For the Empire

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Nights on Tatooine were frigid. So cold, and often so windy, that the moisture-condensers could freeze over. Which could, and would, ruin the moisture-condenser when moisture inside it forze, and expanded, warping the internal systems. They all had internal heat sinks just for that. They were little blocks of layered crystalline plates linked by a lattice of wires that condensed the dangerous heat of the day, stored the thermal energy, and then burnt it overnight to ward off the frost.

Or were supposed to, at least…

Hei shivered as a frigid, moist gust of air blew up from the flats to the south and east of his family's little moisture farm.

"Damn it all!" He snarled quietly, pressing the hatch release again and then squatting on his haunches and slamming a hand down against the side of the tall moisture condenser and trying to get the sink-bank to open.

It was jammed, though. Frozen over, and through, by the ice that had gathered in the few minutes it took him to notice it, get his tools, and come back out. Which meant that the entire condenser was probably on the edge of ruin, too. Grimacing, he jammed his screwdriver into the hatch-hinge and started trying to pry it open by raw force. It started to give, metal groaning, and he leaned back, putting his weight into it.

"Come on…" He grunted, "Just… Open!"

Suddenly, the grip of his old screwdriver came loose, the plastoid adhering to it for a grip sliding off as its near-ancient adhesives finally gave way and sent him sprawling into the sand to crack his head on the base of his hab-dome. Groaning, he clutched his head and rolled over. Gingerly, he pressed a hand to his head and brought it around, grimacing at the fecks of red there.

Then, he heard the familiar whine of a speeder…

Staggering up, he leaned on the frame of his hab-dome's door and pressed a hand to his wood as the dull grey ITT swivelled to a stop a few yards from his moisture farm. Just past the sunken storage-dome where they kept their tools and spare water for trade. Three of the orange-shouldered Stormtroopers climbed out of the open-air ride-along compartments on the outside. They eyed him, and he eyed the swivelling laser cannon on the front of the transports, but ultimately one nodded and the three made their way towards him.

"Evening." He smiled, sliding to sit on the ground beside the door to his family's smaller than usual hab-dome and pressing a hand to his head again and grimacing. "Can I help you?"

"We're looking for a fugitive reported in the area."

"Ah." Hei nodded, "Well, feel free to look around. They aren't here."

"Thank you, Sir." The lead Trooper nodded, turning and grunting, "ST-7654, search the storage dome. LK-8976, search the hab. And don't make a mess, either."

"Yes, Sir." They both nodded, one of them slipping past Hei while the other turned and headed over to the door to the storage dome.

The Trooper pulled on the wooden door there, but it held fast, and Hei sighed and called out, "Passcode is eight-five-four-one! Sorry."

The Trooper only nodded, punching the code into the code-lock and pulling the door open. As he vanished inside, the third knelt down beside him and hummed.

"You alright?"

"Fine." He grunted, "Just a bad headache."

"I see." The Trooper cocked his head, turned and looked at the tools scattered around the condenser, then looked back and asked, "It's not dehydration, is it?"

"Nah." Hei shook his head and waved a hand at the moisture-condenser. "Heat banks are on the fritz. I was trying to get in there, see if I could fix them before the frost got too bad. Slipped and hit my head."

"MT-985, get out here." The Trooper suddenly said, standing and turning his head a bit. "Civvie with a possible concussion. Blunt force trauma, non-combat."

"That's not necessary-"

"We're here to help, Sir." The Trooper said, turning back to him and nodding curtly. "You're cooperative. We can at least get a medi-patch on you."

"Thanks…"

"Don't mention it." The soldier said as a woman emerged from around the side of the ITT, this time dressed in lighter silver armor with an open-faced helmet. She was pretty, with a mousy face, the barest hint of hair around the edge of her helmet and a pleasant smile. As she reached them, the Trooper explained, "He was doing repairs and slipped, struck his head on the hab-unit, I believe."

