“

“Prepared the ground troops, double checked the turbolaser crews, and prepped…the…sorry Admiral.”

Admiral Arvan nodded. The boy was young and impatient. As long as sloth was not one of his faults, Mok Arvan didn’t have issues with efficiency. The few mistakes the Lieutenant made, he owned. The red faced junior officer finished,” -TIE squadrons…Admiral.”

“Good. I am not expecting more than token resistance. This is a ground installation, and according to the last Republic census postings, only minor defenses. I am counting on the element of fear, Lieutenant, but keep on high alert. We want to take the factory, not destroy it. Good job, son.”

The Lieutenant nodded, saluting as the door hissed shut. Mok Arvan looked back at the spot on his table where the hologram had been dancing moments before. He would take Anothis Bacta Industrials, take it and strip it out of all those nameless, faceless drones. Then he would take it for the Emperor and his new Empire. Arvan was also no fool. Regardless of the recent census reports, he knew a business that pulled in millions of credits had more than a token defense. He knew that a direct assault on the compound would at best cost him part of his limited force. At worst, he would lose his prize, and have to explain his failure to the Emperor. That was not an option. Smiling, he nodded to himself. Anothis Bacta Industrials would never see him coming. He would make them care. All of them.

Reet snapped awake to a sound he hadn’t heard in over a year. Klaxons blared across the compound. He almost covered his head with his pillow until reality snapped him awake. The Empire had arrived. Nearly tearing the seams out of his coveralls as he pulled them on, Reet hit the walkway running. The cool morning air tinged his nose as he ran toward his father’s office across the compound. The glow of the rising sun created a silver curtain on the horizon as Reet raced past confused workers ending and beginning their shifts. Reet saw her, talking with another group of workers casting nervous glances at the still dark sky.

“Ravenna!”

“Reet, what’s going on?”

Reet felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up. Looking up, Reet stumbled back a step as vertigo tingled his feet. The shield tower had started to vibrate. A shimmer of blue energy started to bleed out of the tower and downwards a hundred feet above them, covering the entire plateau in an impenetrable cloak of energy. The workers who had filled the square began to disperse in a controlled rush. Thick voices echoed around the complex from the network of speaker-droids that had risen above the plateau.

“I don’t know yet. Just make sure you get to your shift, I am sure it’s nothing we can’t handle.”

Forcing a smile, she took his hand, looking at him under her brown hair. He squeezed back, then dropped her hand, giving her one last look before he turned to sprint the last hundred feet to the three-story building that held his father’s office. Bursting into Aban’s office, Reet stopped dead. His father stood facing a life-size hologram of a tall, thin man in a military uniform. It only took Reet a second to determine that the man possessed the same commanding presence as his father. Reet swallowed hard. Aban glanced at Reet, putting his finger to his lips, then pointing at the console screen nestled against the wall. Punching up the image, Reet’s eyebrows shot up as he saw the ships that sat in orbit above them. The two triangular warships were massive, unlike anything Reet had ever seen before. Bigger than a passenger liner. Bigger than any of the supply freighters and armed to the teeth.

“Oh my-“

“This is Admiral Mok Arvan of the His Majesty’s Imperial Navy. I trust you received our transmission two days past, and have made preparations according to my instructions.”

“I received your instructions.”

Mok Arvan’s cocked his head. The image fizzled, then reformed.

“Have the preparations been made for the transfer?”

Aban Anothis smiled. “They have not been made.”

“I am sure by now you know the resources I have at my disposal,” the Admiral puffed, unfazed,” The Emperor values your knowledge and experience. It would be a shame to waste that.”

“Your ‘Emperor’ values my credits. Bottom line. Let’s talk as men, Admiral, if that’s possible. If you attempt to land troops, you will fail. The plateau we are on is impenetrable by a ground assault. If you attempt to attack from orbit, good luck getting by the shield. Bring in fighters, they will have to deal with the turbolaser emplacements. Any orbital attack will be dealt with in the same manner. Bottom line, to get your foot in the door, you have to blow up the house. I don’t think that’s a feasible option, do you?”

Reet watched the man’s eyes go from calm to flames. Holding his composure, the Admiral's image visibly sighed.

“It is unfortunate that you feel that way. I would hate to see any of your workers, or your…family,” he hissed, glaring at Reet,” come to harm. I leave my offer on the table for two hours. Then we will begin interdicting incoming and outgoing supply ships. Until then, I will be in orbit.”

The transmission ended, leaving the father and son in silence facing the wide windows, as the sun rose over Spiar.

“You try to harm my family,” Aban whispered to himself,” you’ll regret it.”

Reet tried to calm his breathing. His heart felt like it was about to burst through his chest. He found himself wondering what would happen when two hours passed, and the Admiral hadn’t gotten his due.

“Dad…did you look at their ships? Those are the biggest things I have ever seen in my life!”

“And?”

