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Chapter Text

The Outer Rim world of Toruun 5 is the only habitable planet in its star system. Her geography consists of vast oceans, towering mountains, lowland valleys, verdant forests, and vast grassy plains suitable for farming. Toruun never developed her own sentient species, but was colonized by predominantly human explorers millennia before the start of the Clone Wars. The settlers of Toruun eventually developed a unified and unique culture with naming conventions unlike anything else in the civilized galaxy.

Toruun was governed by a democratically elected parliament, the Toruun Diet, which selected the world’s Prime Minister, for most of her history. The planet became a respected cultural, mining, refining, and agricultural hub in her sector in the centuries after she was settled. While Toruun’s relatively well-funded defense force kept their world and system safe from pirates and other overt criminal activity, the majority of the Toruun Diet’s members and their constituents eventually began to resent the Galactic Republic for its exploitation and neglect of the Outer Rim Territories. When Count Dooku founded the separatist Confederacy of Independent Systems, a majority of the Toruun Diet voted to join the CIS in seceding from the Republic.

When the Republic won the ensuing Clone Wars and reorganized itself as the authoritarian Galactic Empire, Toruun was forcefully brought back into the galactic fold, along with scores of other CIS worlds. The Toruun Diet was unilaterally dissolved by the Empire in retaliation for their secession vote. In order to minimize local resistance from the human majority populace, the Imperials installed an ambitious local Loyalist politician as the system’s governor. They encouraged him to recruit new stormtroopers, officers, and administrators from among his world’s citizens.

While the Imperial Governor and his garrison have obtained the support of many living Toruun’s coastal capital city of Ryo, resistance to the Empire remains scattered across the world, from the plains to the mountains to some smaller settlements. Many citizens of Toruun, even youth who never experienced the events firsthand, remember how their home and many other worlds were violently prevented from leaving the Republic turned Empire. While the greater galaxy erupts into civil war again, scattered fighters, and agents across Toruun plan to overthrow the Imperial Governor and liberate their homeworld.

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4 ABY: Ryo, Capital City of the Planet Toruun: An Apartment Complex Rooftop:

            It was a pleasant night out even though the stars were hard to make out thanks to the myriad lights that emanated into the sky across the city of Ryo. It was very early in the temperate season for the coastal region of Toruun the planetary capital sat in. A gentle breeze wafted in from the ocean directly north of the sprawling, towering metropolis.

            Atop a tall, well-decorated apartment building near the city center, an expansive rooftop garden outfitted with a series of small lights gave off a relaxed feel. Few residents of Ryo could afford to live in a building like this one. It towered above its surroundings, yet was still dwarfed by a cluster of imposing structures built not far to the north at the rough center of the city.

            Two teenage humans sat together on a rooftop bench. One was a young woman with long, red-dyed hair kept back in a ponytail. She wore a semi-casual white dress with blue accents. Directly next to her sat a slightly older young man sporting light-brown dyed hair. His outfit was far more formal than his companion’s. Even while off duty, Goro Akechi wore his Imperial Captain’s uniform. The only difference in his appearance from when he was on duty was that he had left his officer’s cap elsewhere. Like the flight suit he often wore, the outfit was jet black. The officer’s uniform cut a sharp silhouette; it made it clear who he was to just about anyone who laid eyes on him.

            Captain Akechi looked over at the young woman sitting next to him. Sumire Yoshizawa had not always worn her hair in the style she usually did now. The change in her hairstyle had resulted from a terrible and drastic event, something that had changed the girl, yet also stiffened her resolve.

            Placing his arm gently around Sumire, Akechi smiled gently and asked her, “You haven’t said much tonight. It’s so lovely out this evening, …what’s wrong?”

            Sumire blushed and looked over at her boyfriend. Doing her best to smile, she replied, “I’m sorry, Goro. I guess I still can’t stop thinking about Kasumi….”

            Akechi nodded slowly and responded, “The terrorists who took her life may be dead, but the scars those scumbags left remain.”

            Sumire nodded and added, “Yes… they do. What scares me is that they’re so many of them left. Dad told me that their cell was just one of many not long ago. Anyone I pass by on the street could be a rebel sympathizer. …I just don’t understand why they do such things…”

            While Sumire trailed off, Goro nodded sharply and did his best to smile. He responded, “Yes, fools who defy Imperial justice remain. They disrupt the order our governor has brought to this world after all of the mistakes her old leaders made. Still, rest assured that they are divided while we are united.”

            Sumire returned her boyfriend’s sharp nod and replied, “You always said that the rebels here are split between old guard separatists and alliance supporters.”

            Goro smiled more brightly and told Sumire, “The scum can’t coordinate like we can. They won’t take this city, even if we never receive another trooper from command. Half of them want to support Mothma and her rabble. The other half are even worse! They support this system’s ‘independence,’ thinking that Toruun would survive alone in the galaxy.”

            Seeing Goro grit his teeth and clench his fists, Sumire shuddered a bit and nervously asked, “There’ll never be another confederacy, right?”

            Akechi held Sumire more tightly with his arm and pulled her closer to him as gently as he could. The young officer responded, “I can’t imagine it. Governor Shido has Toruun’s future to think of. He won’t allow us to backslide into such barbarism.”

            Sumire smiled beautifully at Goro and gently kissed his cheek. She admitted, “I still think you’re the bravest Imperial on the planet. You’re the one I always see on the local holonet, posters, and even in Madarame paintings. The governor just had the foresight to get you placed in the academy despite your age.”

            Akechi blushed slightly and nodded slowly. He admitted, “If I can be a symbol for this city and this world against disorder, then I’ll gladly take the risks involved.” He perked up and added, “No mere rebel or separatist has gotten the better of me yet!”

            Sumire smiled up at Goro, while pressing herself closer to him. The young officer continued to hold his girlfriend, sensing her affection and glad that he had been able to calm her nerves.

            Right before closing his eyes, Akechi heard Sumire say, “I just hope the governor doesn’t send you on any missions you can’t handle. …I know you’re his best pilot, but I can’t imagine losing you like I lost Kasumi.”

            His eyes now wide open, Akechi somewhat awkwardly responded, “Yes… Governor Shido knows my capabilities well. …He knows how to…”

            Goro was interrupted by the sound of his commlink beeping from inside of the bag he had left nearby. He recognized the particular tone. It has been specially programmed a long time ago. He quickly told Sumire, “My apologies, darling. It sounds like something important has come up. I need to take this. I’ll return to your apartment once everything’s been taken care of.”

            Sumire sighed, but gave Goro an understanding nod. She rapidly stood up, allowing him to get off of the bench. Akechi rushed over to his bag, grabbed it, and darted down the stairs from the rooftop using fluid and efficient motions.

            As soon as Captain Akechi had found a private corner just inside of the apartment building, he answered his commlink. Based on the beeps it had emitted, he knew who was calling. It was the very man he and his girlfriend had spoken about moments before.

            Before anyone the on the other side of the heavily encrypted connection could say anything, Akechi asked, “My apologies for the delay, sir. What is the situation?”

            The voice of Masayoshi Shido, Imperial Governor of The Toruun System, came over the commlink, just above a hissing whisper, but still loud and forceful in its own way. Shido asked the young officer, “Captain Akechi, are you alone?”

            Akechi checked in all directions for a brief moment, and then rapidly reported, “Yes, sir. …You have an assignment for The Crow, I take it?”

            Shido was quick to respond, “You are correct, Captain. There is no time to waste. I have concluded that the Okumura situation has become critical. His continued presence and actions will destabilize Toruun. He must be dealt with, and The Crow is the ideal means to see justice done.”

            Akechi’s eyes narrowed. He asked Shido, “Sir, are you ordering the execution of Kunikazu Okumura? …Do you have any further instructions?”

            Shido wasted no time in explaining, “I had one of my death troopers plant a tracker on Okumura’s speeder. It should be broadcasting his location to your datapad. I expect him to be on his way home now. The Crow is to intercept him before he returns home and eliminate him with no witnesses. Report in once the job is done. Do you understand?”

            Akechi responded, “Very well, if Okumura threatens Toruun’s stability, I will deal with him and end his treachery myself.”

            Shido finished, “I know you will do your duty to Toruun and to me, Captain. One more thing, do not listen to anything Okumura says about me! …I look forward to your report, my heir.”

            Goro gave an instinctive salute and deactivated his commlink. He wasted no time in darting for the nearest lift to the garage level of the apartment complex. On the way, he checked his datapad and confirmed what Shido had said about the tracking signal. Based on where the signal was broadcasting from now and the speed it was traveling at, he needed to move quickly.

            Upon reaching the garage level of the apartment building and darting past a line of pricy speeders owned by the apartment complex’s tenants, Akechi soon found himself in front of a jet-black speeder bike. The small, single-seat, craft was not a standard Imperial vehicle. It was compact and heavily modified for speed and stealth. The only noticeably bulky features of the vehicle were the securely locked black saddlebags attached behind the seat. Akechi always came prepared; this was not the first time a critical mission from Governor Shido had arisen without warning.

            Akechi glanced around the garage. He closed his eyes for a moment, focusing outward. He needed to ensure there was nobody else present right now. The consequences would be dire one way or another if he was seen changing by a civilian.

            Taking a few deep breaths, it did not take Goro long to confirm that the garage floor was unoccupied for the moment. He knew he needed to act quickly before that changed.

            It only took Akechi a couple minutes to don a lightly armored, jet-black suit akin to the one he wore while piloting a starfighter. He also holstered a light blaster pistol that he had retrieved from a saddlebag. This “uniform” featured no insignia and was lighter in weight than an Imperial pilot’s flight suit. This outfit’s most striking feature was the black, sharply angled helmet, which Akechi rapidly donned.

            The helmet was unique and of Akechi’s own design. It did not come close to matching any pre-existing Imperial models. It was intended for the primary purpose of striking fear into those who disrupted the peace of Toruun. Foes who Captain Akechi could not so easily deal with in his public persona.

            Akechi mounted his speeder bike and engaged its repulsorlift engine. The Crow sped out of the building on his hovering mount, avoiding civilian notice and taking off into the Ryo.

            The light speeder bike had been modified to support travel at altitudes that would be difficult for most similar models to attain and hold. With his datapad mounted between the front handlebars, Akechi sped in between Ryo’s skyscrapers above the streets below. He weaved between buildings and ducked under the occasional airspeeder, advancing towards his moving target as quickly as he safely could.

            It did not take long for Akechi to close in on the outskirts of Ryo. While most wealthy and respected locals lived near the city center, like the Yoshizawa Family, some of those who could afford it chose more isolated estates on the fringes of the metropolis. The streets out here were far better kept than those in most of the other outlying districts of Toruun’s capital city. Thankfully, traffic was very light here. This area was far from bustling, especially at this time of night. A series of light posts on the sides of the street lit the area just well enough.

            Seeing that he had gotten slightly ahead of his target thanks to his speedy flying and efficient maneuvers, Akechi pulled his speeder bike away from the empty street he had been hovering above and into a small alley. He drew his blaster pistol with one hand and waited for visual confirmation of his target’s identity.

            It only took a couple minutes for a purple and gold civilian landspeeder to come rushing down the street. Only the driver was briefly visible in the front seat when the craft sped by. The vehicle certainly had room for more passengers, but none were present. Akechi had met Kunikazu Okumura at a couple of events before, however briefly, and he knew this was him. Whatever the industrialist had been doing away from home, he had not even trusted a chauffeur to go with him. That just made The Crow’s job easier. There would be no witnesses indeed.

            Holding on to one of his speeder bike’s handlebars with one hand and aiming his blaster pistol with the other, Akechi gunned the engine and darted out of the alley. He slowed down a bit while he closed in on the target, his stealthy speeder bike quietly creeping up on Okumura’s speeder from behind.

            Seeing a towering house in the distance at the end of the long street, Akechi aimed his blaster pistol at one of the landspeeder’s engines. He could tell that he had not yet been detected. He would have sensed Okumura’s fear spiking if the businessman had become aware of him.  

            Akechi squeezed the trigger of his sidearm three times in rapid succession. A trio of sizzling bolts composed of red plasma leapt out of the blaster’s barrel and sliced into one of Okumura’s landspeeder’s engines. A small, yet violent explosion destroyed the engine as intended and the speeder spun out of control.

            Akechi braked his speeder bike hard to be safe. Right after that, Okumura’s landspeeder crashed into the ground ahead of him. The industrialist’s craft skidded into two thin trees planted by the side of the road leading to his mansion.  

            Knowing that he would have to confirm the kill, Akechi accelerated his speeder bike again and parked it only a few meters away from the crashed, smoking landspeeder. With his blaster held in one hand, he slowly advanced on the downed craft.

            Akechi felt a surge of pain, fear, and anger not far ahead of him. Scanning the crashed landspeeder, he soon saw Kunikazu Okumura, wearing a badly singed purple and red business suit, trying to crawl out of his downed transport. The man was bleeding from his forehead and chest, but was not in critical condition.

            Okumura managed to extricate himself from his wrecked speeder. And fell to his hands and knees, clearly injured. However, he soon saw the black-helmeted figure advancing on him. Before he could try to stand up, Akechi was almost on top of him.

            Knowing that, for what it mattered now, his custom helmet modulated and disguised his voice, Akechi told Okumura, “You should have minded your business, Kunikazu Okumura. You won’t disrupt this planet’s order any longer…”

            Okumura interrupted Akechi by furiously stammering, “You… You’re that Crow bastard Shido sends after anyone who crosses him! Damn you! I’m not trying to disrupt Toruun’s order! I’ve never thought of betraying the Empire! I just told Shido I could do a better job of running this system than he has! He’s been in power for too long! Why should someone who came from the middle of the countryside and only knows how to schmooze the right people be governor for life?”

            Remembering his orders, Akechi glared at Okumura from under his helmet, he responded, “What I said stands. Rest in peace knowing that your treason will remain unexposed after your death for the sake of maintaining peace and stability….”

            Okumura let out a pained yet furious cry and drew a purple and silver holdout blaster from one of his pockets. Before he could point the small weapon at Akechi, the masked enforcer chuckled and waved his free hand at it.

            The holdout blaster flew out of Okumura’s hand and landed in the smoking wreckage of his landspeeder. Okumura’s jaw dropped, seeing what his assailant had just done.

            Wasting no more time, Akechi aimed his blaster at Okumura’s head and coldly told him, “Your choices are your own. Now, here is their consequence.” Before his target could say another word, he pulled the trigger and sent a crimson bolt into Kunikazu Okumura’s brain.

            The slain businessman collapsed to the ground; his presence no longer felt by his killer. Knowing that his luck in staying undetected could soon run out, especially considering how much noise the speeder crash had made, Akechi immediately returned to the alley on his speeder bike. He then contacted Governor Shido with his commlink.

            Shido’s voice came over the commlink, louder this time. The Governor of Toruun asked his enforcer, “Report, Crow.”

            Akechi quickly reported, his helmet still on, “Sir, the traitor Kunikazu Okumura has been eliminated. He made some bold claims about you, and his own intentions, but I silenced him before he could spread them further.”

            Shido responded, “Excellent. You have done well as always. Your training continues to pay off. No doubt your gift aided you in eliminating Okumura.”

            Akechi nodded sharply and told Shido, “Yes, sir. The tracker your trooper placed is still transmitting, according to my datapad. What are your new orders?”

            Shido ordered, “You have proven yourself again, my son. Some of my other… trusted associates will take care of what remains of Okumura and his speeder in short order. You are dismissed. I know you have your Yoshizawa girl to return to.”

            Akechi took a quick breath and removed his helmet. He asked his father and superior, “Sir, would it be acceptable to tell Sumire that I am your son soon? I feel that she has a right to know.”

            The other end of the commlink was silent for a brief moment. However, Shido’s voice soon came over it again, reminding Goro, “That is still to be kept between the two of us. You may tell her that you were taking care of a classified task for me and that you performed admirably. It is even more critical that the identity of The Crow not become public knowledge.”

            Goro nodded slowly and sighed briefly. He responded, “Very well, sir. I just hope that a day will come soon when The Crow can be retired, and such subterfuge is no longer necessary to protect Toruun.”

            Akechi waited for Shido to respond again. When he did, the governor finished, “Rebel scum and other traitors of all kinds remain. Captain Akechi will deal with them when they poke their heads into the light. The Crow will deal with them when they conceal themselves in darkness. Am I clear?”

            Goro responded, “Yes, we are, sir. Goodnight.”

            With that Shido ended the transmission. Akechi immediately hopped onto his speeder bike afterwards. He rode it north at top speed, heading back towards Ryo’s city center. While he did so, he thought of a future in which he became the Imperial Governor of Toruun. Once he had what his father had promised him, he would do away with all of the lies and marry the girl he loved. No rebels or other traitors would stop that future from coming to pass if he had anything to say about it.

            For now, Captain Goro Akechi planned to make a quick and stealthy return to the apartment complex he had departed earlier that night. He wanted to see if Sumire was still awake and waiting for him. He wanted to spend more time by her side before returning to his official duties the following day.

Chapter Text

A Long Time Ago in a Galaxy far, far away…

STAR WARS: Phantoms of Independence:

A galaxy engulfed in the flames of war! Months after their retreat from Echo Base on the planet Hoth, The Alliance to Restore the Republic remains a threat to the power of the authoritarian Galactic Empire. Imperial governors across the galaxy fear local uprisings while the alliance leadership aboard the main rebel fleet plans their next course of action from deep space.

Deep in the Outer Rim on the isolated, human majority, former Separatist world of Toruun Five, local rebel groups grow in strength, testing the control exerted by the Imperial Governor, Masayoshi Shido. In retaliation, Shido has deployed his forces to hunt down anti-Imperial agents across the planet. Governor Shido’s Star Destroyer, the ISD Yaldabaoth vigilantly patrols the borders of the Toruun System, ensuring that outside forces do not interfere in his affairs.

In Ryo, the sprawling capital city of Toruun, a small band of local youth have dedicated themselves to overthrowing Governor Shido and liberating their homeworld from the Empire. Calling themselves the “Phantoms,” they have already carried out multiple surgical strikes against Imperial targets and lived to tell the tale. Hiding their identities behind customized masks and employing varied weapons and tactics, the Phantoms strike close to the heart of the Empire’s control over Toruun while evading the wrath of their mighty enemies….

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One Month Later: An Imperial Supply Depot on the Northern Outskirts of Ryo:

            The sky was cloudy that afternoon. A cool breeze blew in from the nearby ocean. The bustling sounds of Ryo were only a faint hum in the distance here. Not far from the capital city’s millennia old harbor sat the Imperial Coastal Supply Depot.

            While air and spacecraft had dominated transportation across the galaxy for millennia, half of Toruun was covered by oceans. Watercraft remained somewhat popular with the citizenry. Even though many of them were just modified repulsorcraft intended for aquatic use, everything from small fishing boats to mammoth cargo ships, to grand, opulent yachts were docked at Ryo’s harbor.

            Thankfully, what was now an Imperial supply depot had been built separately from the main harbor. It had stood before the Empire’s takeover of the planet. Decades ago, it had served the Confederacy of Independent Systems. Now, it was occupied by those who had brutally suppressed the CIS’s attempt at secession.

            The purpose behind setting the depot apart from the civilian harbor had supposedly been to deter easy infiltration. However, with so many cargo containers stacked around the complex, creating a labyrinthine series of corridors leading to the depot’s staging ground, those skilled in the art of stealth were undeterred.

            A young man sporting curly black hair crept through the maze of containers and other objects on his way to the open staging ground. He wore a black jacket designed to maximize mobility, protection from the elements, and defense against minor hazards. The jacket’s hood was up at the moment, as it usually was in situations like this. His pants were colored dark grey with light armor plating on the knees. The white band around one of his upper arms bore a blue and white hexagonal symbol composed of six trapezoids and a central hexagon. He wore a dark gray backpack as well. The upper half of his face was obscured by a reinforced black and white mask. It served the dual purpose of hiding his identity and making a fashion statement of sorts.

            Keeping his focus on the terrain around him, the hooded young man occasionally checked the old commlink strapped to one of his forearms. So far none of his comrades had checked in. That was a good thing. They were not supposed to contact him unless something went wrong. The plan had been to split up, and make their way to the staging ground independently and stealthily. There, they would regroup, gather what they came for and be on their way. Ideally the depot’s alarm would not be raised. However, things did not always go that smoothly.

            Creeping through the winding corridors of shipping containers and whatever else the Empire had left lying around, despite their incessant claims about efficiency and order, the infiltrator held one hand close to his belt. Holstered there was a black blaster pistol. It was an old DC-17, powerful yet compact. On the other side of his belt, a curved vibroknife was sheathed. Despite his young age, the infiltrator was proficient in the use of both weapons. This was not his first operation.

            After rounding a bend, keeping low to the ground, the armed youth gritted his teeth. Directly ahead of him was a single Imperial Stormtrooper. Whether or not the white-armored soldier was a local conscript or an offworlder, he was in the way. Fortunately, the trooper’s back was turned for the moment.

            Keeping his footfalls silent like he had practiced time and again, the masked infiltrator advanced on the trooper from behind. He could use his blaster for a ranged kill with ease. Still, that carried plenty of risk. Making that kind of noise could raise the alarm if there were any other Imperials in hearing range, something he was not sure of.

            When the infiltrator was right behind the stormtrooper, he stood up and drew his vibroknife. Right as the Imperial soldier was about to whirl around, his assailant plunged his blade through a small gap in his enemy’s armor and into the hapless trooper’s neck. As he had done many times before, he avoided striking his target’s plastoid armor plates or helmet with his weapon. Such a minor miscalculation could have caused the kill attempt to go very wrong. While standard Imperial armor was far from the best at absorbing blaster fire, it could counter light blades shrapnel.

            While the surprised stormtrooper gurgled and collapsed to the ground, his killer held on, ensuring that the body landed slowly. He quickly dragged the fallen trooper’s corpse into a nearby open shipping container and closed it as quietly as he could. Hopefully, no Imperial officers in the vicinity tried to reach that trooper anytime soon. Still, if things were going according to his plan, the Empire would be down plenty more troopers at the depot soon, if not already.

            With his first kill of the day disposed of, the infiltrator continued on his way. He could smell the saltiness of the ocean with increased intensity and felt the breeze getting steadily stronger. That could only mean that he was closing in on the main depot. With any luck, it would have what his team was looking for. They would ideally not have to stick around for very long to complete their mission.

            The masked infiltrator soon found himself crouching behind a large container, looking out down a long corridor that led to an open gate big enough to drive a medium-sized landspeeder through. It had to be one of the entrances to the staging ground. The main problem was that it was guarded by a pair of stormtroopers, one on each side.

            Cursing under his breath, the young man knew he would not be able to sneak up on both of them, at least not easily. However, he smiled when he saw a comparatively small, open crate with few E-11 blaster carbines visible just inside of it. The crate sat about halfway between his position and the gate. Maybe the troopers had gotten curious and opened the crate prematurely? Maybe the crate’s lock had failed somehow, and they had not bothered to try and close it? Regardless, it’s presence would work to his advantage.

            Not intending to fire one of the weapons by accident, assuming they even had power packs loaded. The masked infiltrator held out a hand towards the blaster crate and closed his eyes. This sort of trick did not always work, and he was not fully sure how it worked. He was the only being he knew with such power. However, it had saved him more than once before. He just had to ensure that no Imperials who saw him pull it off lived to report their findings.

            The young man closed his hand into a fist and then quickly opened it as wide as he could rapidly. He gritted his teeth, forcing his intent onto the crate’s contents. Fortunately, it worked.

            The blasters in the crate were sent flying out of it in various directions, not far, but far enough. The sudden flurry of movement got the attention of both troopers. The stormtroopers looked to each other and began to carefully advance on the crate, one just ahead of the other. The masked youth tensed himself and prepared to leap into action as soon as he judged that the time was right.

            When the two troopers were almost to the crate, looking over the blasters that had been strewn about, the infiltrator sprang out from behind his cover, weapons drawn. Before either of them could react, he closed with the first one of them and fired his DC-17 pistol point blank into the surprised trooper’s chest. The blue bolt of ionized plasma carved through the soldier’s white plastoid armor and black body glove with little difficulty, ending him without ceremony.

            The second trooper raised his E-11 blaster carbine in shock. It looked like he was about to swing the weapon at his attacker, considering how close he had gotten.

            Moving with borderline preternatural speed, the infiltrator reflexively grinned and delivered a rapid vibroknife slice to a gap in the trooper’s leg armor, forcing his enemy down onto one knee. Right before the hostile soldier could scream in pain or fire his blaster carbine, the masked young man sliced his throat in one brutal, fluid motion.

            With both troopers guarding the open gate down, their killer looked around. No alarm had been sounded, and no other hostiles were on their way. That had to mean that the rest of his team was performing as well as ever. Hopefully, their new recruit was keeping up. One of this mission’s goals was seeing if she could handle herself, after all.

            Seeing that there was nobody in his way, the young infiltrator carefully advanced into a wide-open space bordered by the kind of dark gray metal walls and buildings typical of Imperial bases. Shipping containers were scattered around the staging ground, along with two parked grey landspeeders equipped with light blaster cannons mounted near their rears. The floor in this area was solidly black and marked with white lines.

A raised platform accessible via some stairs to the immediate east sported two currently unmanned repeating blaster cannons. There was a watchtower at the opposite side of the space. A red energy shield blocked the way to the Imperial docks. Predictably, the cogwheel symbol of the Galactic Empire was present on everything from banners hanging on the walls, to the supply crates, to the parked speeders.

            Other than the energy shield, the security system here had to be down, just as planned. There were also no Imperial personnel present at the moment, other than the bodies of two downed stormtroopers and one Imperial Lieutenant. Now, the question was where the rest of the team had ended up.

            While the young man looked around carefully and advanced into the staging ground, considering checking the Imperial bodies, he heard a female voice calling to him from behind the closer of the two parked landspeeders, “Joker, over here.”

            Joker looked over at the landspeeder and made out a young woman wearing a dark red jacket, backpack, and hood hiding behind it. He darted over to her and took up position next to his comrade. She had a similar vibroknife to his own sheathed at her belt, along with an old, worn DC-17m light repeating blaster that she held at the ready with one hand. Like her leader, the girl had her hood up and wore a mask. However, her mask was the same dark red color as her jacket and shirt underneath. It also sported a generally feline shape and accompanying ears.

            Scanning the open area for any signs of Imperial activity, Joker told his comrade, “I see you made it safely, Panther. Now, we need to find out where Skull and Noir ended up. Based on the lack of enemy reaction so far, I think Fox completed his part of the mission successfully.”

            Panther nodded sharply. Joker noticed her blonde pigtails barely poking out from behind her mask. It only took a moment for Joker’s commlink to quietly beep, one of its buttons glowing blue.

            Joker answered his commlink and heard a dignified male voice over it reporting, “Joker, I have a visual on you and Panther. I’ve taken the watchtower and eliminated the scout troopers inside. I inserted the key Oracle gave us into the security system’s access panel, disabling the security cams. However, a number of Imperials and a scout walker remain on the northern side of the shield. I recommend acting quickly before any of them attempt to check in with their forces on this side.”

            Joker nodded, with Panther listening in. He responded, “Understood, Fox. Do you have a visual on Skull and Noir? I like to think we’d know if they’d gotten into trouble on the way.”

            Fox quickly reported, “It appears that they’re closing in on the staging ground from the northeast, Skull just eliminated two stormtroopers in his typically violent fashion. Noir is close behind him.”

            Joker nodded and ordered, “Excellent. Fox, keep watch for us atop the tower. Only engage the enemy forces on the other side of the wall if they move on our position. Watch their scout walker carefully. One of those could really ruin our day.”

            Fox simply responded, “Understood. I’ll provide covering fire if they move in. Fox out.”

            With that, Joker deactivated his commlink and stood up with Panther right next to him. Panther asked her leader, “Hey, do you think Noir will stand her ground with us if a real fight breaks out?”

            Joker placed a hand on his chin and admitted, “We won’t know until we’re in that position. If she’s gonna be a Phantom, she’s gonna have to fight for Toruun at some point. She was honest about why she wants our help when she came to us. Still, she has to uphold her end of the bargain before we can try to solve her mystery.”

            Panther nodded while a young man entered the staging ground from the northeast and waved at Panther and Joker. He carried a close-range shock blaster in one hand and had a vibrosword that had once belonged to a BX Commando Droid sheathed on his back. His body, other than his black backpack, was covered in dark gray armor plating that had once adorned super battle droids. He wore no hood, rendering his blonde-dyed hair visible. His mask was shaped like an armored skull, granting him an imposing visage.

            Following the armored youth was a young woman wearing a dark purple coat, pants, and backpack. Her basic black mask was attached to a dashing black hat outfitted with a feather. Brown-dyed, curly hair was barely visible under her hat. The only weapon she had at her belt was a modified E-11 blaster carbine. She saluted Joker and Panther upon catching sight of them, looking more nervous than her armored companion.

            Joker and Panther soon met their two comrades her the center of the staging area. Wasting no time, Joker ordered, “Good to see you, Skull, Noir. Fox is tracking the enemies behind the shield gate. They could realize something’s up any minute. Remember why we’re here. Focus on gathering and packing portable munitions and credits. We’ll restock our hideout with explosives and buy what we can’t find here from our supplier once our coffers are replenished with the enemy’s money. Whatever we take here, they can’t use against other resistance fighters later. Don’t worry about food or other supplies, time is of the essence.”

            Noir nodded and offered, “Yes, …Joker. I’ll go look for explosives. I wish I could funnel more family credits to the cause, but that would quickly draw attention…”

            While Skull and Panther nodded, Joker responded, “We can’t afford to let ANY of us get exposed as Phantoms. That’s why I keep the cell so small. Less people the Empire might catch and unmask is better for security. Now, let’s get to looting.”

            With that, Skull smiled and darted off to the closest series of shipping crates and containers with Panther in tow. Noir began searching munitions crates and soon found some thermal detonators and lighter explosives, which she began to carefully pack. Joker looked for any containers that might contain Imperial payroll credits. He soon found a couple nearby the raised platform with repeating blasters set up atop it.

            After carefully blasting the crates’ locks open, Joker confirmed the presence of Imperial currency and began to fill his pack. Noir was busy with explosives. Skull and Panther focused on looting blaster power packs and other easily transportable military-grade gear and stashing them in their backpacks.

            The Phantoms only had around five minutes at most before Joker’s commlink lit up blue again. He rapidly answered it and heard Fox reporting, “Joker, the Imperial infantry soldiers on the other side of the shield gate are marshalling for something. Their scout walker is on its way south right now!”

            Joker groaned and responded, “As soon as they lower the shield, open fire! Watch their walker! We’ll need to take out as many of their foot soldiers as we can before falling back! Otherwise, they can chase us down and cut us off, not to mention you!”

            Keeping his commlink active, Joker called out, “Everyone, take cover and prepare for the Imperials to lower the shield! They know something’s up!”

            Panther and Skull ducked behind some nearby shipping crates. Noir pulled what appeared to be a rocket launcher out of a large munitions crate. She quickly took cover behind the same crate. Joker wondered what exactly his new recruit intended to do with the heavy weapon, but there was no time to ask her now.

            Joker dove behind one of the parked Imperial landspeeders and drew his DC-17 just as the energy shield was deactivated. The telltale clanking sounds of a scout walker on the way echoed across the staging ground while six stormtroopers rushed out into the area, accompanied by an officer wearing a dark green uniform. There would be more hostiles on the way. Hopefully, Fox would stem the tide from the watchtower.

            Skull shouted, “Here they come!” He then drew a grenade he had recently looted. While Noir began attempting to load her new rocket launcher, Panther and Joker aimed their blasters at the incoming Imperial forces. The Phantoms had what they came for, now they would have to eliminate this wave of hostiles before vacating the depot.

Chapter Text

Seconds Later: The Coastal Depot’s Staging Ground:

            While the Phantoms held their positions, a small team of stormtroopers and the officer leading them advanced into the staging ground. They were all alert and aware of the presence of armed intruders in the facility. Behind them, the telltale clanking of a scout walker’s legs echoed across the vicinity.

            While Noir finished loading her looted rocket launcher, Joker ordered the rest of his team, “Open fire! Don’t let them outflank us!” He immediately opened up with his DC-17 pistol, sending a stream of crackling blue plasma bolts at the incoming hostiles.

            Panther joined joker from behind her cover nearby Skull, firing her old DC-17m light repeating blaster at the incoming Imperial infantry. A barrage of blue bolts streamed out of her weapon’s barrel. Two shots collided with an enemy trooper’s stomach, sending sparks flying off of her compromised armor, and dropping her to the ground.

            The imperials advanced into the staging ground, returning fire as they fanned out. Their commanding officer ordered, “Keep the intruders suppressed! Close in, and neutralize them! Don’t let them esc…”

            Joker grinned when he saw the enemy Lieutenant’s speech get cut short by a high-powered yellow blaster shot that sliced into her chest, killing her instantly. Fox had begun providing sniper support in style.

            Two stormtroopers who had been advancing next to the slain officer turned towards the watchtower. One of them called out, “They’ve taken the watchtower! Someone get in there!”

            Skull took the opportunity of the enemy’s distraction to prime and toss the looted grenade he had readied. The thrown explosive flew impressively far and landed right in between the two distracted troopers.

            The grenade detonated, generating an explosive blast that sent the two startled troopers flying. When they landed on their backs, it was clear that they were not getting back up.

            The three remaining stormtroopers ran for cover. For now, Fox’s sniper fire was focused on preventing enemy reinforcements from getting past the deactivated shield gate.

            Joker precisely aimed his blaster pistol and took a deep breath. He fired a single, carefully aimed shot that sliced into a stormtrooper’s chest right before he could dive into cover behind a reinforced supply crate. That left only two hostiles, but more would be on their way sooner or later.

            Skull shouted, “Cover me!” He drew his close-range shock blaster and charged out from behind cover. Panther laid down suppressing fire on one of the remaining stormtroopers while Skull rushed from crate to crate, narrowly evading blaster fire from the other trooper.

            As soon as he was in range, Skull fired a powerful, resounding blast of reddish energy from his shock blaster’s cone-shaped muzzle at the trooper who had fired at him. The Imperial soldier screamed in anguish as he was sent flying back from the sheer force. His back slammed into a hard munitions crate with a deafening crack. He slumped to the ground, broken.

            The final stormtrooper turn to fall back, blaster bolts screaming past him, when Panther called out, “Guys, the scout walker’s here!”

            Joker grimaced when he saw a towering AT-ST walker advancing past the deactivated shield gate. The light armored vehicle’s head turned slowly to survey the area. Skull immediately took cover while the remaining stormtrooper regrouped with the vehicle.

            The AT-ST’s twin chin-mounted blasters fired a few volleys of plasma at the Phantoms, clearly trying to scatter them. Skull and Joker ducked low. Panther flung herself back away from the crates she had been hiding behind right before they were reduced to slag by the red bolts.

            A series of yellow blaster bolts collided with the scout walker’s leg joints, weakening them only slightly. Fox was bravely trying to draw the AT-ST crew’s attention.

            The surviving stormtrooper pointed up at the watchtower from behind a tall crate. The AT-ST’s head turned towards the tower and a multi-barreled launcher on one side of its head fired a barrage of grenades at the tower, aiming for the windows at the top.

            Fortunately, the walker’s ordinance fell short of its target. The explosives stuck to the tower’s reinforced side wall before detonating. The series of small explosions only weakened the reinforced structure.

            Before the AT-ST could fire any of its weapons again, Noir let out an angry shout and fired her rocket launcher from behind cover. The girl had clearly figured out how to use the weapon, because the rocket slammed into the side of the walker’s head. The resulting blast destroyed the blaster weapons mounted there, along with leaving a sizeable dent in the two-legged craft.

            Joker ordered, “Noir, reload and aim for the spot where the head meets the body! That should take that walking scrap pile down! Everyone else, cover her and take out that trooper!”

            Noir saluted Joker and began reloading her launcher while Skull charged towards the crate the remaining stormtrooper had hidden behind. Panther and Fox opened fire on the damaged AT-ST, targeting the vehicle’s joints and mounted weapons.

            Even with its side smoking, the AT-ST slowly turned to face the Phantoms on the ground. Joker was about to fire on the armored vehicle himself when he saw three more stormtroopers charging into the staging ground. One of them carried a multi-barreled heavy repeating blaster.

            With blaster bolts flying across the staging ground, Skull reached the trooper he had targeted. Joker saw him draw the vibrosword from his back. Even above the din of battle, he heard the panicked screams of the startled trooper while Skull brutally hacked into him. The brash young warrior was Joker’s most loyal follower. However, he was sometimes a little too eager to get up close and personal with his Imperial foes.

            Panther was soon pinned down by fire from the newly arrived troopers. The AT-ST advanced on Noir, aiming its chin-mounted cannons at her cover. Joker took a deep breath and focused on the heavy assault trooper firing on Panther’s position alongside his comrades. He moved his free hand in the direction of the other two troopers.

            The heavy assault trooper grunted in surprise when he and his rotary blaster cannon were swung in the direction of the two standard troopers. Before he could cease fire, the stream of blazing plasma from his weapon had cut down his two comrades.

            Joker released the heavy assault trooper and took a series of heaving breaths. The confused and mortified heavy soldier did not have long to recover from his shock. A high-powered bolt from Fox’s sniper rifle slammed into his helmet, ending him before he could refocus on the Phantoms.

            Now without infantry support, the AT-ST got off two inaccurate shots from its chin-mounted guns before Noir stood up again and fired a missile directly into the section of the walker’s body located right between its legs.

            The second rocket proved too much for the scout walker to withstand. The armored vehicle’s upper body exploded in a violent plume of shrapnel and flame.

            Skull pumped his fist into the air and shouted, “Hell yeah!”

            Noir and Panther breathed sighs of relief while Joker stood up and declared, “Excellent work, team! Our new member has proven herself today! Now, we better get out of here before the enemy sends more reinforcements. We’ll split up once we reach the sewer passage and meet up tomorrow at…”

            Before Joker could finish his statement, he was distracted by three shapes descending below the clouds in the distance. They were accompanied by an all-too-familiar noise that sounded akin to a mechanical scream. Faint as it was at this distance, it could only mean one thing.

            Joker’s immediately asked Fox over his commlink, “What do you see through your scope?”

            Fox quickly and professionally responded, “Two TIE Fighters flanking a TIE Interceptor. The fighters are standard, but the interceptor has unique white markings on her wings and cockpit. Possibly a new model?”

            Joker grimaced and ordered, “Or, it could be some ace’s custom fighter. They were probably on patrol already before being diverted here. Hunker down in the tower, Fox. If they realize you’re in there, you’ll be a sitting duck.”

            Fox rapidly responded, “Acknowledged. I’ll standby to fire on any Imperial infantry or light vehicles that arrive.”

            Joker turned to Skull, Panther and Noir and ordered, “We can’t get out of here with those starfighters on our tails. They’ll strafe us if we try to run through the maze of crates! I’ll head for the repeating blaster turrets up on the raised platform. Skull, Panther, stay mobile and keep them occupied as best as you can! Noir, your launcher should be able to lock on to the fighters if you can keep one in your sights for long enough. Take down as many of them as you can! Once we’ve shot the enemy TIEs down, we’re out of here!”

            The three other Phantoms on the ground all saluted their leader. Noir got to reloading her launcher, while Skull and Panther prepared to try and draw the enemy fighters’ attention. Joker charged up the nearby stairs towards top of the platform. He needed to get on one of the E-Web repeating blasters in the hope that he could use its firepower to help take down the enemy starfighters.

            Blasts of green plasma from the trio of Imperial spacecraft shot through the air while they closed in on the staging ground. The bolts impacted all around the open space, exploding violently when they connected with floors, walls, and crates. The Phantoms had to eliminate these TIEs if they were going to have any chance of escaping the depot alive.

            Skull ran over to where the heavy assault trooper had fallen, stowed his usual weapons, and picked up the slain warrior’s rotary blaster cannon. He unleashed a rapid-fire barrage of blazing plasma up at the interceptor at the center of the three Imperial starfighters. The interceptor braked fast, falling behind the two fighters. The nimble spacecraft took rapid, precise, evasive action to avoid the storm of blaster bolts.

            Panther took aim at one of the incoming TIE Fighters with her light repeating blaster and fired up a volley of blue bolts at the enemy craft. A couple of bolts connected with the fighter to little effect.

            Long bolts of green plasma continued to impact all around the staging ground while Joker rushed up the stairs towards the E-Web repeating blaster turrets. When he was about to get on one of the guns, he heard Noir call out, “I’ve got a lock!”

            Noir fired a rocket up at the TIE Fighter her comrades had not yet targeted. The starfighter tried to evade the incoming missile. However, it was not nearly fast enough. Noir’s rocket crashed into the Imperial fighter’s spherical cockpit. The resulting fireball consumed the entire vehicle, sending a shower of debris crashing into the docks to the north.

            While Noir, Panther, and Skull threw themselves out of the way of enemy fire, Joker reached the top of the raised platform. He skidded to a halt, sensing imminent danger.

            A barrage of green bolts from the TIE interceptor sliced into the farther away of the two E-Web turrets. A lucky shot struck its powerpack, detonating it violently.

            Joker breathed a quick sigh of relief, seeing that the closer turret was still operable after its twin’s destruction. While the two surviving Imperial fighters looped around to prepare for a second pass, and Panther and Skull continued firing up at them, Joker mounted the repeating blaster and made sure it was powered up.

            Wasting no time, Joker held down the E-Web’s triggers and unleashed a barrage of high-power blaster bolts at the two TIE craft. The solar panels on their sides were clearly visible while they flew northeast to get a better angle for a second attack run on the Phantoms.

            The pilot of the custom TIE Interceptor was good, that much was undeniable. His craft effortlessly evaded all of Joker’s fire. The interceptor withstood a couple of glancing bolts from Skull’s heavy weapon, but remained undeterred.

            Joker switched to the easier target, the TIE Fighter. Aiming well ahead of the hostile fighter on its flight path, he fired off a second concentrated burst of blazing energy bolts.

            This time, Joker’s aim was true. The barrage ripped into the Imperial fighter’s side-mounted solar panel and sent the burning starfighter spinning out of control.

            The second TIE fighter crashed into the northern docks, exploding in a brilliant blast of fire and shrapnel. That left the interceptor with no wingmen. However, fresh Imperial reinforcements could arrive at any moment.

            Joker ordered, “Concentrate fire on that interceptor! Once she’s down, we fall back ASAP!” Seeing the hostile starfighter coming in for a second pass, despite being alone in the sky now, he sent a third barrage of crimson plasma at the speedy craft.

            Whoever was piloting this interceptor was no ordinary Imperial flyer. They maneuvered their light, agile fighter around every single bolt the Phantoms sent up this time. The interceptor turned towards the platform Joker crouched atop and returned fire.

            A mighty barrage of emerald energy streaked towards Joker’s position. He had no choice but to throw himself back away from his repeating blaster turret before it was consumed in another fireball.

            Joker landed on his feet and drew his blaster pistol. The elite interceptor was preparing to make another pass now.

            Noir called out, “This one’s too fast! I’ve only got one rocket left and I can’t get a lock!”

            Joker rushed back down the stairs and called out, “Just stay alive for now! We need to regroup with Fox and get out of here before that bastard up there fries us! I’m contacting Oracle!”

            While Noir activated her commlink to contact Fox, Panther and Skull kept up their fire on the circling TIE Interceptor. All they could really hope to do was distract the extremely evasive spacecraft for a moment or two.

            Joker activated his commlink, one of its lights began to glow green. He heard a young woman’s voice asking, “Joker?”

            Joker responded, “Oracle, we got what we came for, but an enemy interceptor’s circling us! Whoever’s flying her knows what they’re doing. More hostiles could be here any minute! I need ideas for an exit!”

            Oracle asked, “Got it! …Are there any speeders around?”

            Joker glanced around while the Imperial interceptor prepared to make another pass and noticed the two gray landspeeders parked in the staging ground. He quickly responded, “There’re two light speeders with a blaster cannon on each! I don’t think they can outrun the interceptor….”

            Oracle replied, “Do you have another choice?”

            Joker angrily grimaced, shook his head and told Oracle, “No, we don’t! Thanks! With any luck, I’ll see you this evening. Joker out.”

            Oracle finished, “You better get back here! We can’t have any of you unmasked, alive or dead! What’ll Boss, Sophie, and I do then?”

            Joker responded, “We’ll make it home!” He then deactivated his commlink. He rapidly ordered, “We’re gonna commandeer an enemy speeder! I’ll drive! Skull, get on the cannon! Everyone else, just hold on and don’t lose the loot!”

            The elite TIE interceptor strafed the area, taking out the landspeeder closer to the watchtower with a barrage of green bolts and nearly immolating Noir and Panther. Joker and company all ran for the intact speeder and piled in while the enemy spacecraft began circling around for yet another pass.

            Joker had driven plenty of speeders before, despite his youth. He soon activated the craft’s repulsorlifts and got her moving. Fox darted out of the watchtower’s ground floor entrance facing the staging ground. Joker rapidly drove over towards his team’s sniper. The young sharpshooter wore a stylish dark blue outfit covered with light armor plates. He wore a detailed, eye catching, white, and red mask with a vaguely vulpine appearance. An old, slightly worn, blaster sniper rifle was slung over his back, and an ornate, curbed vibrosword was sheathed at his belt.

            Fox told his comrades, “I’ve left our calling card. Now, let us be off!”

            Joker accelerated the landspeeder while Noir told him, “The path Skull and I took to get here should be big enough to fit the speeder!”

            Skull began firing on the circling interceptor while shouting, “We’re gonna have to push this thing to its limits if we wanna get out of here alive!”

            Joker nodded and, with Noir helping navigate, set off for the northeastern corner of the staging ground.

            Four newly arrived stormtroopers and an Imperial lieutenant charged through the deactivated shield gate. They arrived just in time to see the Phantoms careening out of the staging ground on their stolen speeder.

            Joker pushed the speeder as fast as it could go, dodging all manner of obstacles and even a couple of incoming, surprised, stormtroopers in the process.

            It did not take long for the enemy interceptor’s pilot to realize what had happened and begin to pursue the fleeing resistance fighters. Blasts of green energy slammed into the ground behind the landspeeder, getting far too close for comfort.

            The hostile interceptor ended up overshooting the, comparatively much slower, landspeeder. That allowed Skull to open fire on her with the blaster cannon he had mounted. Thankfully, Skull’s barrage of red bolts forced the enemy starfighter to take evasive action again. That gave the Phantoms some breathing room.

            Noir called out, “We’re almost out of the depot!”

            Joker nodded and dodged two more incoming stormtroopers. The Imperial command center in Ryo proper had to have ordered all nearby units to converge on the depot now that they knew some real damage had been done there.

