The twin suns of Tatooine looked down upon a vast expanse of pale sand, broken only by a small pourstone dome circled by moisture vaporators. Lucia Skywalker crouched over one of these, fiddling with the dials. An unusual glimmer of light in the sky caught her eye, and she stood, stretching her back. Pushing her sandy hair out of her eyes, she tried to make out what she had seen.

Another flare of brightness sent her scrabbling in her toolkit for her electrobinoculars. Setting them to her eyes, she adjusted the settings until she could make out the shapes of ships just outside of the atmosphere, tiny at this distance, even with the binocs. Flashes of red and green light exploded between them.

Her chores forgotten, Lucia stuffed the binocs into her kit and ran to her landspeeder, throwing the kit in the back as she jumped over the side to land in the driver's seat. The ancient, oft-repaired engine grumbled, choked, then turned over, and she patted the framework reassuringly. "Good girl. You can do it."

The back end of the speeder slewed around as Lucia spun the steering column and shot off toward Anchorhead, a cloud of dust in her wake.

The bright sunlight reflected off the white buildings, and Lucia squinted against it as she neared the small settlement. As she entered the streets, she swerved sharply to avoid an old woman who stopped to shake her fist, yelling, "I've told you kids to slow down!"

Lucia ignored her, revelling in the feel of the air rushing past her as she raced through the narrow streets, veering back and forth, weaving her way unerringly to Tosche station. She brought the speeder to a sudden stop outside, skidding sideways in a cloud of dust, and leapt to the ground almost before it had come to a halt.

"Deak! Windy!" she yelled as she ran through the front office, ignoring Fixer's startled grunts—as usual, she had woken the mechanic from his afternoon nap. She felt no remorse, though; he was on duty, and really should be alert.

She burst through the door into the back room, where her friends Deak and Windy bent over a computer game. She came to a sudden stop and her mouth fell open at the sight of a third person in the room. "Biggs!"

The dark-haired young man turned from watching the game, and a grin spread across his chiseled face. He stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her, laughing.

"I didn't know you were back." She pulled back, and jokingly slapped his shoulder, trying to ignore how the cut of the expensive tunic showed off his toned physique. The Academy hadn't changed him much. "When did you get in?"

"Just now." He stepped back, tugged on the hem of his bright blue tunic, and smoothed his dark moustache. "I wanted to surprise you, hotshot.I thought you'd be here." He waved a hand at Deak and Windy, who were still engrossed in their game.

She shook her head, tearing her eyes away from his mouth only to catch herself staring at his black hair where it fell over his forehead. Her fingers itched to brush it back, and she curled them into her palms. "You're back so soon. Didn't you get your commission?"

He threw his shoulders back and stood even straighter. "Of course I got it. Signed aboard the Rand Ecliptic last week. First mate Biggs Darklighter at your service." He snapped his hand to his brow in a quick salute, his brown eyes sparkling. "I just came to say goodbye to all you unfortunate landlocked simpletons."

She laughed. "Only landlocked for now. I'll be joining you soon enough. Oh! I almost forgot—there's a battle going on right now, right here in our system. Come look!"

Biggs followed Lucia out into the street, squinting up into the sky. Fixer joined them, still grumpy from being wakened so suddenly. She leaned over the side of her speeder, and dug the binocs out of her kit, then trained them on the sky. "There!" She pointed.

Biggs tooks the binocs and peered through them. "That's no battle, Skygirl. They're just sitting there. Probably refuelling or something."

She frowned, disappointed. "There was a lot of firing earlier…"

"I keep telling you," Fixer interjected gruffly, "the Rebellion is a long way from here. I doubt if the Empire would even fight to keep this system. This planet is a big hunk of nothing."

She nodded slowly, still staring at the sky. She had been so sure of what she had seen before. With a sigh, she followed the others back inside.

Senator Alaric Organa tightened his jaw, staring straight ahead as he walked, refusing to show fear. He ignored the shackles on his wrists, ignored the squad of white-armoured stormtroopers that surrounded him, his eyes fastened on the black-cloaked and hooded figure who awaited them.