“And? And they look like they could pound us into nothing, shield or no shield!”

“Son, we are perfectly safe here. Even if they punched through the shield, the KDY’s would make short work of those oversized durasteel buckets. This ‘Admiral’ wouldn’t have made the trip all the way out to the Outer Rim just to blow us off the map. They want what we have, and that, as much as anything, is our ace in the hole. Just sit tight, and focus on your people. If you look scared, they will be scared.”

“But-“

“But nothing. You need to trust me on this. Stay focused…get on the comm to all incoming work barges. Tell them what is happening, and leave it to pilot’s discretion whether to continue in system. I don’t want any workers getting hurt over this garbage.”

Reet nodded. “What about our people here?”

“I will address each shift as they come off the line. Touch base with all the under bosses…Reet, it’s important that the workers know they are safe here. Not only won’t they get hurt, they will continue to have jobs, to get a paycheck. If anyone asks-and they will-it is more of a risk to attempt a liftoff than it is to stay. After that, inventory all incoming manifests for the next two weeks. I want to know what we stand to lose if this…situation goes on. You have your tasks, get on it.”

“Alright Dad.”

Reet turned, stepping into the hallway. Stopping, he looked down the hallway. Reet Anothis had never been more scared in his entire life.

Reet pushed the plastiform earplugs into his ears as the second blast door slid open. Even through the plugs, he could hear-and feel-the activity in Factory Seventeen. He had just met with his under bosses, who were relaying his father’s message to all the workers presently. So far, there hadn’t been mass confusion, panic, or exodus. So far so good. Stepping out onto the grated catwalk, Reet Anothis gripped the cool durasteel railing, leaning out. He was trying hard not to crush the fragile bunch of lavender flowers cradled in his right hand. It had taken six hours of scouring the canyons on his swoop to find them. It had taken even more effort to keep the delicate plants alive.

Dad would kill me if he found out I left the compound.

Reet scanned the factory floor. Blocky processing units filled up his entire field of view, stretching a hundred feet into the air. Each unit was a complete factory in itself, a hundred feet high and dotted with workers monitoring production, quality testing, and conducting repairs. In Factory Seventeen alone there were twenty of these town-sized units, lining the sides of the factory like sentinels. Workers on floating platforms and small repair droids flitted near the tops of the durasteel monstrosities. Thirty feet below danced a mosaic of floor workers, transports and droids buzzing from unit to unit. Reet smiled. Scanning the factory floor, Reet squinted. He was never going to find Ravenna from up here. Clambering down the steps, he stepped out onto the duracrete floor. Don’t run. It was bad enough that these people knew about the Imperial presence in orbit, he didn’t need to give them any more stress. The vibrations from the powerful factory units tickled the hair on the back of his neck as his feet touched the floor.

“Devin! How are ya?” Reet slapped the older man on the back. Turning around, Devin Martan’s grizzled gray beard smiled out at him. Reet switched the flowers to his left hand, hiding them at his hip. Dropping the spanner into his tool kit, Devin slapped Reet’s grip, pumping it hard. This was the man’s forty-something circuit at Anothis; he had been working here since Reet had been a child.

“Good, kid! Real good. I hear your old man is going to make stank’ outta’ them fools,” he chuckled, jerking a thumb up towards space and the Star Destroyers sitting in orbit.

“Yeah, not a worry, my friend,” Reet plastered on a smile,” not a worry.” Turning away, Reet stepped onto the turbolift pad for Unit Three, steeling his legs as the one person pad left the floor, accelerating him the fifty feet to the landing. The duracrete floor dropped away. Reet closed his eyes. Not a worry. A lot of worries.

Stepping off the pad onto the landing, he began to circle the platform, looking for Ravenna. Looking down at the bundle of delicate flowers, he re-gripped their slender stalks. Hopping onto an access ladder, Reet hauled himself up on the outside of the towering monument with one hand. Next to him, translucent pipes shuttled brilliant blue liquid up to the top of the processor. Topping the ladder, Reet saw her. She was kneeling away from him, looking like she was making some adjustments on one of the flow monitors. Touching her shoulder, Reet backed off as she jumped, hopping to her feet. He caught the tail end of a string of curses.

“What?”

“Nothing,” she shouted,” what are you doing way up here? Shouldn’t you be planning accidents for your Dad?”

“Ha ha. Real funny! Your shift is almost up.”

Checking her wrist clock, Ravenna’s eyebrows went up. He jammed the flowers in her face. “Reet…,” she gushed, closing her eyes as she inhaled the delicate perfume.

He smiled. That was all he needed to hear. She took a step closer, tugging on his arm as she nuzzled his ear. “Yeah? Something else is almost up too,” she growled, biting his earlobe.

Reet felt electricity shoot through the base of his spine and back up his neck. Blinking it away, he took a step back, a stupid grin on his face.

“What are you working on?”