            Blaster fire from the troopers chasing the commandeered speeder flew past the careening craft. However, they stood no chance of keeping up on foot. Joker and his crew just had to hope that no fresh Imperial speeders or fighters would show up before they reached their destination.

            While Skull put up a heroic effort to distract the elite interceptor with blaster cannon fire, Joker grinned. His speeder charged through an open gate and out of the supply depot. Thanks to the special key Oracle had devised and Fox had installed at the watchtower, the Imperials would not be able to shut the gates to the depot again until they got an expert slicer of their own on the case.

            Now clear of the depot, the stolen landspeeder drove towards the gleaming city of Ryo, heading right for a noticeable sewer entrance.

            Skull called out, “Guys, that interceptor’s not giving up. …It’s comin right for us!”

            Joker saw that Skull was correct, the Imperial interceptor had corrected her vector and had begun making a final pass at the Phantoms’ commandeered vehicle. Joker drove the speeder forward until it was practically right over the sewer entrance. He and his team rapidly disembarked after that.

            While glistening green bolts from the TIE Interceptor crashed into the pavement ahead of them, Joker drew a metal stick Oracle had given him with a single button on one of its ends. He jammed its other end into an open socket nearby the sewer entrance and pressed the button.

            The sewer entrance door rapidly opened. Joker quickly withdrew his device, and the Phantoms prepared to jump down inside. Still not giving up, the hostile custom interceptor launched a barrage of light rockets down at the Phantoms and their landspeeder.

            Joker, ordered, “Inside and run for it!” He jumped down into the sewer, followed by his four comrades. Once they hit the damp floor of the mostly dry tunnel, they ran in the direction of Ryo’s city center as fast as they could.

            A series of rapid explosions rocked the ground just above the fleeing Phantoms. The interceptor’s missiles had impacted. Their stolen getaway speeder was destroyed, along with much of the pavement around the sewer entrance. The resulting debris conveniently blocked the way down.

            Once he and his team had made it a safe distance from the collapsed sewer entrance, Joker looked around and smiled. He told everyone, “Another successful mission!”

            While his comrades all nodded and checked their gear, taking a quick breather, Joker could not help but hope that his team never encountered that particular TIE Interceptor again. If they did, he would have to find a way to shoot it down, or even destroy it on the ground before it could take off. For now, the Phantoms had survived another operation, looted what they had come for and made a dent in Toruun’s Imperial Garrison. They would need to return to Ryo proper before regrouping and discussing their next move.

Chapter Text

A Moment Later: The Sewer Tunnel:

            Having dashed down the, mostly dry, sewer tunnel away from the now-demolished entrance, Joker and his crew had briefly stopped to rest. Noir still carried her looted rocket launcher. Skull had left the rotary blaster cannon he had used in the recent skirmish behind before boarding the commandeered Imperial landspeeder. Everyone still had their backpacks on.

            After glancing around at her Phantom comrades, Noir asked, “Can we use our real names now? I don’t think anyone could have followed us down here.”

            Joker nodded and responded, “Sure, Haru. You did an excellent job on your first mission as a Phantom. Whether you like it or not, you’re a resistance fighter like the rest of us now.”

            Haru nodded and replied, “I know. …I’ll keep working with you all as long as you hold up your end of the bargain. I want to know what really happened to my father!”

            Yusuke Kitagawa, also known as Fox, mentioned, “We know Kunikazu Okumura was considered a political rival of Governor Shido by many members of Toruun’s upper crust. My mentor mentioned as much to me once.”

            Ryuji Sakamoto’s face took on a serious expression under his armored skull mask. He added, “Killing a rival and calling it an accident sounds like something Shido’d prolly do. Boss always told us he’s a crafty, rotten, bastard.”

            Ann Takamaki briefly removed her feline mask and mentioned, “For an Imperial Governor, he puts a lot of effort into convincing our citizens to support him. My mother always told me he had to be hiding something while dad was out of the house.”

            Joker nodded and responded, “Based on what Boss always told me, Shido’s got an army of skeletons in his closet. Our supplier seems to think so too. …Anyway, this is where we split up and head home. Everyone here except for Haru has done this before. Don’t let anyone see you in your Phantom disguises once you go topside. I’ll take the launcher and as much of the loot as I can carry and head back to Leblanc and the hideout. We’ll regroup down there tomorrow afternoon and discuss our next move.”

            All of Joker’s followers saluted him.  Ann mentioned, “Joker, you should contact Oracle and let her know we got away. …I better get home to Mona fast; he probably needs to be fed about now.”           

            Ryuji gave Ann a slight look and asked her, “Your parents have left you alone with that Lothcat for at least a month. When are they getting back from off-planet?”

            Ann shrugged and replied, “I haven’t heard from them this week. I think I’m balancing resistance fighting and taking care of Mona just fine, Ryuji.”

            Yusuke pointed out, “Mona never liked you much, Sakamoto. Still, his loyalty to Ann is admirable, and not misplaced like the Imperials’ mindless devotion is.”

            Joker took the looted launcher from Haru and ordered, “Enough banter, guys. We can’t afford to stay here for long. The Imps might not have given up the search yet. We’ve gotta make ourselves scarce!”

            Everyone nodded and the Phantoms quickly made their way deeper into Ryo’s sewer system. Soon enough, they all took out small datapads that displayed maps of the sewers and tracked their locations. One by one, they split off from their leader and went their separate ways. They would change into their civilian clothes; stow their weapons, and then leave the sewers through the closest exits to their respective homes. That plan had worked before and was expected to work again.

            Joker had something slightly different in mind. Once he was alone, he activated his commlink and contacted Oracle.

            Oracle’ voice quickly asked Joker, “Is that you, Joker? Did you get away?”

            Joker wasted no time in responding, “Yes, we did. I’m on my way to the hideout now. I’ve got a backpack full of enemy credits and an Imperial rocket launcher with me. I’ll see you in a few hours.”

            Oracle sounded quite happy when she replied, “Ooooh! I guess we’ll be paying our supplier a visit soon. Glad the mission worked out. Sophie and I’ll be waiting for ya.”

            Joker nodded instinctively and asked, “How’s boss doing?”

            Oracle quickly replied, “He’s worried, like every time you guys head out on a mission. He kept telling me that he’ll disavow the whole cell if anyone gets unmasked, like usual.”

            Joker grimaced and told Oracle, “Yeah, we both know that’d never work. The Imps would see through any flimsy story he came up with if they did any research into Boss’s history, and he knows it. I’m sure he still cares about the cause. He knows all hope isn’t lost for Toruun. He just doesn’t like to admit it.”

            Oracle sighed for a second while Joker could swear that he heard the distinctive beeping of an astromech droid behind her. She replied, “I hope you’re right, Joker. After everything the enemy did to us, I don’t think Boss can’t look the other way forever. He wouldn’t have taken us in if he just wanted out.”         

            Joker nodded and finished, “Yeah. …Anyway, I’m headed home now. I’ll check in with him once I deposit the loot in the hideout. Joker out.”

            With that, Joker deactivated his commlink. The young man headed through the sewers as fast as he could while lugging a heavy load. After a few hours of walking, he found himself in the sewers underneath an outlying district of Southwestern Ryo.

            Joker walked up to a heavily rusted section of tunnel wall and reached a hand for an innocuous section of the wall covered up by a small grey metal panel. He slid the panel aside to reveal a screen, which he placed his hand on.

            The screen briefly flashed blue and a section of the wall large enough to fit one person through at a time slowly slid open. Joker carefully replaced the panel over the scanner and then darted through the hidden passageway, making sure to pull the level that closed it behind him.

            After only around a minute of walking through the hidden passageway, Joker found himself at a dark blue door with a keypad. He entered a four-digit code to open it. The code changed every month, but he was the one who decided it every time.

            After the second door slid open and Joker stepped through, he found himself in a well-lit room akin to a small hangar. Long ago, this underground facility had served as a hideout for a smuggler gang that had transported contraband across Toruun and beyond. They had been apprehended and their base left abandoned around five years before the Clone Wars. Now, the former smugglers’ den had served a different purpose. Joker considered it to be a far greater purpose.

            The hideout was mostly empty. A few supply crates were scattered around the open space, along with two mostly empty weapons racks, various bits of technology, a series of chairs, and a circular table. A large blast door, big enough to drive a landspeeder through, at the western end of the hideout remained closed. Across the space, there was a closed lift only large enough to hold around four humans at a time.

            Three sizeable banners hung on one of the walls of the hideout. The one in the center depicted a fancy red hat and eye mask. Brilliant flames emitted from underneath the hat and mask. That design was Yusuke’s creation and resembled the calling card he often left at the sights of the cell’s attacks. Flanking the red and black banner were two identical ones. These had been painted and hung at Joker’s insistence. They depicted a blue and white hexagon composed of six trapezoids and a central hexagon. It was the same symbol that adorned his field jacket’s armband.

            Kneeling next to the large blast door and working on it with a series of tools was a young woman with long, orange dyed hair. She wore a casual white shirt and black pants with green and red goggles protecting her eyes. Standing directly behind the girl was a white R-series astromech droid painted with bright red accents. The droid featured the style of domed head marking her as an R2 model.

            The R2 droid’s head rotated and her single, black photoceptor caught sight of Joker while he put down his backpack and looted rocket launcher. The droid beeped pleasantly and then turned back to young woman next to her.

            Joker chuckled while R2-SF, also known as Sophie, gently prodded the girl in front of her with one of her many extendable mechanical arms.

            Futaba Sakura, codenamed Oracle, jumped up a bit and rubbed her back where her droid had poked her. She turned around, raised her working goggles, and asked R2-SF, “Sophie, what was that for?”

            Sophie beeped happily and pointed at Joker with a clawed arm. Futaba smiled and walked over to Joker. She immediately started looking excitedly at the missile launcher Haru had looted and used in the day’s battle.

            Joker explained, “Haru Okumura proved her willingness to fight the Empire today. There’s only one more rocket left for this launcher thanks to her taking out an AT-ST and a TIE fighter with it.”

            Futaba grinned and replied, “So, Noir’s willing to pull her weight, great! …I was a bit worried about her.”

            Joker admitted, “We’ve only had one member abandon our cell and the cause before. Haru’s got a personal reason to work outside of the law. Thankfully, she was skeptical of the Empire even before her father’s death.”

            Futaba folded her arms and replied, “Hifumi’s not gonna be in a position to tell the enemy anything. She made her choice to leave, Joker.”

            Shaking his head, Joker told Futaba, “I still don’t expect to see her again. Toruun needs people willing to fight for her. Hifumi Togo turned out not to be a worthy agent of the cause. So, I guess we’re better off without her.”

            Futaba put a hand on her head while Sophie made some concerned beeps. The young slicer did her best to perk up again, asking Joker, “How’d the override key I cooked up for you guys work?”

            Joker nodded sharply and explained, “Like a charm. Yusuke inserted it at the watchtower. It shut off most of the depot’s security and made it look like everything was normal to the outside world. …The problem was that some Imp officer must’ve finally tried to contact a trooper we’d disposed of before we could clear out. We hadn’t had a fight like todays in months!”

            Futaba nodded slowly and mentioned, “Yeah, you said they sent an interceptor that you guys couldn’t shake.”

            Joker groaned, started taking off his mask, coat, and belt, and told Futaba, “You can say that again. That was no ordinary TIE pilot. If it weren’t for my gift, I think I wouldn’t be here now. Thanks for the advice back there.”

            Futaba nodded and gave Joker a brief salute. She then added, “Well, you’re back in one piece and the Phantoms have struck again. I’m sure it’ll be all over the local holonet. They’ll call it a terrorist attack, though.”

            Joker sighed after taking off his field gear. He mentioned, “I wonder if they’ll reveal who the interceptor’s pilot was on the holonet. If they’d blasted us, I’m sure they would. Still, that bastard came as close as any Imp has to ending our cell. I hope we don’t see them again anytime soon.”

            Futaba gave one final nod and finished, “Sophie and I’ll stow the loot you brought back. I’m sure the others will deposit theirs’ when they show up. You should go check in with Sojiro. He’ll want to know that the operation was a success.”

            Joker nodded and then walked over to the lift. He entered the current four-digit code into a panel right outside of the lift’s door and it slid open. The lift took only a few seconds to transport Joker up to a dark backroom on the surface level of Ryo. This room was filled with supply crates and bags, along with a pair of refrigeration units. From there, he headed out of the room and up a flight of stairs to a room protected by another hand scanner, his personal room.  

            After unlocking the door, Joker stepped into his small quarters and changed into some basic black and white casual clothes. He smiled briefly over at a poster of an aged, stately, well-dressed, grey bearded human man on one of the walls and then darted back downstairs. This time, he walked through a small kitchen and into the main room of a quaint café that was lightly decorated in red and brown.

            Joker glanced around to see that there were no customers in the café for the time being. He walked up behind the counter where a gray bearded human man wearing an apron over dark blue and gray clothes stood. His arms rested on the counter. He was currently looking out of the front windows of his establishment.

            When the older man turned to face Joker, the youth asked him, “Business is light today, huh Boss?”

            Sojiro Sakura, the proprietor of Café Leblanc looked down at Joker, sighed loudly and asked him, “How many times have I told you not to call me that up here, kid?”

            Knowing that Boss was Sojiro’s codename of sorts, Joker pointed out, “Well, you are my boss. I do work here, sir.”

            Sojiro grunted and quietly responded, “I guess you do. Don’t forget it. I know you see this place as just a front for your ‘Phantoms’ and your job here as a ‘cover identity,’ but to me, it’s a lot more than that.”

            Joker nodded and admitted, “There wouldn’t be a Phantom Cell without you, sir. I’d still be a homeless orphan without you and Futaba letting me stay and work here.”

            Sojiro gruffly added, “After all this time, I still can’t believe I didn’t kick you out the second you told me you wanted to form some kind of resistance group with your buddy Sakamoto.”

            Joker shrugged, grinned, and responded, “What can I say, the cause called to me.”

            Sojiro sighed and asked, “Futaba insisted on getting involved, not to mention three other kids by now. You’re lucky I can’t easily say no to her. …I guess I ought to ask, how’d the depot raid go?”

            Joker’s face took on a serious expression. He saluted Sojiro and reported, “Sir, our newest member proved herself admirably in action and we recovered a significant supply of Imperial credits, along with some munitions. We also destroyed an AT-ST and two TIE Fighters before an interceptor flown by an unknown elite pilot forced us to fall back to the sewers. I’ll check in with the others with Oracle’s help before the day is done.”

            Sojiro’s eyes widened rapidly. He nodded slowly, stroked his chin, and responded, “You took down two fighters and a scout walker. I’m actually impressed this time, kid. Anyway, you better go make sure none of your buddies got caught. You know we’d be in deep trouble if even one of them talks. After that, get your apron on. You’ll have the evening shift tonight.”

            Joker nodded and saluted Sojiro with a serious expression still marking his face. He told his employer, “Will do, sir. Tomorrow, the cell will reconvene at base and then we’ll meet with our supplier.”

            Sojiro walked over to one of his machines behind the counter and finished, “Alright. Just remember that you’ve gotta earn your keep here, Phantom or not. I can end your whole operation here whenever I decide to.”

            Joker simply nodded and gave Sojiro a brief salute. He knew well that the Phantoms’ hideout was located below his employer and landlord’s property, and that Sojiro could always kick the Phantoms out and block off the former smuggler base. However, his adopted daughter Futaba would object loudly if things ever came to that.

            Still firmly believing that Sojiro semi-secretly believed in liberating Toruun and in what the Phantoms were doing, Joker returned to Leblanc’s backroom, and from there, the hideout. He and Futaba would carefully contact Ryuji, Yusuke, Ann, and Haru to make sure that all of them had made it home safely and without incident. After that, Joker would have to work the evening shift. Still, at least the worst he was likely to face on duty at Leblanc were a couple of ornery older customers.

            It would likely be some time before the Phantom Cell attempted another operation. They would lie low for a while first, as usual. However, before any plans for the future could be made, they would regroup at their hideout the following day and inventory their loot. They had a reliable supplier who would be more than happy to take their stolen Imperial credits. It would soon be time to pay him another visit.

Chapter Text

The Following Afternoon: The Phantom Cell’s Hideout:

            After manning the slow evening shift at Leblanc, Joker returned to his bedroom above the café’s backroom and slept the night. Futaba officially lived with her adopted father in a small housing complex just down the street from their place of business.

            Before reporting for café duty, Joker had contacted his comrades in the Phantom Cell with Futaba’s help. As was expected, they had all returned to their respective homes without incident. Most of them knew what they were doing thanks to months of experience. Haru was the only Phantom who Joker had been legitimately concerned about. The depot raid had been her first real mission with the cell. However, she had received intensive training and preparation prior to the day of the operation.

            The following afternoon, Joker manned the counter at Leblanc until his four comrades trickled in, one-by-one. They all wore casual clothes and backpacks. Haru was the last Phantom to arrive. Once everyone was seated at tables in the café, Joker ended his shift and Sojiro took over.

            Joker led his followers into the café’s backroom where he called the lift. The group of five rode the small lift down to their hidden hideout in two trips.

            Futaba and Sophie awaited their comrades in the hideout proper. Once all of the loot was removed from the Phantoms’ packs and inventoried, everyone sat down around the hideout’s table on chairs and crates.

            With his entire team gathered, Joker began, “Despite the close call we had thanks to that damn interceptor, we put a dent in Shido’s forces and stole more than enough credits to keep us funded for a few months.”

            Ann mentioned, “At least we don’t have to worry about storing a lot of food rations down here. That’s an advantage of operating right under the enemy’s nose.”

            Joker nodded while Ryuji asked him, “What’s our next move, leader?”

            Looking around at his small cell, with all eyes on him, Joker answered, “The local Imperial Holonet is already reporting our ‘terrorist attack.’ They’ve reported their casualties pretty honestly, but only to emphasize how dangerous we are. They’re offering significant rewards for actionable information on us as well. It makes me glad we don’t have a huge network.”

            Yusuke interjected, “I take it we’ll meet with our supplier soon. We should continue to patronize his secret business, so he is not tempted to take the Imperials up on their reward offer.”

            Joker nodded and continued, “I’ll lead the way over to Iwai’s once this meeting’s over. I think that if he wanted to turn us in, he would’ve done so a while ago. He doesn’t want Imperial attention, or to lose one of his best customers. Our arrangement with him is mutually beneficial. As for our next major move, we’ll lie low for a bit. I know we have a promise to keep with our newest member, but we don’t have a great way to access any of Shido’s secret files that might tell us something right now. For now, we’ll have to see what opportunity for a mission presents itself in the weeks to come.”

            Ryuji looked a bit disappointed. However, he perked up and mentioned, “I’ll check in with Mishima tomorrow. He might’ve picked up something new.”

            Joker told Ryuji, “I like that kid’s enthusiasm, but I still fear he could be a real liability. I’ve told him before to not let his desire to help us get him into a situation where he’d get caught by the Empire. He knows enough about Ryuji and I that if he talks, it would be the end of our cell.”

            Ryuji sighed, knowing Joker was right. Haru focused on listening and learning for now. Futaba spoke up to say, “Some of you might wanna know that our old tactical advisor reached out to me this morning. Hifumi finally reached the alliance and signed on as a junior comms officer with the rebel fleet….”

            Joker almost growled and rhetorically asked, “Even if they’re the largest force fighting the Empire, someone remind me what the full name of the rebel alliance is?”

            Haru replied, “The Alliance to Restore the Republic….”

            Joker swiftly declared, “Exactly! We may have a common enemy, but our goals do not align! The Galactic Republic was just the Empire wearing a democratic mask. The Core Worlds ruthlessly exploited the rim back then like they do now. I hate Palpatine as much as anyone, but at least the tyrant ripped the mask off and called a spade a spade! Even if the alliance somehow wins, nothing will really change for the rim. They don’t care about us! They’re just a shade less gray than the people they’re fighting.”

            While Ryuji nodded enthusiastically in agreement with Joker, Ann, and Yusuke both looked to each other and sighed. They had heard Joker’s speeches about the old republic and the current rebellion many times before.

            Joker took a deep breath, sighed, and admitted, “I know Hifumi argued effectively about needing to tear down the whole Empire if Toruun is going to have a future. Still, I have no intention of living under a New Republic any more than I want to keep living under the Empire.”

            Futaba sighed, chuckled awkwardly, and muttered, “Here it comes…”

            Standing up and pointing at one of the blue and white banners on the hideout’s walls, Joker declared, “We are Separatists fighting to keep the dream of independence alive! As long as I lead this cell, our goal is to liberate Toruun from the dominion of the Core! I know we’re not alone! Other CIS remnants still fight on across this planet and the Outer Rim! As long as we never abandon hope, the Separatist cause will never be truly dead!”

            Yusuke calmly nodded, but pointed out, “Joker, your passion remains as admirable as ever. However, you should consider Hifumi’s position with the alliance as a way for us to learn about the status of the greater galaxy, without that news being colored by Imperial propaganda.”

            Futaba nodded in agreement with Yusuke while Ann added, “That’s a good point. If any of us have the most right to be sick of Imperial propaganda, it’s you, Kitagawa.”

            Before Joker could respond to Yusuke and Ann, Haru asked him, “Sir, I have a couple of questions. …First, do you have a real name? Also, what convinced you to form this cell before I joined it? You all have risked an awful lot rebelling against the Empire from inside of Ryo.”

            Joker turned to Haru and rapidly explained, “My parents were murdered by Shido’s stormtroopers when I was very young. They were both staunch separatists who supported Toruun’s independence, even after the war. They paid with their lives when they were found out and tried to fight back. I don’t even remember the name they gave me. I survived on the streets, staying with whoever would let me for a month or so at a time for years. That was until I found Sojiro Sakura, who recognized me as his old friends’ son. He took me in a while after he adopted Futaba and started calling me ‘Joker,’ because he said he didn’t take my claims of wanting to reignite the fires of separatism seriously. I just call myself Akira if any customers at Leblanc ask for my name. As far as the Empire knows, I don’t exist. I’ve got no chain code and no other family that I know of.”

            While Joker took a breath, Futaba added, “…My mother was a separatist science officer based on Toruun years ago…. She was killed by Shido’s Imps after they found her. She’d refused to ‘fall in line’ and work for them. Sojiro was a supply officer in the Toruun Defense Force long before the war started. He helped coordinate CIS transports and warships that stopped at Ryo’s spaceport, or above Toruun, to refuel and resupply during the war. When the Empire dissolved the Diet and installed Shido as governor, Sojiro publicly disavowed the CIS and managed to quietly retire without being arrested. He knew my mom and adopted me to keep me safe.”

            Joker took over and continued, “I know that Sojiro Sakura still believes in our right to self-determination, even if he keeps quiet about it. It was my idea to form a resistance cell, but Futaba supported me every step of the way. We both have parents to avenge….”

            Ryuji interjected, “They’re not the only ones with a parent to avenge. I was Joker’s first recruit and I recruited Ann from there. Kitagawa and Togo came after her. …My old man was just like Joker’s parents, a separatist to the end. My poor mom had to make up a lot of excuses, and even lies, to keep us safe after those rotten imps locked him up and gunned him down.”

            Ann nodded and added, “My parents are wealthier than most. They didn’t really try to stop me from learning about everything the imps do, especially to nonhumans, though. I just can’t sit by and let it continue. I’m not sure if I’m a separatist like Joker and Ryuji, but if ending the Empire’s abuses on Toruun means fighting for our independence, then so be it!”

            Yusuke told Haru, “I joined this cell to help restore Toruun’s honor, no matter her future allegiance. Being a Phantom has been very difficult for me. You might have heard of my mentor, Ichirisu Madarame. He has dishonorably lowered himself from his former status as a great master of Toruunian painting by becoming Shido’s chief propaganda artist. All he needed was to be offered his safety, some credits, and comfortable homes to live in. I hope that one day, he finally comes to his senses…”

            Haru nodded while Yusuke trailed off, and replied, “I see. You all have your own reasons for fighting. …I made a promise to you all that I would help you. As long as we learn why my father died, I won’t back down!”

            Sophie began to beep excitedly while standing next to where Futaba sat. Futaba translated, “Once we got in contact with Iwai and had the credits to back our claims up, Sophie was one of our first purchases. It took some convincing to get Joker to buy us an astromech.”

            Joker admitted, “She’s a loyal and friendly droid, that’s for sure.” He then laughed and added, “If we ever somehow get ourselves a manned starfighter, we’ll put her to good use as a navigator.”

            Sophie beeped even more excitedly while Yusuke looked over at Joker and said, “Even though not all of us are nearly as committed to the legacy of the CIS as our leader is, we are united by our belief that the Empire is monstrous and must be removed from Toruun if this world is to have a bright future.”

            Ryuji nodded, grinned, and told Joker, “I still think someone like you’d make a great leader for another go at secession!”

            Joker awkwardly put a hand on the back of his head and told Ryuji, “Your confidence in me is always appreciated. Still, I’m no Count Dooku. I don’t exactly have the training of a Jedi Master, or the backing of a mighty noble house.”

            Ryuji pointed out, “Yeah, but you can do some pretty cool things too. You’ve got the same power Dooku had!”

            Futaba sighed and added, “Yet there’s nobody here to train him on how to use it consistently. It’s all been luck, dedication, and a lot of solo practice so far.”

            Haru looked more than a little confused while Joker sighed and explained, “I still don’t get why the Empire hunted down the Jedi. I can’t believe they tried to seize power like the imps always claim. They’d all fallen in line with Palpatine when the war started. Even though the red blades haven’t been seen near this sector in years, we can’t let the enemy know what I can do! It has to stay our secret weapon!”

            Everyone nodded and Futaba suggested, “I guess I’m a Separatist like Joker and Skull, but I think we need all the help we can get if we’re gonna kick the Imps off Toruun. Now, can we please go visit Iwai? I wanna see what he’s got in stock this time!”

            Taking charge, Joker looked around and asked, “I’ll take Haru and Futaba and head over to Iwai’s with some of our newly liberated credits. We don’t need everyone. A smaller group will draw less suspicion.”

            Yusuke offered, “Fortunately, my mentor is so busy with commissions from Shido that he cannot keep a close eye on me. I shall accompany you to visit our arms dealing associate.”

            Ann mentioned, “I should head back home to Mona soon. Let me know when we’ve got a new mission ready.”

            Ryuji sighed and admitted, “I better get home ta mom. I’ll let ya know once I chat with Mishima, Joker.”

            While Ryuji and Ann headed out via the lift, Futaba told Sophie, “Stay here and double check our new inventory. We should be back in about an hour.”

            Sophie saluted Futaba with a mechanical arm and then rolled over to some nearby supply crates. Joker ordered, “Alright, lets’ head out. Stick close together and don’t attract any attention. If you see any troopers, stay calm and walk with purpose.”

            After Joker, Futaba, Yusuke, and Haru entered the lift, Futaba mentioned, “I know the drill. Still, the three of us have chain codes. You’re the one most at risk if we get questioned, Joker.”

            Joker clenched his fists while the lift headed back up to Leblanc’s backroom. He responded, through gritted teeth, “I know it’d make things easier, but I won’t let myself be entered into the occupiers’ system.”

            After exiting Leblanc, Joker and his three comrades stepped out into the street. This outlying district of Ryo was inhabited by middle class citizens at best. Awnings blocked a significant degree of sunlight from filtering down to the streets. The buildings here were mostly aging and only a few stories tall at most. Only the occasional landspeeder drove through this part of the city. Most people around here traveled on foot. Despite the old and neglected nature of this part of the city, there was little overt crime in the district. The locals looked out for each other, even though most of Ryo did not pay them much mind. It was probably the best part of the sprawling coastal city to run a resistance cell out of.

            Even in this district, a series of levitating vidscreens and holographic billboards depicted the bald, goateed face of Governor Masayoshi Shido. Occasionally the faces of whatever lackeys Shido had decided were worth briefly sharing the spotlight with accompanied his visage. Propaganda that Joker had recognized as rote and trite at best years ago sounded above and through the streets.

            As usual, Shido and his cronies insisted that the Empire would bring about a great and prosperous future for Ryo and all of Toruun. Whenever the fallen CIS was brought up, it was always as a boogeyman. Shido consistently claimed that he was protecting Toruun from regressing into a barbaric and lawless state by acting on the Empire’s behalf.

            To Joker, the whole situation was sickening. Shido was a traitor to Toruun who had sided with the Republic against the wishes of the majority of his world’s citizenry. Despite having been an obscure rural legislator in the pre-war Toruun Diet, Shido had risen to lead the Toruunian Republic Loyalists during the Clone Wars. The traitor had been rewarded for betraying his separatist homeworld when the Empire imposed its will on the planet and installed him as Governor.

            Over his years spent as an employee and tenant of Sojiro Sakura’s, Joker had heard plenty of stories about Shido’s treachery and self-serving nature. Joker’s employer had researched Shido extensively during the war and had come to see him as the sort of man who would do anything to fulfill his ambitions. According to Sojiro, Shido had seen Sheev Palpatine as a kindred spirit, causing him to support the Republic no matter how the war progressed. As all of Toruun had to know on some level, Shido had played the long game and come out on top. There was little Joker wanted more than to bring the traitor low and restore democracy to Toruun.

            Only passing by a couple of bored looking stormtroopers and one Imperial Lieutenant on their short walk, Joker and his three compatriots ducked into an alley, backpacks empty and pockets full of credits. They soon stood in front of a run-down looking shop whose flickering sign named her “Untouchable.”

            Joker and Futaba both smiled with Haru close behind them and Yusuke keeping watch at the rear of the small formation. It was time for them to meet with their supplier.

Chapter Text

Seconds Later: Outside of Untouchable:

            Joker stood directly in front of the back-alley shop known only as Untouchable in his civilian clothes. With him were Futaba, Haru, and Yusuke. The three of them were excited, curious, and keeping watch respectively.

            Seeing nobody else in the immediate vicinity, Haru quietly asked her fellow Phantoms, “Even tucked away back here, isn’t this kind of out in the open for a black-market arms dealer?”

            Futaba quickly replied, “Sort of. It’s a legal hunting, model weapon, and outdoor gear shop on the books. He only brings out the good stuff for ‘special clients’ he trusts.”

            Joker nodded while Yusuke asked him, “The coast is clear, shall we proceed inside?”

            Seeing no Imperials in area, or any civilians or droids for that matter, Joker ordered, “In we go.” He then led the way into the shop after activating its sliding door.

            Inside, Untouchable was stuffy and poorly lit. Various outdoor gear, hunting blasters and models of all kinds of weapons and vehicles dotted the shelves. The store was not very well organized, but Joker knew well that its owner did not care as much about the ‘small ticket’ items that he sold above board.

            After spending a minute or so heading towards the back of the shop, Joker and company made out a gruff man wearing nondescript clothes behind the counter. He looked to be absentmindedly cleaning it.

            When the man behind the counter looked up, he looked over Joker and company and asked, “Heh, it’s just you kids again. I see you’ve got someone new with you this time. Did you lose anyone?”

            Joker quickly explained, “No sir. Skull and Panther headed home for the day. We’ve brought our new recruit Noir to help carry our purchases.”

            Munehisa Iwai, the former smuggler, and current arms dealer who ran Untouchable nodded just once and responded, “Why do I just know you were behind that ‘terrorist attack’ yesterday? I could make a lot of credits if I told the Empire about you kids….”

            Futaba stepped forward and told Iwai, “We know you won’t. You don’t want any chance of Imperial scrutiny on you. Also, why lose some of your best customers?”

            Iwai cracked a grudging half smile and sighed. He told Futaba, “You’re a smart girl, I’ll give you that. Sounds like you’ve been getting along with that old astromech I sold you too. …Now, let’s get down to business. What do you all want this time?”

            Haru asked Joker, “Can we get new rockets for the launcher I stole? Maybe some grenades too while we’re here?”

            Yusuke added, “Purchasing a few fresh power packs for our blasters would also be advisable.”

            Joker nodded, stepped forward and told Iwai, “We’ll take the usual spread of power packs. Also, we’ll see what explosives you have in stock.”

            Iwai stepped towards his shop’s backroom while reminding Joker, “I’ll bring some of the special stock out. The explosives will be disassembled, for ease of transport. Not to mention making preventing one from going off by accident. I’m sure Oracle can put them back together.”

            Futaba nodded while Iwai briefly disappeared from view. She quietly mentioned, “I think he likes us about as much as he likes anyone.”

            Joker nodded and told Haru, “He did warn us not to deal with anyone with any chance of connections to an underworld boss named Junya Kaneshiro. He claims Kaneshiro has some connection to Shido, but he can’t prove it. I never know if he just wants to scare us away from using a different supplier, or if that’s him actually trying to help us.”

            Yusuke added, “He clearly knows we’re resisting the Empire by now. However, we have refrained from discussing the particulars of our cell’s cause with him. I don’t know how he would feel about supporting Joker’s particular crusade.”

            Futaba shrugged and replied, “Yeah, I doubt he cares. We’re in business together. He needs us and we need him.”

            Joker nodded while Iwai returned from his backroom carrying two long, reinforced black boxes. He then returned to the backroom and emerged with a third, smaller black box.

            The four Phantoms crowded around the boxes. Iwai opened the smallest one first, revealing a series of blaster power packs. The packs covered the unique models most often used by the Phantoms, along with standard Imperial blaster pistols and carbines.

            Iwai then opened up the two larger boxes. After examining their contents carefully, Futaba concluded aloud that one of them contained disassembled rockets compatible with standard Imperial launchers. The other held three disassembled thermal detonators, a selection of smaller grenades, and a few smoke bombs.

            Joker looked over the items Iwai was offering and then over at his team. He told the arms dealer, “We’ll take it all.”

            Iwai smiled almost imperceptibly, nodded, and told the Phantoms, “Show me the credits. I see you all brought backpacks. You better seal them up tight, make sure nobody sees you carrying this stuff around.”

            Joker nodded and produced a fistful of stolen Imperial credit chips. He counted an amount out until Iwai was satisfied. The deal was then made. The four Phantoms began carefully loading their packs with contraband while Iwai watched to make sure nobody else entered the shop while the illicit business was conducted.

            When the Phantoms were almost finished loading their packs, Iwai told them, “Just remember that if any of you get caught and talk, I’ve never even seen any of you. I’ve got a means of escaping this system if things go south, but it’s only got enough room for me.”

            Futaba nodded and told Iwai, “Yeah, we’ve heard that speech before. Boss says the same thing about not knowing about us all the time.”

            Joker quickly added, “Maybe so, but thanks for the material, sir. We’ll be back to do more business with you soon.”

            Yusuke and Haru each gave Iwai a brief bow and finished loading their packs. Futaba excitedly suggested, “Lets head back to the hideout quick! Sophie and I’ll need to start putting this stuff together.”

            Iwai grunted, nodded, and began hauling his smugglers’ boxes back into his backroom while Yusuke pointed out, “For the safety of the hideout, I recommend only having as many explosive devices fully assembled as is strictly necessary.”

            Haru nodded in agreement with Yusuke while Futaba looked disappointed and annoyed. The brown-haired girl added, “I should head home as soon as we drop our purchases off at the hideout. My father’s staff still manages the manor, and they might start asking questions if I’m gone too often and too long without advance notice.”

            Joker nodded and then led the way out of Untouchable. On the way back towards Leblanc, Haru asked her companions, “I was wondering, do any of you have hobbies? I enjoy gardening, but I know a garden’s not a luxury everyone can afford.”

            Yusuke responded, “Painting is my hobby, my craft, and my passion. However, I also appreciate diving into our world’s history, and collecting artifacts related to Toruun’s pre-war past.”

            Futaba said, “If it has to do with computers, communications, or just about any sort of tech, I’m there.”

            Joker added, “Ann follows fashion closely, but enjoys good food more than you’d expect. Ryuji’s a talented runner and also quite a foody. As for me… I’ve always been strictly focused on the cause. I’ve learned a thing or two about how to brew caf and make curry from Boss. Still, that stuff’s just my day job. The dream of independence is never far from my mind.”

            Haru nodded slowly and told Joker, “I guess you haven’t had the chance to develop frivolous interests, living on the streets and then devoting yourself to your cause once you found a home and a job.”

            Joker nodded sharply and responded, “Once we force the Empire off of Toruun, I’ll find out what to do next. Right now, I’m just gonna do my part by leading our cell until the fight is won.”

            Yusuke glanced around and upwards while the four Phantoms closed in on Leblanc and quietly added, “I have trouble imagining what life will be like without Shido’s propaganda everywhere. It fades into the background at times, yet its presence is nearly impossible to forget.”

            Haru nodded slowly and mentioned, “I once overheard my father complaining about how Shido has free reign over Toruun because the Empire’s command doesn’t care enough to impose standard rules on him. As long as he prevents an open popular revolt, he stays in their good graces.”

            Joker pointed out, “Thankfully, Shido cares about appearances. He knows that if everyone starts seeing him as the tyrant he is, he’ll lose his grip fast. He wants our people to think he’s on their side, preventing a ‘backslide into barbarism’ and ‘creating a future Toruun’s children will be proud of.’ Boss says a lot of the upper crust in Ryo’s central districts have bought into it. They tow his party line without question. It’s pretty sickening.”

            When the Phantoms were almost to Leblanc, having avoided garnering the attention of the few patrolling stormtroopers in the area, Futaba told Haru, “When we had our old tactical advisor with us, she helped me research a few other resistance groups on Toruun. We’re not the only ones on this planet who support independence.”

            After the quarter of youth entered Leblanc, and Yusuke checked to ensure they had not been followed, Joker admitted, “We’re not the only Toruunians fighting to keep the separatist dream alive! …But the other surviving cells are scattered across our world. They’re mostly active in rural areas where the Empire doesn’t bother to post significant forces. They can’t afford to operate close to any labor camps, or other enemy bases, for long.”

            Futaba gave Joker a slightly annoyed look and added, “What our leader neglected to mention is that many of the other resistance fighters on Toruun are pro-alliance. They want a new republic and for Toruun to be part of it. There’s a rift between the separatist and alliance cells, even though we all want to bring the Empire down.”

            Joker clenched his fists and grudgingly admitted, “Toruun and the other occupied CIS worlds will never be truly safe until the Empire falls. That does NOT mean that I’ll stand for a restored republic retaking Toruun and acting like the war never happened!”

            From behind the counter, Sojiro looked down at Joker and company, sighed loudly and ordered, “Keep it down, kid! I didn’t love the Old Republic either. Still, there’s no guarantee it’ll even come back.”

            Joker awkwardly nodded and saluted Sojiro. He stepped towards the counter and finished, keeping his volume lower this time, “Look, the core worlds can have their New Republic if the alliance wins. They only started to worry about us out here when we tried to secede. The CIS lives on as long as even one being believes in the cause.”

            Sojiro chuckled this time and told Haru, “I didn’t radicalize this kid on purpose. I just told him the truth about Shido and some stories about the CIS and the war. …Some people never stop fighting, his parents were like that. I decided the fight was lost years ago, but I couldn’t stop him from following in their footsteps. I just hope he doesn’t get himself, or any of you, killed.”

            Joker sighed, unsure of how to respond, while Futaba chimed in, “I don’t think you’re out of the fight yet, Sojiro. You helped me recover from mom’s death. She always told me about how the Republic kept us down and then refused to let us leave. She died for what she believed in…”

            Sojiro interjected, “Futaba, I took you and Joker in because I knew your families and it was the least that I could do. I never expected you two to try and win a war that was already lost before you were even born. I’d love nothing more than to see Shido dead and gone, not to mention Toruun’s democracy restored. …Still, not every dream comes true.”

            Trying to deescalate things, Yusuke told Sojiro, “We still thank you for the aid you have given us, Mr. Sakura. Your shop’s convenient position above what became our hideout has been a great boon. Not to mention your delicious caf and curry keeps our spirits up.”

            Joker and Futaba nodded while Sojiro chuckled awkwardly and responded, “Well, don’t forget it. Anyway, you four better head downstairs with whatever you bought from your ‘supplier.’ I don’t want any contraband up here where the Imps could find it.”

            Joker nodded, saluted Sojiro again and led his three comrades into the backroom where the lift sat at the ready. The four Phantoms rode down into their hideout and regrouped with Sophie there.

            After everyone had carefully unloaded their packs, Sophie enthusiastically got to work inventorying and properly storing the deconstructed explosives and blaster power packs.

            Haru mentioned, “I do like your astromech. She’s far more energetic than the servant droids at my family’s estate. Father liked using droids because there was no way they’d inform on him to Shido. He was very particular about where he’d buy them from for security’s sake.”

            Joker added, “Droids certainly have their advantages. They’re practically immortal when properly backed up and can breathe in space. It’s not hard to see why Count Dooku used an army of them in his bid for independence.”

            Futaba told Haru, “Hifumi was helping me try to track down any remaining battle droids on Toruun that we could restore and use. We were getting really close to finding an old military warehouse that the enemy might not have raided, or destroyed, when she left.”

            Joker grimaced at the mention of Hifumi, while Yusuke smiled slightly and added, “Our leader still treats Boss like he’s his superior officer in the separatist army.”

            Futaba nodded, pointing out, “Yeah, but Sojiro’s attempted order to stand down and not fight the Empire was never followed. I disobeyed that one, too.”

            Haru did not look surprised by the newest round of explanations. She donned her backpack and told her comrades, “I should be going now. Please remember our deal. I’m risking everything by helping you. Still, if Shido really did have my father murdered, it’ll be worth it to return the favor!”

            Yusuke followed Haru towards the lift, telling Joker and Futaba, “I’ll head out for the day as well now. I don’t want to engender any suspicion in my mentor. Please let me know when we have our next target.”

            Joker and Futaba saluted their comrades before the duo boarded the lift and left the hideout. After that, the two of them got to work helping Sophie inventory and store their new equipment and supplies. The Phantom Cell was more ready than ever for their next mission. However, it remained to be seen what developments would arise next.

Chapter Text

One Week Later: Café Leblanc:

            The members of the Phantom Cell laid as low as they could over the following week. The Imperial authorities in Ryo conducted multiple sweeps of the immediate area surrounding the raided supply depot. Based on Futaba’s slicing into their communications, the Imperial investigators had not found any relevant evidence outside of the spray-painted calling card Yusuke had left behind.

            Imperial propaganda claimed that the rebels who had attacked the depot were too afraid to show their masked faces in Ryo again. Still, the local imperial holonet had made that sort of claim before. They had been proven wrong in the past. However, they never apologized, or admitted their bluster on air after the Phantoms, or other resistance fighters, struck again. Joker knew well that Governor Shido would do anything to project and protect his image of being in control of the situation. Sojiro Sakura had told him that a long time ago. It would take a far more powerful blow than anything the Phantoms had pulled off so far to begin breaking the corrupt leader’s grip on Toruun.

            Whenever he was not in the hideout, Joker worked at Leblanc, earning his small share of the shop’s profits. Joker viewed his work behind the counter as a necessary part of his arrangement with Sojiro Sakura. The old former supply officer was not going to allow Joker to run his cell from out of what was practically Leblanc’s basement without some kind of compensation. Not to mention Joker living directly above the shop proper. Futaba was legally Sojiro’s daughter; Joker was not in the same position.

            Despite Sojiro’s repeated fussing over Joker’s fight to keep the separatist cause alive, the old soldier was still willing to talk about his past from time to time. Since they had met, Joker had heard plenty of stories about the early separatist movement, the ensuing Clone Wars, and the Republic’s brutal Outer Rim Sieges.

            One story Joker could never get enough of was the tragic tale of how the Toruun Defense Force had reactivated the Munificent-Class Frigate that had patrolled above the world in orbit during the war soon after the droid armies were shut down. Sojiro had declined to join the brave crew who had traveled up to the capital ship and gotten her up and running again. When an Imperial flotilla arrived in the system to dissolve the local legislature and install Shido as Toruun’s new governor, the defiant Toruunians attacked.

            The Toruunian CIS frigate’s fight was short. While the Empire’s light cruisers and transports distracted the Munificent Frigate from the front, focusing her shields there, Imperial V-Wing fighters outmaneuvered the capital ship and took out her engines with little difficulty. The frigate crashed through Toruun’s atmosphere before even having the chance to launch most of her attached droid starfighters. The Imperials were so certain of their victory that they had apparently never even bothered to locate the crashed starship.

            Soon after the CIS frigate was downed, the Imperial flotilla landed on Toruun near Ryo. They quickly dissolved the Diet and what remained of the local planetary defense force with little resistance. Masayoshi Shido’s longstanding and vocal loyalty to Palpatine was rewarded. As soon as Shido was securely in office as governor, he immediately began state-sponsored smear campaigns against the separatist cause. He painted the Empire as the future and the CIS as the barbaric past. While his manipulations worked on some, Joker knew better. To him, Shido would always be the chief loyalist traitor on Toruun. One day, the crafty tyrant would pay dearly for his treason. Joker had every intention of living to see that day.

            It was afternoon now; Joker was around halfway through his shift at Leblanc. A few customers had come in since his shift had begun. Most of them were regulars. They all knew Joker as “Akira,” Sojiro Sakura’s live in employee. Joker presented himself as friendly, and just talkative enough for most of the café’s customers’ liking. He avoided discussing politics and current events whenever possible, following Sojiro’s strict orders.

            Joker looked around Leblanc, seeing light streaming in through the café’s windows. He knew that his shift was still hours away from ending. However, he was getting antsy. There were no customers in the café at the moment. Alone in the café, he thought of returning to his room. He had a habit of closing the blinds at night and turning off the lights. In that quiet, reverent environment, Joker would turn on the small, aging, holoprojector Sojiro had given him soon after taking him in.

            After being gifted with the projector, Joker had amassed a solid collection of old recordings, all downloaded into the projector’s memory banks. Joker’s holographic recordings were unsurprisingly officially banned by the occupying Empire. They contained speeches made by Count Dooku and other CIS leaders, including members of the Toruun Diet who had supported secession from the Republic. Joker would watch them for inspiration and to ensure he never forgot the cause he fought for. Occasionally Futaba would join him when she got bored. However, she did not always share his complete admiration for the separatist speakers.

            Joker was awoken from his daydream of the CIS flag once again flying proudly over Ryo and all of Toruun by the sound of Leblanc’s front door opening. He snapped out of his stupor and turned his attention directly ahead of him.

            A young woman with red-dyed hair tied back in a long ponytail walked over to the counter. She carried a black traveling bag in one hand and wore light blue and white, along with a black skirt. She looked to be around a year younger than Joker.

            Joker mentally noted that he had never seen the girl before. Not in Leblanc, and not anywhere else in the district. Based on a cursory examination of her clothes, she was probably from a wealthier part of the city.

            The newly arrived girl sat down on a stool in front of the counter and looked around for a moment. She then looked up at the menu above the counter, scanning it from her seat.

            Giving his best smile, like Sojiro would want him to, the apron-wearing Joker asked the new arrival, “Anything catch your eye?”