The troopers stopped, and Alaric straightened his back, glaring into the shadows inside the deep hood, searching in vain for the Sith Lord's features. He was usually good at reading people, but it was easier with visual cues. "Vader. I should have known. Only you could be so bold. The Imperial Senate will not sit for this. When they hear you've attacked a diplomatic—"

"Don't play games with me, Your Highness." The voice from within the shadows was cold, yet smooth, and there was something almost familiar about it. "You weren't on any mercy mission this time. You passed directly through a restricted system. Several transmissions were beamed to this ship by Rebel spies. I want to know what happened to the plans they sent you."

Alaric gritted his teeth. He hated being called 'Your Highness.' While he had inherited the title of 'Prince,' he had earned the title of 'Senator'—at sixteen, he was the youngest member of the Imperial Senate in years—and that meant much more to him. "I don't know what you're talking about," he said, struggling to keep his voice even. How did they know about the plans? This was supposed to be an easy mission—his first for the Alliance. "I'm a member of the Imperial Senate on a diplomatic mission to Alderaan."

"You're a part of a the Rebel Alliance." Vader's voice had gained some heat; anger coloured the words. "You're a traitor." A black-gloved hand gestured to the stormtroopers. "Take him away!"

Lucia leaned against the wall, watching Deak and Windy, who were still engrossed in their game. Biggs handed her an icy bottle of malt brew and gestured for her to continue the story she had been telling him when he went to get the drinks.

She grinned a thanks, saluting him with the glass bottle. "So I cut off my power, shut down the afterburners and came in low on Deak's trail. I was so close I thought I was going to fry my instruments. As it was I busted up the Skyhopper pretty bad. Uncle Owen was pretty upset. He grounded me for the rest of the season. You should have been there… it was fantastic."

He shook his head and snagged a chair, throwing a leg over it to sit backwards. Resting his bottle on the back of the chair, he said, "You may be the hottest bushpilot this side of Mos Eisley, Lucia, but those little Skyhoppers are dangerous. Keep it up, and one day, whammo!" He rapped the bottle against the chair. "You're going to be nothing more than a dark spot on the down side of a canyon wall."

She laughed. "Look who's talking. You're starting to sound like my uncle. You've gotten soft."

"Not a chance." His grin widened. "I can still fly circles around you."

She dropped her eyes to the bottle in her hands, watching her fingers as she picked at the edge of the label. "It hasn't been the same since you left, Biggs. It's been so.. quiet."

He glanced over his shoulder at the other two; they were still engrossed in their game. Leaning forward, he gestured for Lucia to come closer. She leaned toward him, intrigued. Pitching his voice low enough that only she could hear, he said, "I didn't come back just to say goodbye. I shouldn't tell you this, but you're the only one I can trust… and if I don't come back, I want somebody to know."

She stared into his brown eyes, a little scared. "What are you talking about?"

He leaned in even closer. "I made some friends at the Academy, and when our frigate goes to one of the central systems, we're going to jump ship and join the Alliance."

Her mouth fell open. "Join the Rebellion? Are you kidding?"

He waved his hand at her, glancing over his shoulder to make sure Deaks and Windy hadn't heard anything. "Shhh! Keep your voice down!" he hissed.

"I'm sorry." She made an effort to lower her voice. "But you're crazy, Biggs."

He sighed and tapped his bottle against the back of his chair thoughtfully. "Maybe, but I want to be on the right side—the side I believe in."

Yeah. The Empire hadn't made many friends out here. She leaned back against the wall. "I wish I was going with you."

"You're off to the Academy next term, though?"

She nodded. "Uncle Owen needs me for one more season, then I'm out of here."

He stood up. "I'm leaving in the morning, so I won't see you before I go."

She smiled at him, hoping her disappointment didn't show. "I might end up in the Alliance too."

"I'll keep a lookout." He saluted her with his empty bottle, then tossed it into a recycler. "So long, Skygirl."

She stood at the window for a long time, watching him walk out of sight, then staring into the sky, until Deaks looked up from the game and asked, "Where's Biggs?"

Laughing so she wouldn't cry, she cuffed him across the back of his head. "You idiot."