“Flow monitors on the fritz again,” she cursed, jabbing a finger at the small data screen.

“I thought all the flow monitors were in the green after that last overhaul.”

“I…someone was feeding you a line of crap, lover boy. Hey, I want to take you up on that date, as soon as all this Empire spast is done with. A swoop, a far off plateau, and…me?”

Reet tried to open his mouth and was interrupted by the loud, low pulse that signaled the end of the shift. The mass of workers became a tapestry of organized chaos as they began to filter out down off the factory units and spill out onto the floor below.

“C’mon!” she yelled, faking a slap at his face. Reet flinched, chasing her down the skinny ladder to the turbo pads. He didn’t bother to check what Ravenna had been doing with the flow monitors. If he had, he would have found nothing wrong with any of them.

“Unbelievable.” Aban Anothis sat back in his chair, shaking his head. A heavy breath left his lungs. Fingers tapping on the data pad in his lap, he re-read the information on it. Reet sat on the couch across from his desk, watching his father intently. “Unbelievable.”

Seven hours ago, a shuttle had left one of the Star Destroyers that sat in orbit.

That’s what these huge tin cans in orbit are called.

Star Destroyers. Aban cracked a grin, wondering how big of an ego had generated that moniker. Laughing to himself, he wondered what their size was designed to compensate for.

“Dad, I…uh…”

Aban looked up at his son. The boy was choking on what he wanted to say. Aban raised an eyebrow.

“What’s going to happen?”

“Nothing, son. Not a damn thing. So far, all new work transports have been safely rerouted, and the current crew has no trouble staying put. I pointed the Ion cannons at his oversized tin cans, and he hasn’t stopped any of our freighters yet. Nothing is going to happen.”

“Nothing?” Reet spat, jumping to his feet,” something has already happened! They are sending men here right now. Soldiers!”

“That is their waste of manpower, not ours. They are trying to call a bluff that doesn’t exist.”

“If they got soldiers in here, they would…who knows what would happen! If the shield malfunctioned, we’d be dead! If-“

“If, if, if!” Aban interrupted,” if doesn’t exist, son. Did the shield fail when we were attacked a year ago? Did the turbolasers fail when those Tarrafian pirates sent in fighters? Did the plateau fail to protect us when they deployed men? N-O. This sort of thing has happened more times than I can count, someone wants to get a piece of our family, our work…but do they succeed? No! Simple as that son…have some faith in the way things are.”

Some faith in me.

Aban didn’t think he should have to say the words. Not at all. Reet should have known that already. Shaking his head, Aban strode the width of the room, grasping Reet by the shoulders. Father and son met eyes.

Reet blinked.

Aban held his gaze for another second before speaking.

“We are safe here. Do what you do best, keep your bosses informed and motivated. ABI has been here for over seventy years…we are not going anywhere. I need you to maintain your head, son, if you lose your head over this, then a lot of bad can happen. A lot of this is depending on you. I am depending on you.”

His son stared into his eyes.

“I’ll do what needs to be done. Don’t worry.”

Smiling, Aban watched Reet turn and leave the room. He was left with the echo of the hiss from the door in his ears. The Empire was sending troops planet side right now. A shuttle had left one of the Star Destroyers seven hours ago, had disappeared around the other side of the planet. No doubt it had landed out of sensor range, and was attempting to move on the plateau by ground assault. Not surprising, really, as his two hour ultimatum had been up three days ago. Aban smiled. A total lack of communication meant one thing. They were going to try to take Anothis Bacta Industrials by force. “Good luck, gentlemen,” Aban whispered, tossing a salute to the ceiling and the Star Destroyers sitting in orbit. To the Admiral who would never take his life’s work. Walking to the window, he stopped in front of the transparisteel that stretched the length of the room. Aban’s eyes traveled past the factory, past the gun emplacements, the shield, the plateau. The light of dusk lit the far horizon with a hellish glow. Somewhere, out there, they were coming. These Imperials. Good luck.

“I told you he would say that!”

Ravenna sat back hard in the plastiform chair, giving Reet an I-told-you-so look and crossing her arms. Reet averted his gaze from her brown eyes, knowing he would wilt under them. Leaning forward on his knees, Reet followed the lines of the rough tiles that paved the square. Small tufts of grass sprung up, trying to find a purchase between the tightly placed stones.

“I…know you did. My father knows the full scope of what’s happening, and he’s-“

“Got it under control? I think I have heard that one before,” she shot back,” listen, Reet, I have heard things about this ‘Empire’, and they are not just the next fly-by-night deal. They are the real thing. If they wanted to get in here, they will get in here. It’s only a matter of time.”

Reet looked out over the square, ringed by two of the massive Bacta factories. Off-duty workers played games, stood talking, or just milled around. The sun shone down from the center of the sky, heating the top of Reet's head. Sitting back under the umbrella, he laid his palm face down on the table.