            The girl looked down at Joker and gave him the best smile she could. She replied, “I’m not sure. I had a meet not far from here and got a bit lost. This place looked safe. I’m gonna wait here for my boyfriend if that’s alright. I contacted him when I first saw this café. He’s gonna pick me up.”

            Joker nodded, unsure of what kind of meet she meant, and told the girl, “This district’s much safer than it looks. I’ve lived here for years and been just fine. Still, you can hang out here if you’d like. Miss…”

            The girl quickly replied, “Sumire Yoshizawa. …I guess there’re still a few troopers patrolling around here. Not many of them, though. You never know when there could be another terrorist attack. You might be lucky that you’re home’s out of the way mister…”         

            Joker rapidly focused himself to prevent his eyes from narrowing. This girl was clearly pro-Imperial. Nothing in her voice betrayed any dishonesty. Joker had trained himself relentlessly on how to talk with Imperial sympathizers since starting his work at Leblanc. He would forcefully focus his thoughts and emotions away from his true feelings. That way, his expressions and words would have a minimal chance of revealing his true allegiance.

            With Sumire’s eyes on him now, Joker took a very quick breath, focused himself, and smiled again. He responded, “You can call me Akira. Nice to meet you. …You mentioned your boyfriend was coming to pick you up. You got any family around here?”

            Sumire replied, “Nice to meet you too. My father’s still alive, but he’s busy at work most of the time. …We lost my sister to rebel terrorists… their cell may be gone, but…”

            Joker took a deep breath and responded, trying to redirect the conversation, “I’m sorry to hear that. I’m an orphan myself. I don’t even know what my real last name is. The owner of this shop took me in and gave me a job. I’ll always owe him for that.”         

            Sumire shook her head and refocused herself. She admitted, “The owner must be a kind man if he did that for you. …Not like those rebels. I never understood why they have to resist the Empire. Goro told me they’ll never let us have peace. They think they can just solve all of our problems through violence without anyone’s permission!”

            Joker did his absolute best to remain calm and focused. He knew that he could not afford to make an ideological retort. This girl was seriously indoctrinated. Joker had spoken with supporters of the Empire from behind the counter before. However, Sumire was clearly committed. He was really glad his comrades, especially Ryuji, were absent at the moment.

            While Joker wondered where he had heard the name “Goro” before, he asked Sumire, “Do you think your boyfriend will be here soon? He must be a tough guy if you trust him to escort you alone.”

            Sumire nodded enthusiastically and replied, “Yeah, Goro should be here any minute. He told me he’d borrow a landspeeder to get over here fast. He was reviewing a checkpoint not far from here when I called him. He told me that when you’re an officer with his service record, command doesn’t mind.”

            Joker’s eyes almost narrowed when he realized that Goro had to be an Imperial officer. Along with her personal loss, that explained the girl’s attitude towards rebel groups. Still, how old could Goro be if he was openly dating a girl as young as Sumire?

            While Sumire checked out Leblanc’s menu again, Joker felt something strange manifest in the back of his mind. It was a vague feeling of some kind of presence approaching. The sensation grew stronger by the moment.

            Before Sumire could turn back to Joker and say something else to him, Joker saw an unarmed Imperial landspeeder arrive and park in front of Leblanc. The vehicle was the sort of craft that a low or mid-ranking officer would ride in. It was an improvement over the craft his cell had fled the coastal supply depot in not long ago in most respects.

            A young man wearing a black Imperial Captain’s uniform stepped out of the landspeeder alone and made sure to secure the vehicle. He had a blaster pistol holstered at his side, but was otherwise unarmed. Joker felt increasingly sure that the young officer was the source of the odd feeling he was experiencing. However, he did not have a clue as to why. He did everything he could to remain focused on Sumire, not wanting to betray his deep unease.

            Sumire turned to the front door as the young captain entered Leblanc. His hair was dyed brown and went down close to his neck. Sumire smiled at the new arrival and told him, “That was pretty quick, Goro.”

            Goro nodded while Joker’s eyes widened. The imperial officer responded, “I was thankfully working nearby. When you contacted me, I was nearly done with my inspection. I borrowed the checkpoint Lieutenant’s speeder and headed over as soon as my work there was finished. I’ll get you home before I file my report back at base.”

            Joker knew exactly who had just stepped into Leblanc. He mentally kicked himself for not realizing who he was dealing with as soon as Sumire had uttered her boyfriend’s first name. Captain Goro Akechi was an up-and-coming Imperial officer and pilot who had clearly earned Governor Shido’s patronage and favoritism. He was considered a rare protégé, able to carry out an impressive variety of duties. He had personally led raids that had wiped out at least two Toruunian resistance cells. Those operations had been heavily publicized by the local Imperial holonet.   

            While Joker blinked and refocused himself, Goro sat down at the counter and told Sumire, “If you don’t mind, I could use a spot of caf before we head out.”

            Sumire nodded and replied, “I understand. I’m just glad you got here so fast. …This is Akira, by the way.”

            Joker nodded quickly. He regained his focus and employed his usual technique as best as he could. He told Captain Akechi, “That’s correct. I’ll be ready to take your order whenever you know what you want, sir.”

            Goro nodded slowly, but shook his head for a brief moment. He responded, “Thank you for letting Sumire wait here, short as it was. Now, let’s see. …I think I wouldn’t mind some curry too now that I’m off duty and already here.”

            Joker mentally noted that an officer favored by the local governor could get away with things most Imperials would never dream of. At least Akechi seemed far friendlier than the average Imperial officer. It could be due to his youth, or overconfidence stemming from everything that he had already accomplished.

            It did not take Captain Akechi long to order his caf and curry. Joker quickly got to work preparing the drink and dish. Sumire ended up ordering a small cup of caf for herself. Her boyfriend immediately offered to pay for it, which she agreed to, saying that refusing his generosity was futile.

            Working as efficiently and effectively as ever, Joker prepared the two customers’ drinks and Akechi’s curry in short order. Akechi paid in Imperial credits as expected, not that there were any other forms of legal tender in active use on Toruun.

            While Sumire sipped her drink, Akechi took a break from his curry and asked Joker, “I saw your eyes widen when I walked in. You’ve heard of me, haven’t you?”

            Thinking fast, Joker remained as calm as he could and slowly nodded. He wasted little time in responding, “Yes, sir. Your reputation precedes you, Captain Akechi. You’re quite a holonet star, even out here.”

            Akechi nodded and gave Joker a brief smile, appearing mostly satisfied by the answer. He explained, “Sumire’s father is the lead holonet host under Governor Shido. His position played a major part in the two of us meeting.”

            Sumire asked Joker, “Did you hear about the latest terrorist attack? So many good soldiers died that day…”

            Joker nodded, doing his absolute best to not betray the reality that he had planned and led that same attack.

            Akechi looked around for a moment, his eyes narrow. However, he refocused himself and explained, “I’ve been too busy to appear on the holonet since that brazen rebel assault. We lost a scout walker, in addition to plenty of loyal soldiers… and two of my wingmen, that day.”

            Joker blinked again and quickly asked Akechi, “You were there, Captain?”

            Akechi nodded and admitted, “An astute observation, Akira. It hasn’t been publicized, since the cunning bastards evaded me narrowly, but I led the air patrol that flew in to relieve the depot. My determination to eliminate them forced the rebel scum to steal a speeder and retreat. I came so close to taking the traitors out. … However, I believe they narrowly evaded justice via a sliced sewer entrance. These were no ordinary rebels. They hid their identities well, other than leaving a black and red mark as a sign of their grim handiwork. They even sliced the depot’s security system for long enough to prevent their detection until they had reached the staging ground.”

            Sumire asked Goro, “Do you have any leads on the terrorists?”

            Akechi shook his head slowly and responded, “Not at the moment. Nothing I can say here, anyway. I’m sure we’ll see the terrorists dealt with soon enough, though.”

            Joker nodded and told Akechi, “Knowing your record, I’m sure you’ll have better luck next time, Captain.” However, his mental focus was severely strained. Goro Akechi had been the pilot of the white-striped TIE Interceptor that had engaged his cell from the air and almost wiped them out. He now knew who had nearly eliminated him team. Pleasant as he was when off duty, Captain Akechi was not a foe to be trifled with.

            Akechi and Sumire had gotten back to their food and drink while Joker struggled to refocus himself. When Akechi gave him an inquisitive look, Joker finally collected himself internally and gave the best friendly smile he could.  

            It looked like Akechi was about to say something to ‘Akira.’ However, Sumire finished her cup of caf and asked her boyfriend, “Shall we head out once you’re done?”

            Akechi nodded and rapidly finished his caf and curry. He and Sumire then stood up. Akechi told Joker, “Thank you again. I don’t expect we’ll be in this part of town again anytime soon. Still, your hospitality and libations have been most welcome.”

            Sumire collected her bag and the young couple headed for the door while Joker finished, “Always happy to satisfy our customers. Have a safe trip home.” Internally, he was still desperately trying to keep his emotions and thoughts in check, however.

            Joker was at least relieved that Akechi had made no mention of recommending Leblanc to his Imperial friends and comrades. He watched Sumire depart the café, followed by her boyfriend. Joker did not take his eyes off of the Imperial couple, just to be on the safe side.

            Right before boarding the borrowed landspeeder, Akechi rubbed his head for a moment. It almost looked like he was trying to soothe a minor headache. Joker’s heart skipped a beat when the young officer turned back towards Leblanc and scanned the area carefully.

            Akechi appeared to focus on Joker through Leblanc’s windows for a couple of seconds before rubbing his head again. He wasted no more time after that, getting into the craft’s driver’s seat after opening the front passenger’s side door for Sumire.

            Joker was confused by Akechi’s behavior. He still had a strange feeling of his own in the back of his head. He had been mentally fighting as hard as he could to suppress his lingering discomfort for the last few minutes.

            Thankfully, Akechi engaged the landspeeder’s engine and the vehicle jetted away in short order. Joker breathed a deep sigh of relief when the discomfort he had felt since before Akechi’s arrival began to rapidly fade.

            A few minutes passed, during which Leblanc saw no additional customers. Joker took a few more deep breaths and smiled to himself. He had avoided being unmasked by the very Imperial pilot who had nearly eliminated his team.

            Akechi did seem competent, in addition to acting far more pleasant than most Imperial officers ever bothered to. His impressive skill as a pilot was now beyond a shadow of a doubt. It made sense why Shido had decided to champion Akechi. Joker had to admit that the shrewd politician knew how to pick winners, based on his traitorous support for the Old Republic during the war. It did not matter to the Imperial Governor what the personal character of his allies was. Based on Sojiro’s assessment, Shido backed those he believed he would personally benefit from supporting.

            Joker doubted that Captain Akechi knew much about his patron’s true nature. Regardless, the leader of the Phantom Cell had kept himself in check and avoided drawing any open suspicion from the Imperial officer. Akechi had carried his blaster pistol with him. If he had picked up on “Akira’s” true allegiance, he would have likely tried to arrest Joker and call for backup, even with his girlfriend there.

            Sumire Yoshizawa had praised Akechi before his arrival and defamed all rebels openly. Therefore, her boyfriend pulling off the arrest of a suspected resistance fighter in front of her would not have shaken her misplaced faith. It would have probably bolstered her pro-Imperial views if anything.

            Stepping back from the counter for a moment, Joker took one more deep breath and clenched his fists. Goro Akechi was a symbol of the Empire’s rule over Toruun. That meant that whether or not the accomplished young officer survived the struggle for the world, he would have to be brought low. As nice as Akechi’s girlfriend had been, those in Ryo who shared her views on the Empire would not dissuade Joker from fighting for liberation and independence.

            Joker returned to the counter with a resolute look marking his face. He and his small band had a great cause to reawaken, a fire to reignite across Toruun. Their struggle was far from over and nobody was going to stand in the way of victory.

Chapter Text

Three Days Later: The Phantom Cell’s Hideout:

            In the days immediately following Joker’s chance encounter with Goro Akechi and Sumire Yoshizawa, he contacted his followers and arranged their cell’s next meeting. For the sake of privacy, the entire cell was to gather in their hideout three afternoons after Joker had encountered the Imperial couple.

            Joker had informed Futaba about his encounter with the celebrated Captain Akechi and his girlfriend soon after his shift ended. Futaba was well aware of who Captain Akechi was, thanks to his heavy media exposure. The Imperial holonet branch based on Toruun had the young officer on as a guest at least once every month. His genuine conviction and support for “Imperial Justice” made him an excellent propaganda figurehead for Shido’s regime.

            Considering what he had learned through his in the flesh encounter with Captain Akechi, Joker was sure that the young pilot was far from a mere symbol propped up to inspire loyalty in Shido’s rule. Akechi’s polite and pleasant behavior appeared to be genuine. That set him apart from Imperial officers who used their status to obtain whatever they wanted without regard for their own government’s rules. There was also the fact that Akechi had been the interceptor pilot responsible for nearly ending the Phantom Cell’s rebellion a week and a half ago.

            Whatever was going on with Akechi, Joker was unsure why he had gotten such an unsettling feeling around the Imperial officer. The sensation had only lifted when the young captain left the vicinity of Leblanc. There were plenty of questions to ponder. All that Joker could do for now was brief his crew and plan their next operation.

            Three days after Joker’s meeting with Akechi and Yoshizawa, everyone had gathered around the table in their hideout beneath Leblanc. Sophie and Futaba had inventoried all of the Phantom’s new ordinance long before the day of the meeting. Ryuji had been the last member of the cell to arrive.

            Seeing that everyone was in attendance, Joker looked his small crew over. He told them, “I called you all in here because a I encountered an Imperial Captain and his girlfriend in Leblanc a few days ago. It was Goro Akechi, Shido’s latest favorite and media darling. He confirmed that he was the TIE Interceptor pilot who nearly wiped our cell out during our last mission. Apparently, his involvement has not been publicized because we got away.”

            Joker’s comrades exchanged looks. Sophie shifted her weight a bit on her two mechanical legs. Ryuji looked disgusted at the mere mention of Captain Akechi. Yusuke looked pensive. Haru appeared unsure of what to make of Joker’s revelation.

            Ann asked Joker, “I see Akechi on the holonet all the time. He always seems so… honest and genuine compared to the rest of Shido’s goons. What was he like in person?”

            Joker admitted, “I got a really strange feeling when he was around. Something that I can’t put my finger on. I don’t think I’d ever felt that specific sort of unease before meeting him. …Still, his behavior was consistent with how he acts on the local holonet. He didn’t lord his status over me and he didn’t press me to try and learn where my political loyalty lies. His girlfriend, Sumire Yoshizawa, lost her sister to a rebel attack. She buys the Empire’s propaganda hook, line, and sinker. It sounded like Akechi’s encourages her views. …She seemed nice enough otherwise.”

            Futaba chimed in, “I’ve heard a bit about a guy named Yoshizawa managing Shido’s holonet branch. It sounds like Akechi met his girlfriend through her dad.”

            Ryuji declared, “What matters is we know who the rotten punk who nearly killed us all is now! Even if he puts on a show of being nice, Akechi’s just another imp in our way!”

            Yusuke added, “My mentor has met with, and even painted, Captain Akechi before. I never spoke with him out of fear that he would discern my anti-Imperial stance. Regarding Sakamoto’s claim, I would say that Akechi’s near victory over us proves that he is far more dangerous than the average Imperial pilot, officer, or trooper. We should proceed with caution if we encounter him again.”   

            Haru mentioned, “If Shido is truly as cunning as Boss says he is, then he wouldn’t back just any kid who wanted to be an Imperial Captain as a propaganda symbol. Akechi probably had to earn Shido’s patronage. His politeness just made it easier for Shido, Madarame, and Yoshizawa to promote him to everyone.”

            Joker nodded slowly and responded, “You all make fair points. After meeting Akechi in the flesh, I still want to take him down a peg. If that will mean killing him, or just humiliating him, remains to be seen. Showing that Shido’s champion isn’t invincible would really weaken the chief traitor’s position.”

            Ann asked, “So, are we gonna target Akechi somehow?”

            Joker sighed and shook his head, admitting, “We don’t have a way to track his movements and missions outside of what Shido’s holonet publicizes after the fact. It would be great if we had a mole inside of the enemy garrison, but we don’t. Also, having any one of us attempt to infiltrate the garrison as a new recruit would be seriously risky. If they were unmasked, it could bring the whole cell down. It certainly couldn’t be me because I don’t have a chain code.”

            Futaba interjected, “Not to mention the fact that Akechi nearly killed all of you last time. He’d probably be a lot less dangerous on foot, but if he got into a starfighter, you’d all be goners.”

            Ryuji groaned while Yusuke nodded in understanding. Haru asked, “So, do we have another mission? I assume you would have told me if you were ready to locate and slice into Shido’s files.”

            Futaba replied, “I’d bet Shido’s secret files are being kept somewhere in the Governor’s Manor, if he even stores that kind of data. I don’t think he’d want any of his cronies getting too close to those records without his permission.”

            Joker added, “Assuming that Futaba’s right, we don’t have the forces or the expertise to infiltrate Shido’s manor yet. We’d need to pick the perfect night and ideally rig the place to blow after finding and slicing the mainframe.”

            While Haru nodded, a resolute look marking her face, Ryuji looked everyone over and announced, “Well, if we’re not going after Akechi now, I’ve got a lead.”

            Yusuke skeptically asked Ryuji, “Where did you get this lead?”

            Ryuji quickly told Yusuke and the rest of the Phantoms, “Where do ya think? I talked with Mishima yesterday….”

            Joker interjected, “I knew you were gonna speak with him Ryuji, but I still worry about how much he’s already learned about us. He’s younger than most of us, and actively attending school. Not to mention that he gets …enthusiastic about fighting the Empire pretty often.”

            Ann pointed out, “In Mishima’s defense, you’re also pretty passionate about the same thing, Joker. We know Mishima hates injustice and wants what we want. He’d probably join our cell if he had the time.”

            Joker nodded and explained, “You’re not wrong. Mishima definitely knows Ryuji and I are resistance fighters by now. He also sometimes sticks his neck out more than we do in our civilian lives. I’m not even sure if he’s more pro-independence or pro-alliance, honestly. The problem is that if he gets caught by the Imperials, he could break and talk under torture and lead them to Ryuji, or even me. I know Ryuji and I would never give the rest of you up willingly. Still, the enemy could uncover the rest of our identities from there if they followed the right leads.”

            Futaba sighed and added, “Not to mention that Mishima knows Ryuji hangs out at Leblanc a lot. He could expose our base’s location, even if he never sells any of us out by name.”

            Ryuji groaned in frustration and told his comrades, “It’s not like we can do anything but tell him to be careful. We’re not gonna blast the guy so he can’t squeal, right?”

            Joker nodded and said, “Correct, silencing him could end up leading the enemy to us. Their propagandists would have a field day about ‘rebel scum murdering one of their own sympathizers!’”

            Everyone in the room, including Sophie, gave Joker a concerned and somewhat angry look. Joker rapidly realized the cold disregard for the life of one of his cell’s informants, not to mention a good friend of his most loyal supporter, that he had just implied. Even as his cell’s leader, Joker knew he was not immune from reproach and criticism. The Phantoms were not the Empire, after all. There was no firm mechanism keeping Joker in charge of the Phantoms. He had been aware of the vulnerability of his position for a while.

            Joker cleared his throat awkwardly and continued, “Also, we must be better than the Imperials! An independent Toruun and a free galactic rim are worth nothing if they end up governed by beings with the same lack of principles and compassion as our enemies! …Even though Yuuki Mishima could be a security risk for our operation, his heart is in the right place. Alright, Ryuji, what’s Mishima’s lead?”

            While the other Phantoms began to calm down, some of them still shaking their heads in frustration, Ryuji nodded and explained, “When I met with Mishima, he told me that a bunch of troopers around Ryo have started talking about a new slave shipment comin from off world. The imps said that a cargo shuttle’s gonna touch down at one of the landing pads just south of the city limits. It’s supposed ta happen in two nights! It sounds like the slaves onboard are prolly gonna be shipped to one of the deeper mines in the southern mountains!”

            Joker stroked his chin while both Ann and Haru were visibly disgusted. Ann added, “Whoever these slaves are, I’ll bet you that they’re nonhumans. Shido wouldn’t want to risk keeping any human forced laborers on Toruun.”

            Yusuke added, “It is true that the local holonet often broadcasts all manner of ‘expert testimony’ claiming that nonhuman organics are inferior species. Shido’s propagandists and ‘scientists’ claim that other species require the Empire’s firm control for the good of all.”

            Haru nodded slowly while Sophie chittered and beeped indignantly, despite droids having gone unmentioned in the conversation. Futaba offered, “I can do some research and slicing to locate the exact landing pad. …Still, it’s pretty weird that the enemy’s letting a cargo shuttle carrying slaves land so close to Ryo, even at night. Also, I doubt the landing pad’s all that well defended if it’s not inside the city’s garrison.”

            Joker sighed and responded, “You make some good points, Futaba. Still, we can’t ignore the possibility that this upcoming slave shipment landing so close to Ryo is a sign of Shido’s overconfidence. He might feel too secure about how his rule is viewed in the capital. We can’t let this opportunity to liberate victims of the Empire’s cruelty pass us by! We’ll do whatever other research we need to and verify this lead. Then, we’ll meet here in two evenings one way or another. I think that what’s left of the haul from our latest heist will let us procure a new means of transport. One that can get us out of the city and back quickly.”

            Futaba explained to everyone else, “He means finally buy Sojiro’s old landspeeder from him…. Which I’d already finished souping up, reinforcing, expanding, and painting black and red weeks ago.”

            Sophie beeped excitedly, indicating that she had helped Futaba significantly with the heavy modifications on her adoptive father’s vehicle. Ryuji pumped a fist into the air and declared, “Great! We’ll find out what we can and prolly free some slaves! Sounds good ta me!”

            Yusuke shook his head in slight exasperation, but also chuckled despite himself. Joker looked his crew over and told them, “We’ll cross the bridge about where to house the freed slaves if and when we come to it. First, I want everyone to see if they can carefully locate and listen in on any Imperials they come across. We need to see if anyone else is talking about Mishima’s lead. I’m still skeptical, but plenty of troopers, and even officers have had loose lips before. That’s especially true when they think nobody’s listening.”

            Ryuji nodded sharply and cracked his knuckles while Yusuke added, “Just be extremely wary of getting into any altercations with Imperial soldiers. That’s the last thing we need.”

            Ann and Haru both saluted Joker while Futaba admitted, “Talking to strangers isn’t really my thing, Imperial or otherwise. It’s a lot easier for me if I already know someone. Still, good luck and don’t do anything dumb out there.”

            Sophie made a few affirmative beeps while Joker ordered, “Be back here two days from now. We’ll have the speeder purchased and prepped by then. If the lead can’t be verified, we’ll hold position. If we hear more about it, then we’ll have to check out the landing pad from a distance at minimum. Ryuji, ask Mishima if he’s picked up anything else, but tell him to be seriously careful and not let any imps see him tailing them, assuming that’s what he’s doing. This meeting is dismissed.”

            Ryuji nodded and saluted Joker. The rest of the Phantom Cell began to head towards the lift. Soon enough, only Futaba, Sophie and Joker remained in the former smugglers’ hideout.

            Once everyone else was gone, Futaba looked over at Joker and told him, “I know Mishima’s not one of us. Maybe you’re right and he really knows too much already, but you gotta think before you say stuff about him. You almost sounded like Shido back there, based on what Sojiro says. If you can control your feelings around the enemy’s golden boy, I think you hold them in around your own crew.”

            Joker shuddered, knowing how right Futaba was despite the harsh comparison she had made between him and the Imperial Governor of Toruun. He nodded and responded, “Yeah, you’re right. You’ve really matured since I met you, you know that?”

            Futaba nodded, grinned, and replied, “I guess so. Still, I’ve got no desire ta be in the middle of firefights like you guys.”

            Joker nodded, stood up, and put a hand on Futaba’s shoulder. He told the slicer protégé, “Well, if we end up going on a slave rescue mission in a couple days, I’ll want you behind the controls of the speeder. You’re a better driver than even I am. Someone’ll have to watch our getaway vehicle too.”

            Futaba gave Joker a nervous look, but nodded slowly in understanding. With that, Joker headed for the lift, leaving Futaba in the hideout with Sophie. Knowing Sojiro, he would want Joker manning the evening shift at Leblanc soon.

            Joker was sure that his team would gather whatever data they could on Imperial activity over the next two days. When they next assembled at their base, they would review their intelligence and depart Ryo if necessary. Joker just hoped they would arrive in time to liberate the Empire’s captives if the opportunity presented itself.

Chapter Text

Two Days Later: Early Evening: The Phantom Cell’s Hideout:

            The membership of Joker’s Phantom Cell had assembled in front of their leader inside their underground base of operations. Futaba and Sophie were the only exceptions. The two of them were not far behind Joker. This time, everyone had their weapons, armor, and masks at the ready.

            Behind Joker was a long, unarmed, landspeeder featuring enough room for six to eight passengers. She sported a reinforced body and three sizable turbine engines close to her rear. The vehicle had been painted black with red accents. While it was not big enough to be easily noticeable at a distance, the insignia of the Confederacy of Independent Systems was painted on the craft’s hood. A much larger symbol featuring a fancy hat and mask with blazing flames emanating from underneath it was clearly visible on the hood below the CIS insignia.

            While Futaba and Sophie performed their final checks on the souped-up civilian speeder, Joker addressed his small resistance cell. He told his followers, “Based on all of the research we’ve collectively undertaken since our last meeting, there’s undeniably been a lot of Imperial chatter regarding Mishima’s lead. Between Ann and Yusuke’s spying and Futaba’s slicing, we can all but confirm that an Imperial Zeta-Class Heavy Cargo Shuttle is going to land at an isolated landing pad not far outside of Ryo tonight. Reportedly, her cargo is roughly a dozen nonhuman slaves. They’ll be forced onto ground transports and taken far from Ryo within an hour of the shuttle touching down.”

            Joker took a quick breath and continued, “We plan to arrive at the edge of the forest close to the landing pad before the shuttle’s scheduled touchdown time. We’ll stake out the pad’s vicinity and eliminate any Imperial guards we encounter. We need to avoid raising the alarm before the shuttle lands. So, avoid advancing too close to the landing pad or killing any flight control officers. Once the shuttle arrives, we’ll emerge from hiding and eliminate the remaining Imperials. We’ll probably have to commandeer some enemy speeders to transport the freed slaves. I admit that I’m not sure how many of them we can house in our hideout. However, there are other resistance cells in the countryside that might be able to help. We can hopefully reach out to one or more of them through Iwai for the right price. We know our supplier has contacts across Toruun, even though he doesn’t talk about them much.”

            While Futaba and Sophie finished up their preparations on the Phantoms’ new landspeeder, Yusuke asked, “It’s clear that we’ll go in with our disguises on and weapons at the ready. However, I’d like to know more details regarding our plan of battle for this mission.”

            Ryuji looked slightly confused while Joker explained, “Oracle will be our primary driver.  She’ll wait with the speeder at the edge of the forest while the rest of us move in. Fox will advance behind the rest of the team and find the best possible sniper’s nest. He’ll cover us from there, acting on my previous orders. Skull and Panther will advance on the landing pad together, avoiding detection. I’ll go with Noir and do the same. Remember that we cannot afford to be detected, at least by any officers, before the shuttle lands. That could lead the enemy to call off the slave transfer.”

            While Ryuji groaned, Joker added, “That means that we’ll have to risk only eliminating enemy troopers who directly get in our way during our approach to the landing pad. Thankfully, if Oracle’s research is on point, we should exit the forest very close to the pad.”

            Futaba nodded and walked over to stand next to Joker. She now wore dark green and black, along with her heavy goggles that stood in for a mask. An old CIS blaster pistol was holstered at her belt. However, Joker knew that she would prefer to only draw her weapon if the situation absolutely called for it.

            While Sophie gave her a salute with one of her short, mechanical arms, Futaba explained, “Speeder’s ready to go. Sophie’s already scouted the old smuggling tunnel and confirmed it’ll get us outside of the city limits. As for the landing pad, it’s not heavily fortified. The records I was able to slice say it was built for emergencies. The pad’s there to help evacuate key people, or land ground reinforcements from orbit, in case landing in or departing directly from Ryo became impossible. There are only two other pads like it in the capital’s vicinity.”

            Yusuke stroked his chin and pointed out, “Shido is quite a crafty one. He must want to have as many contingency plans in place as possible. It makes sense not to waste a lot of troopers, or other resources, guarding the emergency pads. Still, tonight may be an exception to that rule.”

            Joker nodded and told his team, “We don’t have any more time to waste. We’ll pile into our new speeder and use the smuggling tunnel Futaba and Sophie reconnoitered to get outside of Ryo. I’ll navigate from the front passenger’s seat. Everyone else will get in back. Remember, masks on and use codenames!”

            Everyone nodded and followed Futaba and Joker into the parked landspeeder. Sophie beeped excitedly and waved goodbye with one of her arms while Futaba activated the speeder’s engines.

            Joker pulled up the holomap that Futaba had prepared for the mission while the Phantoms’ new transport roared to life. Futaba grinned and swiftly turned the repulsorcraft around, aiming it at the large door leading out of the hideout.

            Sophie rapidly rolled over to the door and extended a mechanical arm to interface with its controls. The old door creaked open, its two halves sliding into the walls of the hideout.

            Futaba accelerated the landspeeder, which burst through the opened door and out into a dimly lit tunnel. Sophie made sure to close the door as soon as the Phantoms’ speeder had made it through.

            The Phantoms’ new vehicle had been heavily upgraded from its previous status as a basic civilian craft thanks to Futaba and Sophie. All that she really lacked now was mounted weaponry. Still, considering her easily visible Phantom Cell symbol and smaller CIS insignia, the speeder would not be safe to drive openly in any Imperial-occupied territory, anyway. A small, mounted blaster could actually be less conspicuous than the speeder’s paint job and indicators of allegiance, especially if the energy weapon could be concealed when not in use.

            While the modified landspeeder charged through the dank old tunnel, Futaba asked Joker, “I wonder what we should call this beauty?”

            While air whooshed past the windshield and through his hair, even under his hood, Joker responded, “I bet Panther would name her after Mona. Fox would choose some name related to Toruun’s pre-war history. Skull and Noir, I’m not so sure.…Honestly, I don’t know what to call our new transport, other than something like Phantom Speeder. Still, I’m sure she’ll serve us and the cause well.”

            Oracle nodded and, half-jokingly told Joker, “I know Sophie and I did a great job with the upgrades because she’s going this speed without falling apart. Boss hadn’t done much with this old girl for a long time before we got our hands on her.”

            Joker grinned over at Oracle and patted her gently on the shoulder. He kept his eyes focused on the holomap after that.

            It did not take long for the Phantoms to reach the end of the tunnel. There, a roaring waterfall appeared to obscure the way out into Toruun’s countryside. However, Oracle was ready. She took a precise path around the waterfall that was difficult to make out with the naked eye in the dim light.

            The resistance cell’s speeder burst out into the brisk evening air nearby a small lake. Having evaded the waterfall, she sped across the lake’s shoreline and made her way southeast towards an expansive forest.

            Joker got out his macrobinoculars and scanned the forest ahead. He soon noticed that the trees up ahead were thin and dark brown with few leaves. Even during some of the warmer months, this variety of native Toruunian tree remained bare. From what he could remember, this species sprouted a variety of colorful leaves in the warmest season of the Toruunian year. However, it remained skeletal in appearance for most of the world’s calendar.

            It took less than half an hour for the Phantom Cell’s landspeeder to reach the northern outskirts of the forest. Oracle parked the nimble craft in an area shielded from outside viewing by a series of tall clumps of shrubbery and large bushes.

            Joker led his team, other than Oracle, out of their speeder and told everyone, “Even from here, I can see two searchlight beams scanning the sky. Those lights have to be coming from the landing pad. We’ll split up like I said before and advance on the pad carefully and quietly. Once we find good cover positions to hunker down undetected, we’ll wait for the shuttle to land and go from there. Noir, with me! Everyone else, good luck!”

            While Skull and Panther advanced into the forest together, Fox began looking for a tree, or anything else tall enough, to act as a sniper’s nest closer to the landing pad. Joker checked his weapons and then advanced towards the forest with Noir close behind him.

            Before they entered the forest, Noir asked Joker, “Sir, should I bring my rocket launcher?”

            Joker responded, “Heavy as it is, you should. It’ll be critical if we need to destroy or disable any Imperial vehicles that show up. They could have ground transports, walkers, fighters, or even speederbikes.”

            Noir nodded and then looked at the blaster pistol Joker kept holstered at his belt. She pointed at the old DC-17 and asked, “…Also, you’re such a passionate separatist. Why are you using a republic blaster?”

            Joker smiled mischievously and chuckled while he and Noir entered into the forest and began advancing towards their destination. Seeing that there were no Imperial troopers around, he responded, “Two reasons: One, I appreciate the irony of using a weapon of my cause’s original enemies against their successors. Two, the DC-17 is a really powerful blaster for one so small. It’s really easy to conceal and packs a deadly punch for such a light weapon. I heard from Boss that plenty of clone officers used them as their primary weapons after I bought mine from Iwai.”

            Noir nodded slowly and replied, “I see. …We better stay focused. There could be patrols up ahead.”

            Joker gave a single sharp nod and added, “I’d be surprised if there weren’t. Keep your head down and focus on stealth. For once, we want to minimize our kill count, at least until we see the cargo shuttle touch down.”

            With Panther and Skull advancing at a distance from them, Joker and Noir made their way deeper into the forest, keeping their eyes peeled for any sign of white armored stormtroopers, scout troopers or any other sort of Imperial personnel. They used the searchlights scanning the sky to the south of them to guide their advance towards the nearby landing pad.

            When the forest began to thin and signs of built infrastructure began to appear in the distance, Joker decided to ask Noir, “You joined us to find out what happened to your father because you knew the Empire wouldn’t help you. I don’t doubt your willingness to pull your weight, even if it means fighting and killing, now. You really exceeded my expectations last mission. …What I’m wondering is what will you do once you have your answers?”

            Noir sighed and replied, “Based on everything you and Boss claim, I truly fear that Shido was involved. Father mentioned tensions between him and the governor rising rapidly. I think father could have been gunning for Shido’s job. …I loved my father, but he could be very arrogant. He was often focused on his own advancement over the good of his family and his business. Before his death, father was looking into finding a well-connected fiancé for me. I would have had no choice in the matter. …Even if my father was not a good man, he still raised me. I have to know why he had to die! If what I fear about Shido turns out to be true, then your cell is my best way of avenging him. …I’ve thrown in with your band now, Joker. I’d be tried for treason just like any other Phantom if I get caught. No matter what happened to father, Shido would love to see the last Okumura unmasked as a rebel and done away with. I won’t let that happen!”

            Joker nodded firmly once Haru finished her impromptu speech. He quickly responded, “Even though I barely remember my own parents, I think I get where you’re coming from. Now, we better keep our voices down and keep moving. We’re almost out of the woods. There’ll have to be hostiles up ahead.”

            With that, Joker and Noir made it out of the woods and crouched low as they advanced towards the landing pad. This structure was surrounded by supply crates of various sizes. It featured a conning tower to the immediate south of the circular, black, main pad, which was easily large enough for a Zeta-Class Shuttle to land on. This small outpost lacked a fence, energy shields, and turbolaser emplacements. Only one repeating blaster turret had been set up close to the landing pad. Nobody had bothered to man it for the moment. Whatever repulsorcraft the Imperials planned to use to transport their slaves had not arrived yet. Still, the shuttle should arrive any minute now.

            A few stormtroopers patrolled around the perimeter of the outpost and nearby the ground level entrance to the conning tower. The officer in charge was likely stationed in the conning tower, along with whatever other crew members were needed up there. Security certainly seemed light, like nothing out of the ordinary was going to happen tonight.

            Joker and Noir advanced towards a sturdy-looking pair of metal crates big enough for them to crouch behind. They stayed low and avoided the attention of the few stormtroopers in their vicinity. There only looked to be around six Imperial infantry soldiers on patrol in total. There were also no Imperial vehicles present in the area. Joker was sure that this was the night of the slave transfer. He assumed that Oracle would have figured out if the Empire had decided to change the date via slicing.

            When Joker and Noir reached cover, Noir began looking around for Skull and Panther. Joker began to wonder if the Imperials had spread the rumor around to disguise the real transfer date. Still, in that case, why talk about it at all? Troopers and officers on Ryo’s streets had consistently been overheard talking about the unusual operation.

            Joker stayed behind cover until he noticed the Imperial searchlights converge on a spot in the sky. Soon afterwards, a quad-winged cargo shuttle armed with a series of cannons on her wings and cockpit came in for a landing on the pad. Her four wings folded up into the air to reduce her space consumption when she made her final descent and came to rest on her landing gear.

            The troopers in the area all began to walk towards the landed shuttle, except for one. A single trooper walked away from the shuttle, towards the edge of the landing pad, with his blaster held out in front of him. His trajectory did not take him anywhere close to Joker and Noir, however.

            The Shuttle’s main door below the cockpit began to open. Joker drew his macrobinoculars and set them to thermal scan mode. He shook his head in confusion when he only picked up six heat signatures inside of the shuttle. Two of them were the pilots in the cockpit. The other four were all headed for the front of the craft, preparing to disembark.

            When the door fully opened and the boarding ramp was extended, it only revealed two stormtroopers, an Imperial Lieutenant and a heavy assault trooper. They all had their weapons held at the ready.

            Noir looked to Joker, who was legitimately unsure of what to make of what was going on. There were no slaves aboard the shuttle. They would have to be frozen in carbonite, or already long dead, to avoid generating heat signatures. Did the shuttle actually have some other cargo of value to the Empire aboard? Something important, but less controversial than slaves. Maybe it was something so secret that Governor Shido did not want the spacecraft carrying it to touch down in Ryo proper, even in the city’s Imperial garrison?

            Joker held his blaster pistol at the ready while activating his wrist-mounted commlink. He reached out to Skull and quietly asked, “Skull, Panther, where are you? There aren’t any slaves aboard the shuttle…”

            It only took Joker a second a realize that only static came back over his commlink. He gritted his teeth, realizing that there had to be a jamming device nearby. He had a pretty good idea where it was too.

            The only stormtrooper who had not moved to link up with the Imperial soldiers exiting the cargo shuttle nearly made it to another series of sturdy supply crates when he yelped in surprise. The poor bastard was met with near vaporization courtesy of Skull’s shock blaster.

            The Imperials on the ground turned to where their comrade had been obliterated and began firing in that direction. Return fire that had to have come from Panther’s light repeating blaster flew right back at them. Thankfully, the shuttle’s cannons could not aim in Skull and Panther’s direction unless she took off.

            Seeing that there was a clear shot into the shuttle from where he and Noir were crouched, Joker turned to Noir and ordered, “It’s a trap! We’ve gotta take out the shuttle and fall back!” He knew that the shuttle’s guns were lined up in his direction. They could vaporize him and Noir if they did not act fast.

            Noir nodded while Joker took aim at the main cluster of Imperial infantry. He tried to draw their attention with fire from his DC-17.

            A high-powered yellow blaster bolt crashed into the enemy heavy assault trooper’s helmet before he could open fire. At least Fox had found a sniper’s nest. The landing pad was now consumed in a full-blown firefight.

            Noir took aim at the Zeta-Class shuttle with her rocket launcher. Joker reflexively grinned when he realized she was aiming right at the starship’s open door.

            The shuttle’s door and boarding ramp began to close just as Noir launched her rocket.

Chapter Text

Seconds Later: The Imperial Landing Pad:

            The night air was thick with blaster fire being traded between the Phantoms and the Imperial troopers guarding the landing pad. Most of the hostile soldiers scattered away from the recently landed Zeta-Class Heavy Cargo Shuttle and made for solid cover as quickly as they could.         

            Joker dropped one stormtrooper with a pair of shots to the back from his DC-17 blaster pistol. He turned to the landed cargo shuttle just in time to see the rocket Noir had launched screaming through the craft’s open door and into her hold.

            Before the shuttle’s cannons could open fire on Joker and Noir, the rocket struck something hard inside of her. Flames and blistering shrapnel erupted from the shuttle’s interior. One plume of fire even burst out from the shuttle’s cockpit, frying her pilots.

            The Empire’s Zeta Shuttle was rapidly reduced to a burning husk. The resulting flames and noise surprised the Imperials on the landing pad, making them easier targets for the resistance fighters.

            While blaster fire from Panther and Skull tore through three dazed stormtroopers, Joker’s commlink flashed blue. He told Noir, “Get your blaster out, and cover me! You must’ve taken out the jamming gear along with the shuttle.”

            Noir nodded, saluted Joker, and began carrying out his order. Joker ducked lower behind his cover and answered his commlink. Fox’s voice immediately came over it, telling the Phantom Cell’s leader, “Joker, I’ve found an optimal tree for sniping. However, at least twelve stormtroopers, two helmeted officers, and two scout walkers are on their way from the immediate north. They should arrive at the landing pad within minutes!”

            Joker rapidly responded, “Shit! We need to clear the pad and fall back to Oracle and the Speeder fast! This whole thing was a setup, and we couldn’t help but walk right into it!”

            While Noir blasted an enemy trooper right through his chest armor, leaving only a scant few hostiles on the landing pad, Joker reached out to Oracle via his commlink.

            Oracle’s voice told Joker, “A fight broke out, right? I can…”

            Joker interrupted, “This was an enemy trap! There weren’t any slaves! We took out their shuttle, but they’ve got a lotta backup on the way! We need speeder evac stat!”

            Oracle’s voice was quiet for a brief moment. However, she soon replied, “…I’ll head your way. Get out of there as fast as you can! Those rotten imps played on our sympathy, didn’t they?”

            Joker nodded and responded, “Just hurry and follow the sounds of blaster fire! Don’t hit any trees either! Hopefully, you and Fox can find each other soon. Joker out!” Joker deactivated his commlink immediately after that.

            The scattered Imperial soldiers on the platform had begun to retreat. However, the clanking footfalls of two incoming AT-ST walkers in the distance were unmistakable now. The enemy officer in charge of the operation was probably planning to regroup with the incoming reinforcements and wipe the separatist fighters out.

            Joker stood up and called out, “Skull, Panther, this was a trap! Scatter into the forest and look for our getaway speeder! We can’t let them pin us down!”

            Panther and Skull emerged from their cover, and both nodded at Joker. After Panther fired off a few shots at the retreating hostiles, she and Skull made for the trees.

            Joker could just make out fresh stormtrooper reinforcements beginning to arrive at the opposite side of the landing pad. Thankfully, their blaster fire was even more inaccurate than usual at this range. The smoldering wreck of the cargo shuttle Noir had blown to hell also obscured some of their sightlines.

            Noir stood up and asked Joker, “We’re falling back, right?”

            Joker nodded and stood up, firing his blaster pistol into the distance in a token attempt to suppress some of the incoming troopers. He rapidly responded, “Yes! Head into the forest and look for Oracle’s speeder! We’re not gonna be able to outrun them forever!”

            With that, Joker and Noir took off towards the forest. Noir made sure to reload her rocket launcher in case either of the enemy scout walkers managed to pursue them into the woods. Thankfully, neither Imperial walker had entered into visual range yet.

            Imperial blaster fire streaked past the four retreating Phantoms while they made for the skeletal trees. The stormtroopers and their officers would not want their trap to fail, especially after having already lost multiple soldiers and their cargo shuttle.

            For now, Joker and his followers had only one goal, escape. Their mission was just to survive at this point. They would have to be more careful when choosing and planning their future operations if they survived the night.

            Several stormtroopers and one officer who had been pursuing the Phantoms ended up breaking off to secure the landing pad and check on their downed comrades. If there was any consolation Joker could draw a small measure of satisfaction from right now, it was that the enemy would have a hell of a time removing the burning remains of their cargo shuttle from the landing pad after the skirmish concluded.

            The two incoming AT-ST walkers could be heard closing in on the landing pad while burning bolts of crimson plasma flew past Joker and Noir. Skull and Panther were thankfully already somewhere in the forest. With any luck, they and Fox would be able to contact Oracle and get picked up quickly. Keeping the Phantom Cell alive and intact mattered more than anything at this point.

            Right when Noir had almost reached the forest, the landing pad’s searchlights highlighted another incoming craft shooting down from the sky above. Joker looked back and blinked multiple times. He was pretty sure what this spacecraft was, but had only heard about them from Oracle a couple of times. The long, imposing, batlike-winged Imperial craft had to be a TIE Reaper. This was an Imperial dropship and support starfighter mainly used by special forces.

            The rapidly incoming TIE Reaper was not escorted by any smaller, and nimbler, TIE craft. That was of little consolation to Joker, who charged for the forest when the reaper began to strafe the ground right behind him with a rapid-fire barrage of brilliant blue energy projectiles.

            Bolts of ionized plasma intended to disable hostile vehicles slammed into the ground directly behind Joker. The leader of the Phantom Cell made it into the forests around the time that the TIE Reaper pulled back up into the sky. While Joker had been lucky to avoid the reaper’s barrage of ionized bolts, the Imperial spacecraft began to circle above the forest. She activated twin searchlights near her cockpit and started to sweep the area. This would complicate things.

            Based on what little he knew about the TIE Reaper’s intended use, the hostile ship could either be searching for the fleeing Phantoms, or looking for a relatively clear place to deploy infantry soldiers into the forest, or both. No matter what her pilot’s plan was, Joker and his crew needed to evade the dropship and get to their speeder before she detected them again.

            Joker ran as quickly as he could through the forest, keeping an eye on the circling TIE Reaper above him. There was still a squad of enemy troopers, their commanders, and two AT-STs somewhere behind him as well.

            Not seeing where Noir was now and not wanting to make unnecessary noise with his commlink, Joker kept moving in the general direction of Ryo. He hoped with all of his heart that he and the rest of his team could link back up with Oracle and vacate the forest. They also had to make their escape without their airborne pursuer being able to track them back to the tunnel they had used to exit Toruun’s capital city.

            After a few more minutes of running, his blaster pistol still held in one hand, Joker saw the enemy TIE Reaper flying overhead towards a small clearing just up ahead. The Imperial dropship began to lower herself closer to the ground, her searchlights almost blinding Joker.

            Realizing that he had to take cover now, Joker threw himself behind a wide-trunked tree and peered out at the almost-landed Reaper. With the hostile craft’s lights no longer aimed exactly in his direction, Joker made out the Reaper’s troop-deployment door opening. A short ramp extended out from it. Two black-armored figures deployed to the forest floor with little delay, blasters drawn.

            Joker quietly gasped when he saw that one of the newly arrived hostiles had to be a death trooper. The only members of that elite Imperial bodyguard unit seen on Toruun were sworn to Governor Shido. The black armored trooper walked slowly, yet confidently, carrying an enhanced blaster rifle.  