"Got it." The woman nodded, sinking into the sand and gently pulling his head forward. A light flicked on, casting odd shadows around him, and she hummed. "Light contusion, small cut. I'll put a medi-patch on."

"No risk of concussion?"

"No, Sir. injury is too light for that." She said, pressing something cold and wet to his head before the light flicked off. Even as she stood, he could already feel the area numbing and his aching head easing.

"Affirmative." The Trooper said as Hei stood. Turning, he gesturing back towards the ITT and the woman nodded, heading off while Hei stared after her. After a second, the Stormtrooper chuckled and said, "Don't bother, kid. She's years outta your reach, and not swinging for your fence."

He flushed and looked away, then sighed and said, "Thanks again."

"No problem again." The Trooper said, "Now let's get this sink-bank open. Hm?"

"You don't have to-"

"You can always say no, and lose the condenser, Kid." The Trooper said, moving over and kneeling beside it. Hei shrugged and joined him, kneeling on the other side in the faint light of the light above his hab's door. After a second, the Trooper tapped a hand to the side of his head and hummed. "Yeah, iced up a bit. Probably jammed the door."

Suddenly, the Trooper raised his E-11 and fired a few quick shots up into the air. Hei flinched and staggered back, but the soldier ignored him, pressing the heated barrel against the top of the hatch quickly with a dull sizzle. Finally, he sat the weapon aside and drew a short knife out of his belt that he dug in under between the two doors that made up the hatch. With a grunt, and a twist, they cracked open.

"Aha!" He chuckled, digging his fingers under one side and yanking it open. Leaning in he sighed, "Yeah, they're iced over. You have spares?"

"In the storage dome…" He murmured, "You really don't have to do this."

"We're all Imperial citizens, Kid. We have to stand together, help each other when we can. Or else…" He shook his head and sighed, "Where specifically?"

"In a box on a shelf to the side of the door." He explained, drawing a little circle in the air. "Has an old Clone Wars symbol on it. From the bad guys, I think. Folks bought it a while back. Good lock on it."

"The code?"

"Same as before."

"Understood." He turned his head slightly and spoke more clearly now, "ST-7654, status?"

After a moment, he went on, "Understood. Rtm after locating two standard-template heat sinks. CIS crate on a shelf next to the entrance. Same as the entry code for the storage dome. Yes, now."

"You really don't have to…"

"Maybe not, but he can stretch his legs a bit that way. And bsides, he and I both joined up to help people. So it's no bother, believe me." The Trooper shrugged, "Now, my fugitive. You haven't seen anyone, you said?"

"Just the Jawas this morning." He shook his head, "My mom and dad have been off on a supply run for the last few days, so aside from that, it's been quiet."

"You're sure?"

"Yes, Sir." He nodded and turned as the Trooper came over with two of the blocky little heat sinks tucked under his arm. He handed them to the first trooper with a nod, then turned and moved to stand over by the ITT, his blaster in hand and eyes locked on the desert.

"We're looking for a rogue bounty hunter, name of Fisk." The Trooper said as he and Hei extracted, replaced, and reconnected the internal heat-relay system to it. "She's dangerous, Kid. Deadly dangerous."

"Why?"

"She's why we have the ITT." The Trooper said, turning to side-eye him, "Command wanted us to have the laser cannon on hand and ready if we needed it."

"Geez…" He turned as the third soldier came out of his hab and slipped by, moving to join the other by the ITT without so much as a word. Frowning, Hei said, "If I see her, and y'all are by again, I'll be sure to let you know."

"Like a good citizen ought to." The Trooper said, standing and hesitating. After a second, he reached into a pouch and pulled out a small, square comm-unit. The kind he'd seen damaged ones of on sale from the Jawas, once or twice. The Trooper held it out and said, "That's tied into my unit-comm. You see anything, you get on the line. Ask for Captain Font."

"That's… You?"