“I don’t think so,” he retorted, visualizing his father’s face,” my Dad has run ABI for years…since before I was born, before you were born. He’s smart, and stubborn…when it counts.”

“Reet…you know that anything could change that! What if these men who are coming here, what if they manage to get access to the shield generators or manage to disable the cannons? What then?”

“Lower your voice, Ravenna,” Reet shot back, glancing around him.” There’s no way these Imperials can get to the generators, they are buried half a mile down in the plateau. They’d have to be inside the shield to take it off line. And the only way onto the plateau is right over there,” he spat, jerking a thumb back to the quiet airfield.

“Yeah, but if-“

“If nothing,” he interrupted, feeling his face redden,” there are only two people who can get to that shield generator, and I’m one of them.”

Ravenna was silent. She reached over, sliding her hand into his. Reet suddenly wished he hadn’t said that. Stupid.

“I love you,” she murmured in his ear.

Reet blinked, drawing his head back. He was very glad she had said that.

“I do...me t…I love…you,” he finally got out. His head buzzed. The last time Reet had used those words, he had been five years old. And it had been to his mother. A deserting mother.

Reet smiled at Ravenna, amazed at the way he couldn’t stop looking into her brown eyes.

Reet had tried to talk to his father about his mother. The conversation always got off track, quicker each time. Reet had finally given up on the subject. Dad still hurts. Squeezing her hand, Reet interlaced his fingers in hers. Her slender hands were warm in his. She made him forget. Forget that he was on the Outer Rim of the galaxy, that his life was predestined for him. Forget that my last name is Anothis. The dull drone of the shift bell filled the square. Reet shook his head, scowling. Ravenna jumped up, kissed him on the lips, and stepped back. She was so soft.

“I'll see you…tonight.” Reaching into her coverall, she drew out a piece of red flimsiplast. Folding it into his fingers, she dropped his hands, skipping away.

“Admiral, you have a problem.”

Mok Arvan looked at the disembodied glowing head of Aban Anothis floating above his desk. The old man’s scowl was apparent through the grainy transmission.

“Is that so?” replied the Admiral, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Finger combing his hair back, he got in one last mighty yawn before flipping up the thin panel and hitting ‘receive’. Aban’s disembodied head locked eyes with him as the transmission connected.

“Sensors indicate that you lost a shuttle.”

“Lost? No, it is standard procedure to send a crew for planetary survey upon making orbit. I would think a well heeled gentleman such as yourself wouldn’t have to be reminded of such minutiae. Perhaps I was wrong.”

“Listen here, Admiral, and listen good. No more games. Recall your men, leave orbit and don’t look back. I am not stupid enough to be goaded into making empty threats…my KDY’s will remain pointed at you until you either skip orbit or breach it. I give you the courtesy of twice the amount of time you initially gave me. If your ships aren’t heading into hyperspace in four hours, you will lose them both. I keep my deadlines.”

The transmission fizzled and died. Mok Arvan rolled his chair back, stood and stretched. Yawning again, he flipped through the data pad until he came up with what he was looking for. Opening the encoded transmission from the surface of Spiar, he reviewed it and smiled.

“It seems you have the problem, Aban Anothis.”

His operative was in place. And on schedule. The comm buzzed again.

“Admiral, encoded transmission coming in,” crackled the Lieutenant’s voice,” it’s…the Emperor.”

“Put him through.”

Mok Arvan heard the comm click off. He had heard the fear in the Lieutenant’s voice. The new Emperor was not a man to be feared, just respected. No one man Mok Arvan had ever met deserved fear. The holograph projector hummed again; an amorphous shape resolved into the disembodied head of Palpatine. The Emperor’s eyes oriented on him.

“Admiral, what is the status of our operation on Spiar?”

Clearing his throat, Mok Arvan sat up straight in his chair, letting the silence stretch another second before replying.

“Everything is on schedule, Emperor Palpatine. Naturally, they did not drop their shields and roll out any welcome mats for the Empire. I will have subdued Anothis Bacta Industrials within a day.”

Palpatine paused for a moment. The balding man’s hair ringed his head like a crown. The Emperor smiled.

“Good. Make sure that it is done. Other events depend on your mission on Spiar, Admiral.”

“Understood.”

The Admiral bowed his head. The transmission fizzled out.

Ravenna Geel slipped into her coverall. Folding the sheets on her bunk over, she turned, checking the long barracks. Besides a few sleeping workers, only one or two others occupied the bunks under the arched ceiling. Echoes of their quiet conversations rolled off the rounded ceiling. No one was close enough to see her. Slipping her hand under the thin bunk, her fingers locked on the thick canvas duffel. Slipping it inside her baggy coverall, she zipped the worn suit to her neck, flicking her brown ponytail out the back.

Finally.

No more Bacta.

No more of this boy.

Most important of all, no more smelling like a rotten foot. She couldn’t wait to burn her overalls and watch Mok Arvan take this precious, stupid company right out from under their noses.