            What was even more concerning was the shorter figure who advanced alongside the Imperial death trooper. He was clad in a suit of custom black light armor unlike that of any Imperial trooper class Joker had ever seen or heard of. His pointed helmet was even more inhuman and unsettling in appearance than the death trooper’s. This figure moved fluidly, unlike his companion. He carried a blaster pistol that looked like an enhanced, customized version of the weapon that was standard issue for Imperial scouts.

            Joker gritted his teeth, quickly fighting through sudden ache in the back of his head. He had heard a couple of rumors, vague as they were, about a mysterious Imperial enforcer who operated on Toruun. This had to be The Crow. Assuming that The Crow truly answered to Masayoshi Shido, the Imperial Governor of Toruun had decided this trap was a worthy time to deploy his enigmatic, yet feared, field agent.

            Before Joker could do anything else, the TIE Reaper began to lift back up into the sky and close her deployment door.

            Suddenly, a rocket flew at the Imperial dropship from somewhere to the immediate north. The rocket narrowly missed the deployment door before it fully closed. However, it punched through the TIE Reaper’s shields and detonated on the side of dropship’s lower hull.

            The explosion tore through the Imperial craft’s hull and badly damaged one of her wings. However, she narrowly remained airborne.

            The figure Joker believed was The Crow told his death trooper companion, his voice heavily distorted by his unique helmet, “I’ll go after the scum who fired that missile! Start sweeping the area for the other rebels. Pin them down until our reinforcements arrive.”

            The death trooper responded, “Yes, sir. Our backup will corner the insurgents …unless we neutralize them first.” He then began making his way towards Joker, turning on the flashlight attached to his blaster rifle as he advanced.

            The Crow looked up at the smoking TIE Reaper and activated a wrist-mounted commlink that looked like an updated version of Joker’s. He ordered, “Fall back, Reaper. We’ll take it from here without air support. I’ll make sure you don’t take a second rocket.”

            It only took a few seconds for the damaged TIE Reaper to disengage and fly up into the sky. She deactivated her searchlights and made a beeline for Ryo. At least the enemy’s air support had retreated.

            As for Joker, he only stuck around for long enough to see The Crow dart into the forest to pursue Noir, wherever she was. Joker dared not reach out to her now. He sprang away from the tree, hoping to evade the death trooper and that Oracle would arrive soon.

            Trying to stay as quiet as he could, Joker crept north towards the edge of the forest, closer to Ryo. The local Imperials had spared little expense on their trap. It was almost certain that Shido, or someone close to him, had planned it. The goal of the operation had to be to either arrest or eliminate the resistance fighters who had humiliated the Empire’s forces around two weeks ago.

            While Joker continued his retreat away from the clearing where the TIE Reaper had briefly touched down, he heard the vague voices of stormtroopers calling out in the distance behind him. He could swear he heard the heavy footfalls of an AT-ST as well.

            What was a far more imminent concern for Joker was that the enemy death trooper was still heading his way. The elite soldier shone his blaster rifle-mounted flashlight ahead of him. Joker probably made enough noise that the attentive Imperial elite had decided to investigate and doggedly kept at it.

            Joker crept steadily closer to the northern edge of the skeletal forest, he moved from tree to tree, evading the death trooper’s flashlight beam at all costs. However, the black-armored Imperial picked up his pace. He had to believe there was someone nearby and was not about to disregard his hunch.

            Seeing a thicket directly ahead of him that would be difficult to get through, or past, while avoiding detection, Joker grimaced. However, he also saw a pair of large, thick branches that had fallen off of nearby trees lying near the thicket.

            Rapidly formulating a plan and hoping that there weren’t any other Imperials nearby, Joker crouched low and readied his DC-17. The enemy death trooper was seconds away from highlighting Joker with his flashlight. It was now or never.

            Joker closed his eyes and reached towards the closer of the fallen branches. Visualizing the desired effect as best as he could, the young separatist made a throwing motion and opened his eyes.

            As intended, the heavy branch levitated off of the ground and flew directly into the death trooper’s head and chest before he could react. The enemy soldier was stunned, but likely not for long. Unfortunately for Joker, his hopes for a quiet telekinetic takedown were dashed. He was also too far away to attempt a vibroknife kill, assuming his target’s armor even had any real weak points to take advantage of.

            As soon as the branch hit the ground with a thud, Joker stood up, leveled his blaster pistol at the death trooper, and opened fire. He squeezed his DC-17’s trigger four times, launching a rapid barrage of blue plasma bolts into the hostile elite.

            The barrage of blaster fire accomplished what the thrown branch had failed to. The high-powered bolts from Joker’s sidearm burned through the death trooper’s ebony armor and he collapsed into a smoking heap.

            Joker took a series of deep breaths. He could not help but grin, seeing that he had bested one of Shido’s elite soldiers without letting his pursuer fire a single shot.

            Shaking his head rapidly, Joker reminded himself that there were still plenty of enemy troopers in the forest, not to mention at least one armored vehicle. He needed to find Oracle and ensure that his whole team was evacuated before the enemy could fully tighten the noose.

            Joker made it around the thicket and continued heading north. He did not hear any blaster fire for the moment. He suddenly and painfully remembered that Noir should be his biggest concern right now. Governor Shido’s most feared agent could still be after her. Joker could only hope that Noir had gotten a solid head start and not tried to engage The Crow. Even based on scattered, vague rumors alone, he was not one to be trifled with.

            Realizing that he would have to risk reaching out to Oracle before he ended up exiting the forest, Joker activated his commlink and contacted her. Before Oracle could say anything, Joker told her, “I need you to track my signal. We also need to find N…”

            Before Joker could say anything else to his cell’s slicer, he felt another sharp, straining, pang in the back of his head, followed by a terrible power closing around his throat. He reached for his neck as he was bodily lifted around a foot into the air.

            The Crow advanced out from behind a nearby tree, holding one hand in front of him locked in a strange gesture, fist almost clenched and two fingers held together. He kept his other hand on his holstered blaster pistol. He told Joker, “You let your guard down, scum. Your comrade eluded me narrowly, but you won’t be so lucky.”

            Joker had never been more horrified. The reason behind the Crow’s brutal effectiveness and the reason for Shido keeping him shrouded in mystery were now clear as day. They were one and the same! The masked Imperial agent wielded the same power that Joker had! It was also obvious now that he was more experienced in its applications.

            The Crow calmly walked closer to Joker, looking ready to draw his blaster at a moment’s notice. He kept the pressure on Joker’s neck up without crushing his foe’s windpipe completely. The helmeted enforcer turned to the armband on Joker’s jacket and recoiled back just a bit without releasing his victim.

            Joker glared down at The Crow from under his mask and hood. He was sure his helmeted enemy was doing the same. Disgust evident in his voice, The Crow sneered, “You’re a separatist, aren’t you? Another mad fool fighting for a lost, unjust cause. I’ve got a …feeling… about you… Even if your fellow scum escape, you might be the key to ending your cell’s reign of terror.”

            Joker felt rage coursing through his body and mind upon hearing The Crow call the separatist cause unjust. However, he was in no condition to offer a clever retort right now.

            The Crow coldly told Joker, “It’s time to say goodnight, terrorist. Rest assured that you’ll get a trial once you’re unmasked. Governor Shido will make an example of you. The Toruunian People will see what we do to separatist insurgents. This planet is far better off without your barbaric kind…”

            Right before Joker blacked out from The Crow’s telekinetic stranglehold, Noir’s voice called out, “You let your guard down too!”

            The Crow whirled around and dropped Joker to the ground. He was half a second away from drawing his blaster when a missile flew into view. The Crow held out both hands and strained mightily to slow the rocket down as much as he could with all of his telekinetic strength.

            Joker tried to force himself to stand up so he could try to shoot The Crow in the back. However, he realized that at least eight stormtroopers were on their way from the south. The flashlights attached to their blasters lit up the forest.

            Barreling in and coming to a stop right behind Joker was the Phantoms’ landspeeder. Joker looked up and saw that Panther, Skull and Fox were inside with Oracle at the controls.

            While Panther did her best to suppress the incoming Imperial troopers from her seat, using her DC-17M, Fox and Skull leapt out of the speeder and grabbed their leader. They soon hauled the panting Joker up and into the repulsorcraft.

            The Crow had managed to slow Noir’s missile to a crawl. However, the projectile was only a couple meters from him now. As for Noir, she ran for the speeder, dodging and weaving between trees and trading blaster fire with the incoming troopers in the distance.

            Joker coughed and ordered, “Get Noir and get out of here… Shido… he’s got a force wielder in his corner….”

            While Oracle quickly maneuvered her speeder to go pick up the sprinting Noir, Fox responded, “We can see that. So, the feared Crow is a Dark Jedi of some kind?”

            Skull readied his shock blaster and asked, “Can we try ta take him out now?”

            When Noir reached the Phantoms’ landspeeder and leapt up into it, her rocket launcher hanging off of her back via a sturdy strap, The Crow waved his hands towards the separatist craft. The rocket he had just slowed was flung towards the Phantom Cell’s speeder.

            With the incoming storm of blaster fire from the advancing stormtroopers intensifying by the second, Oracle accelerated her speeder north through the skeletal woods. The redirected missile slammed into the trunk of a wide tree and severed it. The rocket had only narrowly missed the Phantom Cell’s retreating transport.

            Joker looked behind his crew’s fleeing vehicle and saw The Crow slump over in exhaustion. It was good to know that the Imperial super agent’s powers were limited. While the Phantom cell had missed a potential chance to kill the force-sensitive agent, they could not have afforded to stick around for a moment longer.

            As soon as they had cleared the forest and were on their way back towards the waterfall, Oracle asked her allies, “So, that was a trap? I guess Mishima got fooled after all…”

            Fox admitted, “Not to mention the rest of us…”

            Joker took a series of long, deep, gasping breaths and told his comrades, “That Imperial bastard who nearly choked me thinks independence is an unjust cause! He wanted to put me on trial to make an example out of me… You guys showed up just in the nick of time….”

            Panther pointed out, “We’d all be screwed if they figured out who you are, Joker. We’re all in this together.”

            Joker nodded slowly and smiled at Panther. Oracle added, “To be fair, if you were tried by the imps, Joker, I’m sure you’d at least try to make some grand pro-independence speech before being sentenced to death.”

            Skull gave Oracle a shocked look while Joker admitted, “She’s right on that count… Anyway, we need to get the hell out of here! Oracle, make for the tunnel! We need to return to the hideout before the enemy scrambles speeder bikes, gunships, or even starfighters!”

            Oracle nodded and accelerated her speeder towards Ryo’s outskirts. On the way, she contacted Sophie, filled the astromech droid in on what had happened, and ordered her to be ready to open the hideout’s largest door when prompted.

            While the Phantoms’ speeder closed in on the waterfall and the hidden tunnel, Joker saw a couple of TIE Fighters screaming through the skies above the forest. However, they were not headed in the right direction to catch the Phantoms. Despite how close it had been, Joker and his crew had escaped the Imperial trap they had foolishly fallen into. Shido’s forces would end up empty handed. They would also be down one cargo shuttle and a death trooper, not to mention several stormtroopers.

            Despite his cell’s successful escape, Joker could not help but be deeply concerned regarding The Crow. Governor Shido’s super-agent would need to be dealt with one way or another if Toruun was to be liberated. Joker’s force skills were clearly behind those of Shido’s secretive enforcer. However, there would be no giving up now. The fight for Toruun’s future was far from over.

Chapter Text

Three Days Later: Late Evening: Café Leblanc:

            The Phantom Cell returned to their underground hideout without further incident. Despite the strength of the Imperial forces thrown at them, they had narrowly escaped their enemy’s trap without taking any casualties.

            Despite their successful escape from the Empire’s forces, the Phantoms were not in high spirits. Their Imperial enemies had clearly set their trap by spreading a rumor intended to pull at resistance fighters’ heartstrings. Governor Shido had to see the cell as a legitimate threat to his power after the damage they had dealt at the coastal supply depot.

            Despite having come as close to death or arrest as ever, primarily thanks to The Crow, Joker remained resolute. Shido having a secret force-sensitive enforcer just made the Governor of Toruun look even more suspicious to Haru. The newest Phantom received Joker’s sincere thanks for firing the rocket that distracted The Crow for just long enough to allow the Phantoms to make their escape.

            The remaining members of the Phantom Cell were primarily glad to be alive after the harrowing night. They were used to retreating from the sites of their operations, but this time the Empire had been more ready for them than ever. Their foes had feigned the presence of minimal security at the landing pad to lure rebel fighters in. Once the shuttle landed with jamming gear stored in her hold, the Imperials had clearly intended for their full reinforcements, including TIE Reaper air support, to charge in and wipe out, or capture, the insurgents.

            The Imperials had not counted on Haru’s lucky rocket shot, which had destroyed their shuttle and the jamming equipment inside her. In the end, even the deployment of a death trooper and Shido’s enigmatic enforcer had failed to neutralize the Phantoms.

            In the days that immediately followed the night of the failed trap, Joker ordered his crew to law low and avoid taking any risky action even more than usual. He and Futaba withheld the full details of the trap from Sojiro for once. They simply told him that the rumor had ultimately been unfounded and that they had engaged and killed a few Imperials before falling back. Thankfully, Joker was unsurprised to see that the local branch of the Imperial Holonet made absolutely no mention of the failed trap.

Had the Imperial operation been a success, it would have doubtlessly been broadcasted across Toruun. Shido’s propagandists would have celebrated the capture or slaying of the Phantoms as a major victory over a terrorist cell. Of course, had the Empire won the recent skirmish and prevented the Phantoms from escaping, it would have spelled doom for the small resistance group, and everyone closely associated with them.

            It was evening now, and Joker was polishing Leblanc’s main countertop. Sojiro and Futaba had headed home a couple of hours ago. The café was scheduled to close for the night in less than an hour. Over the last couple of days, Joker had replayed his encounter with The Crow in his mind time and again.

The masked enforcer was by far the most frightening Imperial that Joker had ever encountered. Not only could The Crow give orders to Shido’s death troopers, he could also use the force. The things he could do with the mysterious power were well above what Joker was used to. The Crow had been able to telekinetically choke a living target, along with massively slowing, and ultimately redirecting, a speeding rocket. If Toruun was to be freed of Masayoshi Shido’s influence, then The Crow would have to be neutralized. The question was how.

Joker was snapped out of his frustrated thoughts by the voice of Ryuji Sakamoto asking him, “That had ta have been effing scary, being strangled like that… Are you gonna be ok, man?”

After shaking his head vigorously to refocus himself, Joker looked over at his friend and first recruit. Ryuji sat at the counter, having arrived around fifteen minutes ago. Thankfully, the two young men were the only beings in Leblanc at the moment. Joker had gotten Ryuji some caf and curry. However, he had been unable to offer it “on the house” to his friend. Sojiro made no exceptions about customers having to pay. He had lectured Joker on that topic before. Sojiro’s little café only got so many paying patrons each week and he had to make ends meet.

Thankfully, Sojiro had only rarely demanded a share of the credits the Phantoms stole from the Empire in various raids. Sojiro claimed that he would have asked for a consistent and significant share of the looted currency if he did not consider taking stolen credits a serious risk to his and Futaba’s personal security. Joker was unsure how much he should trust that line of reasoning. Either way, it worked to his crew’s advantage.

Joker sighed deeply and told Ryuji, “That helmeted imp we faced on our last operation, he had to be The Crow, Shido’s unofficial enforcer. Whoever he is, he has the same power that I do, and he’s practiced with it more than I have. …We’re gonna have to be careful picking our battles from here on out, even more than before!”

Ryuji nodded and responded, “Yeah, ya said all that before, Joker. We’ll still drive those rotten imps out someday. Shido can’t keep up his act forever.”

Joker nodded slowly and told Ryuji, “If Shido’s got someone like that working for him, he probably doesn’t want Imperial command to know. The Empire wouldn’t let someone that powerful be ‘wasted’ enforcing the whims of an outer rim governor. They’ve given Shido a lot of free reign, as long as he ‘does his job.’ That’s how little the imps in the core care about Toruun. Still, harboring a force wielder and having him just carry out missions against local resistance fighters. I can’t see the Empire’s brass being ok with that….”

While Joker trailed off, Ryuji added, “I always thought the imps were scared stiff of your power. …That’s why they had their clones kill off the Jedi and forced the survivors to join them as red blades.”

Joker nodded again. Futaba had led the cell’s effort into researching the recent history of force users without attracting Imperial attention. Most of the Phantoms had become familiar with the Empire’s hardline stance on force sensitives. The Empire had violently insisted on either commanding such beings, or killing them. There was no middle ground on the issue for the authoritarians.

Ryuji gave a brief, awkward laugh and added, “Ya know, from what Boss told us, I bet Shido’s the kinda guy to have an elite lackey that he keeps hidden from the imp brass doin his dirty work.”

Joker had a feeling Ryuji was actually on to something this time. He told his loyal comrade, “Yeah… We’ve always known that Shido’s a man of many secrets, even if we don’t know exactly what those secrets are. It’s possible that he’s protecting The Crow from the rest of the Empire in exchange for his loyal service?”

Ryuji looked pleased that Joker supported his theory. He mentioned, “I don’t think we wanna tattle on Shido to the imp higher ups. Even if we could, they’d just crack down on Toruun harder with him gone.”

Joker sighed, groaned, and reluctantly admitted, “We’re absolutely better off with Shido than with an offworlder as governor. Shido cares about public image, even if he’s gotta be a real bastard in private when he’s not sucking up to someone. Another imp politician they brought in from the core would be here as a steppingstone to a ‘better’ post. They’d run roughshod over this planet to fuel their own advancement in ways that Shido’s too scared to do. Hell, Shido keeps his flagship far away, patrolling the border of the system, most of the time. You almost never see a walker or a tank on patrol inside of Ryo, especially not a heavier one. He doesn’t want to remind our people that they’re still living under a foreign occupation.”

            Ryuji nodded repeatedly, always enjoying when Joker got fired up. He added, “We just gotta exploit his fears and put him down!”

            After shaking his head, Joker responded, “It won’t be that simple, Ryuji. What happened to us recently shows that Shido takes us seriously. I believe that he most likely personally ordered that trap set up. We never should’ve taken the bait, even though we took out a few imps and escaped with our lives. None of us are expendable. …Still, Shido’s resources are limited too. If the Empire’s war with the alliance keeps ramping up, his capital ships or their crews could be reassigned, not to mention his forces based on Toruun proper….”

            Joker trailed off when he saw a casually dressed young man wearing a hood walking up to Leblanc’s main door. His hair was short and dyed a light blue color. He carried no weapons and only wore a light, small pack. Joker’s eyes narrowed while he told Ryuji, “Looks like your ‘informant’ friend has come to pay us a visit.”

            Joker sighed as Yuuki Mishima walked into Leblanc and raised his hood. Joker pressed a button behind the counter that changed to lit up sign in front of Leblanc from “open” to “closed.” He also dimmed the lights in the café. He was not taking any risks with Ryuji’s energetic friend.

            Ryuji smiled over at Mishima, gave him a quick wave, and told him, “Good ta see ya, buddy.”

            Mishima walked over to take a seat behind the counter next to Ryuji and nodded briefly at him. He then immediately looked up at Joker and gave him an awkward and apologetic look. Mishima told Joker, “Akira, I’m really sorry about that imp trap! I was fooled and I put you all in danger and I messed up and…”

            Ryuji placed a hand on Mishima’s shoulder and told him, “It’s alright, man. We all got fooled, the imps thought we’d take the bait if it they talked about slaves… and we did.”

            Joked could not help but add, “We should’ve realized that their lack of secrecy was completely intentional and acted accordingly. However, they also had records forged that made it look like the transfer was legitimate.”

            Mishima nodded and added, “I just want to be an ally of justice. The Empire’s got so many of my classmates fooled, but I know that Toruun would be so much better off without them here!”

            Joker sighed very deeply and told Mishima, “Ryuji told you about the trap, that much is clear. You know that the two of us are actively resisting the Empire, right?”

            Mishima nodded and responded, “Yessir. Sakamoto hasn’t told me who any of your other cell members are. He told me you’d be seriously mad at him if he did.”

            Ryuji nodded firmly over at Joker who sighed slightly and nodded back. Joker then looked Mishima in the eyes and asked, “I know you oppose the Empire, kid, as you should. There’s no point in my hiding my affiliation from you anymore. You should know that Ryuji and I are separatists. We’re not fighting for a new republic. Our goal is to liberate Toruun from the Empire and restore her independence. We don’t intend to ally with the Rebel Alliance because of their support for restoring the republic and centralized control of the galaxy.”

            Ryuji looked just a tad overwhelmed by Joker’s latest statement while Mishima nodded slowly. The younger man told Joker, “Sakamoto told me how committed to your cause you are before. As for me, I want to help you guys, but I want the Empire gone from Toruun more than anything. As long as someone does it, I’ll do what I can to help.”

            Joker sighed and responded, “I see. Well, all that I have to ask of you is that you be extremely careful anytime you stick your neck out. You must evade capture and interrogation by the Imperials at all costs! If you’re arrested and successfully interrogated, then the Empire could track you to myself and Ryuji. That would spell the end for our cell’s rebellion. Do you understand?”

            Mishima nodded and gave Joker the most confident salute that he could. He responded, “I won’t let you guys down! If I see any other rumors like the last one, I’ll let you know. Still, I’ll keep in mind that Shido’s goons could be setting another trap.”

            Ryuji wondered aloud, “Do ya think they’d try something like that again?”

            Joker shuddered a bit and pointed out, “If they do, I bet they’ll be sure to surround the target area with reinforcements from all sides. They’ll also have more air support on standby than they did last time. I don’t think Shido’s dumb enough to try the same exact plan twice, that’s for sure.”     

            Ryuji and Mishima both nodded. After that, Mishima ordered a small cup of caf, which Joker insisted he pay for as per Sojiro’s policy. Even with Leblanc officially closed for the night, Joker intended to follow his employer’s orders. It did not take long after Mishima received his drink for both him and Ryuji to depart the café. Mishima still had homework to do while Ryuji had himself and his mother to support by doing whatever odd jobs he could find on any given week.

            Joker was left alone in Leblanc to shut the place down for the night and lock it up. He did so with his usual efficiency and then headed off to bed in his room above the café proper.

            While he lay in bed, staring up at the ceiling, Joker could not take his mind off of The Crow. He hated to admit it, but he did not want to face the masked enforcer again any time soon. He had been able to best a death trooper, but The Crow had caught him off guard and nearly defeated him. Still, no Imperial agent was going to scare Joker off of the path that he believed led to independence. Even though many said it was a lost cause, he would continue to fight for it.

Chapter Text

The Next Evening: Just Outside of Governor Shido’s Office in Central Ryo:

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            Captain Goro Akechi walked down the well-appointed hallway leading to Governor Masayoshi Shido’s office. The Imperial Central Command Building had once hosted the Toruun Diet during the reign of the Galactic Republic and later the Clone Wars. The establishment of the Galactic Empire and her control of the Toruun System had led to the building being severely renovated by Imperial loyalists. Governor Shido had commissioned a new office for himself on the mammoth structure’s top floor soon after assuming his current position.

            Captain Akechi admired both the Ichirisu Madarame paintings hanging on the walls just outside of the governor’s office and the view of Ryo’s city center from a window opposite the artwork. Akechi had heard stories about the myriad accomplishments of Grand Admiral Thrawn during his time at the local Imperial Academy. Thrawn’s ability to analyze a culture’s artwork and use it to plan the ideal strategy to defeat them, sometimes without firing a shot, was reportedly uncanny.

Unfortunately for the Empire, the master strategist had not been seen in years. Thrawn had been reported dead after the Empire lost the remote world of Lothal to unexpectedly tenacious local rebels. Despite that, some surviving officers who had served under him were rumored to believe he was still alive somewhere.

            After snapping himself out of his brief trance, Akechi reminded himself that he had no intentions of commanding a sector fleet. His goal in life was to lead Toruun’s people and preside over a world where Imperial Justice prevailed. For now, that meant obeying his father’s orders and setting himself up as Masayoshi Shido’s heir in the eyes of both the Empire’s higher ups and the local human population.

            Focusing on the task at hand, Akechi walked up to the door that led to Governor Shido’s office and exchanged salutes with the two death troopers guarding it. One of their fellow elite soldiers had fallen to a treacherous separatist recently. However, Shido had more death troopers ready and willing to serve, not to mention his regular stormtroopers, officers, and military vehicles.

            One of the death troopers pressed a button positioned directly next to where he stood. The door to the governor’s office slid open and Akechi walked in. Wearing his dark green uniform and usual tinted glasses, Governor Shido sat at his long, rounded-edged, black desk.

Shido’s office was spacious and decorated with various Toruunian artwork. Much of the wall and floor space remained open, however. Shido wanted to avoid appearing too ostentatious when hosting visiting Imperial dignitaries and officials. One of Toruun’s old mythical creatures, the Daruma, was a common motif in the governor’s personal art collection.

            Governor Shido looked up at Captain Akechi while his office’s door closed behind the young man. Akechi stood at attention directly in front of his patron and father’s desk. Shido pressed a button on his desk which activated its built-in holoprojector. Blue-tinted images representing a series of specially selected digital records hovered above the desk.

It barely took Goro any time at all to recognize that the holographically displayed texts were a series of excerpts from recent official Toruun Garrison reports. A few of which Akechi had been personally involved in drafting. The common element between the reports was that they all involved recent resistance fighter attacks taking place inside of and around the City of Ryo.

Akechi’s eyes narrowed while he waited for Governor Shido to address him. It was clear to Goro that the perpetrators of the recent supply depot raid were the same cell that had narrowly escaped capture at the outlying landing pad south of Toruun’s capital. The depot incident had not been the first successful attack pulled off by the same cell either.

Governor Shido placed his hands together, took a deep breath, and frustratedly admitted, “I was under the impression that I had baited a trap that would rid us of the rebels who escaped you at the coastal depot. Yet they’ve evaded the might of both your custom interceptor and The Crow…”

Captain Akechi nodded sharply and asked Shido, “Sir, did you read my latest report…”

Shido quickly and bitterly responded, “Yes, it’s humiliating that I lost a loyal death trooper to such rabble. Not to mention a cargo shuttle equipped with a suite of jamming gear.”

Akechi sighed and nodded. However, he continued, “There are some details of particular interest to me regarding this rebel cell, sir.”

Shido quickly asked his son, “Is one of them those bizarre ‘calling cards’ that they leave at the sites of their strikes?”

Akechi shook his head and explained, “My first observation is that this enemy cell is small. It only has around six or seven active members at most. Second, based on their stature, these masked terrorists are young, probably no older than I am. Following those two observations and their use of masks and hoods, I think these insurgents must have civilian identities that they are trying to keep hidden from us. These are not the same kind of rebels we’re used to fighting in the countryside. I believe they are likely based somewhere in Ryo.”

Shido nodded slowly and placed his hands together again. He admitted, “Operating from somewhere inside of the capital is risky. These rebels are right under our noses… Your report on their brazen depot assault mentioned them using a sewer entrance to escape pursuit, likely via a rapid slicing tool of some kind.”

Akechi nodded and continued, “Sir, my latest report contains the other detail I find particularly noteworthy. When I nearly neutralized a member of the cell, I noticed the symbol of the vanquished Confederacy of Independent Systems on his armband. Whether or not the entire cell shares his views, one of their number is a Separatist and proud of it.”

Shido audibly growled at the mention of the CIS. He stood up and placed his hands on his desk, telling Akechi, “I always knew the so-called confederacy was a lost cause! Toruun had no future shackled to Dooku’s doomed movement! Even that old fool Yoshida saw that, despite the lack of spine and discipline he ultimately showed. When the Diet ignorantly voted to secede, I knew my time to lead had come. There will be no going back! I spent enough time exiled from Ryo and the halls of…”

Akechi waited patiently for his father to regain his composure. After Shido cut himself off, he took a breath and told his son, “You know as well as I do that Toruun must be cleansed of all foolish, ignorant separatists who persist in their mindless rebellion. If even one member of this ascendant group of persistent rebels supports the failed confederate cause, we can use that to our advantage.”

Goro asked Governor Shido, “Sir, I am admittedly curious about why even one youth born after the first Empire Day would support the CIS. He never would have experienced its brief time in power. Also, how will we use the cell’s potential separatist affiliation to our advantage?”

 Shido rapidly responded, “The brat probably never learned how destructive the CIS truly was for anyone who stood in Dooku’s way. The old guard separatists who remain are blinded by simple, crude nostalgia that they cloak in grand-sounding ideals. As for how we’ll use that against them… I want you back on Yoshizawa’s interview program tomorrow. You’ll tell the host, and the audience how concerned you are about the recent terrorist attack on the supply depot. However, you’ll also tell them that you’ve received, and been given permission by me to report, intel that we have reason to believe the rebel cell is pro-separatist. If asked about your source, simply say it’s classified. Be sure to remind those watching why Toruun can never backslide into separatism. I don’t think I need to remind you of those talking points.”

 Captain Akechi nodded sharply and saluted his father while Shido took another breath. Goro told his father, “I give you my word that I will continue giving my all to crush any and all separatist remnants on our world, sir. The barbarians will never have Toruun again!”

Shido nodded and ordered, “Go, do your duty, Captain. Even if we have not yet destroyed this insurgent cell outright, we will turn the masses’ opinions against them. I’m sure your girlfriend will want to see you on her father’s program, verbally blasting our enemies, again.”

Goro gave his father a quick smile, thinking of Sumire, and then saluted him. He finished, “I will go make the necessary arrangements, sir. I’ll take my leave now.”

Shido returned Goro’s salute. With that, Captain Akechi spun on his heel and left the governor’s office. He was off to meet with Sumire’s father and secure an imminent appearance on the local holonet. With any luck, he would be able to spend some time with his young lady soon before, or after, his next appearance on her father’s show.

---

Two Weeks Later: The Phantom Cell’s Hideout:

            The entire membership of the Phantom Cell, other than Ann who was expected to arrive soon, had gathered in their underground hideout. It was midafternoon, and the meeting would start as soon as Ann came down the lift. This time Futaba had been the one to request that the cell convene, rather than Joker.

            Looking around at his comrades while Futaba prepared a holoprojector atop the hideout’s table, Joker grimaced and asked, “Have any of you seen Shido and Akechi’s latest propaganda line?”

            Yusuke nodded while Ryuji snarled. The blue-haired painter responded, “Yes, it appears that The Crow reported your separatist allegiance to his master, who gave that intelligence to Captain Akechi. Shido must have been desperate to salvage something from his failed attempt to trap us. He has commissioned my mentor Madarame to paint new works focused on the theme of ‘Toruun rising above her separatist past towards a brighter Imperial future.’”

            Ryuji growled and kicked the ground while Sophie appeared to give him a concerned look and beeped worriedly. Joker’s loyal friend and follower declared, “That effing Shido! Him and Akechi don’t have a clue what they’re talking about! Shido betrayed our people and Akechi’s just sucking up by saying whatever Shido tells him to! The imps call us separatists ‘terrorists’ and act like we’re the bad guys! They’re the ones who’re rotten!”

            Haru mentioned, “Shido is determined to make the surviving separatists into bogeymen for his followers to recoil from. …It’s probably harder for him to vilify pro-alliance rebels, since Shido once swore his loyalty was to the Republic and democracy.”

            Futaba mostly ignored the conversation around her and continued working. Joker sighed angrily and admitted, “Few things infuriate me more than seeing the cause I live to serve being vilified. Even if not all separatists fought for the right reasons, the movement’s grievances with the Old Republic were legitimate! The Empire’s just that same ‘republic,’ but unrepentantly worse!”

            At that point Futaba told Joker and company, “The projector’s ready. …I see the lift coming down with Ann in it. I think you guys will like what I’ve finally found.”

            Joker nodded, seeing Ann disembark from the hideout’s lift. Once Ann had walked over to stand with her comrades around the table, Joker gave Futaba the go ahead to start her meeting.

            Futaba smiled and pressed the button that activated her holoprojector while Sophie rolled over to stand by her side. Futaba started her presentation by saying, “Before I tell you guys what I found, you should know that I visited our supplier with Sophie a few days ago.”

            Joker gave Futaba a mildly concerned look while she patted Sophie’s domed head and continued, “For the right price, he helped me give our girl a major upgrade. I got the idea after hearing about how the enemy jammed our communications during our last ‘mission.’ Now, Sophie can jam standard Imperial comms frequencies over a limited radius on command. When she’s in her new astromech socket in the back of our speeder, the tech I just installed in there seriously boosts the jamming range!”

            Ryuji and even Ann looked slightly confused while joker grinned and explained, “That’s brilliant! This way, if we’re spotted and pursued in our speeder, Sophie can cut off the enemy’s ability to report our location and request backup! …It also means we should bring her along if we go on another mission outside of Ryo…”

            Futaba interjected, “Which is what I’m about to propose!” She pointed to the three-dimensional image her holoprojector displayed above the table and continued, “As you can see, this shallow valley is hidden by a thick forest only around a day from here by landspeeder. With a lot of time, effort, and slicing, I’ve finally detected some faint signals coming from the valley. Having cross-referenced the old CIS records Sojiro gave me access to years ago and sliced a couple Imperial Garrison files, I believe the valley hides a separatist bunker from the war! I don’t think the imps have found this one yet.”

            Ann asked Futaba, “So, if we get in, we can loot some supplies without having to worry about bringing down a bunch of imps on our heads?”

            Futaba explained, “I guess, but I doubt there’s any basic supplies in there we can’t get from Iwai or another merchant. Any credit chips stored in the bunker would be pre-Imperial. They’d be hard to spend without somehow trading them in for Imperial credits, which could arouse the enemy’s suspicion.”

            Ryuji asked, “So why even go there? Do we wanna make it a safehouse outside of the city?”

            Futaba shook her head and admitted, “Once the bunker is open and power’s restored, it could send out some kind of signal that the imps would pick up on. Once we open the place, it’ll be hard to keep it hidden. …No, what we might find there isn’t money or a new base. …I wanna see if there’re any deactivated battle droids we can salvage in that bunker.”

            Ryuji’s expression instantly changed from skeptical to seriously excited. Haru looked unsure of what to make of Futaba’s proposition. Ann and Yusuke both looked to Joker.

            After looking over his small crew, Joker smiled and told Futaba, “Assuming we can all line up excuses to be away for a couple days sometime soon, I say we go for it. It’ll be worth the trip and the risk if we can increase our cell’s firepower with even a few reactivated droid units. …I’m proud of you for finding the place without our former member’s help, Futaba. I knew you could do it.”

            Futaba rolled her eyes and replied, “Hifumi still helped a lot. It wasn’t all me. Sorry, Joker.”

            Yusuke quickly mentioned, “We should be aware of the fact that Shido and his supporters will publicize our use of CIS droids heavily should we locate, repair, and deploy them. It will most likely only strengthen their case in the media.”

            Joker made a dramatic gesture with one hand and retorted, “You might have a point, Yusuke. Still, seeing even a miniscule portion of the droid army in fighting shape again could reignite the fire in the hearts of our fellow Toruunian separatists! Some of them might believe the cause is dead now, but they’ll see that the last war wasn’t a complete death knell for our independence when we keep winning victories over the Empire and escaping their grasp!”

            Ryuji pumped a fist into the air and shouted, “Let’s go find us some battle droids! I owe the droid army my armor and sword, the least we can do is get some of them up and running again!”

            Ann added, “As long as I can arrange a sitter for Mona, I’m in.”

            Haru nodded while Yusuke sighed and told his comrades, “Very well, despite my concerns about our cell’s already beleaguered public image, I’ll go with you as always. We will see what we can uncover.”

            Futaba told Joker and the others, “Just let me know once we settle on the date. I’ll have to let Sojiro know. We’ll take our speeder and bring Sophie this time. Based on my research, I’ve gotta assume the valley bunker was built to hold droids and supplies for Toruun’s defense in case the GAR ever invaded the system while the war was on. That’s why it shouldn’t be empty… I hope.”

            Joker nodded sharply and told Futaba, “I’m sure we’ll confirm the date soon. Everyone’s dismissed for now. Focus on finding out when you can be away for a couple of days soon. Come up with a good alibi if necessary.”

            While the rest of the Phantom Cell dispersed, Futaba asked Joker, “What do ya think Sojiro will say if we come back with our own little droid army?”

            Joker chuckled and responded, “Much as I wish it’d restore his faith in the cause, I think he’ll just keep feigning frustration and pretending that our efforts are futile. Anyway, see if you can learn anything else about our next destination and make sure our speeder’s fueled up and ready to go.”

            Futaba grinned and saluted Joker with Sophie right beside her. While the two of them got to work, Joker headed for the lift and prepared to go talk with his employer. He would have to convince Sojiro Sakura that it was ok for him and Futaba to be out of Ryo for a couple of days. With any luck, the fact that his team was not intending to directly engage Imperial forces this time would soften Sojiro’s attitude on the matter.

            While Joker rode the lift into Leblanc’s backroom, he imagined what it would be like to have his own force of battle droids. Hopefully, his cell would find more than just standard B1 units. B2 Super Battle Droids were far better armed and armored than their more common counterpart. What Joker really wanted were BX Commando Droids. Those agile military droids were reportedly able to engage in stealth operations, close combat, and even wear enemy armor as disguises. They also sported superior armor compared to the flimsier B1s.

            Knowing that it remained unclear what the future held for him and his team, Joker focused on preparing for the excursion to come. The Phantom Cell would see what they found once they reached the old separatist bunker and go from there.

Chapter Text

One Week Later: The Toruunian Countryside South of Ryo:

            Fortunately, it did not take too long for the members of the Phantom Cell to coordinate their schedules. Some of them needed to make up excuses to explain their being away from home for longer than a few hours. However, that burden did not fall on Ann, who just needed to arrange a sitter for Mona. Yusuke’s mentor, Ichirisu Madarame was so busy starting work on a series of newly commissioned anti-CIS paintings for Governor Shido that he was unlikely to notice his pupil’s extended absence.

Haru no longer had to answer to her father and told the managers of his estate that she would be going on a short trip to the countryside with some friends, which was technically true. Ryuji’s mother was uninterested in refusing her son’s request to be away from Ryo for a couple days. It seemed likely that she knew he was up to something anti-Imperial by now, considering that her late husband had been a CIS supporter to the end. She had to know that Ryuji was going to follow in his slain father’s footsteps despite the serious risks involved.

As for Futaba and Joker, they gained permission to be away for a couple days at most from Sojiro, as exasperated as he had appeared. Sojiro repeatedly insisted that Joker and his friends keep a close eye on Futaba during the excursion. They were to keep her safe at all costs.

Sophie would ride in the Phantom Cell’s speeder’s newly installed astromech socket. Using her new upgrade, she was expected to be able to jam nearby Imperial communications when the need arose. Her new feature could prove to be critical in future operations.

After assembling at their hideout on the appointed morning, The Phantom Cell’s members boarded their speeder. Sophie got herself installed in her new socket. The speeder could seat as many as seven humanoids, along with Sophie, after all of her upgrades. She also sported two sizeable compartments, one on each side of the craft, where all manner of equipment and supplies could be stored. For this excursion, the compartments held a combination of food, assorted supplies, and some of Futaba’s tools.

Having made sure that the reinforced door leading to their hideout was closed after driving through it, the Phantoms sped through the old smuggling tunnels in their landspeeder. As with last time, they quickly navigated past the waterfall and found themselves outside of Ryo’s southern outskirts.

Now out in the open, Joker gave the order for his team to be ready to put their hoods and masks on at a moment’s notice. Based on Futaba’s previous slicing research, the cell knew that Imperial patrols were infrequent in the stretch of countryside immediately south of Toruun’s planetary capital. However, one could never be too safe.

For now, it appeared that Governor Shido’s efforts were centered on improving security around potential “terrorist” targets within Ryo proper. He clearly saw the Phantom Cell as a threat. However, he remained as image conscious as ever and focused his propaganda on the threat of a “backslide into barbaric separatism.”

Joker believed that Shido was selling Toruun’s people short. Despite some skeptical comments from his allies, other than Ryuji, he maintained that most Toruunians would be willing to fight for their world’s independence once Shido’s grip on power began to seriously slip.

The Phantom Cell’s landspeeder cruised through the grassy plains south of Ryo. This time, Futaba, who was driving, made sure to steer clear of the forest nearby the Imperial emergency landing pad. She also gave the other known Imperial installations in the vicinity a wide berth. The settlers who had built their own culture on Toruun had managed to keep significant swathes of the planet free of industrial activity and urban sprawl in the many centuries since they first landed on the world.

The Phantom Cell’s Speeder made a sharp turn to the east after putting Ryo a solid distance behind her. Eventually, the grassy plains became increasingly hilly and significant groves of verdant trees appeared all around the resistance fighters. The speeder entered a stretch of woods that sported a thick canopy. The tight weave of branches and leaves blocked a solid degree of sunlight from reaching the forest floor. Luckily for the Phantom Cell, there was an old dirt road of sorts leading through the forest. Following it allowed the cell’s landspeeder to avoid the trees with comparative ease.

Evening fell, and the Phantoms were still somewhere in the vast forest. Toruun had never been a major logging world compared to many more heavily forested planets. Therefore, this vast forest remained mostly untouched, even as the resource-hungry Empire mined Toruun’s ore deposits relentlessly. The Imperials employed both free and slave workers in their mining operations. Which source of labor they relied on usually depended on the difficulty of the mining work and the availability of local settlements to recruit paid workers from.

That night, the resistance fighters made camp in a small clearing not far off of the road. They made sure to post at least one member of their team to keep watch at all times. Sophie had a limited battery supply, so the droid was unable to simply remain on watch duty for the entire night. Futaba wanted her astromech charged up and ready for the following day.

The next morning, the Phantom Cell’s members piled back into their landspeeder. While morning light trickled through the thick canopy, they continued their journey through the forest for around another hour.

Ryuji was looking more than a little antsy by the time that the Phantoms’ landspeeder reached the edge of a shallow valley near the eastern edge of the vast forest.

After parking her speeder right at the edge of the valley, Futaba disembarked and ordered Sophie, “Stay with the speeder. If you see any Imperials, come get us fast. Pretend to be in low power mode if you can’t get away.”

While the rest of the Phantoms disembarked from their landspeeder, Sophie exited her socket, which was designed to allow her to eject without requiring outside assistance. She began patrolling around the parked repulsorcraft in a perfect oval.

Ryuji stretched out his arms and legs and asked, “We found the valley. Now, where do we find us some battle droids?”

Futaba cracked her knuckles and replied, “We’re gonna have to look for anything that could be an entrance. Once we find the bunker’s door, we’ll have to slice it one way or another.”

Haru raised her hand and offered, “I didn’t bring my rocket launcher this time, but I’ve got some other explosives.”

Joker found it amusing that Haru was so fascinated with explosive ordinance, considering her upbringing. While he chuckled, Futaba shook her head while retrieving some tools from one of her speeder’s side compartments. The young slicer told Haru, “We’ll only use those if we can’t find an easier way in. We don’t wanna damage anything valuable inside the place. Also, grenades, detonators, and charges aren’t cheap. Iwai won’t give us free replacements just because we wasted them.”

Haru nodded slowly while Yusuke mentioned, “I must say that it has been nice to get so far outside of the city. Were we not on a mission, I could spend hours sketching the natural beauty here. Thankfully, I was able to make a few basic sketches of the area where we made camp last night.”

Joker ordered Yusuke, “That’s nice and all, but please don’t leave a ‘calling card’ in the bunker this time. If the imps find this place after we’re through looting it, they’ll know it was our cell who got inside. We need to be more careful than ever after the recent enemy ambush.”

Yusuke sighed and responded, “Very well, Joker. I will refrain from leaving our calling card this time. I doubt anyone who would be inspired by the symbol will see it following our departure anyway.”

Futaba worked quickly, grabbing a number of tools, and stuffing them into her pack. She held a large scanner that looked like a datapad with a long antenna attached to it out in front of her and told the others, “I’m picking up the signal Hifumi and I scanned for before much stronger here. It’s faint, even at this range, but I think we’re really close now!”

With that, Futaba began carefully trekking down the sloped side of the valley, scanner held out in front of her. Joker motioned for the rest of the team to follow her and stay together. All of the cell’s members were armed with their standard blasters. Haru had also stored a couple of explosive charges in her pack. For now, none of them had donned their hoods or masks. There were no Imperial forces present in the immediate area as far as the Phantoms knew.

Joker and company followed the visibly excited Futaba down the slope towards the bottom of the shallow valley. They could make out some vague signs in the terrain indicating that intelligent beings had worked their will on the natural surfaces here and there. Still, those signs had faded considerably over the two decades since the fall of the CIS.

When the Phantoms were nearly at the bottom of the slope and back on flat ground, Futaba excitedly informed her comrades, “The signal’s getting stronger! We’re almost there now!”

When the Phantoms reached the bottom of the valley, Yusuke pointed ahead to where a rusted metallic outline marked part of the lower slope opposite to the Phantom’s current position. Despite all of the grass and other plant matter that had grown over it, this certainly looked like a sealed door upon careful inspection.

The door only looked tall and wide enough to allow two humanoids to pass through at a time. Its smaller size had likely aided in keeping it concealed for so long. The Empire had certainly forgotten about it, assuming that they had ever known about the site in the first place.

Futaba nodded sharply and put her scanner away. Her comrades followed her as quickly as they could while she dashed over towards the door. After carefully examining it and brushing away various plants, Futaba told the rest of the crew, “You guys should keep watch while I see if I can slice this baby open. I don’t think we’ll need any explosives. If an alarm goes off, the worst it should do is alert anyone who’s actively scanning this area for signals.”

Joker sighed and pointed out, “That could include imperial comms officers or slicers, not to mention criminal operations. Still, we’ll ideally be out of here before any hostile investigators arrive.”

Ann nervously asked, “You don’t think this bunker’s got any poison gas traps, right? One of those wouldn’t harm droids or other valuable material.”

Yusuke added, “I would hope that the noble defenders of Toruun would not have stooped so low. However, this bunker may have been built with the aid of less upstanding separatist elements.”

Futaba shrugged and told her comrades, “I doubt it too. Still, if we see any gas pouring in, then we run for it. Once I get this door open, we’ll make sure to keep it that way.”

Joker folded his arms, nodded, and ordered, “Let’s not waste any more time on conjecture. Futaba, please get the door open. The rest of us will keep watch and see if there’s anything else worth investigating in this valley.”

Futaba and the rest of the team saluted Joker. Ryuji was clearly the most enthusiastic about the current operation, other than Futaba. He wore armor made of super battle droid plating into battle. He also wielded a commando droid’s vibrosword in melee. He wanted to see the CIS rise once again more than anyone else Joker knew. Despite Ryuji’s bluntness and headstrong nature, Joker liked him just the way he was, a fellow dyed in the wool true separatist.

Once Futaba had cleared away enough plants and gotten her tools out, she located and opened an old, rusted over, panel next to the bunker’s sealed door. After that it took less than ten minutes for her to do some careful rewiring and give the old door a jolt of electricity.

