Jad: Uh, here we are again, to introduce the chapter.

Naga: *grins* Yeah, Jaid can’t talk ‘cause she’s got a sore throat.

Jaid: *glares at Naga, then holds up a sign (a la Genma-Panda) that says, "I can too talk! Just not verbally!*

Naga: Yeah, but you can’t yell, can you?

Jaid: *sign: "You’ll pay for this Naga Sadow! You just wait"*

Naga: Ahh, the empty threats of a woman

Jaid: *hits him with the sign*

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Jad: Jaid would like to apologize for how long it has taken her to get this chappy out. But to make up for it, it’s a long one! She would also like to say that Hobbs and Wes belong to George Lucas, but Deblin II and Celross III belong to her. Oh, and if you don’t know, Twi’leks are those creatures in Star Wars with the head tails instead of hair.

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"Hey, there you are!"

Wufei walked down the ramp to be greeted by a tall woman with wheat-blonde hair and blue eyes. She smiled.

"I’m glad your back; we were getting worried."

"I ran into some trouble." Wufei said brusquely. The woman raised an eyebrow.

"Obviously." She looked up to see Duo and Hilde looking around. She approached.

"I’m Sally Po." She said, offering a hand.

"Duo Maxwell and this is my partner, Hilde." Duo said. Hilde smiled. "Where are we?"

Sally blinked then looked at Wufei, who frowned at the ground.

"This is a base for the Rebel Alliance." Sally said softly. "I’m sorry; I guess I assumed you were one of us."

"Smugglers." Duo explained. Sally nodded, and smiled again.

"Well, my superiors will want to see you; do you mind sticking around?"

"No." Hilde said, before Duo could say anything.

"He promised that we would get paid." Duo added. Sally nodded, then turned to Wufei as he and she walked towards the hangar exit.

"You promised pay?"

"I didn’t have a choice." Wufei muttered. "He was on a trip to Smuggler’s Run for cargo and short of hi-jacking the ship, I couldn’t have gotten here faster."

"I understand." Sally told him. "But you know; the commander isn’t going to be happy."

Wufei grimaced inwardly. "I know."

* * *

"Here, Highness." The young man said as they entered the ship’s hangar and approached a small shuttle. "Lady Catalonia is waiting for you inside."

"What…?" Relena looked at him in confusion. The young man’s large brown eyes met hers.

"There’s no escape right now, but if you two can get away, there might be hope." He said.

"You’re not coming?" Relena asked.

"There’s not enough room. It’s a very small shuttle and Force knows how long you will be in it." He said, as the ship shuddered from another blast. "Go."

She began to climb the small ramp, then turned. "Wait!"

The young man paused. "Yes, Highness?"

"What’s your name?"

The young man gave a sad smile. "Ryou Bakura, Princess."

"Ryou Bakura." Relena repeated softly. "I won’t forget you."

He colored softly, bowed a little, then took off at a run while she ran back into the ship.

"Dorothy!"

"In here."

Relena sat in one of the cockpit seats and struggled with her seat binders. Dorothy had already done preflight checks and was punching buttons on something else.

"What are you doing?"

"Getting a short hyperspace vector that will take us away from here. We can decided what to do then; right now we concentrate on survival."

Relena was quiet as Dorothy finished her calculations and piloted out of the ship.

"Will they come after us?" she asked.

"Probably." Was Dorothy’s short reply as she made sure the shields were up. "I’ll go into hyperspace as soon as we’re out of range of the ship." She brought her hand up on the hyperspace lever and silently counted down. "Go." She said softly. The stars blurred into lines and there was a slight shudder as the ship made its jump.

* * *

"Is that it?" Midii asked, peering out from the view port.

"Yep. That’s the Maguanac base." Quatre said. "A very successful fueling station."

"Wow. You weren’t kidding when you said you grew up among the stars." Midii breathed. Quatre smiled.