"It is." He nodded, holding out a small holo-displayer when Hei took the comm. "This is Fisk. Keep it, show it to your family, ask about her. If they saw her-"

"I'll call." He nodded, "On my word."

"Good man." The Trooper nodded, "If every citizen was as cooperative as you, we'd have peace in our-"

The sudden 'whump' of something went off and filled the air with a strange burning sound as the ITT was sent spinning off to the side. It was trailing smoke and dragging its outer side on the ground until another thing came sailing in, bright scarlet and trailing particles of smoke. Hei watched the ITT melt as the two Troopers by it staggered away and around the low cover of his storage dome while Captain Font grabbed him, shielding him bodily and dragging him around to the door.

"Get in!" He snarled, practically hurling Hei down the handful of steps that lead down into the open-air basin of the dome. He landed on his back with a hiss of pain, but kept his gaze on the door as the Trooper turned.

And snapped back with a jerk as bright blue lit him up once, twice, and a third time.

Captain Font slid to the side and in, tumbling down the steps while Hei scrambled out of the way. He landed in a heap and groaned, clutching his burnt front. As he rolled onto his back, Hei scrambled to his side and slipped his hands under the man's shoulders, dragging him further in and to the side while his head lolled. He leaned him against the inner support-wall, their dining room, and leaned around the corner to listen to the blasters going off outside.

"Kid…" Font rasped, making him flinch before he turned to the man. "C-Comm unit…"

"Here!" He said, pulling it out of the front of his over-alls and sending the holo-displayer scattered across the floor. Font took it and, trembling, punched a number in. Then he handed it back and said, "Get out of here. Call f-for back up. Tell them it's a code nineteen."

"But what about-"

"Fisk doesn't leave… Survivors. N-Not Troopers, at least." He ground out, shoving his E-11 into Hei's chest and snapping. Hei hesitated to take it, then fumbled to catch it when Font's hand dropped. "Take it- Might need it. Go."

"But there's only one door!"

"Ceiling…"

Hei blinked and turned so quickly he almost slipped, looking up at the hole in the ceiling some ten feet up. Or eight, rather, from the table. Too far for him to jump. And the inner wall was too far away to use the gap lft at its top for ventilation. The round table was surrounded by short stools, though. Carved out of the rock that the dome itself had been carved into.

He shoved the comm-unit back into his front pocket and turned, levelling the blaster on the base of one of the stools. The first shot went wide, and blew a chunk of the floor out. But the second and third struck the base, shattering it in a spray of stone. He tucked the blaster into the front of his over-alls, between his thick night-shirt and the thicker utility materials, and picked up the broken stool, upending it and sitting it on the table.

He clambered on, balancing carefully on the uneven edge, and reached up for the lip of the opening…

But he was still too short!

And suddenly, he realised the sounds of fighting had stopped outside… And in the quiet, over the roar of his ears, he heard footsteps on the stairs. Purposefully heavy, like their owner wanted them to know they were coming.

Fisk… Coming for Font.

Driven by pure fear, he grit his teeth and leapt-

His fingers caught the edge of the opening and he hung for a second, gritting his teeth. Then, with a grunt and a rush of blood roaring through his ears, he pulled himself up in spite of the fire screaming through his trembling arms. The dome rose up a good few feet out of the sand, and he lay on its top as he sucked in breath through his teeth and stared up at the cloudy, chill night sky.

Then, he heard the voice. She was quiet, her voice soft, almost sweet even, as she said, "Your little friend abandoned you, Font."

He lay in the sand and listened to the man wheeze out a weak, "G-Good."

"It won't matter, you know." She said, "I have a jammer deployed, so he can't call out for anyone. And without a speeder, all I have to do is follow his tracks. And you know how I do so enjoy a good hunt."

"He's… No one." Font rasped, "L-Leave him."

"Oh, believe me, I know he is." She laughed, apparently more than certain he had taken off. Instead, he lay there in the cold, shivering gently as the breeze rolled in and he listened to this strange woman talk. "He's from Tatooine. Who could he really be, living out here in the sand?"