Soon enough, the rusty old door began to slide open on both sides. Futaba grinned while Joker and the rest of the Phantoms moved in to help ensure the door opened fully.

Once the door was fully open, Futaba cut an old wire and told her comrades, “This door isn’t gonna shut again anytime soon.” She then pointed inside and announced, “Looks like a backup generator’s still active! We’ve got lights!”

Joker nodded, seeing a series of lights flickering on inside of the bunker, leading deeper into the structure. He ordered, “Proceed inside with caution. If any battle droids somehow reactivate, clearly identify as Toruunian separatists, and only engage them if they refuse to stand down. We want to preserve as much war material as we can.”

Everyone nodded and then the Phantoms entered the old CIS bunker. Ryuji and Haru took the lead with Joker and Ann right behind them. Yusuke and Futaba brought up the rear.

While Joker and company advanced down the short, narrow hallway that led towards the bunker’s main rooms, the leader of the Phantom Cell just hoped that their trip would not be for nothing. The restored power readings and any other possible signals transmitted from the bunker could alert the Empire. The occupiers could soon learn that something unusual was up in the depths of the forest. Regardless, the Phantoms had a mission to complete here. With any luck, they would find battle droids and other war material from the Clone Wars that would aid them in liberating their homeworld. As far as Joker was concerned, more separatists fighting to free Toruun was always a good thing, be they organic or mechanical.

Chapter Text

Moments Later: The Valley Bunker’s Interior:

            The members of the Phantom Cell carefully walked down a short hallway past a couple of, decades old, rusting doors. Dim as they were, the lights were on in the old CIS bunker now. Still, it remained to be seen what else the resistance fighters would find in the abandoned installation.

            At the end of the hallway, a large double door slowly opened for the Phantoms. They all held their blasters at the ready, or were ready to draw them at a moment’s notice. Joker remained outwardly calm, yet cautiously excited. He and his crew were now inside of a facility that had almost certainly been built by Toruunian separatists.

The old bunker was practically a shrine, or similar sacred site, for someone with Joker’s convictions. The place had nothing to do with Count Dooku directly, but it had been intended to aid in the defense of Toruun from the Galactic Republic’s forces. Sadly, the shutdown order that had been transmitted to the droid armies had prevented the military automatons from ever being deployed to protect Toruun from the ascendant Empire. Hopefully, some of the old war machines could be reactivated to fight for the rim once again.

With Ryuji at the head of their procession, the six members of the Phantom Cell entered what appeared to be the main facility. Opposite to where they had entered the cavernous room, a massive, sealed door was clearly visible. Racks and shelves mounted on the walls of the space held all manner of blasters, explosives, and other supplies. At the center of the room sat a trio of what Joker realized were CIS Battle Droid Carriers, sometimes also called Platoon Attack Craft. These troop transport landspeeders were smaller and faster than the mammoth MTTs. Rusted and decayed droid racks were still mounted atop them behind their drivers’ positions.

Ryuji pointed ahead excitedly to a series of reinforced racks located to the left and right of the droid carriers. Joker could not help but smile when he saw numerous B1 Battle Droids, in addition to a couple B2 Super Battle Droids and BX Commando Droids. In front of the transport landspeeders, three deactivated droids that appeared to be roughly spherical lay on the floor. These had to a Destroyer Droids, also known as Droidekas.

Taking charge all of the sudden, Futaba told her comrades, “Ok, looks we MIGHT have hit the jackpot. Still, in case you guys couldn’t tell, the elements definitely worked their way into this place. I’m seeing a lot of rust and decay on the droids and the carriers, even with this bunker sealed for so long.”

Joker told Futaba, “For all we know, the Empire could’ve already picked up on the power spike we generated here. I want everyone other than Futaba to check on the supplies, and blasters on the wall racks and shelves. Pack up whatever you can that’s still usable. Any food stored here should’ve rotted away years ago. Futaba, start checking out the droids and single out any that you think we can salvage. If you find more than a couple that are intact enough, we’ll try to reactivate a carrier and use it to help transport them back to Ryo.”

Joker’s crew all saluted him and rapidly got to work carrying out his orders. Futaba began eagerly examining the deactivated battle droids with impressive speed, efficiency, and focus.

While his team worked as quickly and efficiently as they could, Joker searched the bunker up and down for any old separatist datapads, computer terminals, or other documentation of their efforts on Toruun. He hoped to find something that could help exonerate the cause he held so dear in the eyes of his homeworld’s people. However, he only found one old terminal in a side room that refused to turn on. He did not want to distract Futaba from her droid examinations by asking for her help with the terminal. He also did not want to risk reactivating a computer that could send out additional signals the Empire would be able to track.

By the time that Joker returned to the main room of the bunker, he saw that his comrades were almost done packing what still-usable supplies they could. Haru had focused on explosives that could potentially be safely reconstructed. Ann, Ryuji, and Yusuke had done their best to examine and then discard, or pack, everything else they could find that would fit into their backpacks.

It did not take as long as expected for Futaba to place her hands behind her back and walk up to Joker. She reported, “In good news, I think we’ve got around ten salvageable droids here.”

Joker folded his arms and asked Futaba, “Is there bad news?”

Futaba quickly replied, “Kinda, six of them are B1s. I can probably upgrade their combat protocols and erase their unneeded secondary routines to relieve memory stress, but that’ll take time. Only one B2 is in still in reasonable shape, but I think I can fully repair him, two of the commando droids, and one of the droidekas with what I’ve got back at the hideout.”

Joker sighed briefly, and asked his slicer and tech expert, “So, the others are rusted and decayed beyond the kind of repairs we can make?”

Futaba nodded sharply and explained, “I’m good at what I do, but I’m not a miracle worker. I don’t want ta break our bank ordering the needed parts from Iwai. I doubt even he can secure many functioning battle droid components nowadays.”

Joker admitted, “You’re right, we’ve already spent a lot of what we stole on our of our last successful raid, probably well over half of it.”

Futaba nodded repeatedly and added, “As much as I’d love to give you a real droid army, Joker, I don’t think we have the space for one. There’s also their charging needs. On top of that, we’ll need to make sure they don’t learn and store any of our real identities in their memory banks once I get them up and running again.”

Joker reminded Futaba, “Also, we’ll need to make sure they recognize all of us as friendlies once they’re booted up. We can’t afford any friendly fire incidents in our hideout, or in the field. …Anyway, we should regroup. You’ll need to get a carrier moving if we’re gonna get the droids back to base. Our speeder doesn’t have nearly enough room for them all.”

Futaba gave Joker a sharp salute and told him, “I’ve already picked out the transport with the least rust and decay. I’ll have her up and running within the hour. I’ll need some help getting her droid racks taken off, they won’t be any use to us now.”

Joker nodded sharply. Right after that, the two of them returned to the rest of their cell’s members. Futaba got to work repairing and reactivating the mostly-intact Platoon Attack Craft while Ryuji and Yusuke removed her racks with some help from Ann and Haru. Joker directed operations and helped Futaba as best as he could. Once the racks were removed from the back of the carrier, Futaba indicated which droids were to be carried onto the vehicle and arranged in such a way as to minimize their chances of falling off during the trip back to Ryo.

It was agreed that Futaba would drive the carrier with Ryuji and Yusuke staying with the droids in back. Joker would drive the Phantom Cell’s main landspeeder. Ann and Haru would stay with him, along with all of the supplies they had looted from the bunker.

With all of the salvageable battle droids loaded onto the carrier’s back, Futaba had just reported that she should have the old landspeeder ready to lift off and move out within five minutes. Soon after that, she suggested, “Someone should go and get Sophie. I think we’ll need her to slice the big bunker door. There’s no other way we’re getting this carrier outta here.”

Ann offered, “I’ll go. Someone should check on her and the speeder anyway.”

Joker nodded and Ann headed towards the open door leading to the short hallway. She was soon on her way down the hallway. Suddenly, Joker got a vague, unpleasant sensation in the back of his head. This was less intense than the feeling he had gotten from The Crow’s presence. He slowly stammered, “I’ve got a bad feeling….”

Immediately after that, Ann called out from the hallway, “Sophie’s coming down the slope! She’s beeping wildly!”

Taking charge, Joker ordered, “Masks and hoods on, everyone! Panther, cover our astromech! Skull, Noir, with me! Fox, stay behind and protect Oracle while she finishes up!”

Joker drew his DC-17 and rushed ahead to regroup with Panther. Skull and Noir were not far behind their leader. All of the present members of the Phantom Cell rapidly donned their masks. Futaba put on her heavy goggles. Noir put her hat on, and everyone who had one put up their hoods up to obscure their hair.

Sophie soon rolled up to the front door of the bunker. Panther rushed forward to cover the red and white R2 unit and called back, “Four Imperial Viper Probe Droids incoming! They’re ignoring our speeder for now.”

Joker grimaced and ordered, “Understood, Panther. Skull, get Sophie inside the bunker! Noir, help me and Panther shoot them down!”

Skull charged ahead and quickly exited the bunker while Panther raised her DC-17M and opened fire. The young separatist grabbed Sophie and carried her past the bunker door’s threshold as quickly as he could.

Joker nodded sharply at Skull while he and Noir were about to exit the bunker. He ordered Sophie, “Start jamming enemy comms! We don’t want those probes reporting anything else back!”

Noir and Joker burst out of the bunker and confirmed what Panther had told them. Four Imperial probe droids were hovering down towards the bottom of the valley. The repulsorlift-equipped droids were painted the usual black with various sensors mounted on their swiveling metal heads. A series of metal claws hung off of their lower bodies from multiple sides.

The incoming automatons were spread out and had just begun firing blaster bolts back at Panther from their integrated weapons. Their antennae were all raised atop their circular heads. Hopefully, Sophie’s new feature would prevent the transmission of any more data from the droids back to Toruun’s Imperial garrison. The Empire had decided to send multiple probes. It seemed likely that whoever had given the order to deploy them had wanted to either eliminate or delay whoever had opened the previously long-forgotten separatist bunker, not just spy on them.

With Skull and Sophie not far behind him inside of the bunker, Joker stretched out a hand and concentrated on the closest probe droid. He exerted his will and slowed the airborne machine with the force.

Seeing what Joker had done, Panther and Noir focused their fire on the stalled probe, unloading a withering barrage of blaster fire that shredded the Imperial droid in seconds.

Joker released his focus as what remained of the slowed probe droid crashed into the valley’s grassy slope. He ordered, “Make sure those droids don’t target our speeder!”

Noir and Panther stayed close to the bunker’s door, seeing enemy blaster fire violently colliding with the ground all around them. Blaster burns now marked the slope and the ground all around the open bunker door.

After rolling across the ground to throw off his enemies’ aim, Joker stood up and aimed his DC-17 directly at an enemy probe droid’s head. He fired a single blue bolt that sliced right into one of the Imperial machine’s eyes. The probe droid detonated half a second after Joker’s shot connected. That was two down and two to go.

The two remaining probe droids sped up, gliding down through the air towards their enemies. However, Skull charged out from the bunker to draw their fire. He rapidly drew a small grenade from one of the pockets of his coat at the same time.

Skull shouted, “Get wrecked, ya pests!” He tossed his explosive directly at one of the hovering droids, beaning it right below one of its eyes. The grenade fell until it was right below the advancing droid before exploding. The resulting blast downed the Imperial droid, the remains of which crashed to the valley’s floor.

The final probe droid withstood a blaster bolt from Panther and one from Noir. It ceased firing and, now sparking, began to fly towards the Phantoms’ parked landspeeder as fast as it could.

Joker shouted, “It’s gonna self-destruct!” He charged ahead and held out a hand, using the force to keep the droid from reaching his cell’s repulsorcraft. However, he accidently employed a little too much power. The probe droid was pulled rapidly towards Joker, while still preparing to detonate.

Joker released the droid from his telekinetic grip while it took a glancing shot from Panther. However, momentum was not on his side. The droid continued to jet towards the leader of the Phantom Cell, sparking and beeping furiously.

Skull declared, “Oh no ya don’t!” He charged in next to Joker from the side and fired a blast of sizzling energy at the probe droid from the muzzle of his shock blaster. The blast of energy Skull’s weapon emitted sent the badly damaged Imperial droid spinning back mere seconds before its self-destruct sequence completed.  

The final of the four Imperial probe droids was brutally consumed in a violent fireball. All of the hostile probes were history now. However, whatever enemy base had sent the airborne droids would likely send additional recon units soon.

Joker took a deep breath and ordered, “Skull, thank you. …Still, I need you back in the bunker now! Check in on Fox and Oracle. Noir, Panther, head to the speeder, load up the supplies we obtained here, and keep her safe. I’ll take the controls and bring Sophie over once Oracle’s gotten our new carrier mobile. We need to get the hell out of here as fast as possible now that the imps are aware of our presence!”

With Noir and Panther on speeder loading duty and Skull racing back to check in on Oracle and Fox, Joker escorted Sophie to the main room of the valley bunker. Once there, they found the PAC Oracle had been working on starting to hover above the ground.

Oracle pointed to an aging door socket, which Sophie rolled over to and began to interact with. She then carefully tested the reactivated landspeeder’s maneuverability in the enclosed space.

Once she was confident that she had gotten the PAC fully operational again, Oracle ordered, “Fox, Skull hop on! Joker, you should take Sophie and get to our main speeder. I’ll need you to run interference in case any imps engage us on the way back to Ryo. We better keep our disguises on for now.”

Joker nodded while Fox and Skull hopped up aboard the hovering carrier. He added, “We just have to hope the imps don’t bother to scramble any TIE Fighters, or other aircraft. We could be sitting ducks without Noir’s launcher.”

Skull and Fox both nodded and saluted Joker. Sophie made an affirmative series of beeps and the aged, hidden door next to her began to creak open. It was unable to fully reopen, but it managed to slide open on both sides more than enough to allow the carrier to pass through and into the woodlands outside.

Sophie disengaged from the wall socket, rolled over to Joker and followed him back to the Phantom Cell’s speeder. She boarded her astromech socket while Panther and Noir finished loading the repulsorcraft and jumped in. Noir sat in one of the craft’s many back seats while Panther sat next to Joker in the front.

It did not take long for the reactivated carrier to regroup with the Phantoms’ main speeder. Oracle informed everyone, “We’ll bring up the rear. I’ve double checked this old girl’s engines, but we’ll see how well she holds up if I have to push her. …We don’t want any droids falling off either.”

Joker nodded and ordered, “Just keep your eyes peeled for imps, guys! We’re headed back to Ryo through the usual tunnel. I doubt we’ll be there before late evening at the earliest. So, there’s no time to waste!”

With that, the Phantom Cell’s two-speeder convoy made its way out of the vast forest via the old road they had taken to reach the wooded depths. Still, they would have to spend a few hours crossing open terrain before reaching the safety of the tunnels beneath Ryo. Hopefully, their trip back home would be uneventful.

Chapter Text

That Late Afternoon: The Plains South of Ryo:

            The Phantom Cell’s two-speeder convoy was able to navigate out of the vast forested region to the southeast of Ryo without any Imperial entanglements. However, Joker knew that the heavy tree canopy could be as responsible for that as Imperial laziness.

For all that Joker knew, the enemy could have sent human troopers in to investigate the bunker already. They would inevitably find, and presumably destroy, the remaining CIS war material there. There was no point in resecuring the doors, the Empire’s troops would find a way in eventually. They would just make their own entrance with explosives if they could not access either of the two doors.

Whatever Imperial officer had sent the probe droids probably knew that their signals had been jammed when they made hostile contact above the valley bunker. They also probably knew that their droids had been destroyed by now. The Phantom Cell needed to return to their hideout with all deliberate speed if they wanted to avoid being pinned down by their numerically superior enemies.

The Phantom Cell’s two speeders cruised out of the forests and out onto the open, grassy plains south of Ryo. Thankfully, the Platoon Attack Craft Futaba had reactivated and repaired on short notice was holding up impressively well. It was a testament to the girl’s prodigious skills as a technologist.

Joker looked up while at the controls of his cell’s main speeder, and scanned the sky carefully, looking through his reinforced mask. Thankfully, he did not see any TIE craft or Imperial gunships in the vicinity. He breathed a sigh of relief, but did not let his guard down yet. Just because there were no Imperial units airborne in the area right now did not mean they would not arrive at any moment.

The Imperial units stationed on Toruun were not insignificant. It was nearly impossible for a force of the Phantom Cell’s size to engage in protracted battles with them. However, Toruun’s Imperial garrison was not often reinforced from off-world. Shido’s subordinate officers had to make do with limited forces that were spread out across the planet. Combined with the fact that Shido disliked having any Imperial capital warships anywhere close to Ryo for the sake of his image, the local Imperials ultimately had limited rapid response capability. Compared to more valuable worlds and ones that had become active battlegrounds in the Galactic Civil War, it felt like Toruun was a footnote at best to the Empire.

Despite Toruun’s seriously limited significance on the galactic scale, it remained Joker’s home. Even though he had never seen the world when she was free of foreign occupation, Joker loved Toruun. If things went his way, the Toruun System would become a major player in the new Confederacy of Independent Systems. Even though they would certainly frighten Toruunians who had fallen for Shido and Akechi’s lies, Joker wanted the upcoming reappearance of CIS military droids to remind citizens who still held separatist sympathies that the cause of independence was not truly dead.

With her hood up and her mask on, Ann reported, “Futaba really is a wizard with machines. Despite all the damage and decay on her, that old carrier’s running like she came off the assembly line yesterday!”

Haru added, “I’m just surprised that the carrier can keep up behind our speeder. She really brought out this one’s potential.”

Joker nodded, smiled, and said, “She turned this old girl into a speeder worthy of our cell and our cause. I don’t know where we’d be without her, honestly.” Joker admitted to himself that, despite their disagreements, he might not have a home, not to mention a functioning resistance cell, without Futaba Sakura.

Sojiro Sakura may very well have kicked Joker out of his place of business right after Joker had proposed forming the Phantoms without Futaba’s intervention. Also, her technological wizardry had been undeniably necessary for fixing up the hideout, the cell’s speeder, and advising Joker and the other Phantoms more times than he could count.

Joker briefly shook his head to refocus himself and ordered, “Keep your disguises on until we reach the tunnel leading back to the hideout. Also, keep watch for Imperials. We can’t let them see the tunnel entrance if we’re followed. Sophie, be ready to activate your comms jammer as soon we spot any imps. I just hope the gear Iwai provided you and the speeder with is up to his usual standards.”

Sophie beeped affirmatively while the two landspeeders continued their rapid advance northwest across the plains. It was getting progressively later in the day. Soon enough, the sky would start to darken. By the time that the Phantoms got home, it would be very late. Hopefully, the darkness would work to their advantage if Imperial air units were deployed close to the city to attempt to locate and intercept the short convoy.

            Later that day, the sun was just beginning to set in the Toruunian sky when Joker began to feel a fresh rush of concern flow through his mind. He knew by now that those feelings were portents of imminent danger, even though they did not always manifest when needed. He blinked repeatedly, rapidly looked around and ordered Panther and Noir, “Eyes up, we could have incoming any second!”

            Joker, Noir, and Panther all scanned the sky above them, looking for any signs of Imperial air or spacecraft. However, they saw none. The telltale mechanical scream of TIE-series vehicles was completely absent from the plains as well.

            Before anyone in the speeder could say anything, Panther’s commlink began to beep and she answered it without hesitation. Fox’s voice came over it, announcing, “We have four Imperial biker scouts tailing us. They’re closing in and likely preparing to open fire!”

            Joker ordered, “Protect the carrier, Fox! I’ll drop the speeder behind her and engage them directly! Tell Oracle not to slow down! …Sophie, activate your comms jammer! It shouldn’t interfere with our frequency.”

            While Joker slowed his speeder and maneuvered her to fall behind the speeding droid carrier, Noir readied her blaster and suggested, “Could they have been dispatched to investigate the bunker?”

            Panther took aim with her light repeating blaster in the dimming light and replied, “You might be right, they were probably on their way back to Ryo when they spotted us!”

            Joker nodded while Sophie beeped affirmatively to confirm she had begun jamming Imperial comms frequencies. With any luck, that would stop the biker scouts from calling in reinforcements. Still, they might have done so already.”

            Superheated bolts of blistering red energy streaked towards the Phantom Cell’s vehicles from the southeast. The enemy scouts had closed to firing range. One shot narrowly missed one of Joker’s speeder’s turbine engines, singeing a portion of the repulsorcraft’s rear paneling.         

            From atop the speeding droid carrier, Fox stood up with his sniper rifle in hand. Skull readied his shock blaster, even though the incoming hostiles were still well out of his weapon’s range.

            Blazing bolts screamed past the reactivated carrier. Oracle began taking evasive action. However, two shots impacted the carrier’s rear plating. Thankfully, the old military vehicle’s moderate armor held up for now and she was barely slowed.

            As soon as he had a steady firing window. Fox fired a single yellow bolt from his long-range blaster rifle. While Joker spun his speeder around to face the incoming enemy scouts, he smiled, seeing Fox’s well-aimed shot blow one biker scout’s helmeted head clean off. His brown and black 74-Z speeder bike careened out of control and veered away from the skirmish in the absence of a living rider. Two of the three remaining biker scouts were forced to briefly disengage to avoid their slain comrade’s speeder bike.

            The third surviving biker scout fired off a torrent of blasts from his light vehicle’s cannon. Joker evasively piloted his speeder, avoiding every bolt sent his way. However, he gasped when he heard Skull screaming in pain from atop the carrier. His anguished voice cried out, “MY EFFING LEG!”

            Noir worriedly reported, “Skull took a bolt to the leg! It must have melted right through his armor!”

            Joker grimaced, fury screaming through him. Still, he was at least relieved that his first recruit had not been hit in the head like Fox’s latest victim. He responded, “I’ve got a contact in Southern Ryo who should be able to help heal him. We’ve gotta get back there in one piece first. …Time for some payback!”

            Knowing that he had to draw the enemy’s attention, Joker drove his landspeeder right for the trio of incoming Imperial speeder bikes. He drew and aimed his blaster pistol at the scout who had wounded Skull. At the same time, Noir and Panther opened fire on the two other enemy scouts, forcing them to take evasive action again.

            Joker saw the Imperial scout trooper who had injured his friend take aim at his speeder again. Not holding back, he fired off a rapid barrage of blue ionized plasma from his high-powered sidearm.

            The hostile biker scout did his best to take evasive action. However, Joker’s aim was true. Three of the separatist fighter’s bolts struck the scout trooper’s 74-Z speeder bike at varying angles. The enemy soldier was forced to focus on steadying his damaged vehicle, which allowed Joker to focus his aim and send two more blue blaster bolts slamming into his foe’s chest.  

            That was two down. Without her rider able to steady her, the damaged and smoking speeder bike spun around in a circle and threw her slain rider off before crashing into the plains.

            The two biker scouts briefly looked to each other. They had to know that they had engaged veteran resistance fighters now. However, they both nodded to each other, and moved into position to engage Joker’s speeder. The lightly damaged PAC continued to speed off into the distance towards Southern Ryo. With Fox doing his best to tend to the wounded Skull, Joker’s speeder was now without sniper support.

            Joker ordered, “We better take these guys down fast and get out of here! Imp backup could still be here any minute if they got a message out!” Noir and Panther both nodded and kept up their fire on the two speeder bikes that were now advancing on their speeder at full speed.

            Holstering his pistol for now to focus on driving, Joker revved his vehicle’s engine and charged ahead. Two enemy bolts impacted his speeder’s reinforced hood at glancing angles. They ultimately dealt little damage, proving the effectiveness of Oracle’s defensive upgrades to the vehicle’s body.

            With a storm of blaster fire from Panther and Noir keeping them focused on evasive action, the two biker scouts almost collided with Joker’s landspeeder. Instead, the two of them split up and tried to fly past the resistance vehicle in the hopes of attacking it from behind. However, that was what Joker had anticipated.

            Knowing exactly what he was doing, Joker violently jerked his reinforced speeder to one side right while the two Imperial biker scouts were dodging around her. The side of his speeder slammed directly into one of the 74-Z bikes, sending it flying to the side. Her rider was heavily dazed by the sheer force of the impact.

            Panther leveled her light repeating blaster and unloaded on the stunned scout trooper and his mechanical mount. The man and his machine were both riddled with blue plasma bolts. Some of Panther’s fire burned through the speeder’s light armor to its reactor. The light vehicle exploded in a brilliant fireball, taking its rider with it.

            Noir called out, “The last scout’s going for the carrier!”

            Joker grimaced and admitted, “The bastard must’ve realized they don’t stand a chance against us alone. Fox will be helping Skull, so the carrier will be a sitting duck!” Joker spun his moderately damaged landspeeder around and launched her forward at top speed towards the final Imperial scout trooper left in the vicinity.

            The enemy biker scout was already firing on the fleeing PAC. However, her speeder bike’s mounted weapon was out of effective range of Oracle’s craft for now. Facing no return fire from the carrier, the Imperial scout trooper continued her advance towards the retreating vehicle. It was clear to Joker that she did not want to return to base empty handed. Even if the scout trooper had disengaged, eliminating her would be necessary. Joker would have insisted on minimizing the chances of her reporting more about the Phantoms’ presence in the area and their droid cargo to her superiors.

            Joker chased the last 74-Z speeder bike as fast as he could, pushing his landspeeder’s engines to their limits. Panther began to open fire on the Imperial light vehicle, despite not being able to hit much at her current range.

            The enemy speeder bike got closer and closer, but continued firing on Oracle’s droid carrier. She had not scored another hit yet. However, her shots were getting much closer to hitting home with each burst of energy bolts fired.

            Noir stood up behind Joker and Panther and leveled her modified E-11 blaster carbine. Steadying herself with one hand, she aimed her weapon with the other and began firing on the enemy speeder bike.

            Determined to protect Oracle, Skull and Fox, Joker stretched out one of his hands and willed the Imperial speeder bike ahead of him to slow down. He fought a brief, vicious battle between his intent and the hostile craft’s engine. However, the force was clearly on his side this time.

            The enemy biker scout ceased her fire, seeing her metal mount begin to decelerate despite her best efforts to continue accelerating. She had little time to struggle with her vehicle’s controls before two crimson blaster bolts fired by Noir slammed into the back of her upper abdomen and head.

            Joker grinned. He wasted no time and dramatically waved his extended hand downwards. Exerting all of his will on the speeder bike, he slammed it into the ground where the light recon vehicle plowed a good distance ahead before sputtering to a complete, sparking stop.

            Knowing that he had to check on Skull, Joker accelerated his landspeeder again until he had pulled alongside Oracle’s PAC, he saw Fox tending to the injured Skull. While Skull gave Joker and the girls in the landspeeder a pained thumbs up, Oracle said, “It looks like that’s four less imp scouts. Still, they could’ve sent more by now.”

            Joker nodded and responded, “It looks like our cargo of droids is undamaged, at least. We’ll need to conduct some minor repairs on our main speeder once we get back to the hideout. Not to mention take Skull to see a contact of mine first thing tomorrow.”

            Skull groaned with pain and admitted, “I really hope they’re a doctor….”

            Joker nodded and told Skull, “Yeah, she is. Don’t worry, buddy. She should be able to get you back in fighting shape by our next operation.”

            Fox clinically added, “It was actually unfortunate that Skull was struck in the upper leg by enemy fire. His armor was taken from old B2 Super Battle Droid plating. It could have withstood a shot or two to the stomach or chest, based on how well those droids fared in the war.”

            Oracle replied, “We should have a functioning B2 on our side soon enough, not to mention a bunch of other battle droids! I think Skull should stay overnight at the hideout. We can’t let his mom see him like this, right?”

            Joker nodded while Panther and Noir both looked concerned for their comrade. He then ordered, “Full speed to the tunnel and Ryo! We’ve still got a way to go! We might not be home for a few hours at least.”

            Everyone nodded while Joker and Oracle accelerated their landspeeders again. The resistance fighters needed to get back to their hideout before Imperial reinforcements arrived on the scene. Staying mobile would be essential to getting back home. There was also the matter of treating Skull’s wound with the small stash of medical supplies they kept at their base of operations.

            Joker was just relieved that his crew had survived yet another skirmish with Imperial forces. As long as they made it home alive, he would ensure that Ryuji was treated. He luckily knew just the woman for the job.

Chapter Text

The Next Morning: The Phantom Cell’s Hideout:

            Despite one of their number having been wounded, the Phantoms returned to their base of operations with their cargo of recovered battle droids intact. It had been close to midnight when the two-speeder convoy finally pulled into the underground hideout.

On the way northwest across the grassy plains of Toruun, the Phantoms had sighted various TIE craft and a flight of Imperial gunships patrolling in the skies above, searchlights lit. The local garrison’s commanders clearly knew something had happened. However, their full response had been mustered too late to find the separatist cell before they could disappear into the tunnel leading beneath Southwestern Ryo.

Ryuji had done his best to stay conscious and focused while he was helped off of the Platoon Attack Craft right after it was parked inside of the hideout. Ann did her best to administer basic medical aid to her wounded comrade while everyone else worked to unload their new carrier and main landspeeder.

Once Ryuji was in stable condition and his pain had been heavily numbed, Ann left for home, despite the late hour. Haru did the same, while Yusuke decided to rest the night in the hideout with Ryuji before returning home the following day. Futaba headed out to return home. She wanted to see if her adoptive father was still awake, probably on account of worrying about her.

While everyone was still in the hideout, Joker assured his team that he would help get Ryuji to a doctor he trusted for additional care the following morning. He also told Futaba to begin working on reactivating the battle droids the following day. However, she was ordered to take the utmost care. That included making sure the droids were either disarmed, or their integrated weapons were inactive, right before completing her repair work. That way, they would pose less of a threat if anything went terribly wrong. Sophie would assist Futaba as usual.

The next morning, Joker came down from his room above Leblanc and found Sojiro waiting for him in the café proper. The older man was clearly relieved that Futaba had returned in one piece. However, he wanted a full report. Joker hoped that his employer was curious on account of his former employment in the Toruun Defense Force and involvement with the separatist military.

Joker gave Sojiro his full and truthful report, which included finding the bunker, looting it for droids and supplies, and then dealing with two separate Imperial recon units before returning home. Joker also admitted that Ryuji had been wounded in action during the plains skirmish with Imperial scouts.

Sojiro nodded slowly and firmly told Joker, “I hadn’t bothered to mention this before, but I know that the Empire knows your little band is connected to the old CIS. I don’t watch their holonet often, but I hear enough from my regulars to know some current events. I had a feeling you and Futaba were hiding something about your recent night operation. The Empire tried to box you in that night, didn’t they?”

Joker sighed, but responded, “Yes, sir. Futaba and I didn’t want to worry you too much. However, the enemy did attempt to ambush us that night… Shido sent a death trooper, who I managed to surprise and kill. However, his elite operative, The Crow was also there. He saw my disguise’s armband and defamed the separatist cause before we could make our escape.”

Sojiro sighed loudly and put a hand on his head. He told Joker, “You must’ve really pissed Shido off when you shot down two of his TIE Fighters and wrecked his depot. I warned you about what you’d be going up against when you started this cell of yours. …I see that even facing Shido’s personal assassin didn’t faze you.”

Joker admitted, “Well, sir, it actually did. In the moment, he had me at his mercy. He could have blasted me if he’d wanted to. …Do you have any idea who he could be?”

Sojiro shook his head and responded, “No, I don’t. There’s nobody I researched from Shido’s Republic Loyalist days who fits the profile. I’d barely heard of The Crow until you just mentioned him. He’s a vague rumor at best, and I think he and Shido like it that way.”

Joker shuddered and said, “He was… able to corner me and prevent me from even fighting back, much less escaping. He had to have passed on his intel about my separatist allegiance to Akechi and Shido. I would’ve ended up in imp custody and then executed if the rest of my crew hadn’t shown up when they did.”

Sojiro gave Joker a look. He knew that his live-in employee was not being fully truthful this time. Joker’s force sensitivity was something he had never shared with Sojiro, despite his otherwise fierce loyalty to the older man. Joker also had no intention of telling Sojiro that The Crow was force sensitive right now if he could help it. He did not want to alarm Sojiro further and possibly inadvertently convince him to forcefully disband the Phantoms.

Joker did his best to divert the conversation, telling Sojiro, “Anyway, our last mission was a success on our own terms, at least.”

Sojiro sighed loudly and reminded Joker, “What about your friend Sakamoto? He took an imp bolt, didn’t he?”

Joker nodded slowly and explained, “Our hideout only has some basic medical supplies, unfortunately. We had to use up quite a bit of what little bacta we have to stabilize and start healing Ryuji’s wound. I’m gonna take him to Doctor Takemi, hopefully with some help from Yusuke, once we’re through here.”

Sojiro nodded sharply and told Joker, “If one of your own’s injured, don’t hold up on my account. I remember you mentioning that back-alley doctor to me a while ago. …Sounds like she doesn’t like the Empire either.”

Joker was quick to respond, “Yeah, she hinted at having worked in the Imperial-backed hospital near the city center before being forced out by a superior. She doesn’t like to talk about it.”

Sojiro asked, “…Didn’t she use you as a test subject for some kind of experimental treatment she was developing once?”

Joker gave Sojiro an awkward look and admitted, “Your memory is as sharp as ever, sir. Yeah… she called me her ‘guinea pig,’ whatever that means, back then. Still, those trials helped me earn her trust and convinced her to sell me the medical supplies we have at a steep discount. She still owes me a favor, considering the unlicensed drugs I took to help her out. I don’t know how much she gleaned about me and the cell. However, she certainly hasn’t reported me to the Empire.”

Sojiro gave one last nod and finished, “You’re a resourceful kid, I’ll grant you that. Now, you better get downstairs and help Sakamoto over to Takemi’s place. Just don’t let any troopers see you. They could start asking questions about how he got injured.”

Joker nodded and saluted Sojiro. He then darted into the backroom and down the lift to his cell’s hideout. When he reached the spacious base of operations, it felt more crowded than ever. Ryuji, Yusuke, and Futaba were all there, along with Sophie and the two damaged landspeeders. Based on his check ins earlier that morning, Ann and Haru had returned home without incident. Neither of them had any parents to answer to right now, even though Haru was not alone in her family’s manor.

Sophie was focused on making repairs to the Phantoms Cell’s main landspeeder. Futaba was leaning over a B1 Battle Droid with her heavy goggles on. Sparks flew while she made repairs to the components inside of its small, yet elongated head. There were two more of the light combat automatons laid out on the floor right next to her. The other inactive military droids had been spaced out across the hideout.

Futaba appeared to be tackling the easy work of getting the B1 droids up and running before focusing on the trickier, yet more powerful, models. Still, she had every intention of upgrading their combat protocols significantly. Simply walking in the general direction of Imperial troops and firing mindlessly would not cut it.

Joker walked over to where Ryuji sat on some boxes with his wounded leg stretched out. He and Yusuke had removed their armor and disguises, along with their weapons.

Ryuji told Joker, “The pain’s gotten better, but I don’t think I’ll be able ta walk, or run, for a while. I’m sorry that I wasn’t able to help fight those imp scouts after I got hit….”

Joker shook his head and pointed out, “At least you’ll live to fight another day. Hell, in some armies, you’d earn a medal for being wounded in action. Sadly, we don’t have an army…”

Futaba chimed in, “I’ll get us as close as we can to having one, though. Just gimme a couple weeks max.”

Joker chuckled and told Ryuji and Yusuke, “Anyway, we’re gonna go see an old contact of mine. She should be able to help you, Ryuji.”

Yusuke guessed, “I take it she has some kind of medical experience?”

Joker nodded while he grabbed a backpack and then walked over to assist Yusuke in lifting Ryuji to his feet. Joker explained, “Her place is even closer than Iwai’s. She was the one who sold me what medical supplies we’ve had laying around here. Also, she hopefully still owes me a favor. …Don’t ask why…”

Futaba looked up from her work and asked Joker, “You’re talking about Takemi, right? …Please tell me these ‘favors’ didn’t involve anything intimate….”

Joker gave Futaba a disgusted look and angrily responded, “No! They did not! She’s gotta be around ten standard years older than me. …I’m married to the cause, anyway.”

Ryuji and Yusuke both looked relieved while Sophie continued her work on the Phantom Cell’s landspeeder, unbothered. Futaba blushed and nodded slowly, giving Joker and the other boys a sheepish look. She slowly said, “…I’ll just keep working on the droids…”

With that, Joker shook his head for a brief moment and then helped Ryuji to the lift with Yusuke’s help. The three young men rode up to Leblanc’s backroom and then departed the building via a concealed rear door. Joker was able to open the door and then close it behind himself and his two comrades. Having anyone see them leaving Leblanc via the front door with Ryuji in his current state could arouse suspicion. Therefore, they avoided doing so.

It took some time for the trio to stealthily make their way just a couple of blocks to a short staircase that led to a poorly marked door. They needed to quickly hide from pairs of patrolling stormtroopers on two occasions on their way over. As usual, Governor Shido’s propaganda-spewing media machines could be heard verbally attacking ‘separatist terrorists,’ even in this lightly traveled district of Ryo.

Joker knocked on the door and it only took a few moments for a woman’s voice to ask from behind it, “Who’s there?” Her voice sounded worn down and a bit gruff.

With Ryuji and Yusuke looking to him, Joker quietly responded, “Dr. Takemi, it’s me, Joker. I need your help with something.”

The woman’s voice perked up and replied, “So, my little guinea pig has finally returned. …You did insist I owed you one more favor before the trials concluded.”

The door slid open, revealing a woman casually wearing a lab coat and sporting blue-dyed short hair. Joker told his two comrades, “Guys, this is Doctor Tae Takemi.”

Doctor Takemi nodded and ushered Joker, Ryuji, and Yusuke into what appeared to be a surprisingly well-appointed, yet very small, waiting room. She noticed Ryuji’s condition and asked Joker, “I take it your friend got into some kind of…”

Joker offered, “Bad accident while he was working with welding tools. Ryuji here does a lot of odd jobs to support his mother. His dad died a while ago. He lives around here and doesn’t have the money to pay for treatment closer to the city center.”

Tae just nodded slowly and muttered something. She then perked up again, winked, and replied, “I’ll make sure to put that down in my records, in that case. You know, a lot of my patients get into accidents like that.”

Yusuke nodded, seeing what Tae was hinting at and told her, “We would appreciate any help that you can give him. …I also cannot help but admire your hairstyle.”

Tae blushed slightly, but then ordered Joker and Yusuke, “Get the patient to my exam room. I get enough patients back here that I should have a potent bacta injection or two to spare. …Joker, consider us even after this. If you want my help again once I heal your friend, you’ll have to pay for it.”

While assisting Ryuji into Doctor Takemi’s small exam room behind her waiting room, Joker nodded and responded, “Understood, doc. I’m actually hoping to buy some medical supplies while we’re here.”

Tae nodded and gave Joker a quick smile while Yusuke helped get Ryuji positioned on an examination chair. She told Joker, “I might be willing to let you get away with a discount, just don’t expect the one I gave you last time. It has been a while.”

Joker simply smiled his usual smile and said, “We’ve got some credits to spare, doc. I think we can work a deal out.”

Tae gave Joker one more nod and then got to work on Ryuji’s burned upper leg. After making sure that the wound was as clean and disinfected as possible, finishing the work that Ann had begun the previous night, Doctor Takemi walked over to a metal cabinet. She retrieved a device that sported a long needle and an attached bacta canister.

Bacta was a fascinating substance, the clear-ish liquid was widely known and prized for its healing potential. Whole tanks of it were often used for intensive, full-body operations where the patient had been the victim of injuries that could prove fatal if left untreated for long. However, this device was clearly designed for treating much less catastrophic wounds in short order. Injectors like this one could only be so common in the galaxy.

While Joker wondered what shadowy contacts could be supplying his own contact, Tae carefully injected Ryuji’s wounds with the bacta. She only used around a third of the attached canister on his burnt wound.

Ryuji squirmed and groaned loudly at first. However, it was not long before he emitted a series of contended noises. It appeared that the bacta was doing its job, soothing his pain, and beginning to heal his wound.

After a few more minutes had passed, Tae looked over at Yusuke and Joker and told the two young men, “I think he’s on the path to a quick recovery now. He’s lucky that he got shot where he did. Based on the burn pattern, something deadened the bolt and prevented it from doing critical damage. …I assume some sort of protective gear.”

Yusuke nodded while Joker asked, “What else do you recommend, doc?”

Tae explained, “I’ll keep him here for a few hours to monitor his progress. You said that he lives nearby, right?”

Yusuke pointed out, “I should be on my way now that Sakamoto is on the mend. At this rate, my mentor could be looking for me for once.” With that, he bowed to Doctor Takemi, then Joker and Ryuji. After that, he quickly departed the exam room.

Ryuji told Joker, “You should prolly buy what you want here and head home in case your boss needs you. I’ll let ya know once I’m outta here, ok? Thanks for using your favor on me.”

Joker nodded, smiled over at Ryuji, and told him, “Don’t sweat it. You’re a… loyal friend and I couldn’t stand to see you in such bad shape.” Joker did not mention what a loyal supporter and advocate of the separatist cause Ryuji was for the sake of maintaining Doctor Takemi’s plausible deniability.

Tae told Ryuji, “Wait here and try not to move your leg. I’ll transact some business with your friend. …You’re lucky to have someone like him looking out for you, kid.”

Ryuji nodded and smiled at both Tae and Joker. After that, the doctor, and the separatist both returned to the waiting room where Joker purchased some fresh, basic, medical supplies from her.

Before Joker could leave with his pockets and pack full, Tae looked him in the eyes and quietly told him, “Whatever’s really going on with you and your friends, I hope you’re sticking it to the Empire. You don’t have to tell me anything else.”

Joker gave Tae a faint smile and responded, “I won’t tell anyone you said that. I’m glad that I have you not far away, doc. And yes, I know that we’re even now. Thanks for helping my buddy either way.”

Tae just gave Joker one last smile and nod. Before she could call him her ‘guinea pig’ again, Joker quickly left her office and headed back to Leblanc alone. He stored his cell’s new medical supplies while Sophie and Futaba continued their work.

Joker did his best to help Futaba and their astromech for the next few hours. Ryuji reached out over commlink later to inform Joker that he had healed up enough to start making his way home alone without much difficulty. However, it would take some more time for his wound to heal fully, even with the heavy dose of bacta he had received.

There was plenty of work to be done in the Phantom Cell’s hideout as the day wore on. Joker just hoped that the sight, or mention, of reactivated CIS battle droids would inspire new hope in Toruun’s remaining separatists when the time to deploy them came. For now, the Phantoms would bide their time and see what moves their Imperial enemies made.

Chapter Text

Two Weeks Later: Late Evening: Café Leblanc:

            The weeks immediately following the Phantom Cell’s latest operation reminded Joker how desperately he wanted his own holonet feed. Governor Shido’s propaganda resounded across Toruun nonstop, broadcasting that Imperial investigators had found a looted separatist bunker. Yoshizawa and his subordinates dutifully reported that both a flight of valuable probe droids and the lives of a detachment of scout troopers had been lost to the terrorists, who clearly sought to bring chaos to Toruun in the name of the “justly defeated confederacy.”

            Joker wanted few things more than to find a way to broadcast his own message to the people of Toruun and beyond. Still, that capability remained beyond even Futaba for the time being. There was also the issue of the rogue signals being traced back to the Phantoms. Regardless, Joker desperately wanted to give grand speeches promoting revolution against the Empire, and the long overdue return of the CIS, to his homeworld’s people.

In his more lucid moments, Joker wondered how any former separatist worlds could be persuaded to reform the fallen movement by a mere teenager. Even if the wider civil war weakened the Empire to the point where secession became viable again, Joker knew that he was no Count Dooku, despite their shared gift. He did not even have a lightsaber, the Jedi weapon that the CIS leader had been famously wielded with impressive mastery.

Thankfully, Futaba had made real progress in her efforts to reactivate the Phantom Cell’s new battle droids. Sophie had also finished her repairs on both of the Phantom Cell’s landspeeders. Yusuke had been happy to paint the reactivated battle droid carrier in the same red and black style as the cell’s main speeder.

While they were kept in low power mode most of the time, Futaba had gotten all six B1 Battle Droids the Phantoms had retrieved functioning again. She was hoping to field test their significantly upgraded combat protocols sooner, rather than later.

More enticingly for Joker, both retrieved BX Commando Droids were operational again. Their advanced combat and stealth protocols, impressive agility, and thick armor would certainly come in handy in future operations.

Wanting to minimize part purchases from Iwai if she could help it due to the Phantoms’ dwindling funds, Futaba took her time on the CIS droids. Having mostly repaired the retrieved Droideka, she was still working on getting its shield generator functioning again. She also had to finish getting the B2 Super Battle Droid her cell had brought back to Ryo safely up and running.

Upon realizing that his adopted daughter and her comrades had brought almost a dozen CIS droids into the city. Sojiro made it clear in no uncertain terms that they were to keep the droids down in their hideout. The old CIS automata could not be seen in or around Leblanc under any circumstances. That would certainly tip the Imperials off to the separatist cell’s location, something that Joker understood well.

Now, it was late evening, and Joker was preparing to close up Leblanc for the night. Having some droid assistance for basic manual tasks would be nice. However, Sojiro’s orders stood. Considering his old position in the CIS-aligned Toruun Defense Force, he could possibly ‘pull rank’ on the droids if he so desired. Futaba had gone home for the night. However, Yusuke was in the hideout below, painting and repainting some of the Phantoms’ new droids as he saw fit.

Sophie was allowed above the hideout in Leblanc’s backroom on occasion. However, she was kept away from any and all potential customers. Someone might find it quite odd that Sojiro Sakura could afford to have an astromech droid working at his small establishment. They might also reasonably wonder why he would even need a droid of that class in the first place. Those were lines of inquiry the Phantoms did not want followed to their subversive conclusions.

Joker was sure that he would be done for the evening in just a few minutes, even without help. He would need to get Yusuke to leave, probably out the back door, soon after that. However, right when he was just about finished tidying up, Joker felt a pang echoing in the back of his head. He tensed himself, briefly worried that Captain Akechi could be about to show up again. However, he quickly reminded himself that this sensation was not nearly as intense or consistent as the one he had felt back then.  

Looking around, wishing he had his DC-17 on hand, Joker saw a single male figure running towards Leblanc’s front door. Joker blinked repeatedly, realizing that this was none other than Yuuki Mishima.

As soon as Mishima had burst through the door, and was looking around, clear fear in his eyes, Joker activated the controls that changed Leblanc’s sign from “Open” to “Closed.” The separatist fighter looked Mishima in the eyes and sternly asked him, “What happened? Please don’t tell me they’re Imperials following you!”

Mishima shook his head and responded, “…No, there shouldn’t be. I kept checking behind me the whole way here! I would never come here if I was being tailed, I swear!”