I can’t wait to get back to Coruscant.

The thermal charges in her bag would help her do all those things in one fell swoop. Taking a last look at her bunk, she turned and headed down the center of the barracks, her boots clicking on the polished floor. One thing about old man Anothis, she thought as she looked around the lavish barracks, he sure did take care of his people. The sun had just touched the horizon. It would be dark within the hour. Stepping out into the cool dusk of the plateau, she took a deep breath, scanning the buildings. Factories, mess halls and the central square met her eyes. Ravenna’s gaze traveled up the thin, dome-covered shield tower. The constant hum of the activated energy field filled the air, protecting them from an orbital attack. Stepping of the barracks porch, Ravenna Geel headed straight into the central square just as the shift alert blared. Perfect timing. There would be less chance of her running into Reet in the swarm of faces.

Stupid boy.

He had fallen for her so easily. Ravenna had thought her task would have been difficult. Amazing what men will do when you wave the right appendage in their direction. Smiling to herself, Ravenna passed the table where she had first kissed Reet without a second glance. The square started to fill as workers filed out of the other barracks, out of the factories into the wide open space. The few minutes between shifts were the only chance some of them had to see another friendly face.

What a life.

The shield tower loomed larger as Ravenna picked up her feet, making her crane her neck to see the top. A small control room was integrated into the base of the towers thick column, a single door the only access.

A single guard.

Ravenna smiled at the man. She knew his face, but not his name. His thin pistol was holstered on his hip. He returned the smile.

“Off shift, huh?”

“Yeah,” she cooed, her eyes smiling back,” I thought I’d take a walk, get some air.”

Ravenna kept her pace past the guard. The man’s gaze went over her body once, snapping forward when he noticed her watching him. Ravenna smiled, disappearing behind the column. Leaning back against the backside of the shield tower, she watched the last splinter of the sun disappear behind the mountains. This place was nothing like her home. So desolate.

What an armpit.

Ravenna sat at the base of the tower, out of sight. Dusk gave way to dark, the only light coming from the hovering lamps above the square. Unzipping her coverall, Ravenna lifted the canvas bag out of a deep inside pocket, placing it on the ground. The four mag-charges inside clicked together as she dropped the strap. Ravenna peeked around the edge of the column. The guard’s back was to her. He was scanning the square with a pair of electrobinoculars. Sliding close to the durasteel column, she inched her way towards him. Her adrenaline was threatening to shoot through the top of her head as she closed on the unsuspecting man. Shuffling towards the guard, she thrust a kick in his groin from the rear, feeling her upturned toes make contact. His breath sucked in as he dropped like a stone, gripping his groin. Grabbing the guard’s collar, Ravenna dragged the man behind the tower, out of view of the square. She searched his vest, finding a small access card. Unclipping his pistol, Ravenna went to stash it inside of her coverall. She looked back at the squirming, groaning man and frowned. He would be mobile in far less time than it would take her to complete of her job. Ravenna gripped the barrel of the pistol, slamming the butt end down on the base of his skull. He slumped, not moving. Grabbing the duffel, she slung the bag over her shoulder. Slipping the data end of the card into the reader, she scanned the square. The few people that were in the dark square were so far away they wouldn’t be able to make her out unless they were looking for her. The door hissed open. Ravenna stepped into the small room. One wall of the cramped room was lined with three floor-to-ceiling terminals. A single turbolift door punctuated the opposite wall. She could just deactivate the shield, letting Mok bombard the surface and attempt to land troops with a very small margin for error. No. Even if she managed to hold the shield control room, the Ion cannons would make short work of his two Star Destroyers before Mok could destroy them. There was no way she could get all three of the guns offline from the surface. No, she had to do it right. Checking the mag-charges in her bag, Ravenna paused, card held in front of the turbolift reader. She would get one chance at this. Either someone would notice the absence of the guard, or her access of the generator turbolift would alert Anothis to her presence.

“All or nothing, Ravenna…all or nothing,” she whispered to herself. Sliding the card into the reader, she held her breath as the door hissed open. Stepping in, she forced herself to breathe.

Almost done.

Reet leaned back, reading the poem again. His heart soared on every word. Not trying to stop the smile that forced its way onto his face, he read it one more time before folding the flimsiplast. Sliding the poem into his pocket, he closed down the thin data pad. Enough requisition orders. His father had the system automated to such a point that checking the orders against the incoming freighters certainly didn’t require his hand. But he felt like he somehow owed his father that.

I owe him…something.

Kicking back from his desk, he stood up. Reet braced himself on the desk, the rush of blood to his head dizzying him.

“Reet!” Aban’s voice crashed over the comm,” Reet! Are you there?”

“Yeah Dad, what’s wrong?”

“Tamian didn’t check in! Get over there! I’ll meet you there!”

Reet was already moving.