"Better get ready. We’ll be landing soon." He said, and walked away. Midii turned back to see the base that slowly drifted around space. It was huge; with platforms and a sort of small encased city. Briefly she wondered if it was Maguanac’s true home, or if they had been forced there somehow. She wondered why Quatre never referred to himself as a Maguanac and abruptly realized how little she knew about the man she shared a life with now. Turning away from the viewport, she went to find Quatre and Abdul.

* * *

"Sir?"

Treize turned to see his assistant, Colonel Une walking up.

"You received a message from Grand Moff Tarkin, sir." She said, handing him a data pad. "You are to go to Cinq and take the place of Moff Welquin there."

"Moff Welquin prove unsatisfactory?" Treize asked.

"Deeply." Une said. "He was making private deals with the Rebels themselves, sir."

"Hmm." Treize frowned and handed the data pad back to his aide. "So, Tarkin has a convenient place to keep me out of the way."

"Sir?"

Treize stood and walked to the viewpoint. "He doesn’t want me to cause a stir, Une. So, instead, he gives me an assignment that will keep me out of the way and conveniently quiet." He turned to her. "No matter. Cinq is a very charming place. I may be happy there."

"Yes, sir." Une said. She had probably gotten used to his ramblings by now, he decided. Turning back to the view port, he said, "Dismissed."

Une bowed sharply and left.

* * *

Relena was quiet as the ship came out of hyperspace. Dorothy set the ship in autopilot and then leaned back.

"Have you thought of were we could go?" she asked. Relena jumped slightly.

"No." she admitted. "I mean…I’m not sure." She did not say that she had mostly been thinking about the crew aboard her ship and wondering how many had died and how many were taken prisoner.

"Who was Ryou Bakura?" she suddenly asked. Dorothy frowned and looked at her.

"He was a young man involved in lower guard duty." She said. "Quite patient sort; a little too trusting as I recall. Why?"

"He was the one who came and got me." Relena told her quietly. "I just wanted to know who he was, that’s all." She looked out the viewport. Dorthy sighed quietly and called up a holo map.

"Alderaan." Relena said suddenly. Dorothy looked at her.

"What?"

Relena turned to Dorothy. "Let’s go to Alderaan. They are peaceful there; as Cinq was. Bail Organa will help us, I’m sure."

Dorothy shut off the holo map. "As you wish."

* * *

"The commander will see us in a minute." Sally said as she sat down next to Wufei. "You look beat."

"I am." He admitted. If it had been any one else but Sally, he would have ignored the comment.

"You’re actually admitting it?" Sally said in mock surprise. "You must hurt more than I thought."

Wufei growled. Sally laughed then stood.

"I’m getting a drink. You want anything?"

"A strong cup of caff." Wufei said. Sally nodded and walked away.

"Hey, Chang!"

Wufei turned and mentally groaned. Derek "Hobbs" Killivan and Wes Janson from Red Squadron were walking up, huge grins on their faces.

"Just get back?" Hobbs asked.

"Yes." Wufei answered shortly.

"Somebody’s grumpy." Wes muttered.

"When is he not?" Hobbs muttered back.

"We’ll see you later, Chang." Wes said, as he dragged Hobbs away. Wufei merely grunted in response, but gave a mental sigh of relief.

* * *

"Oh my." Midii whispered as they stepped off the small shuttle that had taken them from the refugee ship to the fueling station. It seemed as if the whole base had turned out to greet them. Quatre heard her whispered comment and grinned at her.

"The Maguanacs are pretty family oriented." He said. "And I haven’t been ‘home’ in a few years."

"I guess." Midii said as they reached the ground. Abdul and Quatre were immediately met by two other men who seemed to be teasing them, while the rest of the crowd gathered round. All of a sudden a Twi’lek woman with pale violet skin and silver eyes ran and threw her arms around Abdul’s neck. He laughed as he hugged her and then turned to Quatre.

"This is my Ari." He said quietly. Quatre smiled at the Twi’lek and spoke in a foreign tongue. The woman’s head tails twitched.

"You know my language?" she asked, cautious excitement in her voice.

"Not much." Quatre admitted. "But a little."