"T-Then- Agh!" He heard a meaty thwack, like something striking plastoid, and then a sigh.

"Now, you know the rules, Font." She chuckled darkly, "No witnesses, no complications. No complications, deniability. Deniability… Well, deniability buys a lot. Almost as much as leaving no complications does. You'd be shocked how many come to me and mine just because they know we leave nothing, and no one, behind."

"Witch…" Font rasped, then snarled and whimpered as the woman did… Something that sounded painful.

And wet, like fresh meat coming apart on a grill.

"Now, shush, Font." She laughed, "This won't take long, but I need to send a message. Contract terms, you know how it is. If it helps, your little friends outside will join you soon. Your little runaway, too."

"Ngha!"

She was killing him.

He didn't need to see to know that. And she was drawing it out, too. Making him suffer. And she was going to do the same thing to the others outside, too. Which meant they were alive… They were alive, and needed him. But what could he do? Comfort them for a few minutes until she came out and killed them all?

He should just run…

"We have to stand together…" He murmured, gritting his teeth. Slowly, he drew the E-11 out of the front of his over-alls and rolled over. Trembling on tired, cold arms, he pulled himself to the lip and peeked over.

The woman, Fisk, was surprisingly short. A few inches shorter than him, from what he could tell, and dressed in loose desert robes that cinched at her waist and shoulders. She was wearing armor, though. Thick leather boots backed and fronted by thin durasteel armor, and gauntlets designed the same way. Her chest was more exotically armored, with a breastplate he didn't recognize and an old rocket-pack of some sort on her back. But her head was unprotected, her hair falling loosely around her shoulders.

She was standing over Font with a knife in her hand, cocking her head from one side to the other in thought.

The E-11 was surprisingly light in his hand, but familiar in a way. His father had taught him how to use an old Clone Wars blaster he'd bought from the Jawas years ago. In case Tuskens ever came around, or anything worse - his father had heard a story about farmers who'd been killed by rebel terrorists a few years back, when they tried to steal their moisture-condensers.

'Center mass, slow, easy trigger pull, hold your breath, and move slow an' quiet, if you can. Better to put one in their back than get in a shootout.'

He did as he'd been taught and lined the E-11 up with the woman's back, aiming for the small of her back where there wasn't any armor. Slowly, gently, he pulled the trigger…

The blaster jumped in his hands, firing a burst on full automatic which surprised him with way more recoil than he'd expected, and sent the burst of automatic fire high and into the armor of her back, just an inch up. The shot threw her against the wall and drew a surprised shout out of her. But she shoved off and turned quickly, hand snatching a small, elegantly curved blaster from her hip. She raised it and Hei brought his around in the same moment.

He let loose a long, uncontrolled burst of fire as something scorched along the side of his head, trailing agony right over his ear.

He cried out and rolled over in surprise, pain and panic, then fumbled on the curve of the dome and slipped. As he slid, he rolled again, and came down with a heavy thump on his side and a flair of pain through his ribs. Rolling onto his hands and ignoring the pain, he looked around, desperate for his blaster. He found it a foot away in the sand and staggered up, then tripped and stumbled, sliding along the side of the dome until he pushed off it and managed to get around to the door.

Then… He waited, leaning against the condenser, for her to come up. To come for him.

But when she didn't… Cautiously, Hei pushed off the condenser and slipped into the door, slowly creeping down. He leaned forward so far he thought he'd fall, trying to see in as he came down while the blaster shook in his hands.

Still nothing, until he stepped around the corner of the interior wall.

The woman lay slumped on the ground against the wall, the top of her head melted away in a splash of bright red and burnt black gore. Blaster burns had scored across her breastplate, too, and around her, all along the walls. A dozen scorch marks, easily.

"I-I got her…" He laughed, trembling as he lowered the blaster.