“Take a gun!” his father added as an afterthought. Reet punched open his top desk drawer, snatching the heavy field pistol. Looking over the thick weapon, he made sure the power pack was still charged, then dashed out his office door.

Denn Tamian was one of three men whom his father trusted to run the shield and monitor the generator buried within the plateau. Tamian would report something as small as his bed sheets not being crisp and straight. If he hadn’t made his report, it wasn’t just likely that something bad had happened.

It was a certainty.

Reet punched the panel for the outer door, hitting the square running, blaster in hand. The few people in the square were tired off-shifters. Their eyes still followed him as he sprinted towards the generator tower, gun in hand. The blue glow of the powerful shield still buzzed overhead.

The shield is still up. At least the shield is still up.

Reet’s legs turned to lead about halfway through the square. The tower loomed larger, but it took him what seemed like forever to reach its base. Finally reaching the tower, he dropped to a squat, gasping for breath. He checked his weapon again, fishing for his access card. He paused at the slot. A booted foot stuck out from behind the curve of the tower. Swallowing hard, Reet held his weapon in front of him as he stepped out from the tower.

“Tamian!”

Rushing to the man’s side, Reet shook him, looking for any injuries. Groaning, Denn Tamian stirred.

“Got the…drop…sorry…kid.”

“Who?”

“R...girl…,” he trailed off, eyes rolling up into his head. Tamian slumped again. Reet saw the puddled blood from the back of his head on the ground.

Racing towards the door, Reet punched it open, ready to empty his weapon on Tamian’s attacker. The monitoring room was empty. Stepping inside, Reet looked at the ceiling. Someone had been in here. Slapping the turbolift panel, he bolted inside.

Up or down?

Reet’s finger hesitated over the button.

Up or down?

If someone had gone up, they could take the shield off line with a little design knowledge. But if they went down, they could take out the entire generator, perhaps the plateau itself. Reet pressed.

Down.

As the turbolift door slid shut, Reet’s eyes played across a single piece of something purple dancing in his wake. It settled on the floor in front of the lift. The door closed. Reet looked down, frowning. For some reason, he stopped thinking about the detritus. Couldn’t think about it. Feeling the lift accelerate down, Reet shook involuntarily. He might have to use this pistol. Whoever was at the bottom of the lift…he might have to kill.

“She’s in,” the Admiral whispered to himself. The transmission had come ten seconds ago. Having turned to the open data pad, Mok Arvan smiled. This was what he had been waiting for. Flicking on the comm, he spoke into the air.

“Lieutenant?”

“Yes, Admiral?”

“It is time. Our agent is inside the generator.”

“I will have the landing crews and pilots prepare for a surface strike,” the young man almost bubbled.

Mok Arvan leaned back in his chair, a smile pasted on his face as he stared at the far wall of his chambers.

“It seems you have the problem, Aban Anothis.”

The door slid open. Reet squinted against the dimness as he peeked out the open lift door. Three massive cylindrical generators hung from thick durasteel stalks emerging from the rock ceiling of the cavern. Their constant hum tickled Reet’s teeth. Boxy lamps clinging to the ceiling trailed thick power cables down the domed rock, ending out of his sight on the other side of the chamber. The massive glowlamps did little to improve the visibility in the dim cave. Looking down through the metal grating of the catwalk, Reet saw a bottomless pit. His eyes widened. He swallowed the vertigo that threatened to overtake him. As he stepped out over the chasm, he heard the sound of his boot falls come back to him from the grated metal. One of the wall supports creaked. If his target didn’t know they were being followed before, they certainly did now. Squinting into the gloom, Reet crouched on the catwalk. Someone-or something-was moving in the center of the platform. The catwalk bisected the cavern, running out over the center of the pit and encircling the triple generators. Reet steadied his elbows on the shaky railing, closing one eye as he stared down the barrel of his weapon. Willing his quaking hand to stop, he tried to calm his breathing. He could hear his heart beating. As his eyes adjusted, he saw his target was dressed in worker’s coveralls, a dark head of hair topping it. The figure was kneeling next to one of the redundant power couplings connecting two of the generators. Reet’s finger tightened on the trigger.

What am I doing?

If he fired and missed, which he probably would, he could hit something vital. The entire generator could explode, taking the plateau with it. Snapping the weapon up, Reet gripped the handrail, creeping around the catwalk. He stopped dead. Reet found himself watching the way the familiar figure moved.

Can't be.

All the questions in Reet’s mind were answered just as Ravenna Geel glanced over her shoulder. Hopping up, she stumbled back, reaching for Denn Tamian’s stolen weapon.

“Don’t!” Reet spurted, raising his pistol. His eyes blurred on the end of the weapon as he drew a bead on her head. It all made sense. The unnecessary flow monitor adjustments, the purple flower in the elevator.

“Reet, I-“

“Shutup!”

Her love for him had been a lie. He felt the red flimsiplast, her poem, burning a hole in his pocket.