Joker breathed a brief sigh of relief, not sensing any more imminent danger. However, he still dimmed the café’s lights and walked slowly up to the windows. The young separatist carefully checked the street outside of Leblanc for a couple of minutes. He kept his vigil until he was as satisfied as he could be that Mishima had not been tailed to Leblanc by anyone.

Still keeping his guard up, Joker walked back to the counter and leaned against it. Mishima was beginning to calm down, but still looked seriously jittery. After taking a deep breath, Joker wished to himself that Ryuji was in the café. At least the Phantom Cell’s close combat specialist had fully healed up since being wounded on their last mission. Joker trusted and cared about Ryuji enough that he knew getting his leg healed had been worth expending the favor Tae Takemi had owed him.

Mishima took a deep breath of his own and asked Joker, “I know Sakamoto’s not here, but can I tell you what happened, Akira?”

Joker nodded and Mishima looked like he was right about to explain the reason for his unexpected intrusion. However, the door to the back room opened and Yusuke Kitagawa poked his head out.

Mishima looked to Yusuke. Before the Phantom Cell’s resident artist could say anything, Joker told Mishima, “This is another friend of mine. He was just about to leave…”

Yusuke asked Joker, “I was, but it sounds like something important has just arisen. May I stay to overhear?”

Joker sighed, but nodded in affirmation. He knew that in case the rest of the cell ultimately needed to be contacted in short order, it would be good to have Yusuke’s help. Joker knew that Yusuke was smart enough that he would probably not say anything sensitive to Mishima about the Phantoms’ operations.

While Yusuke entered the café’s dining area, Mishima took one more long breath and began, “So, earlier this evening I wasn’t far from school. I told my family I was going out to see a friend. I had just found a good wall to spray, when…”

Yusuke shook his head in anticipation of Joker face-palming and asking Mishima, “… You were actually gonna spray anti-Imperial graffiti, weren’t you? …You really better not have let any imps trail you here!”

Mishima sheepishly admitted, “I’ve pulled it off a couple times before. But this time, I got caught…”

Yusuke and Joker both blinked rapidly. The two young men looked to each other and then Mishima in shock. Yusuke nervously asked the young, fellow blue-haired, boy, “How are you here in that case?”

Joker nodded sharply in agreement with Yusuke, the borderline furious expression on his face making it crystal clear that he demanded an explanation here and now.

Mishima held out his hands and finally explained, “It was a stormtrooper sergeant, she was alone when she saw me start to spray and confronted me. I had no idea what she was gonna say. I thought I’d get hauled in, or even blasted on the spot. Thankfully, nothing I’d put up on the wall had really taken shape yet.”

 With Joker and Yusuke’s narrowed, expectant eyes still on him, Mishima continued, “I got REALLY lucky, you guys! She assumed I was just some young punk out causing mischief. She told me that if she caught me doing something like that again, I’d be arrested, and she confiscated my spray paint. When it looked like some other troopers and an officer were about to show up, she told me to go home and to not let her see me out so late again. I scrammed out of there as soon as she let me! That’s pretty weird, right? A trooper letting someone off with a warning?”

Joker shook his head and agreed, “Yes, it is. That’s something a local police officer might do, not an Imperial stormtrooper. They go beyond sticklers and don’t exactly make exceptions for kids, or for minor offenses…. Those human drones follow even the cruelest orders to the letter! That’s what they’re trained for! Conformity and loyalty mean more to them than even skill at arms. They’d only let someone off if the perpetrator was really well-connected. Even then, one of those fanatics would probably require a direct order from a superior officer first. …Whoever let you off was probably a local recruit. Still, her being in an NCO role makes me think she wasn’t just inducted into the corps yesterday…”

Yusuke nodded and added, “This is most certainly a curious case. It might bear further investigation into the identity and motives of the trooper in question.”

Mishima nodded and smiled, saying, “I’m glad I brought that intel to your attention in that case…”

Joker nodded, but then looked Mishima directly in the eyes. After everything the youth had just told him, Joker felt justified in his previous mistrust of Ryuji’s old friend. After taking a deep breath, Joker grabbed Mishima by the shoulders and told him, doing his absolute best to contain his fury, “What you’ve just told us may prove to be valuable. Still…we CANNOT have you out in the city spray-painting walls! I know you think you won’t break if the imps catch you, but they have ways of making people talk! You’re not even a hardened guerilla fighter or professional soldier. For the sake of overthrowing the Empire one day, you need to lay low until I say otherwise! If any other Imperial trooper or officer, or even a loyalist civilian, had caught you, we could be compromised right now!”

When Joker let go of Mishima’s shoulders, the young man nodded slowly and lowered his head. Hopefully, Mishima now understood the undeniable severity of the fate he had just barely avoided. He did even not try to verbally counter Joker or defend his actions.

Yusuke suggested to Mishima, while joker fumed, “You should return home. Take the quickest route that you can and do not tell ANYONE about your near-arrest, or about coming here. You should make up a cover story about seeing Ryuji Sakamoto to your family.”

Mishima nodded and cleared his throat awkwardly. He stammered, “I’m sorry I was stupid, Akira. Please know that I would never rat you or Sakamoto out! …Still, I’ll do what you say and lay low for now. …I just want to help fight injustice….”

With that, Mishima quickly departed Leblanc and darted down the street towards the nearest public transport station. Yusuke looked after him until he was no longer visible in the distance.

It actually took a couple minutes for Joker to calm down enough that he could tell Yusuke, “…We should contact everyone tomorrow morning and have the whole crew meet at the hideout in a few days at most. I hope Futaba finishes her work on our new droid squad by then. I’ll ask her to slice recent Imperial records when she’s got the time. Knowing Ann, she might be able to gather some intel about this trooper NCO for us once we put a couple of the other pieces together.”

Yusuke nodded slowly and told Joker, “Hearing Mishima talk about spray painting reminds me of the lower quality of my mentor’s works recently. He has been so focused on keeping up with the level of new output that Shido requires of him that he has truly ignored artistic flair. He now favors quantity over quality, thanks to the traitorous governor’s demand for propaganda pieces.”

Joker grimaced, while Yusuke continued, “Madarame and I have spent little time together lately, even though he used to be like a father to me. He trusts me to further my talents on my own, but fortunately does not care to see the results of my efforts all that often. I have avoided trying to spend more time with him out of fear that he will put me to work on some of the pro-Imperial ‘art’ commissioned by Shido. Or worse, he could learn how I truly feel about his employer and what I have been up to over the last few months.”

While Yusuke took a deep breath, Joker sighed and composed himself more thoroughly. The separatist operative told his subordinate, “It’s gotta be rough living right under the enemy’s nose more than any of us. Still, I trust you and your abilities far more than I trust Mishima and his discretion.” Joker chuckled and continued, “Despite, your potentially backfiring calling cards, you’ve been a real asset to the cause of Toruunian Independence. …Anyway, I think I better head up to my room once I’ve fully shut the café down for the night. Tomorrow, we’ll reach out to our comrades and set up our next meeting with the whole crew. We’ll need to gather some intel before locating, and possibly approaching, this lenient stormtrooper.”

Yusuke simply nodded, smiled, and saluted Joker. Soon enough, he was on his way, allowing Joker to complete his work and head off to bed. Joker knew that he would have a new task for Futaba the following morning. He wanted to learn everything he could about the trooper sergeant who had confronted Mishima. Without her TK number, it would be a challenge. However, he hoped that his small network would be up to the task and would unmask her in due time.

Chapter Text

Four Days Later: The Phantom Cell’s Hideout:  

            Over the course of the last few days, Futaba had completed her repair work on the cell’s Droideka and Super Battle Droid. Following that, the young tech wizard had gotten to work on the research Joker had requested. He wanted to know as much as possible about the Imperial stormtrooper sergeant who had refrained from arresting, or simply executing, Mishima for his late-night graffiti attempt.

            Futaba’s expert slicing had rapidly confirmed that a locally recruited stormtrooper sergeant had been detained by the Toruun Imperial garrison. It had happened very recently, and she was awaiting a court martial. Joker was sure that there had to be a connection between the trooper NCO’s detention and Mishima being spared a similar, or worse, fate.

            Seeing that she was the best in-person information gatherer among the Phantoms, Joker asked Ann to see what she could pick up about locally recruited female troopers who could fit the description he was looking for. She needed to determine the identity of someone who would have been considered eligible for promotion, yet were also the kind of person to show reasonable lenience. The candidate would also most likely be from Ryo.

            While Futaba worked on locating where the trooper the Phantoms were investigating was being held, Ann reported in that she had found a promising lead and would pursue it carefully. It had taken the young model less time than expected. Joker told Ann to find out whatever she could, but be cautious. The Phantoms had fallen for an Imperial trap before. They had nearly been wiped out by The Crow and his forces as a result. However, this scenario felt more convoluted, it had probably arisen naturally.

            The previous day, Ann had reported to Joker again via commlink. She informed him that she had gathered significant intelligence on the subject of the Phantom Cell’s investigation and was ready to report it to the entire group. The same day, Futaba told Joker that she had pinpointed the located of the same trooper via well-concealed digital snooping through the Empire’s files. Joker made the decision to call a meeting for the next day. There, Ann, and Futaba would present their findings to the rest of the crew.

            Now, the membership of the Phantom Cell had just convened in their underground hideout at the time scheduled in advance through their coordinated efforts. At this point, the old smugglers’ den was home to two landspeeders and nearly a dozen CIS combat automata.

The cell’s new droids were kept deactivated most of the time to conserve available power. However, this time the two BX Commando Droids Futaba had repaired were both active. They stood at attention, flanking her. Their blasters and vibroswords stowed, but ready to be drawn at a moment’s notice. Futaba had prepared a holoprojector atop the hideout’s main table, which she was ready to activate once Joker gave her permission.

Once everyone had convened around the table, Ryuji looked around and excitedly declared, “Ya know, I hated getting blasted by that imp, but this is sweet! We’ve got our own droid army now!”

The two droid commandos flanking Futaba remained silent. Their reinforced metal arms still at their sides for now. Futaba giggled and pointed out, “All thanks to me and Sophie. Anyway, it sounds like Ann’s got some new intel for us that even Joker hasn’t heard. I’ll go after she does.”

Ann nodded sharply and carefully handed Futaba a small data chip. The orange-haired girl inserted the chip into a slot in the base of her holoprojector.

After Futaba turned the holoprojector on, everyone, including the active droids, turned to face the projected picture of a modestly dressed young Toruunian woman with semi-short hair that reached close to her shoulders. Her hair, skin, eye, and clothing colors were impossible to make out thanks to the inherent blue coloration of whatever the holoprojector depicted.

Ann pointed to the picture and explained, “I was able to talk with some people I model for and their connections without drawing serious suspicion. I’m pretty sure I’ve found our woman. This is Makoto Niijima. The image here is at least a year old and comes from school records, but it should still be pretty accurate.”

Joker nodded and asked Ann, “She’s Toruunian alright. She doesn’t look much older than us. Shido’s local training facilities have somewhat laxer standards for things like uniform height and minimum age than most imp academies, so I guess I can see her getting admitted to one. What else do you have on her and how are you sure that she’s the one who let Mishima off?”

Ann nodded and continued, “First off, she entered the local Imperial academy after an early graduation from the same school Mishima’s attending right now. She was a star student there, and even served as the student body president. Her peers described her as having a strong sense of justice, but being a bit distant. It was never clear to them what she was interested in outside of academics. She’s also reportedly a student of ancient Toruunian martial arts who competed in a couple of high-profile tournaments before entering the Imperial academy at a prodigious age.”

While Yusuke nodded along, clearly intrigued by Makoto, Joker asked, “That tells us a lot about this girl’s background. What I’m wondering is how do we know for sure that she’s the one who got detained for failing to follow protocol with Mishima?”

Ann was ready for Joker’s question. She reported, “I was able to confirm that Makoto’s older sister, Sae Niijima, is a local prosecutor who officially works for the Empire. However, the sort cases she handles are unrelated to political dissent. It was Sae’s boss in Shido’s judicial department who recommended Makoto to the academy, despite her young age. Apparently, Sae is desperately trying to hold on to her position right now, since her director is seriously upset that Makoto got in trouble and was detained. Makoto excelled at the local imp academy and became a stormtrooper sergeant right after graduating. It sounded like everyone who knew her expected her to become a ranking officer in no time.”

Haru inferred, “If this Makoto Niijima let Mishima go with a warning, maybe her ‘sense of justice’ was why? Maybe she didn’t think turning in ‘some kid’ and ruining his life was justified?”

Yusuke added, “Perhaps her loyalty to procedure remained strong enough to make her report the incident to her superior officer? She didn’t demand Mishima’s chain code, which will thankfully make it harder for the Empire to track him down.”

Ann nodded and told everyone, “She reportedly surrendered for detention without putting up resistance after she gave her report. Still, what other choice would she have? The troopers serving under her would’ve sided with their superior officer for sure.”

Ryuji suggested, “It was prolly really dark when Mishima got caught. I hope Niijima didn’t get a great look at him. She could’ve still told some other imps what he looks like. Especially when she learned she broke one of their rotten rules.”

Joker told Ryuji, “Like I asked you a few days ago, please get in contact with Mishima at least once a day. We need to know immediately if he attracts any more enemy attention. He NEEDS to keep laying low for now. Luckily, I think the imps would’ve tracked him down by now if they cared enough. Thankfully, a trooper NCO disobeying regulations seems to have distracted them, not to mention that Mishima never got the chance to get too far with his graffiti. We honestly got really lucky on multiple counts that night.”

Ryuji saluted Joker while Futaba asked the leader of the Phantoms, “So, what do you think we should do, Joker? I know where Niijima’s being held. I think you guys stand a real chance of getting in and out of there fast and doing some damage along the way. It would also let you test out our new droids in a real fight. Still, it’ll be a risky mission, especially to free someone who willingly joined the imps.”

Joker nodded slowly and put a hand on his chin. He looked around at his crew and their various droids. After taking a quick breath, Joker requested, “Futaba, give us your intel first. I definitely won’t make the call to mount a rescue mission unless Niijima’s being held somewhere we can break in and out of fast. We also need to be able get there and back with at least some of our battle droids in tow. So, what’ve you learned?”

Futaba saluted Joker. She quickly removed Ann’s data chip from her holoprojector and inserted a different chip. The projector now showed a three-dimensional layout of a walled facility not far from some buildings Joker recognized as being in Northern Ryo. Joker noticed a few light defensive turrets and an open courtyard in the southern part of the facility. It was somewhat similar to the staging ground his crew had fought inside of during Haru’s first mission with the cell. A red dot shone through inside of a short, reinforced building just inside of the wall and close to the courtyard.

With all eyes on the hologram, Futaba explained, “This is one of the local imp garrison’s outer facilities. Thankfully, there’re two sewer entrances only around a block from it. The place is home to a small stockade and some supply buildings. There aren’t any big guns set up there and the largest enemy vehicle you’ll probably find is an AT-ST. It’s also pretty far from the garrison’s airfields. I think I can whip another tool that’ll jam the security systems and open the southern gates. The bad news is, even at night, this place is better guarded than the supply depot was. The good news is that our new commando droids should be able to quietly deliver the payload to an imp console while everyone else hangs back. Once they deactivate the security, you can rush in and surprise the imps! …Just make sure to get out fast once you’ve secured Niijima.”

Yusuke nodded and added, “With the facility so close to their main garrison, the Imperials will be able to rapidly rally a massive response force once they realize they’ve been attacked.”

Joker admitted, “It’s a really tempting target. If we rescue Niijima, we may be able to learn a lot about the enemy’s operations on Toruun from her. If she could be persuaded to become a Phantom, she could make a very useful ally based on what Ann told us. We still don’t know what the enemy plans on doing with Niijima. Still, her being detained for such a minor ‘mistake’ just shows how painfully strict the Empire is with even their own soldiers. The facility could also have useful supplies for us to loot. Right now, what we need more than anything is credits.”

With all eyes on him now, Joker clenched his fists and added, “If we use any of our battle droids in the raid, the Empire will know that we’ve gotten some activated, even if it’s only a few of them. It will fuel the enemy’s propaganda for sure. However, it could also begin to remind the citizens of Toruun that the separatist cause is not dead! …I think we should prepare to launch a night raid on the enemy facility, spearheaded by our new droid commandos, within the week. Once we’re inside the enemy base, I’ll go for Niijima while the rest of you keep the imps off me and see what credits and supplies you can liberate. Does everyone understand?”

Joker’s comrades all nodded while Sophie beeped in affirmation. Futaba announced, “I’ll get to work cooking up a new hacking tool! I think Sophie and I’ll stay here for this mission, but I’ll get the rest of the droids ready to move out at your command, Joker.”

With that, Joker ordered, “Ok, everyone, you’re dismissed. Keep your commlinks close so that we can plan our next mission’s date as soon as Futaba has her new gadget ready. We’ll show the so-called Galactic Empire what Toruunian separatists can still accomplish soon enough!”

Ryuji pumped a fist into the air while the rest of the Phantom Cell started heading out. The two commando droids sharply saluted Joker and Futaba and then stood by while Futaba excitedly began to work on preparing her next tool of technological chaos.

On his way out after everyone else had departed, Ryuji told Joker, “I’ll keep in touch with Mishima… I’m really sorry about the whole graffiti thing… I didn’t know about him doin that until ya told me.”

Joker smiled over at Ryuji as best as he could and responded, “I just hope that the kid’s learned his lesson, man. It was a real close call for him and for our crew. With any luck, we can turn this situation to the cause’s advantage soon enough.”

Ryuji smiled back at Joker and told him, “Yeah, we’re doin this so that my dad and your folks’ dream comes true. I won’t stop until Toruun’s free of the imps! Ya know me.”

Joker gave Ryuji a cocky grin and finished, “Yes, I do. …Why else would I have used up my favor with Doc Takemi to make sure you stayed in fighting shape. Anyway, you better get home to your mom. I know she worries about you. We’ll stay in touch like always.”

Ryuji saluted Joker and then headed over to the hideout’s lift. Soon enough, he was gone. That left only Joker, Futaba, and their droids alone in the base.

Joker decided to review his new droid troops again, deactivated as they were. Yusuke had painted a few of the B1s black and red in varied patterns. The Droideka had been painted black on its outer shell with some red highlights on the armored droid’s silvery interior. Going for a more traditional separatist aesthetic, Yusuke had painted the Phantom Cell’s new super battle droid blue with some white stripes. The heavy combat automaton’s new coloration was vaguely reminiscent of Yusuke’s own dyed hair.

When he looked the restored and painted droids over, Joker could not help but smile. Yes, they were programmed automatons. However, so was Sophie and she had her own personality and legitimate commitment to the team. It would not be long until the old battle droids would be sent into action to aid in the fight for Toruun’s freedom.

Chapter Text

Three Nights Later: Northern Ryo’s Old Sewer System:

             Following Joker’s decision to prepare for a raid on the Imperial facility containing the stockade where Makoto Niijima was being held, Futaba created an even more advanced version of the corruptive datastick Yusuke had used to cripple the coastal supply depot’s security systems. The main obstacle to its deployment was that, as in the earlier operation, it would have to be delivered to a control console manually.

            Based on her readout of the Imperial base, Futaba believed that her two newly reactivated commando droids could get the job done. The pair of advanced combat droids would therefore deploy ahead of the main force. After scaling the relatively short walls of the installation, they would infiltrate the control tower and install the datastick. Once the gates to the Imperial facility opened, the human members of the Phantom Cell would advance out from hiding and engage the enemy defenders, aided by their other droids.

            The night of the attack had come. Joker’s crew had all prepared alibis for that evening. Ann still did not need to come up with one, thanks to her parents extended stay off-planet. Haru was not being watched all that carefully by the managers of her father’s estate. They had bigger issues on their plates as long as Haru pretended to be harmless and demure, and stayed out of their way.

Joker had informed Sojiro of the planned attack. The old former TDF officer had issued all of his usual warnings. However, he was relieved that Futaba would stay behind on this operation. She would be with Sophie at the hideout. Joker knew well that Sojiro strongly preferred to have his adopted daughter out of the way of danger.

This time, the Phantoms relied on their knowledge and maps of Ryo’s sewer system, both the active and inactive tunnels, to advance beneath the city’s streets undetected. The tunnels now resounded with the clanking footsteps of battle-ready droids marching alongside the human Phantoms.

With a rolling Droideka at the head of their precession, ready to unfurl at the first sign of danger, Joker and his cell wore their masks and hoods. Futaba had discovered that the Empire had beefed up security in and around the sewer tunnels that ran beneath the city center through masterful slicing. Shido’s forces clearly did not want any separatists, or other rebels, surfacing in Ryo’s government district to mount a surprise attack. Due to limitations on their available resources, the Imperial Garrison could not afford to have probe droids and security cams covering the entire sewer network at once. Therefore, Joker’s raiders made sure to avoid the central sections of the tunnel network.

Based on the map currently occupying his datapad’s screen, Joker knew that his forces were closing in on their target. Just up ahead, the tunnel terminated, and a series of rungs allowed access to the surface. Based on the reports he had been given, this sewer entrance was located in a back alley very close to the Imperial base where Makoto Niijima had found herself imprisoned. Once his forces were topside, they would survey their target and send in the commando droids to begin their infiltration.

While the raiding party closed in on the ladder, Joker was about to offer to go first to make sure the coast was clear. However, Ryuji pointed to the cell’s Droideka and asked, “Hey, Joker, how are we gonna get it up there?”

The black-painted heavy combat droid rolled to the side, unfurled onto its three legs, and awaited orders, its shield inactive for now. One of the B1 droids looked to Joker and added in a nasally mechanical voice, “That could be a problem, commander.”

In a much colder voice, one of the commando droids pointed out, “We could require that unit’s superior firepower if we encounter heavy resistance.”

Joker nodded and realized what he was going to have to do if he wanted the destroyer droid’s support in the inevitable skirmish. With all eyes and photoceptors on him, he ordered, “I’ll go up first and secure our infiltration point. Everyone else will come up after me. Our B2 will come up second to last, keeping watch at the bottom for the rest of the strike force. I think I’ve got a way to get our Droideka up the ladder once everyone else is topside, but I’ll need to rest afterwards for a bit… if it works.”

Some of the B1 droids looked to each other and shrugged. A few of their old quirks remained, even after Futaba’s intensive reprogramming.

Joker’s human comrades all saluted him, having some idea of what he planned to do. After that, Joker darted up the ladder and opened the sewer cover manually. After it slid open, he scanned his immediate surroundings and then climbed up and out. He hastily, yet carefully, checked down every nearby corner and saw no Imperials or civilians anywhere too close.

With the coast clear for now, Joker motioned for his allies to begin climbing up, one by one. After a couple minutes, the B2 droid finally lumbered up the ladder, leaving the Droideka at the base of the ladder by itself.

Once the Droideka sat directly below the opened sewer entrance, Joker ordered his strike force to split up and make sure that all of the nearby alleyways were covered. They were not far from the Imperial installation now. If the lookouts saw any civilians getting too close, they were to shoot to stun them, ideally knocking them out before they could realize anyone was hiding in the alleys.

The same order held for any isolated Imperials the separatists detected. Stun blasts were quieter than standard blaster bolts. They were therefore preferable for this stage in the operation. The enemy garrison could not be allowed to learn of the strike force’s presence until their security systems were hacked and the battle began in earnest.

Joker peered down the hole that led into the old, dry sewer tunnel and focused himself as thoroughly as he could. Channeling his focus on achieving victory and his desire to see Toruunians embrace their separatist history, he summoned the force and attempted to lift the Droideka up and out of the sewers.

It was not easy, that much was for sure. Even with the destroyer droid rolled up into a ball, Joker failed two attempts, only getting the old droid a meter or so off of the ground each time. On his third try, he was beginning to become frustrated and tired. However, in one mighty burst of telekinetic exertion, Joker raised his arms and the rolled-up Droideka quickly found itself lifted up past the ladder’s rungs, one after another.

Determined not to fail now, especially since dropping the heavy droid would make an impressive clanging noise that could easily alert hostile forces, Joker telekinetically lifted his cell’s Droideka out of the sewer and set it down on the pavement only about a half meter away from him.

While Joker panted heavily, feeling exhausted yet triumphant, Noir walked over and closed the sewer for him. Now, the entire strike force was topside and would soon be ready to commence their attack.

Joker took a long series of deep breaths, and slowly stood up with his forces keeping him covered and keeping watch. His droids were speechless about what had just happened. If they even remembered the Jedi, they would remember them as enemies. Still, Count Dooku himself had once been a Jedi Master. That had been before Dooku had left the Galactic Republic and the Jedi Order out of disgust with their tolerance for political corruption and neglectful attitude towards most rimworlds.

Once Joker felt recovered enough to take command of his strike force again, he looked around and quietly ordered, “We’ll begin our advance on the Imperial base now. Stick to the alleys and keep clear of any searchlights. Once we’re in position, we’ll send in our commando droids to start things off.”

With that, Joker led the way forward past a series of small warehouses. It did not take long for the strike force to reach the edge of the alleyway network. They took cover by leaning against the walls of the warehouses closest to the Imperial base ahead of them.

This was indeed a smaller, outlying, Imperial facility. Unlike the main garrison situated not far to the north, this base was bordered by shorter metal walls that were only around a story or two high. Two shut gates were visible, embedded in the wall segment the strike force was closest too.

Joker drew his macrobinoculars and scanned the top of the Imperial base’s walls. He made out a couple of stormtroopers on patrol. They thankfully did not appear to be at peak alertness. That was probably due to the time of day, low light level, and the comparative unimportance of the base they patrolled. The wall featured four visible repeating blaster turrets spaced out along the battlements. However, they were all unmanned right now. Joker also noticed a relatively short security tower on the wall that sported two searchlights mounted on its top.

The two searchlights swept the area between the base’s walls and the warehouses with predictable, repeating patterns. Based on their sweep patterns, the searchlights were almost certainly automated, rather than being manned remotely.

Seeing that the base’s two gates were unlikely to open any time soon, Joker pointed to his cell’s two commando droids and motioned for them to come over. Once they stood silently in front of him, he quietly ordered the two elite droids, “Get up to the top of that wall and into the security tower by any means necessary. Don’t let the hostiles inside detect you.” He then handed one of the droids Futaba’s new datastick and added, “Once you’re inside, plug this into a control console. After their security’s down, we’ll charge in to relieve you. As soon as the blaster fire starts, you’ll go weapons free and support us from above.”

The two BX droids nodded mechanically in affirmation. The one who Joker had given the datastick to responded, “Understood, commander. It will be done.”

The pair of droid commandos nodded to each other, keeping their blasters and blades stowed for now. They darted out of the alley with perfect precision and made it past the sweeping searchlights within seconds. After that, they began to climb the walls with impressive precision and efficiency, using whatever they could find for hand and footholds. It did not take long for the two advanced combat droids to reach the top of the wall and disappear from view.

Joker looked around at his small force and quietly ordered, “As soon as the gates open and the searchlights go out, we’ll charge in and engage the enemy. We’ll wipe out the troopers on guard duty and then you all will split up. You need to quickly search for credits, and other loot, and prepare to engage any and all imp reinforcements. Once I liberate Niijima, we’ll have to fall back quickly to avoid being overwhelmed. The enemy’s main garrison isn’t far from here.”

Everyone except for the Phantom Cell’s super battle droid and Droideka nodded. Joker and his allies kept their weapons held close, ready to charge into battle at a moment’s notice. Noir had her upgraded Imperial blaster at the ready. However, she had also packed her rocket launcher and a few explosive charges. It was good to be prepared in case the Phantoms faced enemy armored vehicles, or heavy stationary defenses, inside of the base.

            Joker was unsure how much time had passed since the commando droids had infiltrated the Imperial compound. The good news was that no blaster fire or alarms had gone off since the two droids had begun their infiltration.

            With little warning, the two southern gates leading into the base slid open. The searchlights atop the security tower shut off and voices began to cry out in confusion from within the walled base.

            Seeing that it was now or never, Joker drew and pointed his blaster pistol ahead. Knowing that Shido’s propaganda team would have a lot to say about his latest raid no matter the outcome, he shouted at the top of his lungs, “For Toruun and for independence! CHARGE!”

            Joker’s strike force surged ahead out of the alleyway. Droids and humans alike charged ahead towards the two open gates. Their Droideka rolled forward for now. It would unfurl and open fire once it found a good position to claim inside of the base. Blaster fire sprayed down from the northern wall into the courtyard below. The commando droids were following their orders perfectly.

             A series of voices cried out in alarm this time. However, the base’s actual alarms were fried thanks to Oracle’s datastick. The enemy would have to call in backup via personal commlinks. The base’s security cams and sensors would also be useless for the time being.

            A small squad of stormtroopers backed by a heavy assault trooper and commanded by an Imperial Lieutenant rushed towards the open gates, trying to prevent the charging Phantoms from gaining entrance. However, they were still shaken by the sudden attack and crippling of their security systems.

            Scattered Imperial blaster fire flew out at the advancing resistance fighters, burning into the ground beneath their feet and the walls behind them.

            Joker ordered, “Return fire! We’re getting inside, dammit!” He aimed his DC-17, squeezed the trigger, and nailed the advancing enemy heavy assault trooper with a precise headshot.

            Fox laid down suppressing sniper fire while Skull rushed ahead of the others, weapons drawn. One of the Phantom Cell’s B1 droids took two bolts to the chest and one to the head and crumpled. His comrades, taking advantage of their upgraded combat protocols, bobbed, weaved, and rolled to throw off the Imperials’ aim. The enhanced combat droids took rapid yet precise aim and returned fire. They dropped trooper after trooper while keeping up their rapid advance.

            Panther riddled the Imperial Lieutenant with repeating blaster fire until he collapsed in a smoking heap. The Phantom Cell’s super battle droid was unable to keep up with other droids. However, he more than made up for it by unleashing a blistering barrage of crimson plasma from his arm-mounted dual repeating blasters.

            Three surprised Imperial troopers fell to the B2 droid’s merciless barrage. The four or so remaining stormtroopers guarding the gates fell back, seeing that they were badly outnumbered now.

            Skull caught up to one retreating stormtrooper and launched her into a nearby supply crate with a single energy blast from his shock blaster. Fox downed another fleeing hostile with a sniper bolt to the back.

            The Phantoms burst through the opened gates into the facility proper. Joker saw that a commando droid was still laying down covering fire from just outside of the security tower. Nearby him, it appeared that a stormtrooper was firing down at his own comrades to the north. Joker grinned, remembering that BX droids could somehow don and wear the armor of hostile soldiers for disguise purposes. That could help explain how the elite droids had gained access to the security tower in the first place.

            Joker’s forces fanned out into the open facility, taking cover where they could. Roughly five hostile troopers remained in the facility. However, they had begun retreating north. They certainly intended to fetch reinforcements from the main garrison and mount a massed counterattack.

            The Phantom Cell’s Droideka rolled past the various supply crates in the southern portion of the base and unfurled. After deploying its blue deflector shield, the armored war machine unloaded blaster fire from its arm-mounted cannons without mercy or hesitation. Two retreating stormtroopers were felled by the barrage of crimson energy before they could flee the base.

            Joker ordered, “Droids, keep watch and mop up any enemy stragglers! Phantoms, search for whatever valuable loot these crates might contain! Focus on credits above everything else! I’m going for Niijima in the stockade.”

            With that, Joker darted towards the reinforced metal structure on the southeastern side of the base. Its main door was wide open thanks to Oracle’s specially concocted computer virus.

            Unless the Empire brought in some seriously heavy firepower on very short notice, they would have real trouble retaking the facility before the Phantoms fell back. Still, Joker knew that the Empire was not going to simply wait passively for the separatist force that had occupied one of their bases to leave. They were not going to take this latest ‘terrorist attack’ lying down. That was for sure.

            Joker sprinted into the stockade building through its open door. He looked around and saw an empty security checkpoint in front of a hallway just beyond the door that ran north to south. He checked out the checkpoint slowly and carefully, and then advanced. The second he entered the hallway; Joker felt a sharp pang in his head and leapt back in response.

A pair of Imperial stormtroopers who had hidden in the hallway leaned out from their cover. One on each side of the entryway. Thankfully, they had clearly been unsure if the noise they had just heard had come from an intruder or an ally.

Joker fired two bolts from his DC-17 into the upper chest of one of the two troopers from where he stood. While the first trooper collapsed, his comrade aimed her weapon and fired a shot that streaked narrowly past Joker’s hood.

Grinning instinctively, Joker held out his free hand and focused his fury at the Empire onto his target. The surviving enemy trooper went flying into the nearest wall and was stunned from the impact.

Joker drew his vibroknife with his free hand, and charged towards the dazed trooper. His blade met her throat before she could refocus herself and aim her blaster again.

Looking down both hallways, Joker took a minute to steady himself and check the area thoroughly. After some time spent scanning the vicinity, he was pretty sure that he was clear for now. The cells here were unoccupied. However, the red energy walls keeping them sealed were still active, having been one of the few security features of the base unaffected by Oracle’s potent computer virus.

Joker walked south down the hallway, blaster pistol drawn and at the ready. He soon heard an authoritative, yet concerned, female voice asking, “Troopers? What’s going on? What was all that noise?”

Joker smiled, knowing that the voice had probably come from the person he was there to free. He darted ahead, past a wall rack holding multiple pairs of binders, until he stood in front of a cell holding a young woman with brown-dyed short hair. She certainly matched Makoto Niijima’s description. She only wore a tight, black body glove of the style usually worn by stormtroopers and their clone forebearers under their plastoid armor plates.

Seeing that Makoto was not restrained in her cell and that a simple control panel marked the wall nearby, Joker aimed his DC-17 and fired a single azure bolt, which fried the panel.

When the shield that had kept her confined shut down, Makoto looked out at Joker and skeptically asked him, “…Who are you?”

Joker responded, “You can call me Joker, I’m here to rescue…”

Before Joker could finish his sentence, Makoto’s gaze landed on his CIS armband and she staggered back, her eyes narrowing. She stammered, “…You…you’re one of those separatists! The ones that evaded even Captain Akechi!”

Joker nodded, seeing no reason to lie. However, Makoto wasted no more time, leaping out of her cell and attempting to kick him right in the face.

 Joker narrowly dodged to the side, evading the flying kick, while Makoto landed and assumed a fighting pose. He frustratedly told Makoto, “I’m here to bust you out, dammit! I’m not some terrorist like Shido and Yoshizawa say I am!”

Makoto blinked in confusion, but still cocked a fist to attack Joker again. She spitefully asked him, “Why should I trust any separatist?”

Joker groaned and switched his blaster pistol to stun mode. He could just gun Makoto down, but there was a chance she could still be of use to his cause. She would have to be subdued nonlethally.

Makoto was distracted from punching Joker for a brief moment by the sounds of combat echoing in from outside. It sounded liked Imperial reinforcements had already arrived. Hopefully, Joker’s allies could hold them off until it was time to retreat.  

Joker fired a stun blast point-blank into Makoto. The ring of blue energy washed over her, forcing her to stagger back. However, steely determination marked her face, despite her suddenly desperately struggle just to stay upright.

Before Makoto could make a desperate final attempt to attack him again, Joker told her, “You’re a real tough one, I’ll give you that. I could use someone like you.” While Makoto glared at him, Joker fired a second stun blast that knocked her out cold.

Makoto fell into Joker’s waiting free arm. He lowered her to the floor carefully while the sounds of battle outside continued to ring out. Joker ran over to the nearby binder rack and retrieved two pairs of the restraints. He rapidly cuffed Makoto’s wrists and ankles and threw her over his shoulder.

The whole situation was quite awkward and deeply frustrating. However, something told Joker that Makoto Niijima should not be left in the Empire’s custody. He began to head for the exit of the stockade while the sounds of active battle intensified outside.

Joker would need to quickly rendezvous with his allies and coordinate their retreat from the Imperial base. Even though Makoto Niijima was not the willing ally some part of Joker had hoped she would be, it was possible that she could be deprogrammed from Imperial propaganda in the days to come. She would be taken back to the Phantoms’ hideout, assuming that the resistance cell could escape the Imperial counterattack. Joker was well aware that he had no time to waste. His enemies would not suffer another humiliation from his cell without a fight.

Chapter Text

Moments Later: The Imperial Base’s Courtyard:

            Joker moved through the Imperial stockade as fast as he could with the restrained and unconscious Makoto Niijima slung over his shoulder. His other hand gripped his DC-17 blaster pistol, which he held out in front of him. He had quickly switched the pistol’s firing mode back to lethal bolts.

            The sounds of intense blaster fire being exchanged resounded out from the courtyard. Joker hated to admit it to himself, but the local Imperials were responding to threats inside of Ryo faster. The enemy had already marshalled significant forces to begin their counterattack. There was also the trap they had laid for the Phantoms at the landing pad and the rapid deployment of probe droids during the separatist cell’s bunker investigation.

            Joker peered out of the bunker and saw that his forces were mostly positioned behind cover on the southern side of the base’s courtyard. Their shielded Droideka stood in front of the crates, unloading barrage after barrage of blaster fire from its two dual blaster cannons. The Phantom Cell’s five remaining B1 droids and single super battle droid had all taken cover behind various supply crates and containers while keeping up a bombardment of precision blaster fire aimed at the northern section of the facility. The commando droids provided precise and deadly support fire from their elevated positions. The formerly disguised one having removed his looted stormtrooper armor.  

            Skull and Panther had ducked behind cover and were packing Imperial credits and other supplies into their packs. Noir had just drawn her rocket launcher and aimed it towards one of the base’s northern gates. Finally, Fox was positioned not far from Joker, covered by heavy fire from the cell’s B2 droid. He had his sniper rifle out and trained on one of the northern gates.

            Advancing into the facility and taking cover where they could, a wave of at least ten Imperial stormtroopers had arrived on the scene. They were led by a Lieutenant wearing a reinforced field helmet equipped with protective goggles.

            Joker grimaced when he saw an AT-ST walker advance into the base and train its guns on his Droideka. However, Noir was prepared. She fired a missile from her rocket launcher that slammed into the scout walker’s neck, and sent the vehicle’s remains crashing to the ground, crushing a stormtrooper in the process.

            With the Imperial troops on the ground briefly distracted, Joker rushed towards Fox. He slid into cover and put his unconscious prisoner down before the enemy could open fire on him.

            After firing a shot from his high-powered blaster rifle, Fox turned to Joker and saw Makoto. He calmly asked, “I take it she resisted being rescued?”

            Joker nodded and asked Fox, “What’re we dealing with in terms of imps?”

            Fox nodded back at Joker, and returned to taking aim at the hostiles across the courtyard. He responded over the noise of the nearby super battle droid’s repeating blasters, “We should fall back shortly. I believe they have another scout walker incoming from the main garrison. They’ve also sent in two Marauder transport landspeeders, which are presently disgorging troopers into the facility from the immediate north. Given time, they will certainly ascertain our numbers and move to outflank us.”

            Joker picked Niijima back up and carried her over to the nearby super battle droid. He told the heavy combat automaton, “Hold onto her for me. Make sure she doesn’t get left behind here.”

            The B2 droid mechanically responded, “Roger, roger.” He grabbed onto Makoto with his free hand and hoisted her over his shoulder. The vaguely humanoid war machine barely ceased his withering barrage of repeating blaster fire in the process, impressing Joker.

            While the Imperial troops on the opposite side of courtyard were pinned down by heavy separatist fire for the moment, Joker scanned the evening sky. He was sure that airborne enemy backup would be deployed any minute now. What he saw instead concerned him just as much. A mammoth AT-AT walker had been deployed from the main garrison and was steadily marching south. The heavy assault walker would be immune to just about any weapon the Phantoms could bring to bear against it.

            Joker turned to Skull and Panther and ordered as loudly as he could, “They’ve got an AT-AT on the way! Finish packing up the credits and start falling back! We can’t stay here for long!”

            Right when Joker aimed his weapon at the Imperial infantry to the north, he saw a burst of well-aimed crimson blaster fire tear the head off of one of his five surviving B1 units.

            A firm male voice Joker had not heard in person for some time called out, “Engage the separatist traitors and prevent their escape! Advance, for the Empire and for Toruun!”

            Joker’s eyes narrowed when he saw Captain Goro Akechi rushing towards the Imperial front ranks. He carried a long-barreled, DLT-19 repeating blaster and wore a reinforced helmet instead of his standard-issue cap.

            The Imperial infantry began to advance out of cover, knowing that they had reinforcements on the way, and their enemies did not. A rocket dumb fired from an Imperial launcher barely missed blowing the Phantom Cell’s Droideka to shreds. It detonated on the courtyard’s pavement, creating a noticeable crater where it had impacted.

            Fox sniped the closest rocket launcher-toting stormtrooper while Skull and Panther finished their looting, donned their packs, and drew their blasters. Noir switched to her blaster carbine while the commando droids on the southern wall prepared to cover their allies’ retreat.

            Joker ordered, “Alright, we’re falling back! No time for a calling card, Fox!”

            With that, the Phantom Cell’s human members began their hasty retreat, covered by their droids. Their Droideka rapidly rolled up into a reinforced ball and joined its allies.

            The Phantoms’ other droids fell back under heavy fire after firing off one last salvo at the advancing Imperial forces. Noir holstered her blaster carbine and stopped momentarily to toss two grenades at the incoming stormtroopers led by Akechi. However, they detonated into clouds of thick gray smoke, obscuring the Phantoms from their foes, but inflicting no direct damage.

            With his B2 droid carrying Niijima for him, Joker led the retreat out of the base’s gates. It did not take long for the two commando droids to jump down from the walls, rolling to reduce the force of their impacts with the ground.

            Once they were clear of the base and retreating towards the alleyways, Skull looked to his comrades and declared, “We took out a lotta those rotten imps tonight! …We could’ve gotten Akechi, though! He was right there!”

            Joker quickly responded, “It’s not worth the risk. He has a lot of forces here already! They’ll deploy air support any minute unless we get back to the tunnel fast! Besides, based on how tenacious he was last time, we might see him again soon. …Noir, good job with those smoke bombs! Now, prep some explosive charges to collapse the sewer tunnel behind us once we’re all through and clear of the entrance!”

            Noir nodded sharply and fell slightly behind her fleeing comrades. The rest of the strike force kept up their retreat south, the occasional blaster bolt flying past them.

            Knowing that the enemy vanguard would advance in force past the smoke clouds Noir had deployed any second now, Joker led the way into the alleys. Soon enough, the strike force reached the sewer entrance. Skull, Panther, and Fox went down first, covered by fire from their cell’s infantry droids. Captain Akechi and at least eight stormtroopers advanced carefully into the alleys, trying to catch up to the Phantoms without being gunned down in the process.

            Joker motioned for the cell’s droids to jump down, and then put down some covering fire using his DC-17. He could hear the sounds of a scout walker and two Imperial gunships rapidly closing in on his position.

            The Phantom Cell’s Droideka rolled down into the sewer below, landing with a resounding metallic thud. It then rolled on undeterred. The B1 and BX droids jumped down one by one after that.

            After putting down one last spread of suppressing fire with his repeating blasters, downing two stormtroopers in the process, the B2 droid with Makoto slung over his shoulder began to climb down into the tunnel below. Now, only Joker and Noir remained topside.

            Joker told Noir, “Get those charges set! I’ll be right behind you!”

Noir saluted Joker, tossed one more smoke bomb at the advancing enemies, and then darted down into the tunnel below.

            Seeing that there was no more reason to stick around, Joker fired three rapid shots from his blaster pistol into the thick smoke to his immediate north. He then jumped down into the tunnel. There, he saw Noir placing two heavy explosive charges on the tunnel’s walls.

            With most of his team already running down the tunnel as planned, Noir gave Joker a thumbs up. The two resistance fighters darted away from the charges while Noir drew a detonator.

            Joker soon heard Captain Akechi’s echoing voice calling out, “Wait, don’t go after them… Get back, everyone!” The competent Imperial officer had to have seen the charges Noir had set.

            Hearing footsteps quickly retreating back from the tunnel and knowing that the Imperials could try using an ion weapon to disable the charges if they got one into position, Joker told Noir, “Do it!”

            Noir nodded sharply and pressed down on her detonator’s red button. A wave of fire and shrapnel smashed through the tunnel walls just north of the fleeing Phantoms and their droids.

            Joker and Noir catapulted themselves through the tunnel as fast as they could. They narrowly outran the explosive blast that shook the ground and collapsed the section of sewer tunnel directly behind them.

            It did not take long for the strike force to regroup after traveling a short distance from the sight of their successful raid. Joker looked his forces over and saw that his cell’s B2 droid and one of their BX units had taken some blaster damage in the recent firefights. However, they remained intact and operational, thanks to their reinforced armor. The Phantoms’ Droideka had been protected from heavy Imperial fire thanks to its deflector shield. The droid’s built-in shield projector would ideally have more than enough time to recharge before the next skirmish. The Droideka had been dented by its voluntary fall after the battle, but that slight bit of damage would be easy to fix.

            Panther asked, “What’s the plan now, Joker?”

            Joker nodded and ordered, “I’ll take the droids and return to the hideout. Everyone else will split off from the main group and head home at the appropriate junctions. We’ll travel as a group for now. …As you all can see, Niijima was unenthused to be rescued by a separatist. I’ll contact Oracle on the way back and let her know how things went. We’ll question Niijima once we regroup at the hideout, ideally tomorrow.”

            While the Phantoms and their droid allies got moving again, Fox pointed out, “We should keep our hoods and masks on until we leave the sewers. The Empire will likely send units into the tunnels as soon as they can. We should accept that it will soon become nearly impossible for us to use these tunnels to move under Ryo’s streets undetected.”

            Joker and the others nodded while Noir mentioned, “I have plans tomorrow. I trust that you all can handle questioning Niijima.”

            Skull admitted, “I guess we’ll have ta keep her in the hideout for now. It’ll be risky, keeping a prisoner around. Still, ya know I trust you, Joker.”

            Panther nodded in agreement with Skull while the returning strike force picked up the pace. Joker responded, “I get your point, Skull. Still, she could have information we can use. I also hope that she can eventually be convinced that the Empire is unworthy of Toruunian support. She at least deserves to hear the truth from us, since she let Mishima go earlier.”

            With that, Joker led his comrades and their droids south below Ryo’s streets with all deliberate speed. They avoided the tunnels below the city center and the areas directly around known sewer entrances as best as they could. However, they all kept their weapons at the ready, knowing that Imperial troopers or droids could appear and engage them at any moment.

            Over the course of the next few hours, Joker, and his strike force trekked south through Ryo’s sewer tunnels as fast as they could without exhausting the human Phantoms. They avoided the tunnel sections beneath the city center and only rarely stopped to take short breaks.

Thankfully, their Imperial enemies only knew where the Phantoms had re-entered the sewers, not where they were heading now. That was what Joker figured ultimately allowed his retreating strike force to reach the tunnels beneath Southern Ryo without encountering any Imperial forces.