Then he turned and retched, emptying out the water and grain he'd had for dinner only a few hours ago.

Trembling and red-faced, he slid down the wall next to Font and murmured, "C-Captain?"

"I saw, Kid." He rasped, "Now I-I'd appreciate some bacta…"

Hei groaned and turned to look the man over for the first time since everything had started. His chest was still blacked and burnt, with trails of blood crawling down it now. But left arm had been pulled out and stripped of its armor, and a lot of its skin, too. Even some of the muscle…

"R-Right." He grunted, pushing up and tripping on some broken stone. He caught himself on the table and crawled outside.

The ITT was gone, and with it the pretty medic. But…

"Dad always kept some medi-packs in the storage…" He murmured, stumbling across the sand towards it and ignoring the slumped, bloodied Troopers laid against its side. He found them right where they always were, on the shelf in a white and red 'first aid and survival' box, and stumbled back out.

"Here." He gasped, practically collapsing in front of the Captain when he returned. He fumbled with the code-lock on the front, but it wouldn't take his code, so he growled and yanked the E-11 off of the floor and blasted the hinges on the back.

Inside were bandages, strong pain-killers in little syringes, and a small gun with vials of dull blue liquid next to it.

"B-B-Bacta." Font grunted, bobbing his head at his chest, "Use one and inject it just above the waist. T-The other at my shoulder. Then-Then I need y-you put two syringes in my neck. Hurry, g-going into s-shock."

"G-Got it." The bacta slotted into the back easily, like a charging cell on a welder, and he leaned in over the Trooper as he worked. Then he dropped it and turned to get the syringes, pressing them into his neck gently, and as carefully as his shaking hands could manage.

"Gah…" Font grunted, leaning his head back suddenly as Hei withdrew. "T-That'll do it…"

"Y-Yeah."

"N-Now you." He grunted, fumbling at his utility belt and pulling out a small injector of his own, like a thumb sized blaster. "Numbing-syringe, then this stim-pack. S-She set up a jammer, she said, so you'll have to walk. Keep trying until you get through. Call in a code-"

"Nineteen, right?"

"Mhm." Font nodded, "Nineteen. Report 'code nineteen, Troopers down, medivac required' and then they'll want coordinates. This farm's is N-45, E-7, S-62, W-57. The ITT will burn for a while, so you… Take your walk time, and keep an eye on the smoke. Tell them to extract you that many hours away, due south. And keep south. Use the smoke pillar to track it."

"Got it." He nodded, pressing the numbing syringe to the side of his neck. It washed through him like a cool rush, carrying away everything - from the ache in his head, to his ribs, to even the cold he'd been feeling all night.

"Stim-pack in the thigh." Font grunted as Hei took it.

The stim-pack was like fire, burning through his muscles and blood. He gasped as it set in and staggered up, the E-11 in his hands. Quietly, he promised, "I-I'll be back."

"I'll be here…"

And Hei set off, stumbling out into the desert and pushing on for hours, until the suns came up and scorched the sand and his skin.

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Hei woke up, sore all over, in a chilly room. It was perfectly square, and small, made of simple durasteel panels and lined overhead by long, rectangular, bright white lights. His bed was long and wide, too long and wide for him to fill it up entirely, with short railings to either side that blinked with lights and small computer systems he couldn't recognize. And, around him, he could hear pumps and machines whirring, wooshing, and hissing idly as they did… Whatever they were doing.

Slowly, he lifted his arm, eyes trailing over several long tubes that had been pressed into the crook of his elbow, and another, thicker one just below his wrist. His other arm felt like it was made of durasteel itself, but still, he reached over slowly to pick at the tape keeping the thick cable in his arm.

"Don't." A white-armoured hand grunted, suddenly lunging in to catch him by the wrist and pull his arm back. Numbly, he turned to his left to look up into the flat, impassive face of a Stormtrooper helmet looking down on him. He stepped back and grunted, "You were dehydrated and stimmed when you were recovered. That's pumping you with fluids."