Was this love?

Reet swallowed again, tightening his jaw. He felt like someone had just removed his organs with a dull spoon. He couldn’t even fathom what had just happened…what he had fallen for.

“Just shutup. Step away from there. Now. I might be stupid,” he hissed, pausing on the word,” but I am not blind. I see…I see now.”

“Reet, I…love you!”

Reet watched her face change from fear to concern to sorrow. Tears sprang from her eyes. Ravenna Geel covered her face with her hands, beginning to weep through an incomprehensible string of words. Reet saw one of the mag charges, fixed to the side of the generator. Dropping the barrel of his weapon a fraction, he peered over his weapon to look at her.

He only had a second to regret his mistake.

Her foot hit the butt of the pistol. Discharging, it flew free over the rail. A spray of sparks dazzled Reet’s eyes for a split second. He felt her heel slam into his knee, dropping him to the catwalk. As his back clanged to the catwalk, he realized the reason he couldn’t breathe. She had hit him in the throat with her forearm on the way down. He had time to flip over, and then she was on him. Reet threw his hands up, trying to ward off her strikes. The spark shower was still burned into his vision. Her attack stopped as suddenly as it started.

“Get up!”

She has the gun.

Reet cursed himself, massaging his throat as he got to one knee. Blinking away his blindness, he pulled up on the rail, bringing himself to his feet. She stood ten feet away, gun trained on his chest. Reet was numb. He tried to speak, had so much to say. Nothing came out.

“Move and you die.”

Ravenna pointed the blaster at the base of the catwalk Reet was standing on.

She fired.

Reet fell to one knee as the thin metal separated, pitching downwards. Almost bouncing off the springing metal, Reet tensed, clutching the rail. His feet scrabbled for purchase. Looking down, he watched a piece of charred support fall into the blackness.

“No!”

“Yes, I’m afraid.”

“Why?” he heard his voice crack.

“Why? It’s my job, dolt.”

“No.”

Realization spread over Ravenna Geel’s face. “You mean why,” she pointed to him,” you…were a means to an end…quite possibly a promotion.” She fired again. Reet heard the opposite support squeal in protest, giving way. He was going to die.

I’m already dead.

The catwalk bounced again, pitching further down. The stressed metal screeched at him. If he let go of his precarious grip, he would fall. His white fingers screamed.

“No! I don’t believe you!”

“It doesn’t matter what you believe, you are throwing my schedule off, boy.”

Reet’s brain scrambled. He couldn’t scale the slick grating fast enough to get to safety. One more shot would send him flying off into space. Reet opened his mouth.

“Is this all that is left of you and I?”

She lowered her weapon an inch, a smile starting to cover her surprise.

“Nice try.”

Ravenna Geel flinched for cover as a laser bolt impacted into the generator casing, blowing sparks in her face.

“Reet!”

Dad.

Aban Anothis fired again; the shot exploded off the catwalk. Ravenna dove for cover behind one of the terminals, returning fire. Green bolts of energy danced around Aban's dodging form. Explosions took chunks of rock out of the far wall. But he kept firing back. Then Reet saw it. Gripping higher on the failing metal rail, he saw his salvation. The detonator for the charges she had placed on the generator lay within his grasp. Ravenna flinched back as one of Aban’s shots seared her hair. Reet winced at the smell as he slammed his hands onto the catwalk, pulling himself up. Ravenna rolled away from him, disappearing behind the thick generator pods, firing all the way. Reet pulled himself to safety, clutching at the hand-held remote. Then he heard it. His father’s cry.

No.

Snapping his head up, he watched his father fall to the metal grating in slow motion. Bouncing on the catwalk once, Aban Anothis’ weapon hopped over the edge, flying free into space. The man didn’t move.

“No!”

“Don’t worry lover, you’ll be seeing him soon.”

Looking up, Reet stared down the barrel of her hot weapon. She was just out of arm’s reach. Ravenna’s smile faded as her eyes fell on the transponder in his hand.

“Give that to me.”

Reet looked over at his father’s form, looked back at the detonator in his hand.

“Come and get it.”

Reet pressed the button, wheeling around. Leaping the step and a half, he stretched for the other side of the catwalk, hearing the mag charges prime behind him. He heard Ravenna’s scream as he landed hard on the edge of the thin metal. Reet scrambled for a handhold, wincing against the jagged metal tearing into his chest.

The charges blew.

The explosions contained themselves inside their small magnetic fields. The brilliant flash illuminated the entire cavern for a split second. Gripping the railing support, Reet cranked his head around in time to see the three linked generators erupt in a gaseous volcano of flame. An impossibly loud tearing of stressed durasteel tore at his ears as the whole assembly failed. The generator began falling.

“No!”