Joker gave the order for his team to split up once he was reasonably sure that the were far enough away from where the Empire would be looking for them. Every human Phantom was to report in over commlink once they were safely home, as usual. As for Joker himself, he marched towards the hideout’s concealed sewer entrance along with his eight droids. On the way back, he contacted Oracle, who sounded tired, and apprised her of the situation.

Based on her short reply, Oracle was noticeably annoyed that two of her upgraded B1s had been lost in action. However, she was relieved that the human Phantoms and their other droids had all survived the skirmishes, even though a couple of the advanced combat droids had been damaged in the fighting. Oracle and Sophie would certainly be able to repair those units given time. Also, Skull and Panther had looted fresh Imperial credit chips that would make another visit to Iwai possible in the near future.

When Joker entered the hideout with his eight combat droids in tow and made sure that both doors were shut behind him, a sleepy looking Oracle walked over and began to look over the damaged commando droid.

While the super battle droid carefully put the unconscious, cuffed, Makoto down on a supply crate, following Joker’s orders, Futaba sighed and asked Joker, “Do ya think it was a good idea to bring Niijima back here? You told me that she wasn’t exactly happy about being busted out by a separatist.”

Joker sighed in return while he took off his mask, hood, and jacket. He responded, “I knew that her seeing me as an enemy was a risk going in. Still, I didn’t expect her to attack me unarmed. Maybe I should’ve, considering that we knew she was a trained martial artist going in. Still, I’m hoping we can get some useful info out of her… and maybe convince her that the Empire’s nothing but trouble for Toruun… eventually. I don’t know what would’ve happened to her if I’d just left her there. The imps would’ve either thought she’d tried to escape, or assumed she had separatist connections if they realized I’d tried to bust her out. Either way, she could be dead right now if I hadn’t taken her with us.”

Futaba nodded slowly and yawned loudly. She scratched her head and told Joker, “I get your points, but one of us is gonna have ta tell Sojiro. I know that we can’t just blast her now if she doesn’t cooperate. Still, keeping her down here might end up being no fun for any of us.”

            Joker nodded in agreement with Futaba. He then finished removing his field gear and headed towards the lift. Right before boarding it, he told Futaba, “You should head home and get some sleep soon. Let the droids guard our new prisoner in shifts to conserve power. They should stun her again if she wakes up and really starts struggling.”

Futaba nodded, yawned, saluted Joker, and finished, “I’ll take care of one last round of orders in that case. I’ll have Sophie start on the repair work shortly. I won’t let the B2 or Droideka guard Niijima, though. Their integrated blasters aren’t equipped with a stun mode, last time I checked.”

Joker gave Futaba a sleepy nod and was then on his way up the lift. He headed up to his room after that and got ready for some well-earned rest. After completing all four check-ins with the other Phantoms, he finally flopped onto his back on his bed, smiled up at one of the posters on his wall and fell asleep.

Chapter Text

The Next Afternoon: The Streets of Central Ryo:

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Captain Goro Akechi had just finished up a segment on the Toruun Branch of the Imperial holonet. He had informed the hosts in the employ of his lover’s father about the previous night’s engagement in detail. The local separatist cell had decided to attack another Imperial base, this time without as much pretense of stealth. The separatists had even brought reactivated battle droids with them this time. While Akechi had some ideas regarding why his enemies had chosen the smaller base to strike, he could not be sure of their reasons.

Governor Shido had ordered Akechi to appear on one of Mister Yoshizawa’s programs immediately after receiving news that the separatist cell active in and around Ryo had struck again. The Governor of Toruun was certainly frustrated by the small cell’s ability to strike from the shadows and escape punishment time and again. However, Goro was privately concerned that his father seemed content to focus on demonizing the separatists in the media that he controlled, rather than develop a new plan of action to pin them down and end the threat they posed for good.

If the separatists were allowed to escape Imperial justice for long enough, the local citizenry, and possibly the Imperial High Command, could lose their faith in Governor Shido. Goro could not afford to let that happen, albeit partially for the selfish reason that Shido’s removal would almost certainly prevent him from ascending to his father’s office in the future. Captain Akechi wanted to lead his people, even if they eventually came to know of the circumstances of his birth and early upbringing. He frequently appeared on the holonet on his father’s behalf both because the appearances helped introduce him to the Toruunian people and because he genuinely wanted to reassure them that they could rise above their separatist past.

After appearing on the holonet segment, where he had vowed to see the elusive separatists brought to justice yet again, Goro had offered to walk his girlfriend Sumire home. She had been present at the broadcast center to watch and support her boyfriend. Her father was still working for now and Akechi knew that Sumire did not love walking in the city alone. The young couple were on their way over to the apartment building the Yoshizawa family lived in. A place Akechi had come to know intimately since he had met Sumire.

Captain Akechi had his usual uniform on while he walked next to Sumire. She wore casual blue and white clothes, similar to what she often wore. The occasional trooper that they passed by would salute Goro automatically. These streets were comparatively out of the way and weren’t frequented by speeders compared to the major roadways of the Toruunian Capital.

There was a particular detail about the previous night’s attack that would not stop bugging Akechi. It was the one thing that he had been ordered to lie about in his latest segment. However, he was snapped out of his thoughts by Sumire asking him, “…I still can’t believe that there are still so many separatists on this planet. That horrible war should just stay in the past! Why would anyone want to bring that kind of suffering to the galaxy again?”

Focusing on the girl walking beside him, Akechi took Sumire’s hand in his own and responded, “We both learned all about separatist atrocities growing up. Most CIS supporters were either in the thrall or employ of the corrupt corporations that paid for a seat on that kleptocratic council. Their supposedly democratic parliament was just a rubber stamp for that demagogue Dooku! Even the most idealistic separatists ultimately worked to divide the galaxy and enable all manner of abuses of power!”

Sumire nodded slowly and frustratedly asked, “So, why would anyone want to bring the CIS back from the dead?”

Goro explained, “Not even most of those who foolishly reject the peace the Empire has brought us want to see the CIS reborn. Those on this world who harbor anti-Imperial views remain divided between alliance and separatist allegiances. We’ve gone over that before. …As for the surviving separatists, I’m about as curious as you are regarding their motivations. It likely has to do with how the Toruun System was mostly insulated from the fighting. Those filled with nostalgia for the CIS might not have ever lived under it. They also might not know much about the darker side of the movement. They might even willfully deny the reality of CIS war crimes, despite the evidence we’ve been presented with.”

Sumire rhetorically asked, “I wonder why someone would love something they never experienced for themselves? Maybe they rely too much on what somebody else told them about the CIS? Could there be some ex-separatist mastermind radicalizing naïve youth to their cause?”

Goro stroked his chin with his free hand. His girlfriend could be onto something, even though there was no direct evidence of an overarching leader behind the pro-separatist resistance groups on Toruun. He suggested, “It’s certainly possible that a nostalgic former TDF officer or Diet legislator who supported the fallen confederacy could be orchestrating events like the recent retrieval and reactivation of old battle droids and last night’s costly raid. Still, some part of me wonders if a particularly enterprising youth with delusions of grandeur could fill the same role.”

While Sumire looked like she was thinking over what her boyfriend had just said, Akechi added, “Just like I told the public, I grabbed a repeating blaster and helmet and moved to help lead the counterattack as soon as the alarms went off in the garrison. I destroyed one of the two B1 units our forces felled yesterday. Our techs have already uncovered evidence of upgraded combat protocols, but the droids’ memory banks have proven impossible to reconstruct. That might be by the design of whoever reactivated them. …Along with the virus-laden datasticks they’ve used, it leads me to conclude that the cell in Ryo must employ at least one master slicer.”

Sumire shuddered, despite not having much knowledge of advanced technology and how to effectively manipulate it. Akechi saw the fear in her eyes, placed a hand on her shoulder and told her, “You should know that I’m fighting for Toruun and for you out there. No matter what the governor has me do, protecting you is always on my mind while I’m in combat. …I will admit that the separatist cell based in this city may be growing stronger. I also think I’ve pinpointed who among them is their leader, disguised as he always is. Thankfully, these insurgents are practical enough to avoid civilian targets. I don’t think this particular cell would go after a non-military objective with lethal force.”

Akechi took a deep breath, wishing he could tell Sumire about how the pro-CIS insurgents had abducted the detained stormtrooper sergeant Makoto Niijima. However, she had already been officially listed among the Imperial dead from that night, despite Akechi’s report to the contrary. He was unsure what point declaring Niijima dead served, other than making the separatists look even worse and effectively disposing of an NCO who had confessed to a breach in protocol. Captain Akechi had been slated to participate in her scheduled court martial. He would have advocated for demotion, or discharge at worse, considering Niijima’s stellar prior academic and service records.

Goro was certainly curious about any possible prior connections between the separatist cell and Makoto Niijima. However, there were few, if any, ways to investigate that now with the identities of the separatist operatives still thoroughly obscured.

            Having perked up, Sumire blushed and smiled warmly over at Goro. She squeezed his hand and quietly told him, “I know you’re always thinking about me, even in the thick of battle. You care so much about Toruun, our world’s future, and me. After Kasumi died, I was so lost… Then, you came into my life. …I love you…”

            Goro could not help but blush back at Sumire. His focus was suddenly and effectively diverted from the Niijima abduction. He quickly responded, “I know… I love you too. The separatists and the rebel alliance are not gonna stop the future I have planned for us!”

            Sumire smiled up at Goro again and nodded firmly. She asked him, “I get it if you’re not supposed to tell civilians, but do you have a plan to pursue the separatists in the capital?”

            Akechi sighed, desperately wishing that he could successfully hunt down the capital’s separatists as either of his personae and end their rebellion tomorrow. They had proven to be a significant thorn in his side. He had felled and apprehended many rebels and criminals in his short career, but the Ryo cell had eluded him three times. He had failed to end the threat they posed to law and order as a veteran TIE Interceptor pilot, as The Crow, and as a foot soldier. They were the most legitimately worthy opponents he had faced in the course of his duties.

Goro had an inkling that the Ryo cell was so effective because they were a small, close-knit team. Considering that masks that they all wore, Akechi’s enemies knew that even one of them being arrested, or killed and their body recovered by the Empire, could expose the whole cell. That had to be why they fought so hard to keep every human member of their group alive and out of Imperial custody.

            With his girlfriend looking up at him expectantly, Akechi admitted, “For now, Governor Shido has not informed me of any new plans to unmask and destroy this resilient band of separatists. Still, know that I will not truly rest until the enemies of peace and justice are dealt with. I will continue to perform my own research into the extremists and work ceaselessly to ensure their downfall in due time.”

            Sumire, nodded, smiled cutely, held onto one of Goro’s arms with both hands and quietly mentioned, “You know, I think dad will be at work until pretty late tonight. …Unless you’re busy, do you think you could stay with me?”

            Akechi failed to suppress his blush and nodded slowly, a knowing smile starting to mark his face. While he and Sumire closed in on her apartment building, he finished, “I think that would be acceptable. …I guess even the separatists can wait until tomorrow, as long as the governor doesn’t call me.”

            With that, Goro and Sumire shared a quick kiss and then entered the apartment building. Captain Akechi still had so much he wanted to tell his lover. There was the recent Niijima abduction, not to mention his being Masayoshi Shido’s bastard son and his force sensitivity. However, just being with Sumire that evening would have to be enough for now.  

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Around the Same Time: Café Leblanc:

            Since waking up that morning, Joker had spent most of the day working behind Leblanc’s main counter. Sojiro had insisted that his live-in employee cover the morning and midday shifts. However, the end of Joker’s shift had finally arrived, and his boss had just arrived to relieve him.

Joker had not seen the local Imperial holonet’s most recent broadcasts yet. However, he had overheard a couple of customers talking about the recent separatist remnant attack. Based on what little he had picked up from behind the counter without probing the civilians, Joker could tell that his enemies’ propaganda had just gone into overdrive.

As Yusuke had feared, the Empire was using the reappearance of active CIS battle droids on Toruun as an excuse to spread fear, and possibly even panic, among those loyal to their authoritarian regime. Joker had no choice but to silently hope that Toruunians who shared his love of freedom and desire for independence were listening in across the occupied world and being inspired. He desperately wanted to instill hope in the surviving Toruunian separatists, whether they still held blasters in their hands, or were keeping their heads down and their mouths shut.

            After Joker removed and put away his work apron, and Sojiro had donned his own apron, the older man asked, “When Futaba popped up for air earlier, she admitted that you’d taken a prisoner last night. Apparently, she’s in the ‘basement’ right now. You’ve never taken an imp alive before. Do I want to know why?”

            Joker turned to face Sojiro and told him, technically telling the truth, “She was detained by her fellow imps for failing to arrest a small-time vandal. We thought she could be a useful ally, on account of her knowledge of the imps’ garrison. …She attacked me for being a separatist as soon as I let her out of her cell, though.”

            Sojiro shook his head, sighed, and told Joker, “I guess it’s good that there’s a refresher down there. Their holonet never mentioned an abduction, even though they’ve been covering the raid nonstop. …Shido wants to alarm the people to make himself and his cronies look better, as always. …Honestly, he might be secretly hoping your cell stays active for as long as possible so that he can keep scapegoating you. That’s something he would do, long as he doesn’t end up looking weak for taking so many losses. If that started to become Shido’s image… I’d expect he’d really throw everything he has at you and take the credit at the first sign of victory.”

            Joker nodded slowly, hearing the deep disgust for Masayoshi Shido in his boss’s voice. He responded, “She’s a liability right now, but I’m hoping to wear her faith in the Empire down, assuming she’ll eventually listen to us. I haven’t given up on her, hard as turning her may be. …It’s not like I’m just gonna execute her. That’s what the imps would do.”

            Sojiro nodded and told Joker, “I know a few of your buddies are down there already. Not the new girl, though. Anyway, I’ll take over here, but remember to be on your guard. This prisoner of yours complicates things even more… It was kinda neat to hear about how well the old combat droids did in action. I never got to see them fight during the war.”

            Joker grinned, saluted Sojiro and finished, “It was impressive, especially thanks to Futaba. I just hope that the people of Toruun rise up against Shido and the occupiers from the core one day. We wouldn’t need that many battle droids if our people finally woke up and rose up like so many worlds once did.”

            Sojiro headed over to the counter while giving Joker an offhanded wave. Joker knew well that his boss claimed to have mixed feelings about the separatist cause he had once played a very small part in.

            Joker headed into the backroom and entered the lift, which took him down to the hideout. There, he saw Ann and Ryuji standing nearby a short supply crate. The cuffed Makoto Niijima sat on the crate in her body glove, looking indignant and frustrated. Yusuke was touching up the paint on the Phantom Cell’s destroyer droid. Futaba and Sophie both worked diligently on repairing the battle droids that had been damaged in the last battle. The four B1 droids were folded up around the hideout, inactive for now for the sake of power conservation. The cell’s undamaged commando droid was mechanically, methodically finishing inventorying the loot from the previous night’s raid.

            It had already been decided the previous evening on the return trip through the old tunnels that it would be impractical for the Phantoms to wear their disguises around their captive at all times. However, Joker wanted his team to stick to using their codenames around Makoto, just to be safe. They could always stun her to ensure she would not overhear anything particularly sensitive, such as future mission briefings.

            Walking over towards his two friends and their prisoner, Joker heard Niijima indignantly insist, “I still don’t understand why you terrorists kidnapped me. Just because I was in detention, doesn’t mean I’ve abandoned the Empire. Even if I wanted to defect, why would I side with separatists after everything your kind have done?”

            Joker bristled, wondering what sort of propaganda Makoto Niijima had been fed in Ryo’s Imperial-controlled schools to make her hate the faction Toruun had once proudly joined.

            When Joker walked over to stand in between Ann and Ryuji, they both looked to him. Ryuji told Joker, “Yeah, she doesn’t seem interested in telling us anything worth hearing.”

            Makoto nodded sharply and told the Phantoms in front of her, “I won’t betray my comrades, no matter what vile tortures you separatists employ.”

            Ann put her hands on her hips and angrily retorted, “I already told you that we don’t do anything like that. We’re here fighting for Toruun’s freedom! It’s the Empire that commits atrocities and tortures innocent people!”

            Ryuji nodded in agreement with Ann and told Makoto, “For someone who loves the Empire so much, you seemed pretty ok with bending its effing rules…”

            Joker frustratedly put a hand on his head when Makoto’s eyes lit up. Now, he knew his cell truly could not afford to let their captive escape.

            Makoto exclaimed, “That kid with the spray can… he’s connected to your cell somehow! How else would you have known about me? That’s why you raided the stockade! …You really did think you were rescuing me! …The one time I break with protocol and go with my conscience and the person I let go free ends up being a separatist sympathizer…”

            Joker admitted, “Yes, we thought you could be a potential ally to our cause. I won’t confirm or deny anything else you suggested. …Still, since you’re a captive audience, let me make something clear….”

            While Joker took a deep breath, Ann and Ryuji looked to each other, knowing what was coming.

            Joker lectured, “Toruun joined the Confederacy of Independent Systems because her democratically elected legislature voted to stand in solidarity with the neglected systems of the rim. The Galactic Republic and its successor state, the Galactic Empire, are both creations of the core worlds. Therefore, they have both sought to exploit and oppress those beings who the core world elites consider to be inferior, or just beneath their notice. Count Dooku sought to change that unfair dynamic and even the galactic playing field to the benefit of the rim. The separatist cause was just and righteous, even if some who joined it were far from virtuous. The core’s victory in the Clone Wars was the greatest tragedy in galactic history! The ‘Republic’ becoming the Empire was a corrupt, decadent, morally bankrupt, and imperialistic society choosing to show its true face. The mask of democracy was shed, and the truth of unjust, oppressive autocracy was laid bare for all to see!”

            Makoto blinked while Joker took another deep breath and looked down at her. Her eyes narrowed and she responded, “You must be this cell’s leader. You’re a real idealogue, that’s beyond doubt. Despite how righteous and just you might think you and your ilk are, you’ll never defeat the Empire. You’re living in the past. The real tragedy was that our world joined the separatists in the first place. Also, I’m sure that kid was an informant of yours. I saw the looks on your friends’ faces when I put it all together.”

            Joker stroked his chin and told Makoto, “I really hope you don’t expect us to surrender to the imps. You could be dead right now as far as they’re concerned, and as far as they care. I hope you get comfortable, Niijima, because you’ll be our guest here until we can hopefully convince you how wrong your beliefs are. You could play a real part in Toruun’s liberation, or you could stay a traitor to your people. There’s always a choice, and only you can make it.”

            Makoto just fumed and glared up at Joker. It looked like she really wanted to strike him and would have done so, consequences be damned, if her wrists and ankles were not cuffed.

            Ryuji nodded in agreement with his friend and leader and excitedly told him, “You’re spot on as always, Joker! The cause is alive as long as we fight for it!”

            Ann added, “I just hope we can keep her down here until she hopefully sees reason about the Empire. I don’t think we need her to be a separatist, I don’t even know if I’m one. We just need to convince her that her bosses are evil. Also, I should be going, he always misses me so much when I’m out, and needs dinner anyway.”

            Knowing that Ann was talking about her Lothcat, Mona, Joker simply gave her a nod. He told Ryuji, “You can head out whenever, Skull. Oracle and I’ll make sure there’s always someone watching Niijima here. Our battle droids will come in handy for guard duty.”

            Ryuji nodded, saluted Joker, and then followed Ann towards the lift. While Yusuke kept calmly working on his painting, Joker walked over to check in with Futaba. Sophie kept working on repairs and Makoto kept fuming with frustration. The commando droid who had been handling inventory finished up his work and mechanically walked over to stand guard in front of Makoto.

While Joker prepared to tap Futaba on the shoulder, he wondered how he could possibly get through to his group’s new “guest.” He and his comrades would have to keep her fed, hydrated, and clean for the time being. Hopefully, she would eventually come to see that they were not the real enemies of Toruun. Joker knew as well as anyone that the Empire and the core world tyranny that it represented was the real enemy. Nobody could convince him otherwise.

Chapter Text

Two Weeks Later: Untouchable:

            The members of the Phantom Cell had focused on laying low and avoiding suspicion for the last two weeks. They also purchased fresh blaster power packs, and explosives from Iwai at their earliest opportunity. Repairs were completed on their damaged droids within a couple days of the automatons’ first deployment.

Governor Shido’s propaganda machine bombarded the citizens of Toruun with fearmongering and speculation regarding future attacks by “separatist terrorists.” The Toruun branch of the Imperial holonet demonized the masked resistance fighters who had repeatedly eluded capture. Shido’s cronies painted the Phantoms as mad, unrepentant followers of a lost cause who threatened to drag the system back into barbarism.

            The media operation Shido had at his beck and call was formidable. However, both Sojiro and Joker knew that it needed an enemy to rail against in order to operate at peak effectiveness. Shido and his cronies also frequently spouted pleasant-sounding platitudes about making Toruun safe and prosperous for future generations. They talked incessantly about ensuring that their world’s future would be brighter than its supposedly uncivilized past. However, their propaganda machine was at its most active when it was caught up in actively scapegoating separatists and other rebels.

            Joker sometimes wondered if Shido was the kind of corrupt leader who would somehow fabricate an enemy to turn the Toruunian people against in the absence of legitimate military threats to his power. He would not put it past the Empire as a whole to run that sort of deception operation. Such a heavily militarized society needed some way to justify its massive, bloated, army and navy, after all.

Some part of Joker feared that the mere existence of rebels fighting to overthrow his regime played right into Palpatine’s hands. Still, without the rebel alliance taking up much of the Imperial military’s focus, former separatist systems could face even worse crackdowns. If the rim was to be liberated, the Empire needed to be distracted by a more direct threat to their authority. That was a truth that Joker was loathe to admit, but could not escape.

The Phantoms’ prisoner, Makoto Niijima, had remained defiant during her stay under guard in the hideout. The former stormtrooper sergeant insisted that Joker and company’s efforts were futile. She made her opinion that the CIS would never return clear. At this point, Joker and his crew knew that the local Imperial garrison considered Makoto dead. The Imperials probably thought it easier to write her off as killed in the latest raid, even though some of their soldiers had to have seen her being carried off. To the Empire, a soldier they viewed as disloyal being removed from the picture just saved them the time and energy that would otherwise have been spent on deciding what to do with her.

When the Phantoms spoke with their captive, they did everything they could to convince her that the Empire was evil and that she had been given the chance to rise above it. However, she remained unconvinced despite the Phantoms’ refusal to torture or otherwise mistreat her. The best that Joker and company had managed for now was to convince Makoto to eat the food and drink the water and caf they offered her. Even that had taken some time and convincing. Makoto not wanting to starve and knowing that attempting a hunger strike would not move her captors to release her had helped convince her to eat and drink when she was offered libations.  

While Joker had not given up on Makoto yet, he wondered what it would take to finally break through her Imperial brainwashing. She seemed like a smart young woman, but it was unclear what would it take for her to see even a sliver of the truth.

It was late morning and Joker had headed down to the hideout earlier, where Futaba had told him that Iwai had actually contacted her, requesting that she come to his shop and bring Joker. Futaba was the only member of the Phantom Cell who frequently spoke with Iwai over commlink, or went to visit his shop alone. The master slicer seemed more at ease around the gruff man than one would expect.

Somewhat concerned, but not wanting to upset his cell’s supplier, Joker agreed to go with Futaba. However, he donned his backpack and stored his weapons inside of its outer pouches, just to be safe. Iwai did not ask the Phantoms to come to him often. Even though Futaba had verified that Iwai was definitely the source of the recent transmission, Joker wanted to be ready for anything.

When Joker and Futaba entered Untouchable, they headed for the counter. Joker kept his senses sharp, hoping that this was not some kind of trap, despite Iwai’s investment in the Phantoms as recurring customers of the illicit portion of his business.

Futaba quietly told Joker, “I got a new message from Hifumi yesterday. She says that she thinks some major rebel units are preparing for a gathering above Sullust. They’ll have a serious fleet of MC-80 cruisers all gathered together. There could be something big coming up.”

Joker sighed, shook his head, and responded, “As long as they keep the Empire busy, they’ll be doing us a favor. Even if they pull off a miracle and beat the imps, they should stick to the core regions. I’d resist a second ‘Republic’ if it occupied Toruun against our people’s will.”

Futaba groaned and replied, “Knowing you, you’d still advocate for independence, even if most of Toruun voted to join a New Republic. Still, I really hope you mean you’d resist them politically, not do what we’re doing now. I don’t think the alliance would force worlds to join them like the Empire does.”

Joker nodded slowly, unsure of how to respond to Futaba’s points. However, he heard Iwai clearing his throat and turned to face Untouchable’s counter.

Futaba led Joker over to the counter where Iwai told the two of them, “You kids are finally here. We should get down to business in case another customer shows up.”

Joker nodded and asked Iwai, “Why did you ask us to come in? Do you have new stock you want us to see?”

Iwai shook his head and told Joker and Futaba, “No. I haven’t got anything new in that you’d be interested in since your last visit. …You kids have been making a real mess for old Shido. Don’t think for a second that I don’t know what you’ve been doing with the stuff I sell you.”

Joker looked Iwai in the eyes and asked, “You’re not planning to tell the Empire about us, are you?”

Iwai shook his head, much to Joker’s relief, and explained, “Like I’ve told you before, you lot are good customers, reliable and discreet. Unlike Kaneshiro’s grunts, I see the value in keeping you, and myself, under the Empire’s radar as much as possible. The fact that the Empire hasn’t shut you down yet means I can keep profiting. I called you here because your activities have attracted someone’s notice. Someone outside of Ryo who’s been watching your operations with great interest.”

Futaba looked intrigued while Joker’s eyes narrowed. He hoped Iwai was talking about other separatists. However, that was far from clear.

Iwai drew a small metal box and placed it on the table. He continued, “My fee as the middleman’s already been paid. I’ve downloaded all the data you’ll need into a chip in this box.”

Joker asked Iwai, “Can you at least tell us who wants to contact us while we’re here?”

Iwai sighed and responded, “Fine, I get you being cautious, considering who you’re up against. …I’ve been in contact with all sorts of underworld types, including a few who actively resist the Empire, for years. A member of a rebel cell located somewhere in the mountains to the southwest of Ryo has taken an interest in your little band. He got his boss to give him permission to send a message to me, asking for you to come meet with them. As for why, all that I was told is that they want your help for a big operation. One that could deal a serious blow to the imps on this planet.”

Joker nodded, smiled briefly, but then asked Iwai, “These rebels have to know my cell’s allegiance by now. It’s been all over the local holonet. …Do you know if they’re alliance or separatist aligned?”

Iwai shook his head and responded, “No. I don’t pry into that sort of thing. You’ll have to figure it out when you meet them, assuming that you accept their offer. Like I said, all the data they sent me is on that chip.”

Futaba smiled up at Iwai and told him, “Thanks for the help. We’ll be on our way now.”

Iwai nodded and finished, “You’re welcome, just get outta here before anyone else shows up.”

Joker and Futaba both nodded and then left Untouchable with the box containing the mountain rebels’ data safely stowed in Joker’s backpack. On the way back, Futaba quietly told Joker, “I think you should go help these guys, even if they’re pro-alliance. We need more allies. Knowing you, you’ll do whatever you can to spread separatist sentiment while your there. Before you ask, I don’t think Sojiro will let me go to the mountains. I’ll stay here with the droids, hold down the fort, and keep an eye on Niijima.”

Still feeling a bit uneasy, Joker nodded slowly and admitted, “I still don’t know why any Toruunians would support bringing the ‘republic’ back. It was just an Empire concealing its true nature. Maybe that old system worked fine for the core worlds, but it never did for us. …Anyway, let’s get back to the hideout and see what data we can extract from Iwai’s chip. We’ll see what these other rebels want from us before making a final decision.”

Futaba nodded and followed Joker back to Leblanc. Once the two of them had returned to the café, they descended into the hideout where Futaba began extracting the chip’s data. Joker wanted to know everything he could about his cell’s new potential allies before committing to working with them on their mystery operation.

---

Two Days Later: The Phantom Cell’s Hideout:

            The entire membership of the Phantom Cell had gathered around their hideout’s main table. Other than Sophie, who was performing some maintenance on the Phantoms’ landspeeder, the cell’s droids were powered down for now. Futaba had stunned Niijima over the prisoner’s protests, so that she would not interrupt the meeting. Joker also did not want his cell’s captive to learn too much about the Phantoms’ plans that she could use against them were she to escape their custody. Delivering such valuable intel could be Makoto’s only shot at returning to the Empire and being pardoned for her past infraction. Still, the fact that she was officially listed as dead in Imperial records could complicate that.

            Having learned all that he could from Iwai’s chip with Futaba’s help, Joker looked over his crew and explained, “As some of you know, we’ve been contacted by a member of a rebel cell operating out of the mountains to the southwest of Ryo. He and some of his comrades are aware of our activities and have requested our help. After reviewing his message, I’ve learned that they number at least a few dozen fighters, but have not carried out any operations against the Empire recently. They reportedly have access to landspeeders and light artillery, which makes me wonder if they have an outside supplier. However, the identity of their leader remains a mystery.”

            While Joker took a quick breath, Ryuji asked him, “So are these guys separatists like us?”

            Ann asked, “What do they want our help with? It sounds like there aren’t many of us compared to them.”

            Joker answered, “We don’t know if these rebels support the cause. However, they should easily know our cell’s allegiance based on the enemy’s recent public broadcasts. The fact that their message didn’t confirm their political stance is worrying. However, I trust that Iwai wouldn’t send some of his best customers into a trap. As for what they want our help with, Futaba…”

            Futaba stepped forward next to Joker and explained, “These rebels have been gearing up to liberate a major Imp labor camp located near the southern edge of the mountains. There outta be dozens of alien slaves toiling away down there. The place used to be a civilian run mine before the occupation. I’ve confirmed that the place is real, and pretty well guarded nowadays. The good news is that the sky that deep into the mountains is covered by thick clouds almost year-round. That makes accurate air support, or orbital strikes, really hard to call in unless you get a rare clear day.”

            After taking a quick breath, Futaba continued, “I confirmed that there have been reports of rebel attacks on Imperial convoys and scouting parties in those mountains going back around a decade. Our potential allies might have some real combat veterans on their side. They must be pretty impressed with us if they want our help with their slave liberation mission.”

            Yusuke mentioned, “We certainly have been on the Empire’s radar recently. Operating out of the capital right under their noses certainly puts us in the spotlight. Regardless, I wouldn’t mind another change of scenery and meeting other Toruunian rebels.”

            Ann nodded sharply and added, “As long as this isn’t another trap, I’m ready for a real slave liberation. Even if the mountain rebels support the alliance, I’m all in for this one.”

            Haru looked around and admitted, “I might have some trouble explaining such a long absence. Still, I’ll go if the rest of you are. I still want to learn why my father died, but I know that I signed up to fight the Empire too. Even if he didn’t have father killed, Shido’s still letting Toruun be soiled by slavery and oppression.”

            While Ann and Yusuke nodded in agreement with Haru, Futaba pointed out, “I checked with Sojiro, and he does not want me going to the mountains with you guys. I’ll hold down the fort here with the battle droids. We don’t know how the other rebels would react to them, anyway. You might wanna bring Sophie in case you need to jam imp comms. I’ve also prepared a route for the speeder to take that should get you close to wherever these rebels’ base is. It’s already been downloaded to your datapads.”

            Ryuji looked a bit uneasy about the possibility of working with pro-republic fighters. However, he admitted, “I can’t say no to busting some slaves out for real this time. I think I’d be outvoted, anyway. What do you think, Joker?”

            Joker stroked his chin and looked over his team. He admitted, “It looks like everyone’s willing to take this mission on. Based on what the message said, we have a couple of weeks at most to contact this mountain cell. We should try to leave Ryo in our main speeder within the week. We’ll make a beeline for the mountains, avoiding the main roads where possible so the imps hopefully don’t detect us. Futaba, stay here and make sure that Niijima’s guarded by at least one battle droid at all times. We can’t have her escaping while most of us are out. Everyone else, get solid alibis ready and be ready to be out of the city for around a week. We’ll pack as many rations and other supplies as we can before departing.”

            All of Joker’s comrades nodded and saluted their leader. Everyone wasted no time in splitting up to get to work on packing and preparing excuses to be out of town. Ann mentioned that her parents were still off-planet for the foreseeable future. She would just need to make sure that Mona had a sitter for as long as she was out of the city.

            While preparations were underway for the Phantoms’ upcoming excursion, Joker could not help but hope that the anti-Imperial fighters he would soon meet would be open to the idea of independence at minimum. He knew that he would struggle with working alongside those committed to restoring the Old Republic and its hegemony.

Joker knew that he was in a precarious position because his comrades were under no real obligation to continue following him. Ryuji would always stand by him, but everyone else was not as committed to the separatist cause. They had their own reasons for fighting, noble as they were. Regardless, Joker and his crew would soon leave Ryo again and travel to the mountains to meet with their fellow resistance fighters. What happened once contact was made remained to be seen.   

Chapter Text

One Week Later: The Mountains Southwest of Ryo:

            Over the last week, the Phantoms had prepared their excuses for being out of the city for an undetermined amount of time. Ann had arranged a sitter for Mona as always. Haru had struggled the most in coming up with a reason to be out of Ryo for an indeterminate amount of time. The managers of her father’s estate were reportedly becoming somewhat concerned about her frequent absences. However, Haru was unsure how genuine that concern was. She also did not know how much of it was suspicion regarding the true reasons for her recent absences from the Okumura Family’s Manor.

            Regardless, every member of the cell, except for Futaba and the Phantoms’ battle droids, departed in their landspeeder via the usual tunnel on schedule. Their destination was a mountain range to the Southwest of Toruun’s capital city. Based on the data Iwai’s unnamed contact has provided, the cell knew most of the route they would need to take in order to reach their fellow rebels’ hidden base. They just needed to reach their potential allies’ base without Imperial entanglements, especially ones they could not easily win.

            The resistance fighters had been away from Ryo for over a day when they reached the foothills of the cloud-covered mountains where they would supposedly find their supplier’s mystery contact, and the larger anti-Imperial force that he was a member of. With Joker at the controls of his cell’s landspeeder, the Phantoms had successfully evaded a couple of enemy biker scout patrols and one flight of low flying gunships on their way to the mountains.

            Now, the Phantom Cell’s speeder hovered up a winding mountain road that made Joker and company glad that their vehicle made no physical contact with the ground. With most of his team present to take turns keeping watch for any potential incoming enemy vehicles or foot patrols, Joker allowed his mind to wander.

            The leader of the Phantom Cell could not help but worry that the larger rebel group his crew was on their way to meet were unlikely to be fellow separatists. If they were pro-independence, they would have presumably stated as much when they contacted Iwai. At the same time, they had to know that Joker’s cell was pro-CIS. Shido’s propaganda machine had refused to shut up about that fact ever since The Crow had telekinetically choked Joker and nearly apprehended him.

            Joker knew on some level that he would have to try and keep an open mind in the likely event that the mountain rebels turned out to be pro-alliance, or somehow mixed in their allegiance. Ann, Yusuke, and even Haru were all arguably more anti-Imperial than they were Pro-independence. Ryuji was the only other Phantom who was as gung-ho about restoring the CIS as Joker was. Futaba was arguably a nominal separatist, considering her ongoing contact with Hifumi Togo, who now served the pro-Republic rebel alliance.

            The best Joker could do to mentally distract himself while he carefully drove deeper and deeper into the Toruunian mountains was imagine what Toruun could have looked like had the CIS won the Clone Wars. His parents would still be alive, so would Ryuji’s father and Futaba’s mother. Not to mention that Joker himself could have become a student of the force under a hypothetical CIS rival to the Jedi Order.

            Joker could not help but fantasize about how amazing it would be to even briefly meet Count Dooku, despite the fact that the former Jedi Master would probably be over a century old if he were still alive. However, he was awoken from his pleasant trance by Yusuke saying, “The clouds are certainly thick here. They cast a gloomy pall over this region. …There are no Imperials in sight, at least.”

            Looking down at a datapad, Ann added, “I’m looking at the path Futaba charted for us with the data she was given. We’re almost to the end of it.”

            Focusing himself on the here and now, Joker looked around for a brief moment and told his comrades, “That might be a problem. I really hope that whoever contacted Iwai is expecting our arrival and has someone keeping watch in this area.”

            Ryuji nodded and added, “They’ll prolly have lookouts stationed in case any imps come around. So, long as we get close enough, they should see us comin.”

            Haru chimed in, “We certainly don’t look like Imperials.”

            While Sophie beeped in agreement with Haru, Joker nodded sharply and told his crew, “Just keep your eyes peeled for imps, or anyone else for that matter. We haven’t even seen any civilian travelers since entering this part of the mountains. That might explain why the imps aren’t bothering to patrol this area.”

            Yusuke mentioned, “If there truly is a resistance cell based somewhere out here, the Empire might not be able to send out patrols due to a lack of resources. Their forces in this area must be focused on the labor camp we are to liberate.”

            Haru nodded and reminded everyone, “Based on what Oracle dug up, the local rebels haven’t mounted any raids for a while. They must be lying low so that the Imperials let their guards down before their next big operation.”

            Joker quickly realized that Haru was almost certainly on to something. There was a reason that his own cell did their best to avoid conducting their operations in rapid succession. They had wanted to keep their enemies from remaining on consistent high alert, which would make future missions increasingly harder to pull off. However, the Phantom Cell’s “terrorist attacks” had frustrated Governor Shido and his subordinates enough that they had significantly increased security in the Ryo City Sewer System. Not to mention triggered multiple media campaigns against rebellion and separatism since their raid on the coastal depot. Perhaps this mountain cell was far more patient than Joker’s crew and could keep themselves sustained for a long time without drawing Imperial attention?

            Soon enough, the rough mountain road straightened and flattened out. It soon led into a narrow canyon with tall rock walls on each side. Despite the lack of safety nets, it looked like no boulders had fallen onto the road anytime recently. It was also certainly possible that any rubble that had blocked the lightly traveled route had been cleared by someone when there was nobody else around.

            Ann informed her comrades, “Guys, it looks like the route we were given ends at the other end of this canyon.”

            Joker nodded slowly and ordered his crew, “We should all keep a careful lookout. I just hope there’s someone here expecting to meet us…. I’m getting some kind of a feeling here… I don’t think it’s a bad one.”

            The rest of Joker’s team, including Sophie, scanned the rocky walls for any organic beings, droids, or any signs of sentient handiwork. Their speeder slowly progressed deeper into the narrow canyon until it was nearly to the southern side and back to hovering over more open terrain.

            When the Phantom Cell’s landspeeder had nearly exited the canyon, Joker got a sudden pang in the back of his head. However, it was nothing like the sensations he had received that had alerted him to stressful situations, or hostile action, before. Sophie began to beep, and everyone looked ahead of the speeder where they saw three Toruunian human men having stepped down into the canyon. Joker stopped his vehicle not far from the new arrivals without saying a word.

            Two of these men wore lightly armored tan uniforms sporting backpacks and red and tan helmets that did not conceal their faces. Their uniforms were reasonably well-camouflaged for the rocky environment. They each carried a long, thin blaster rifle with a scope mounted atop it. Joker was not familiar with this model of energy weapon.

            The man flanked by the two soldiers wore a white coat with a tan and red shirt and pants underneath it. He wore glasses and sported curly, brown-dyed hair. He was unarmed, but loosely wore a helmet in the same style as his blaster-toting associates. He had a smaller backpack and wore an armband on one of his upper arms with a red medical insignia displayed clearly.

            Joker’s comrades looked to their leader. For the moment, they were ready to don their masks and hoods, or even go for their weapons, if need be. However, Joker raised a hand, waiting for one of the newly arrived men to say something.

            The medic at the center of the trio standing in front of Joker and company spoke first, smiling and saying, “I see that you decided to make the trip. Iwai came through after all. We’ve heard quite a lot about the resistance cell making such a stir in the capital.”

            Joker nodded and responded, “You heard right. If you wouldn’t mind, can you tell us who you are? Are you the leader of the band based out here?”

            The medic shook his head and explained, sounding a bit flustered this time, “My name is Takuto Maruki, Dr. Takuto Maruki to be exact. I’m only the head medic for this cell, despite being trained in psychiatric counseling first and foremost. If you’ll follow us, we can take you to our leader. He would be more than happy to meet with you and fill you in on our situation.”

            Ryuji looked like he was about to ask something when Joker simply nodded at Dr. Maruki and responded, “Sounds good, doc. We’ll follow you and your men to your leader. I’ve got at least one important question for him.”

            Ann asked Dr. Maruki, “You still want our help to liberate some slaves, right?”

            Dr. Maruki nodded and finished, “That’s the short version. However, we’ll need to divide and conquer the Empire’s forces in these mountains if we want to pull it off. …Violence isn’t really my thing, but we have plenty of experienced fighters here who’ve been itching for a chance to hit the Imperials hard.”

            While Dr. Maruki and his two soldiers turned around and began to lead the way out of the canyon, Yusuke finished, “It is always a pleasure to meet other Toruunians who want to see our world’s honor and dignity restored. I welcome the chance to confer with your leader and assist in your operation.”

            Ryuji gave Yusuke a slight look while Joker slowly accelerated his cell’s landspeeder forward to follow Dr. Maruki and his two soldiers out of the rocky canyon and towards a series of imposing rock formations. It took less than roughly twenty minutes for the trio of rebels on foot to lead the Phantoms in their speeder to a well-concealed door. The secret door was large enough for the men on foot, and their guests’ craft to pass through and into what was clearly an expansive cave network lit by all manner of electric lights rigged up somewhat haphazardly.

            After finding a good place to park their landspeeder in the impressively large cavern garage, nearby an eclectic collection of similar vehicles, many of which sported bolted-on weapons of various kinds, Joker and company disembarked and stretched themselves out for a few moments. Dr. Maruki and his two soldiers gave their guests a couple minutes to stretch. After that, they led their visitors deeper into the extensive cave network. Joker and company decided to leave most of their weapons, their supplies, and their disguises with their speeder. They would have to trust their hosts for the time being. Sophie exited her astromech socket and followed closely behind the Phantom Cell’s human members, rolling forward on all three of her feet.

            Maruki and his two soldiers led the Phantoms through a series of tunnels past a number of men and women wearing similar uniforms and carrying similar weapons. Eventually, they reached a reinforced door guarded by two more armed soldiers. Dr. Maruki looked the Phantoms over and told them, “I really do appreciate you all coming. I think it’ll please our leader to see that youth like yourselves are behind the recent strikes against the Empire in Ryo. He should be in the briefing room just behind this door. I have some other work to attend to, but I hope you all are able to get settled in once you meet with him. There’ll be time to plan the attack later.”

            Doing his best to stay polite, despite Ryuji looking uneasy, Joker nodded and responded, “Understood. Thank you for finding us. We’ll see you later.” Joker had not seen any CIS banners in the cavernous base, nor other symbols of allegiance. However, it was pretty clear to him at this point that this was a reasonably large and well-equipped anti-Imperial operation. There was currently no point in alienating his crew’s hosts.

            Right after Dr. Maruki and his two soldiers departed, the two guards standing in front of the briefing room door parted and opened the reinforced door behind them. Joker and his team walked briskly past them, through the door, and into a large room with various old paper maps mounted on its walls and a large holoprojector mounted on the table at its center. The projector currently displayed a map of some sort of Imperial installation.

            Along with three rebel soldiers, a there was an older Toruunian man standing in the room wearing a worn-out suit. He was slightly overweight and did not look like a combatant. He turned to face the Phantoms, smiled at them, and said, “So, you’re the ones who’ve caused so much trouble for Masayoshi Shido in Ryo. It’s so pleasing to see youth like you standing up to the Empire and coming out on top. I’m the leader of this operation, my name is….”

            Joker blinked repeatedly. He immediately recognized the older man’s face from Clone Wars era images he had been shown many times. This was someone Sojiro Sakura had told him all about. His fists clenched, body shaking, and eyes narrowed, Joker pointed at the supposed rebel leader and declared, “Toranosuke Yoshida!”

Chapter Text

Seconds Later: The Mountain Rebels’ Briefing Room:

            Standing directly in front of his fellow Phantoms and their astromech droid, Joker had a finger pointed directly at the leader of the mountain cell. The anger in his voice was clear as day for everyone around him when he had pronounced the name “Toranosuke Yoshida.” Joker knew exactly who stood in front of him, despite never having met the man until now. Not to mention only having seen images of his face created during the later phases of the Clone Wars at the most recent.

            While his three soldiers looked on, the suited man standing near the briefing room’s holoprojector table slowly responded, “Why yes, that is my name. …Might I ask how you came to know it?”

Joker rapidly spat back at Yoshida, “You were an associate of Masayoshi Shido during the Clone Wars! You were considered an honest and trustworthy politician in Ryo until you refused to acknowledge the Diet’s vote to join the CIS. You sided with Shido’s traitorous Republic Loyalists and fled the capital! I’ve even heard you called ‘No Good Tora’ for aiding the enemy. Why are you of all people leading an anti-Imperial group?”

Yoshida’s three soldiers did not seem all that surprised by Joker’s accusations. Ryuji immediately gritted his teeth and gave Yoshida a hostile look. Ann, Haru and Yusuke all looked to each other worriedly, not sure where this sudden confrontation was headed.

While Joker breathed heavily, still fuming with rage, Yoshida sighed and admitted, “What you say is true, young man. Whoever gave you that information about my past was not lying, despite their strongly separatist bias. However, I can assure you that my allegiance is neither to Masayoshi Shido, nor to the Empire he serves. I left the capital once I realized the monstrous depths the Empire is willing to stoop to, the way it callously disregards nonhumans, and crushes anyone who refuses to follow their every order to the letter.”

Ryuji was quick to contemptuously ask Yoshida, “What I wanna know is why you didn’t stand with your buddies in the Diet when they voted to get outta the Republic? Why side with a scumbag like Shido, instead of the CIS?”

Yoshida admitted, “Siding with Shido himself was far from my wisest decision. You should know by now how hard he works to mask his true nature. Even I was fooled into believing that him and I shared the same ideals and values in those days. However, I do not regret siding with the Republic while it was still a democracy.”

Joker glared at Yoshida and demanded, “How, why? They never cared about Toruun!”

Yoshida responded, “…I knew that I was taking a risk by allowing Doctor Maruki to invite you here. …We’ve known that your cell carries the torch of the fallen confederacy ever since Shido’s holonet began broadcasting that fact nonstop. As you may know, you are not the only defenders of the separatist legacy left fighting on Toruun. As for why I refused to support secession, I feared the influence that a consortium of powerful, greed-driven corporations held over many separatist worlds, and their control over the droid army. I did not want Toruun to become independent from the Republic only to be left vulnerable to corrupt corporate interests with no checks on their power. I believe that the confederacy’s central government would have been unwilling and unable to restrain such corporate abuses had it become truly independent.”