"Oh." He blinked, "Sorry."

"Just keep your hand off it." The Trooper grunted shortly, turning and matching back to the door a few feet away. He stood beside it, with another Trooper on the other side, and raised his hand to press a finger to a spot on his other wrist. "Subject conscious."

A few moments passed, and then a slim, older woman in a pressed white uniform with a little red 'medical' symbol on her shoulder stepped in. She was slight of frame, and her short, bobbed hair was long past merely graying, and her face was covered in deep wrinkles. Even so, she walked with confidence as she came to his side and reached down to pick up a datapad that had been hooked into the bed.

"Hmm… Dehydration, mild concussion and burns to the head due to blaster fire, as well as moderate sun exposure." She hummed and turned to him, smiling, "Nothing too severe. Your bruised ribs and sprained shoulder have even healed already."

"They have…?"

"A mild bacta injection, and a day's rest, will solve such things easily enough." She said, clicking the data-pad back into place on the outer edge of his bed. He couldn't see what it locked into, though. "Tell me, Hei, how are you feeling?"

"Alright, I guess." He murmured, reaching up to touch his head. It had been bandaged and shaved, he could tell from the lack of hair around the bandage that they'd wrapped around his head. Distractedly, he murmured, "My hair…"

"It had to go for treatment." She said, "Or we risked infection."

"Ah…"

"Your parents also wished for me to pass on your details to them." She said, "Once you were awake enough to consent."

"I… My parents?"

"Mhm."

"Where are they?" He looked past her, "Can't I see them?"

"I'm afraid they're still on Tatooine."

"Still on…" He blinked as the words processed and his heart began to speed up, the monitor on his other side chirping loudly with it. "I'm not on Tatooine anymore?"

"No." She chuckled warmly, "But you aren't far. You're above it, presently, on a Victory Star Destroyer on garrison in this system. Our medical facilities are better suited to caring for your injuries. And Major Font specifically requested you be brought in for treatment."

"Major…" He smiled, "So Font made it?"

"As did the other two, yes." She nodded, "All are in medical as well. So you can't see them yet. But, inside the week, I'm sure they will be glad to thank you."

"Ok." He smiled and flicked a look past her, to the Troopers by the door, and asked. "Am I… Under arrest?"

"Oh, heavens no." She laughed and turned, "Trooper, please define your mission."

"Asset guard and escort detail, Ma'am." The Trooper said, "On orders from Captain Victus, per Major Font's request."

"See? No trouble at all." She chuckled, turning back to Hei and adding, "As for your family… Well, we don't usually allow civilians aboard our ships. Captain Victus has lodged a request to allow it, alongside a transfer of credits for your reward, but both will take time."

"Okay." He blinked, "Reward?"

"The Empire has a standing Credit bounty for 'those who render aid which manifests as a benefit in lives to its governors, garrisons and military actors'. You saved their lives, which alone is enough." She said, "But you also killed the rogue bounty hunter. She had a half a million credits resting on her shoulders."

"She did…?"

"She made an attempt on the life of Lord Vader himself." She answered, "Blew up his shuttle, killing his guards, pillots, and destroying related material. Lord Vader survived, of course, but even so."

"Oh…" He frowned, "I didn't know that."

"Any of it?" He shook his head and she pursed her lips, "You mean to say you only did what you did to… Help Major Font?"

"I mean…" He blinked, "She was going to kill me, too. So no?"

"Running off into the desert to call for help wasn't necessary to stop that."

"I guess not." He murmured, "But… I wanted to help him."

"I see. Well… You've done us a great service, young man." She smiled, then paid him a nod and turned, "Now rest, and let us repay your loyalty."

"Yes, Ma'am." He nodded, already worn out just from talking. She pressed a button on the wall and the lights dimmed, just a bit, as she left.

He was more than happy to go back to sleep.

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