Ari smiled, but seemed a bit disappointed. Quatre turned to Midii and held out his hand. Midii took it and walked to stand by him.

"Auda, Ahmed, this is Midii Une." He said. The two men grinned at her and then said something that she didn’t understand. Quatre’s cheeks flamed red for an instant, then he shook his head and said something in a low voice. Midii was about to ask him what they had said when the crowd parted and a small, slim girl with long straight black hair and large, soft eyes ran up to Quatre and hugged him. Quatre laughed and greeted her. They spoke rapidly for a moment, the girl’s eyes never leaving Quatre’s face. Midii felt something akin to jealousy as she watched them together. The feeling left her surprised. She had always considered Quatre as a friend, albeit a close one. It’s probably because he’s been the only person I’ve been with for the past few years. She reasoned.

"Midii," Quatre said. "I’d like for you to meet Savannah."

"I’m pleased to meet you." Savannah said with a charming smile. Midii smiled back. Savannah turned back to Quatre.

"Father will be so pleased to see you, and Mama too!" she said. "Come." She pulled on his arm. Quatre turned to look at Midii and held out his hand again.

"Maybe I should stay here and look after the baggage." Middi said quietly. Quatre frowned.

"Why? Abdul’s doing it. Besides, I want you to meet Rashid." He said. Midii hesitated, then joined him and Savannah.

"Rashid is who?" Midii asked.

"My father." Savannah answered.

"And my mentor." Quatre told her as they walked. "He has been since I was, oh about twelve."

"So you’re not actually from here." Midii said softly. Quatre nodded.

"I come from Alderaan, actually."

Midii stopped. "You never told me that!"

Quatre gave her a boyish grin. "You never asked."

Midii couldn’t help but smile back. "Well, I guess I didn’t think of it."

"Well, now you know."

Midii shook her head. "Sometimes I wonder…"

"Wonder what?" Quatre quietly asked. Midii smiled and shook her head.

"Never mind."

* * *

"With all due respect, sir, it was the only way I could think of-" Wufie began, but was cut off.

"Dammit Chang, do you know how little we have?" The commander exploded. He was a tall, rather imposing man.

"I am aware, sir." Wufei sighed, feeling frustration rising up again. "And if you would just listen to me-"

"I’ve had your report." The commander noted sourly. "And so have my superiors. You’re back and that’s all that matters to them. But Chang, don’t go promising fees again, hear me?"

"Yes, sir." Wufei answered tersely. The commander sighed and handed Wufei a datacard.

"You’ve been chosen to go to a rendezvous point to transmit the information on those data cards to a Alliance ship that will be waiting for you. Major Po will accompany you." He said.

"Yes, sir." Wufei answered, a little more calmly.

"Get yourself a ship; you need to leave within two hours at the most."

Wufei nodded, turned on his heel and left. As he exited the room, he saw Hilde and Duo walking up.

"Hi!" Hilde said cheerfully. Wufei didn’t even bother to smile.

"What do you want?" he asked.

"Gee, aren’t we cheerful?" Duo muttered under his breath. Hilde’s elbow dug into his ribs and Wufei glared at him suspiciously.

"So, are you in the clear?" Hilde asked. "You weren’t in trouble or anything?"

Wufei directed his glance at her. "No." he lied. "But I’ve got another mission. If you’ll excuse me, I need to get a ship."

"Oh?" Hilde asked, getting that look again. Duo mentally groaned.

"What about ours?" Hilde went on, before Duo could stop her. Wufei paused in mid-stride.

"What?" he said, turning.

"We’ll take you, well, if the place your going is on the way." Hilde said. "Where are you going?"

"I don’t know yet." Wufei said.

"Oh well." Duo cut in. "Guess we can’t take him after all."

"What a pity." Wufei deadpanned and began to walk away again. Hilde turned to Duo, scowling.

"Why did you go and do that for?"

"Babe, I thought we’ve been over this. We aren’t getting involved."

"Duo, this is as much as our war as theirs. You know I’ve thought that for a while."