Reet hauled himself up, crawling a few more feet before his wrist caved and he pitched forward on his face. He saw Ravenna. Falling. Fear and terror painted on her face. A pushing wave of wind buffeted him as the generator began its long fall into the darkness. The last thing he saw was her face, her silent scream as she disappeared into nothingness. The jagged metal column protruding from the ceiling hissed volumes of steam, loose cables spewing spurts of electricity into the void. Ravenna Geel was gone.

“Dad!”

Stumbling to his feet, Reet hit the stone wall, limping as he raced to his Aban's still form on the catwalk. As the pain in his knee overwhelmed him, he collapsed at his father’s side. A black, charred hole stared out from Aban’s stomach.

“Dad! No!” Reet cried, shaking Aban Anothis’ inert form. The man stirred, his eyes flickering open.

“Reet. Listen to me now.”

Aban’s voice was impossibly weak. Reet was shaking, trying unsuccessfully to stop.

“Don’t let them take it. Don’t let them…take it away from us. In my office, the safe. Make…sure you get there. Go.”

Reet squinted to see through hot tears.

“Dad…”

“Son, I was always…proud of you. Always.”

Aban Anothis closed his eyes. Reet closed his, shut them tight. Tears burned his cheeks, stained his shirt.

This can't be happening.

“Oh…no!”

Reet was almost to the office when the TIE Bombers dropped their salvo of proton torpedoes into the square. Clearing the square he tripped up the three stairs to the outside door. The bombs hit. Reet was flattened against the outside wall. Stars filled his vision, ringing filled his ears. Slumping, he groaned, trying to suck in a breath. Forcing himself up, he keyed the door. Ten seconds later he burst into his father’s office. Collapsing over the mirror polished black desk, Reet pressed his palm onto the corner. The middle of the desk popped open; the small safe rose slowly from its center.

“Come on!”

Reet had never been allowed into his father’s safe. Although he had always known the combination, Reet had hid that fact from his father.

Now that means nothing.

Reet punched four numbers into the pad, ripping the tiny door open. Reaching in, Reet closed his hand around something small, flat, and cold. He pulled out the contents of the safe. The slim black remote was the second one had seen in fifteen minutes. And in an instant, Reet knew what it was for. A detonator. His father had always told him no one would take Anothis Bacta Industrials away. No one. Now Reet understood the gravity of those words. He nodded.

“Dad…”

He had to get out of here. Imperial troops were certainly swarming the complex, maybe killing on sight. He didn’t wait to find out. Taking a quick last look at his father’s office, Reet bolted out the door. Nearly falling down three flights of stairs, Reet ended up in a dark, grease smelling garage. Tripping his way to the front of the workshop, Reet fumbled for the panel. Mashing the release button, he watched as the garage door slid up. The light of the morning sun speared in, blinding him. Reet’s swoop sat in the center of the clutter. The last time he had sat on it, Ravenna Geel had been behind him. Reet covered his eyes against the sun.

I see now.

Cursing the thought out of his head, Reet jumped on the swoop, stomping hard on the foot ignition. The red-paneled swoop sputtered once, twice, then died. Reet slammed harder on the pedal, catching the engine. Revving the accelerator once, he swore as it died again. Reet heard shooting upstairs, screams. Some of the workers must have fled into the office. That meant the troops were following. And killing.

“Come on you piece of c-“

The swoop roared to life. Ripping open his leg pocket, Reet jammed the remote inside. Crouching over his handlebars, Reet heard someone yelling behind him. Metallic fear spread in his mouth as he kicked the accelerator, not looking back. Roaring out into the morning sun, Reet blew through a bank of black smoke. He had made it. Reet Anothis had one more thing to do.

Now.

“Stupid kid.”

The trooper looked down at the boy’s body, still smoking from the cauterized chest wound. The boy’s eyes were open, staring into nothing. Across the canyon, the remains of Anothis Bacta Industrials spewed into the air, a constant hail of ash and small duracrete particles raining down on the trooper’s helmets. A smoking trail led down into the near canyon. One of the TIE Bombers had caught part of the massive explosion, spinning into a ball of flame on the ravine floor. Peering through his helmet’s auto-dimmed lenses, the stormtrooper tried to make out details, any details, of the complex on top of the far plateau. It had been totally destroyed. The small detonator rested in the boy’s fingers, thumb still pressing the button. The stormtrooper cocked his head, hearing his helmet comm click on.

“Yes Admiral?” he answered.

“Status Commander?”

“Admiral, the entire complex is fragged. It was rigged. A total loss.”

The trooper heard his helmet comm click off. Nodding to the three troopers in front of him, he turned and started back towards their shuttle.

“Commander, look at this.”

The trooper turned, holstering his thick blaster carbine.

“Look at the kid. At his face”

Kneeling at Reet Anothis’ body, the trooper waved away the smoke. Looking at his face, the Imperial soldier cocked his head. The trooper looked below the empty gaze, puzzled at the expression pasted on the dead boy’s face.

A smile.

“Let’s go.”