"Yeah, they’re just tryin’ to change governments, Hilde." Duo said, with a sharp edge to his voice. "And when the Alliance is in control, what changes for us? Nothing. There’ll still be tariffs, there’ll still be goods people can’t get and there’ll still be people like us who live on the fringe and deliver."

"Duo…" Hilde’s voice trailed off and she shook her head. "Remember when we saw that fire fight on Deblin II?"

"Yeah. You almost got a laser bolt in your side."

"Those people were willing to do whatever it took for their ideals and it struck me. We both know that the Empire is rotten and it’s only a matter of time before they start hunting down fringe workers. I’ve been thinking a lot about this and when we met Wufei or whatever his name is and we got brought here…it’s almost like, I don’t know." She shook her head again. "I’ve just been thinking about the war for a long while, wondering if I could convince you to come with me…or to go on alone."

Duo stiffened. "You would leave me?"

"Duo, I never told you this, stormtroopers shot my parents down. They weren’t even doing anything, just at the wrong place at the wrong time, I guess. For a while I was just content to stay out of the way, but when we were on Deblin II, all those feelings came back and I had to think…I don’t know. I’m still confused. I just have the feeling that this is right." Hilde placed a hand on his arm. "We don’t have to join officially. A lot of fringe don’t. But we could at least give Wufei a ride."

Duo sighed. "You’re asking me to spend a least another three days with that dude."

"I’ll make it up too you." Hilde promised, stepping closer and putting her arms around his waist. "Please?"

"You sound like a kid who wants a new toy." Duo commented. Hilde just looked at him.

"Okay." He finally gave in. "I hate it when you stare at me like that."

"Just be glad I don’t do it too often." She smiled and kissed him briefly. "Come on, let’s go find Wufei."

"If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you had a crush on him." Duo commented, as she dragged him away.

"Duo!" Hilde said in an exasperated sigh.

* * *

Relena woke up and felt a slight disorientation, then remember where she was. Getting up, she moved down the cramped hallway into the cockpit. Dorothy was still there and looked up as Relena entered.

"How far away is Alderaan?"

"We have to make a detour at Celross III." Dorothy told her. "We have to re-fuel and get some more supplies. Then we make for Alderaan."

"Oh." Relena was quiet. "Do you think we might be…hunted for?"

"Possibly." Dorothy answered calmly. "Which is why, Highness, that you will stay in the ship and I will go out. I’ll wear a disguise, but you don’t unlock the door and let anybody but me in. Is that clear?"

Relena nodded, too tired and too ignorant to argue. Dorothy was most likely right. Relena had no idea where the girl had gotten her knowledge of the galaxy and it’s ways, but she was very highly trained. That was probably the reason why her father had chosen Dorothy for Relena’s aide. At the thought of her father, Relena’s chest constricted.

"You don’t think…I mean, my family…" Relena’s voice trailed off. Dorothy glanced at her, then back at the ship’s computer.

"I don’t know, Highness." She said quietly. Relena looked out the view port, at the bright blue and black of hyperspace and wished she knew how her family was.

* * *

"Do you understand the order?" the old man asked.

"I do." The young man answered.

"She is not to be seen alive; it must be understood that she was a traitor to the Empire and was executed accordingly." The old man said. "I don’t think I need to remind you of the consequences if you fail."

"I do not fail." The young man said without boasting. "It will be done."

The old man smiled. "I certainly have you trained well." He said, with a dry laugh. "Now, get out of here before somebody sees you, Yuy."

Heero Yuy gave a sharp nod and left the room. His target had last been seen on the hyperspace lane on the way to Sank. He looked down at the datapad and memorized the picture of the young Princess Relena. With luck, she would be dead before the week was out.

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Jaid: *sign: "Heero’s here now! Aren’t you all happy?"*

Naga: *flatly* Ecstatic.

Jad: Well, we had one former original character make an appearance. Name her and what story she comes from if you want to have the contest. Also, if you know, tell us what anime Ryou Bakura comes from. Remember, the prize is a song fic featuring any straight couple! So, just leave ‘em in the reviews!