Joker was actually given pause for once. He had heard plenty about the Trade Federation, Commerce Guild, Corporate Alliance, and other business interests responsible for building the CIS Droid Army. From what Joker knew, those industrial and financial titans had built out the infrastructure of the fledgling confederacy, both civilian and military. However, the Toruun System had managed to avoid falling directly under the thumb of any of those corporate entities in the decades leading up to the Clone Wars.

Toruun’s majority desire to secede had been ignited through Republic ineffectiveness and corruption, and in solidarity with most her fellow rimworlds. Joker had never considered the possibility that the CIS’s corporate backers could have swooped in on worlds like Toruun and begun to exploit them had they won the war. Still, those conglomerates were dead and gone now thanks to the Empire. If the CIS ever rose from the ashes, she could do so as a true democracy. The new confederacy Joker envisioned would be unburdened by large-scale, unregulated business interests seeking their own profit over the good of society.

When Joker was about to deliver a retort to Yoshida, Haru somewhat bluntly spoke first, saying, “Sir, to tell you the truth, only a couple of us here are committed separatists. I have my own reasons for fighting Shido and the Empire.”

Yusuke added, “I am fully committed to freeing Toruun from Imperial control, but I am willing to be flexible about how that noble goal is accomplished.”

Ann nodded in agreement with Yusuke while Ryuji shot his comrades a series of betrayed looks. Joker sighed, took a deep breath, and admitted, “Yes, not everyone in my cell is as committed to independence as me and my friend here are. Still, I couldn’t have asked for a better crew. Like you said, Yoshida, it is good that young Toruunians are standing up to fight for our world’s future. …I have to ask, though, are you and your comrades hoping to integrate our system with a new republic, should one emerge.”

Yoshida nodded and responded, “For the sake of honesty, I will admit that that has always been our goal. We support Mon Mothma and the restoration of the Galactic Republic. You should know that you are not the first separatist I have spoken with following the rise of the Empire. My cell has failed to recruit plenty of fighters who share your views before. However, all that I ask of you, since you are already here, is that you consider assisting us with our upcoming operation. You should already know the mission’s basics. Your team’s victories over the Empire, with no reported losses, were what convinced me to approve reaching out to your supplier.”

Joker groaned while Ryuji looked to him. Ann looked around and said, “We came all this way because we were asked to help free Imperial slaves. I don’t wanna return home while there are innocent beings out here in need of our help, Joker.”

Ryuji told Joker, “I’ve always trusted you, man. I’ll follow whatever orders you give like always. Even if these guys wanna bring back that shitshow of a Republic, I guess we can help them stick it to the imps this one time.”

Joker looked Yoshida in the eyes and firmly told him, “We may have a common enemy, but our goals are profoundly different. I want to see Toruun and her sister rimworlds free and independent of the core’s control. You and your followers want to see an old, failed, system restored, rather than fighting for real change. We’re not the same. I might be able to stomach assisting your cell with one major operation for the good of the Imperial victims being held nearby. Still, don’t expect that you’ll see us again after that.”

Haru suggested, “I don’t know what it would be, Joker, but perhaps there’s something Mr. Yoshida could give us in exchange for our help? …It could be a share of whatever supplies we loot from the mining camp?”

Yusuke asked, “Should we be asking for compensation in this sort of situation, other than a basic resupply for the inevitable trip back to Ryo?”

Ann, and even Ryuji, looked pretty disgusted by the idea of compensation for helping to free slaves and taking down and Imperial camp.

Right before Joker was about to say something, he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder and heard a woman’s voice from behind him say, “I couldn’t help but overhear your debate. It appears that fate has brought us together. …I believe I have something for you.”

Joker felt a strangely calming presence enter his mind while the hand released his shoulder, and he slowly turned around. Standing next to Sophie was an unarmed human Toruunian woman who looked to be in her twenties at the oldest. Her long hair was dyed blonde, and she wore simple brown robes over a plain white shirt.

The new arrival bowed to Joker while Yoshida explained, “This young lady is Chihaya Mifune. She is our cell’s spiritual advisor, a counterpart of sorts to Doctor Maruki.”

Ryuji asked, “Wait… is she a Jedi?”

Chihaya awkwardly replied, “No, I’m afraid I do not hold that esteemed title. However, I believe I have been gifted with power akin to what they wielded. …As has this young man. However, his strength in the force is superior to mine.”

Joker blinked repeatedly. He had never encountered another force sensitive, other than The Crow, before. He certainly felt something radiating from Chihaya. It almost felt like him meeting her could have been fate in that moment. Feeling suddenly calmer, Joker asked Chihaya, “I…didn’t know there was anyone else like me fighting the Empire on Toruun. …What do you have for me, exactly?”

Chihaya admitted, “Like Doctor Maruki, I am not much of a fighter. However, I provide what foresight and healing I can to those resisting the darkness of the Empire here…As for what I have for you, if you’ll come with me, I can show you. It is something of immense value that I have waited years for the right person to bestow it upon.”

Joker took a deep breath, nodded, and told Yoshida, “As the leader of The Phantom Cell of Ryo, I’ll agree to have my crew assist your Republic loyalist faction with the operation Doctor Maruki reached out to us about. Please have someone help get my team and our astromech situated while I meet with Chihaya here. Just remember that I’m only willing to assist you with one mission for the sake of weakening our common enemy and liberating some of their victims.”

Yoshida nodded, smiled at Joker, and admitted, “I am glad that we have at least come to a temporary understanding. Even if we cannot see eye to eye on the long-term future of our homeworld, we can at least agree that the Empire and Shido stand between all of us and our goals.”

Not wanting Ryuji doing anything ill-advised, Joker told Yusuke, “Fox, you’re in charge while I meet with our hosts’ ‘spiritual advisor.’ You all should get some rest. Hopefully, our joint mission will take place in a few days at most. We can’t afford to be away from Ryo for too long anyway.”

Yusuke nodded sharply and saluted Joker, while Ann breathed a sigh of relief. She gently put a hand on Ryuji’s shoulder to help keep him calm about the whole situation.

Chihaya told Joker, “Please follow me…”

Joker responded, “You can call me Joker or Akira, whichever you prefer.”

Chihaya nodded slowly and then led Joker out of the briefing room. While walking through the winding tunnels of the cavernous rebel base, she told him, “I’m not invested in politics like Mr. Yoshida is. I believe that Dr. Maruki is focused on the future happiness and flourishing of Toruun first and foremost as well. Even though you claim to be a separatist, I hope you can make good use of what I have to give you.”

Joker gave a quick nod and continued to follow Chihaya. Soon enough, they descended a stone spiral staircase to a lower level of the hidden base. Chihaya opened a door that led to a small, roughly circular room. This room featured a slightly worked stone floor. A circle filled with runic-looking symbols was inscribed on the floor. Joker could almost feel the energy radiating off of the circle. There had to be some connection between this spot and the force itself. However, that was all he could discern based on his limited knowledge.

Chihaya walked through the circle and over to a series of drawers and a bench nearby it on the opposite side of the chamber from the door. She told Joker, “I just need to find it somewhere in here. …I hope it still works. It is quite an ancient implement. I’ve kept it as polished and clean as I can over the years.”

Joker waited as patiently as he could, his curiosity growing by the minute, until Chihaya finally produced a small bundle of black cloth and carefully handed it to him.

Chihaya gave Joker an encouraging nod. Realizing what she wanted him to do, the young separatist began to unwrap the bundle slowly and carefully. He could feel a faint presence in the force separate from Chihaya’s and the circle’s now. That only increased his curiosity about the contents of the cloth bundle even more.

When the black cloth finally fell away, Joker was holding what looked like the hilt of an old Toruunian curved vibroblade. Yusuke sometimes referred to the weapons as “Katanas.” The one odd thing about the hilt was that the hole where the blade should be attached was perfectly circular.

Joker gasped and then a grin slowly began to grow in his face. He realized what Chihaya had just handed him in a singular epiphany. The young woman was not a Jedi by her own admission. However, she had somehow come into possession of one of the weapons most associated with the fallen order that had once loyally served the Galactic Republic. What Joker held in his hands had to be a lightsaber.

Chapter Text

The Meditation Chamber Beneath the Mountain Rebels’ Base:

            Turning it over in his hands with extreme care, Joker gazed down at the lightsaber he had just been handed by Chihaya Mifune. Despite his extensive experience with vibroblades, he had never dreamed of wielding the weapon associated with the vanquished Jedi Order and later the Imperial Inquisitors until now.

            Looking to Chihaya, who smiled gently over at him, Joker asked her, “Where did you get this? Who did this belong too?”

            Chihaya explained, “Mr. Yoshida told me that he secretly retrieved it from a museum in Ryo soon after the Jedi Purge and the end of the war. When he had had enough of Shido and his Imperial backers and knew that his former comrade would not listen to reason, he took it out here with him after he fled the capital. He gave it to me to keep it safe when I joined his cell. I have kept it well maintained ever since. I waited for so long, trusting that the force would guide someone who might wield it with pride to me.”

            Joker blushed and admitted, “I can see really this coming in handy, assuming I don’t slice any off my limbs off training with it. …Still, I have a lot of trouble seeing myself getting along with the Jedi, were they still here. I’m a separatist through and through. The founder of my cause left the Jedi Order because he was sick and tired of them bowing to the whims of the corrupt republic and its senate.”

            Chihaya nodded slowly and replied, “I see…. I can sense that you have no intention of rejecting my gift, however.”

            Joker gave Chihaya one firm nod and responded, “Count Dooku was a renowned master duelist. Wielding, and eventually mastering, this lightsaber will help me honor my hero’s memory! I have to ask, if this weapon was in a museum here on Toruun, who was its original wielder?”

            Chihaya quickly replied, “The ancient Jedi Knight Yu Narukami, the most respected of the small handful of Jedi born on Toruun. He served the Old Republic faithfully, but was reportedly far more interested in the affairs of his homeworld compared to most of his fellows. Having been taken to Coruscant at such a young age, most Jedi Younglings never felt any real connection to the planets of their birth. It’s been lost to history how Yu Narukami died. We do not know if he ever trained an apprentice, either. We do know that he was never granted the rank of Jedi Master before his death. Also, that he requested that his lightsaber be sent to Toruun and displayed there upon his passing while still alive. The Jedi Order honored his request. That is how the weapon came to be displayed in Ryo, kyber crystal and all.”

            Joker was not entirely sure what Chihaya meant by “kyber crystal.” He did not see any crystals on the ancient hilt’s exterior. However, he admitted aloud, “Well, if this weapon was built and wielded by a Toruunian Patriot, then I’ll wield it with pride and do whatever I can to add to its legacy. …My friend Yusuke is gonna love this beauty. He’s really into Toruunian history and culture, not to mention art.”

            Chihaya nodded, smiling slightly. She told Joker, “I have an old training remote somewhere around here. Assuming we can get it hovering again, it will help you learn to deflect blaster fire with the saber. I don’t think the Empire has anyone on this world capable of wielding a lightsaber of their own. Thankfully, the bolts the remote fires only cause mild pain at the worst.”

            Joker held his new lightsaber with its emitter pointing directly upwards in front of his face and ignited the blade. A column of green plasma held in an invisible magnetic sheath shimmered into being with a distinctive, satisfying hum. He waved the ignited saber around with extreme care, keeping his movements as controlled as ever. He told Chihaya, “…I think it’ll take me a while before I’ll be able to deflect bolts with this weapon….”

            Chihaya stepped back to give Joker some space to gently swing the ancient lightsaber around. While he gripped the saber’s hilt with both hands and took up a basic fighting stance based on prior observations of Ryuji and Yusuke fighting with long vibroblades, Joker remembered something both important and relevant.

            Joker admitted, “There actually might be one Imperial agent on this planet who could wield a lightsaber effectively, even though I don’t believe he has one.”

            Chihaya blinked for a moment, but soon replied, “…I have sensed a dark presence of sorts on Toruun before in my meditations. However, it was not fully submerged in the Dark Side. There seemed to be a tension between light and darkness in the presence, a truly rare phenomenon. …If the one emanating that energy is an agent of the Empire, perhaps it is fate that you will face him with Yu Narukami’s blade in hand.”

            Joker blinked in return, sighed, deactivated the lightsaber, and responded, “…I didn’t get most of that. Do I even want to know what the ‘Dark Side’ is? I wouldn’t be surprised if it has something to do with the Empire. Also, the imp I’m talking about is The Crow, Shido’s secretive assassin. I don’t think he’s the type to seek any kind of redemption. Honestly, he seemed pretty committedly ‘Dark Side’ to me. The one time I faced him, he nearly choked me unconscious without even laying a hand on me!”

            Chihaya nodded slowly and said, “That sort of power falls in line with what I’ve glimpsed about those who follow the dark path. Still, such information is hard to come by in the time of the Empire.”

            Joker nodded in agreement, feeling better about temporarily working with the Yoshida cell thanks to Chihaya’s helpfulness and her impressive gift. He offered, “I should go find my comrades and show them what you gave me. Maybe you can track down that ‘training remote’ while I do that. I wanna make the most of the time we have before the slave liberation.”

            Chihaya nodded and was about to respond when the door to the small chamber behind Joker slid open. An older sounding male voice Joker did not recognize asked Chihaya, “So, this kid’s the seppy cell leader Doc Maruki invited? You sure you wanna give him the weapon of a Jedi, Mifune?”

            Joker whirled around to face a bearded human man who appeared to be at least 50 years old. He did not look Toruunian, but wore a uniform akin to those of the other rebel soldiers in the base. What caught Joker’s attention about the aging soldier were the pieces of white plastoid armor attached to his uniform on the shoulders, knees, and elbows. They looked visibly distinct from stormtrooper armor plates and featured heavily faded blue lines.

            Chihaya nodded at the new arrival and told him, “Yes, Scrapper, I believe that the force’s will has brought him to us, separatist or not. You’ve no doubt heard the reports of his team’s victories over the Empire. In time, he may come to be a worthy wielder of Yu Narukami’s blade.”

            Joker blinked for a moment, a series of pieces of new information rapidly converging on each other in his head. The man Chihaya had simply referred to as “Scrapper” admitted, “His crew have certainly made the local imp garrison look pretty incompetent. Maybe there’s something to the kid that we’ll see for ourselves soon enough? I’m just glad he didn’t bring any of his reactivated clankers out here. If I never see another one of those battle droids in action, it’ll be too soon….”

            Joker had planned on telling Scrapper that it was rude to talk about him like he was not right there. However, the conclusion of the man’s statement made one thing abundantly clear.

            Overcome with a sudden rush of terror, Joker actually lost his balance and fell to the floor, landing on his butt and dropping Yu Narukami’s lightsaber in the process. He knew exactly what Scrapper had to be.

            With both Scrapper and Chihaya looking down at him, clearly confused, Joker pointed up with one finger, trembling, and shouted one word, “CLONE!”

            Scrapper folded his arm and actually chuckled, shaking his head. He told Joker, “It took you long enough to figure it out. You’re right about that, kid. However, I’m also the tactical commander of this cell. I only answer to Representative Yoshida here. You and your friends might’ve taken down your fair share of what passes for troopers these days, and some inferior Imperial fighters and walkers, but I’ve got more combat experience than you’d ever want to have.”

            Joker slowly began to regain his composure and angrily asked Scrapper, “You gained that experience fighting CIS forces, didn’t you? You and your ‘brothers’ fought and died to keep the rim enslaved by the ‘Republic,’ just like you all were from birth! Why are YOU fighting the Empire?”

            Scrapper looked mostly unfazed and responded, “You don’t think I’ve been asked questions like that before? All you need to know is that I’ve got no love for Palpatine and his Empire. I don’t regret fighting the separatists from Geonosis to Umbara and beyond. …But I do have other regrets, and I won’t rest until the self-proclaimed Emperor who lied to the whole galaxy is dead and gone.”

            While Joker retrieved his new lightsaber and began to stand up, Chihaya put a hand on Scrapper’s white and blue armored shoulder and told him, “I know Knightfall wasn’t you or your brothers’ fault. You didn’t have a choice then.”

            Scrapper sighed and responded, “I know, Mifune. …I’m just glad that I have a choice now. I chose to fight to bring the Republic back and see the Empire get what it deserves!”

            Now back on his feet, but still a bit confused about why a clone trooper would turn on his former masters. Joker retorted, “As long as the Republic stays in the core regions where it belongs, I’ll admit that I’d rather have it around than the Empire. As little as I trust Toranosuke Yoshida, I don’t think he’d have put you in command of his forces if he didn’t trust your loyalty to the alliance’s cause. …You mostly fought mass-produced droids during the war. Soon, you’ll see what a committed squad of separatists fighting for their homeworld’s independence can do!”

            Scrapper chuckled awkwardly and admitted, “I’ll reserve further judgement until I see your little team in action, kid. You’re not the first separatist I’ve met since coming to Toruun and joining up with Representative Yoshida. I’ll give you some credit for accepting Doc Maruki’s invitation and not walking out, or starting a fight, once you got a clear picture of who our leader is.”

            Joker responded, “…Thank you? I never expected to be sort of complimented by a clone trooper, not to mention even meet one. Honestly, I considered walking out when I learned who led this cell. However, some of my comrades are a bit more… ambivalent in their allegiance. I couldn’t just leave them out here. You and your boss can count on my crew’s support for your mining camp liberation. However, I don’t expect that out paths will cross again after that. We share the same enemy, but we want two different things for this world.”

            Scrapper nodded, but told Joker, “Like I said, I’ve met a few seppies out here before, but you’re a lot younger than them. There’s a lot that I bet you don’t know about the atrocious things General Grievous and his forces did during the last war. Still, I doubt you’re in the mood to listen.” He then turned to Chihaya, saluted her, and finished, “I’ll leave you to it. Just make sure the kid treats that saber with respect and doesn’t seriously hurt himself with it.”

            Chihaya blushed slightly, but clumsily saluted Scrapper back. The old clone soon departed the room while Joker mulled his closing statement over. Joker had picked up some bits and pieces about the cyborg, alien leader of the CIS military over the years. It was said that Grievous had been quite ruthless in many of his campaigns against Republic loyalist forces, yet willing to make hasty retreats when battles turned against him, not to mention how deeply he reportedly hated the Jedi. Still, he had the led the separatists to many victories against the government that sought to forcefully re-incorporate them.

            Knowing that General Grievous had been slain on Utapau right before the CIS had officially surrendered to the new Empire, and that what mattered now was freeing Imperial slaves, Joker turned to Chihaya. However, she was already rummaging around in a different drawer on the opposite side of the room.

            When Chihaya finally turned around to face Joker again, she was holding a small, spherical droid of sorts. She told him, “Scrapper really does mean well. He’s fully committed to the restoration of the Republic and tearing down the Empire. He and many of his brothers were forcibly retired, or worse, by the Empire when they started recruiting stormtroopers. I think he first came all the way out here because he wanted to get as far away from Coruscant as he could without entering the Unknown Regions. We’re honestly lucky to have him and his wealth of experience. His training regimens have made our fighters far more effective than they would be without him.”

            Joker sighed and nodded slowly, admitting, “At least he’s using his expertise to resist the Empire, not aid it. I can’t help but respect real conviction in someone else who hates the imps. Now, I guess that’s the training remote?”

            Chihaya nodded and replied, “Yes, it is. We just have to see if we can get it working… and make sure it doesn’t blast either of us before you’re ready for it.”

            Joker walked over to Chihaya, wishing that Futaba was with him. He said, “I’ll take it to my comrades if you’re alright with that. We’ve got an astromech droid who might be able to help fix this old machine up.”

            Chihaya nodded and then knelt down at the center of her meditation circle. She finished, “I will await your return in that case. I believe that with your cell having arrived, our major operation will begin in a week at most.”

            Joker nodded while Chihaya crossed her legs and closed her eyes. He then departed the room and headed off to locate his crew. He had something amazing to show them. He also needed to get Sophie’s help with the old training remote. After that, he had a serious crash course in lightsaber basics to begin. He would ideally become basically proficient with a weapon that it took many force sensitives years to master in a matter of days. No matter how much training he squeezed in, he and his team would need to be ready to give their all for the upcoming joint-mission. Plenty of innocent beings would be depending on them.

Chapter Text

Six Days Later: The Yoshida Cell’s Briefing Room:

            The last few days had been intense for Joker, despite him and his crew being safely and somewhat-comfortably lodged in the cavernous rebel base. Upon receiving the lightsaber wielded by the ancient Jedi Knight Yu Narukami, Joker had shown the weapon to his comrades. They had been settling into their temporary quarters deep within Yoshida’s base when Joker found them.

Just as Joker had predicted, Yusuke had been the most impressed by the saber by far. He vocally declared that Toranosuke Yoshida had done a great service for Toruun by saving the weapon. He also told Joker that he should consider it a great honor to now carry it. The young artist resolved to learn whatever else remained to be uncovered about the blade’s original wielder as soon as an opportunity presented itself.

Sophie was as helpful as ever in repairing the old training remote. She easily completed the task within a couple of hours of being handed the degraded machine. She even meticulously cleaned the remote’s outer shell. By the day’s end, the small spherical pseudo-droid was hovering about and firing low-intensity energy bolts at practice targets without suffering the slightest hint of any mechanical failures.

The day after the Phantoms had arrived at the Yoshida Cell’s base, Joker began training with his new lightsaber and the remote. Knowing to some degree how difficult this training would necessarily be, and with his melee weapon experience limited to vibroblades, Joker approached his saber practice with great intensity. His focus was unmatched by even his preparations for the Phantom Cell’s initial missions prior to their recruiting Haru.

By the time that preparations for the raid were complete and it was scheduled for the following day, Joker was making some headway with his new weapon. He had learned some basic strikes and parries without accidentally taking any of his limbs off. However, based on his practice with the remote, his bolt deflection rate was still far from where he wanted it to be. Joker would need to focus primarily on cover and evasion, like he always had, for now.  

Now, it was the evening before the day of the rebel raid. Joker stood next to the Yoshida Cell’s primary holoprojector table looking over a blue, three-dimensional map of the Imperial mining camp and its defenses. Also standing around the table were Toranosuke Yoshida, Dr. Maruki, Scrapper, Yusuke, and two of Yoshida’s other soldiers. Two additional rebel troopers stood guard next to the briefing room’s main door. The rest of the Phantoms were checking their combat gear in their temporary quarters.

Yusuke had been invited to the meeting both because he and Yoshida were getting along very well, and because he was the one Joker had ordered to take temporary command of the cell’s other members in his absence. While Ryuji was Joker’s first recruit, a fellow true separatist, and arguably Joker’s best friend, Yusuke was undeniably more levelheaded and tactically proficient. Ryuji was certainly aware of those facts. The main exception to Yusuke’s strategic expertise was his insistence on leaving his “calling cards” behind whenever possible. Haru was too new to the cell, and Ann lacked Yusuke’s comparative big picture thinking and reacted based on emotions more frequently. Therefore, even though Yusuke was not Joker’s official second-in-command, he was being treated like it for the duration of the current mission.

Looking over the map of the Imperial mining camp and its immediate surroundings. Joker said, “My cell came out here to help free some slaves. We’re here to hit the Empire hard and fast and then fall back just as quickly, as usual for us. We’ll be on our way back to Ryo once this operation is complete. …Still, while we’re here and working towards the same goal, I have every intention of showing you all what a Separatist cell is capable of!”

Yoshida nodded. However, he chuckled a bit and quickly added, “You know as well as I do that your team is not as separatist as you would prefer, young man. Now, Scrapper, what do you make of the camp’s defenses, based on our recent reconnaissance forays?”

Scrapper nodded, saluted Yoshida instinctively and reported, “Sir, even if we had any aircraft for a low altitude assault, the camp is defended by a turbolaser tower set up near its center. Thankfully, it’s a pure anti-air weapon by the look of it. We’ll have to rush the fences from the ground with our speeders, dealing with their repeating blasters in the process. The camp’s vehicle pool includes two TX-225 Occupier tanks, and two Marauder-Class troop carriers, in addition to a of couple of 74-Z speeder bikes. They’ll make any ground approach trickier. …There’s a pass bordered by rocky hills on both sides close to our base that we can easily position, and conceal, our infantry forces in. We can also set up our repeating blasters and atgar cannons there. Most of the terrain between that pass and the mining camp is pretty wide open, allowing for easy speeder, or foot, travel. …What I’m trying to figure out is a way to lure some of the imp guards and their vehicles into the pass, away from the camp. If we can lure them that far from the mine, we’ll ambush them, leaving the camp relatively unguarded for a follow-up attack.”

Joker smiled and informed everyone present, “The cell based here hasn’t been a major focus of the enemy’s for quite some time. You’ve built up your forces and kept a low profile in preparation for tomorrow’s attack. My cell, on the other hand, has made holonet headlines repeatedly since you last conducted a major operation. So, if the imp guards at the camp see the ‘Ryo Separatist Cell’ out here, they’ll really want to try and chase us down! IF they were to capture or eliminate us, it’d really earn their commander Shido’s praise and favor. …At least that’s what I bet they’ll think.”

While Dr. Maruki stroked his chin, Scrapper folded his arms and asked Joker point-blank, “What’re you proposing, kid?”

Yusuke looked to Joker, nodding slowly, while Joker explained, “I can’t guarantee success, but I volunteer my team to rush the mining camp in our souped-up speeder and try to draw some of their guards and vehicles away. We’ll try to make it look like we’re raiding the camp, but fall back once we ‘realize we’re badly outmatched.’ We’ll lead the imps chasing us right into the pass where your forces can set up concealed cannons and fighters to ambush them! Once we have the imps where we want them, our astromech will jam their comms. That’ll keep them from calling in backup!”

Scrapper nodded slowly while scratching his bearded chin. Yusuke pointed out, “We should probably leave Sophie safely with our allies in the pass in that case. We won’t be able to jam the camp’s communications array from our speeder for long, if at all. Even if they take the bait, it is highly likely that someone at the mining camp will alert the Ryo Garrison to our presence out here. The only way that would not happen is if a foolish and dishonorable officer purposefully delays their report in the hopes of informing command ‘after we’ve been dealt with.’ Your plan is risky Joker. It relies on our recent infamy on the holonet to lure the enemy into a trap. I’ll follow your lead as always. Let us hope that the Imperials out here are bored and hungry for glory.”

            Yoshida turned to Scrapper and asked him, “Do you believe we should allow our guests to lure the Imperial guards into an ambush? I will defer to your expertise on this issue, my friend.”

            Scrapper responded, “I’ll take the risk on this one, sir. Tomorrow, we’ll see what these ‘separatists’ can do.” He then turned to Joker and told him, “You’ve got a jedi’s weapon now, kid, not to mention the old DC-17 I’ve seen you carrying around. I know your crew has survived more than a few scrapes before. However, this’ll be the largest combat operation you’ve ever taken part in. I hope your plan works, because tomorrow will be your one and only chance to impress us. Not to mention survive the day’s action.”

            Joker nodded, but pointed out, “I don’t need the approval of anyone who supports the return of the Republic. I’ve got every intention of impressing you regardless.” He finished his statement with a cocky grin on his face.

            Before Scrapper could respond to Joker, Yoshida ordered, “Very well. Scrapper will set up our forces in the pass tomorrow morning. Our speeders will be parked nearby, just out of the enemy’s view. Dr. Maruki, you’ll be stationed nearby with the Phantom Cell’s astromech. I will stay here with Chihaya and a token rear-guard force and monitor the progress of the operation. May the force be with us all tomorrow!”

            Everyone except for Joker saluted Yoshida. Then, they all began to split up and finish preparations for the following day’s operation. Joker knew that there was a lot riding on their victory. His cell had a reputation to spread, Imperials to take down a peg, and slaves to liberate. For now, he and Yusuke would return to their comrades and tell them the plan. Joker could only hope that volunteering his cell would work out. There would be little margin for error tomorrow.

---

The Next Day: The Rocky Plains Between the Mining Camp and the Pass:

            So far, Joker’s plan was working quite well. However, that could change in the blink of an eye. He had driven his cell’s landspeeder towards a section of the mining camp’s reinforced fence, with the rest of his crew aboard. They all had their usual masks and hoods donned. He only slowed down enough to allow his enemies to see his cell’s speeder coming. He wanted the Imperials to realize that the resistance cell who had vexed their comrades in and around Ryo more than once before were in the mountains and ready for a fight.

            Noir had blown a tower-mounted repeating blaster turret to smithereens with a well-placed rocket while the rest of Joker’s passengers opened fire on any troopers they glimpsed inside of the camp. Ryuji had borrowed Joker’s DC-17 for the sake of greater range. After three stormtroopers had fallen to strafing blaster fire from the Phantoms, the camp’s main gate opened, and more troopers rapidly advanced out of it.

            What mattered more to Joker now was that the camp’s guards loaded up one of their Marauder landspeeders with troopers and prepared to pursue the Phantoms. In addition, the camp’s two 74-Z speeder bikes roared out of the gate ahead of the heavier speeder. Right before Joker swerved his red and black speeder around and accelerated towards the pass where Sophie and the alliance forces would be waiting, he saw the camp’s two TX-225 tanks slowly advancing to support the speeders from behind. The enemy was not taking any chances, just like Joker wanted.

            Now, the Phantom Cell’s speeder shot across open, rocky terrain towards the pass. The two Imperial biker scouts were gaining on them with the fully loaded Marauder landspeeder in tow. Farther behind the speeder transport the two Imperial tanks charged forward, trying to get a solid bead on their enemy’s evasive vehicle.

            Two heavy blasts from the pursuing tanks flew past Joker and company’s conveyance, slamming into the ground not far ahead of them too Joker’s left. The resulting explosions kicked up fiery showers of earth and stone that Joker made sure to evade.

            From the seat in the far back of the speeder, Fox called forward, “Joker, the two speeder bikes are catching up to us! If you can steady the speeder, I can try to eliminate them.”

            Panther pointed out, “I don’t think he wants either of those tanks lining up a shot!”

            Noir announced, “I’ve got a rocket ready to fire if the tanks get into range!”

            Joker remained focused on driving evasively and told Fox, “I’ll see if I can give you a brief window, but don’t waste it!” After evading scattered laser cannon fire from the Imperial speeders not far behind him with help from Skull’s spotting, Joker briefing ceased his swerving. He accelerated his vehicle straight ahead towards the pass in the distance at top speed, but kept the souped-up repulsorcraft steady.

            Joker heard a single shot from Fox’s rifle and then the violent sounds of an Imperial speeder bike spinning out and crashing into the ground.

            Fox clinically reported, “I neutralized one biker scout. However, the other enemy vehicles evaded his bike when it tumbled out of control.”

            Joker heard Skull and Panther firing their blasters at the remaining biker scout. He then felt the impact of two glancing shots from the scout’s vehicle slicing into his speeder’s rear armor.

            Noir reported, “Damage is light, Joker! Still, if those tanks, or even that transport hit us, it’ll be a different story.”

            A volley of paired laser cannon shots flew narrowly over the Phantom’s speeder from the troop transport close behind the surviving speeder bike. Joker ordered, “Take out that bike and then I’ll see if I can put more distance between us and the rest of the imps!”

            Panther kept up her fire, but told Joker, “I see two more imp landspeeders in the distance behind the tanks. They’re probably carrying more troopers!”

            Fox suggested, “They might have considered the possibility that we’re leading them towards other rebels. Hopefully, they still assume we’re retreating after an overconfident move and do not know what Scrapper has in store for them.”

            Skull admitted, “I don’t think I’ll prolly ever trust a clone trooper, but they sure had some great blasters! This gun’s incredible, Joker!” Immediately following that, Joker heard the telltale sound of another enemy speeder bike crashing into the rocky highland plains. It was accompanied by a triumphant cry from Skull.

            With that, Joker focused on pushing his vehicle to her limits. The Phantom’s landspeeder shot towards the pass as fast as she could. Panther reported, “The Marauder’s driver must know they can’t catch us now. They’re regrouping with the tanks, but they aren’t waiting for the smaller speeders.”

            Joker nodded while his crew closed in on the pass. The space between two boulder-covered gradual slopes was wide enough to fit two or three land vehicles advancing abreast of each other. Scrapper and his soldiers were well concealed behind large rocks and in camouflaged trenches. The ambush setup was especially impressive considering that it included two repeating blaster turrets and two larger anti-vehicle cannons that sported large, circular dishes around their barrels.

            Slowing down enough to allow the enemy vehicles to catch up somewhat, but not enough to let them get back into effective firing range, Joker drove into the pass. His craft soon turned a bend while dramatically slowing her speed. The Phantoms found themselves in a well-concealed side path just off of the main pass. They quickly spotted six rebel landspeeders of various sizes, along with Dr. Maruki and Sophie, there.

            Maruki waved the Phantoms’ speeder into an open spot near the other vehicles. Sophie gave her comrades some relieved beeps while Joker ordered, “Fox, check and see if the imps have entered the pass. As soon as they’re in range, Sophie will get into her speeder socket and begin jamming their comms.”

            Sophie rolled over to the speeder and boarded her astromech socket, giving Joker and company a quick salute with one of her clawed metal arms. Skull handed Joker his DC-17 and drew his shock blaster. Panther and Noir readied their weapons while Dr. Maruki stepped back away from the impending action. Fox advanced on a nearby rocky slope and took cover, scanning the vicinity through his rifle’s scope.

            Joker crept closer to where Fox had set up his position. He stood not far behind his team’ sniper and checked to confirm that the two tanks and single speeder transport had entered the pass and were slowly, steadily closing in on the bend. The Marauder stayed well behind the two tanks for now and had begun deploying a squad of stormtroopers from her side compartments and interior. The two smaller Imperial landspeeders rapidly closed in on the pass’s entrance.

            Joker gave Sophie a quick hand signal and the droid activated her jamming gear, beeping affirmatively. Skull, Noir, and Panther moved up to join Fox and Joker. They all tensed up for action, knowing that they could not let their enemies escape the skirmish that was about to begin.

            Joker was just about to call out to begin the ambush when Scrapper’s voice rang out, “NOW!”

            At least twenty rebel soldiers carrying varied weaponry emerged from all manner of hiding spots. Tarps and loose stones were rapidly removed from the four turrets they had set up in the pass. The enemy did not look ready for such an ambush. However, Joker knew that the anti-Imperial forces here would only have one shot at pressing their advantage and wiping out their enemies, leaving the mining camp vulnerable to a lightning strike.

Chapter Text

Seconds Later: The Rocky Pass:

            Volleys of blaster fire erupted from the rebels entrenched on both sides of the pass. Since the rebels were firing from the high ground, the troopers advancing around their Marauder speeder struggled to find solid cover. The two smaller incoming Imperial speeders continued their advance towards the pass, not ready to retreat despite seeing their vanguard being ambushed.  

            Joker and his Phantoms opened fire at the enemy troopers on foot from behind their cover. Skull called out, “HA! The imps never saw it coming!” He advanced towards a small boulder sitting in the pass, shock blaster in hand. Much to Joker’s relief, the one hostile bolt that struck his friend and comrade connected near the center of his chest plate and was absorbed, barely slowing Skull down. The old super battle droid armor the separatist fighter wore proved its worth this time.

            Fox focused on getting a bead on the incoming Imperial light speeders. Panther and Joker kept up their fire on the enemy troopers stocking close to their Marauder.

            One of the two Occupier tanks closed her top hatch and started turning towards the nearest rebel position. Rebel blaster fire gunned down the trooper sticking out of her sister tank’s top hatch by before he could follow suit.

            As soon as the two rebel Atgar Cannons were operational, Scrapper ordered, “Take out the tanks! I want poppers on that Marauder, we’re taking her intact!” He hoisted up an old Z-6 rotary blaster cannon and opened up on the Imperial infantry. Scrapper’s barrage of azure bolts sliced into two stormtroopers and peppered their transport speeder with scorch marks.

            The two heavy rebel cannons turned to face the Occupier tank whose crew had managed to close her hatch in time. Energy charged through the artillery pieces’ focusing dishes and both heavy guns fired at roughly the same time.

            The high-powered bolts struck the same Imperial tank in rapid succession, smashing through the armored vehicle’s plating. The Occupier Tank exploded viciously, the resulting shrapnel knocking one stormtrooper onto his back and down for the count.

            With one tank down, her fellow’s surviving crew members began turning their vehicle to try and line up one of the Atgar Cannons. However, Noir fired a locked-on rocket directly into one of the tank’s side-mounted cannons. The heavy blaster was reduced to burnt and contorted metal pipes. Noir’s missile halved the Imperial tank’s firepower, and severely dented her side armor.

The rebel repeating blaster turrets opened fire on the two Imperial landspeeders while they cruised into the pass. Under heavy fire, the stormtroopers riding inside of the vehicle’s joined the fray. However, they had few comrades left on foot now.

Right after his speeder deployed its troopers, one of the Imperial drivers slumped over. Fox had sniped him, preventing him from returning to the mining camp.

Joker drooped a stormtrooper who had been advancing on Skull with two well-placed shots from his DC-17. He saw the Imperial Marauder transport begin to back up, while her turret provided covering fire for the surviving infantry. A few rebels ducked back into their trenches to avoid being blown to sherds. One of their repeating blasters was consumed by a fireball induced by the marauder’s turret fire.

Joker asked as loudly as he could, not sure if he would get an answer, “What are poppers and how’ll they stop that Marauder?”

Maruki called back from nearby Sophie and the parked rebel speeders, “The clones used to call them ‘droid poppers.’ They’re EMP grenades.”

Joked grimaced while he saw four rebel soldiers stand up in one of their trenches and toss detonators at the Marauder. The four grenades went off, frying the lightly damaged vehicle, which stopped moving and began sparking violently with blue electric arcs.

With the Marauder disabled, Scrapper ordered, “Close in and finish them! Don’t let any enemies escape!”

Skull looked back at Joker and grinned. He then charged out from behind cover with his comrades not far behind him. The surviving stormtroopers attempted to form up around their damaged tank, firing in all directions at their attackers.

Noir ignored the Imperial tank for now. She called out, “I’ll stop their other speeder!” And fired a locked-on missile into the Imperial landspeeder whose driver had not been sniped. The enemy light vehicle detonated in a brilliant explosion. That was one less way the surviving Imperials could escape to warn the mining camp’s commanders.

The Imperials were in a full retreat now. Their tank fired its functioning weapons into the pass’s rocky walls almost blindly in the hope of taking out some rebels and their light artillery. However, a well-aimed Atgar Cannon shot sliced through its dented plating, finishing the tank.

Scrapper advanced down into the pass, firing his Z-6 wildly. Six of his soldiers rushed past him. They charged right for the damaged and disabled Marauder. Their blaster fire dropped two more stormtroopers while their comrades charged the intact Imperial light landspeeder to prevent it from being re-boarded and used to escape the pass.

Joker and Skull led the Phantoms forward to help finish the fight. Panther eliminated one of the few Imperial troopers remaining in the pass with her light repeating blaster. However, Scrapper’s soldiers clearly had the situation under control.

The rebels soon sliced into one of the Marauder transport’s side doors, broke into the vehicle and blasted the driver and gunner before they could return fire. It was clear to Joker that the cell’s uniformed soldiers had trained intensively for ambushes like this one. The Yoshida Cell’s troops were not to be underestimated, for better or worse.

It was all over before Joker could fully wrap his head around what had happened. Like he expected from stormtroopers, the fanatics fought to the last soldier standing. However, in the end, none of them escaped. Thanks to Sophie’s jamming gear, there was little chance that the Imperials had contacted their base to report that they were being ambushed before the rebels wiped them out.

Needing little direction, the Yoshida Cell’s soldiers got to work getting the newly commandeered Marauder up and running again. They cleared as many Imperial bodies and as much debris as they could from the pass. Thankfully, the rebels had only lost two soldiers, and a repeating blaster turret, along with two of their number being wounded.

Scrapper lowered his heavy weapon and ordered, “As soon as the Marauder’s ready to move, board our speeders and form up. We’ll retrieve our artillery later and leave our wounded with Doc Maruki. For now, we’ve got people to free and a labor camp to level!” The old clone then turned to Joker and his crew and told them, “You kids pulled your weight and got the imps right to where we wanted them, but the day’s not over yet. Get in your speeder and be ready to help us clear out the camp. They can only have so many guards left now. We’ll have to see if they’ve called for backup by the time we arrive.”

Joker growled instinctively, hating the idea of taking orders from anyone pro-republic, not to mention a clone trooper. However, he shook his head for a brief moment and gave Scrapper a quick nod. He ordered his crew, “Alright, guys, let’s get back in the speeder and form with the rebel craft. We’ll help liberate some slaves for real this time!” After that, he quietly added, “… and then get back home as soon as we can….”

Skull nodded in agreement with Joker while the Phantoms made a beeline for their speeder and Sophie. He added, “I don’t like being around all these republic people either, man. …Still, that clone’s a hell of a fighter. I guess the stories about them being ‘super soldiers’ weren’t exaggerated.”

Panther and Fox nodded in agreement with Skull regarding Scrapper. However, Noir explained, “Based on his blue armor stripes, he might have been assigned to the 501^st Legion. I learned in school that they were one of the most decorated and celebrated clone units of the war.”

Joker groaned and retorted, “They probably turned on their Jedi General and then bowed down to ‘Emperor Palpatine’ like all the others. …Still, it sounded like Scrapper has a serious regret that could be related to that whole mess.”

Fox pointed out, “What matters right now is that we have dealt another serious blow to the Imperial occupiers and are about to liberate their mining camp. Our victory here will help Toruun and harm our enemies one way or another.”

Joker nodded slowly, but told Yusuke, “I know you trust Yoshida more than Skull and I do, Fox. All I ask is that you remember the cell and movement you agreed to join, and that Toruun voted to join the CIS fair and square.”

Fox calmly responded, “I’m well aware that I swore to aid your resistance cell, and that Toruun voluntarily seceded from the Galactic Republic. I have no intention of abandoning you all for Representative Yoshida and his followers. For one, my mentor would likely eventually launch an inquiry into what became of me if I never returned to Ryo.”

Panther finished, “If everything goes according to plan, we’ll leave here and return to Ryo tomorrow morning. Most of us can’t afford to be out of the city any longer and I miss Mona, anyway.”

Skull looked just a bit frustrated at the mention of Mona. However, the Phantoms piled back into their landspeeder, and Joker took the controls again. It did not take long for the rebels to board their assorted speeders and charge out of the pass with the captured Marauder transport at the head of their formation. It was time to blitz into the Imperial labor camp, and complete the joint operation.

It did not take long for the rebel landspeeders to pass over the open, rocky plain and close in on the fence bordering the Imperial mining camp. Based on the briefing, Joker knew that the fenced off area mainly contained slave quarters and guard barracks, along with the camp’s vehicle pool. The actual mine shafts were dug into the ground inside of the fence and extended deep beneath the camp. Before the Empire’s occupation, the mine would have been manned by free Toruunians. It had supported small highland communities that no longer existed. Liberating the camp’s nonhuman slaves and doing as much damage as possible to the occupying forces was something that even Republic and CIS supporters could agree on.

From atop one of the mining camp’s towers a repeating blaster cannon opened fire on the incoming speeders. However, the commandeered Marauder at the tip of the rebel spear returned fire with her top-mounted turret, blasting the Imperial light artillery piece to smithereens, along with the tower she had topped.

Alarm sirens rang out across the mining camp. Despite the earlier communications jam, the Imperial guards had to know what was happening now.

Joker accelerated his speeder ahead, so she was just barely trailing the rebel Marauder. He would rather not let the pro-alliance forces dominate this engagement like they had the ambush. At least his cell had achieved their initial goal of luring the Imperials right into Scrapper’s trap.

Imperial stormtroopers scrambled to take up defensive positions inside of the labor camp’s fence. Joker noticed a towering anti-air turbolaser emplacement located close to the center of the camp. The twin-barreled stationary weapon was powerful enough to obliterate any of the rebel speeders in a single successful hit. However, the heavy artillery piece’s limited firing arc did not permit it to fire at a downward angle. That oversight would make the rebel fighters’ assault considerably easier.

Easily withstanding scattered blaster fire from within the mining camp’s fence, the rebel Marauder’s turret blasted the fence’s main gate to slag with an intense volley of bolts. The path into the base was cleared and there was no time to waste.

The assortment of rebel speeders burst into the camp and split up. Merciless volleys of blaster fire from the vehicles’ mounted weapons and those carried by their passengers tore into the stormtroopers who had tried to hold the line near the gate.

Joker parked his speeder after ramming a stormtrooper dead on, sending her flying into a nearby barracks wall. He ordered, “Everyone out! Sophie, stay with the speeder and initiate comms jamming. If they haven’t already called for backup, make sure they don’t!”

Joker’s comrades followed his orders and leapt out of their speeder. All around them, rebel soldiers disembarked from their vehicles and advanced into the camp.

Scrapper took the lead while the remaining Imperial troopers fell back towards more defensible positions. He ordered, “Split up and secure the buildings. Start freeing slaves as soon as we’ve seized the guard barracks and the administrative building! Somebody secure the turbolaser tower, we don’t want any imps hiding up there!”

Joker drew his blaster pistol. His other hand rested on Yu Narukami’s lightsaber, which hung at his belt. He told his team, “Keep the alliance soldiers covered while they seize the buildings. If any imp reinforcements show up, they’ll have to deal with us first!”

After Joker’s order was acknowledged, he pressed ahead with Skull alongside him. Fox fired on a couple of hostiles as they fell back towards a tall, long building on the opposite side of the camp. From what Joker could tell, it had to be the administrative building, considering the visible red, white, and black Imperial cogwheel banners that hung from its upper floors.

Rebel soldiers began to split up and break into the camp’s buildings, clearing them one by one. A small team of three soldiers used a breaching charge to enter the turbolaser tower from the ground floor with the intention of capturing the anti-air emplacement. As usual, it was a cloudy day in the mountains. However, Joker could make out a sliver of sunlight breaking through in the distance. He hadn’t seen Toruun’s sun at all since his team entered the mountainous highlands around a week ago.

It was becoming increasingly clear to Joker that as elite as his team was for their young age, the Yoshida Cell’s rebels were well-trained and disciplined. These rebels were not basic recruits with little time in the field. They were hardened combat veterans who took no prisoners, and had more battlefield experience than most of the stormtroopers stationed on Toruun. Scrapper’s own wealth of experience certainly did not hurt the quality of his subordinates’ combat skills either.

The Phantoms stayed close together, advancing on the Imperial administrative building while picking off any enemy troopers who showed their helmeted heads. The camp’s alarm sirens still blared. However, no reinforcements had arrived for the Empire’s besieged guards.

Joker looked up at the administrative building, while Scrapper’s soldiers finished clearing the infantry barracks. A small team of four rebels made a beeline for the vehicle pool to secure the Empire’s other marauder and any other surviving speeders. They wanted to seize the vehicles before the enemy could destroy any of them, or use them to escape their falling camp.

A quick pang in the back of Joker’s head focused him on the here and now. He pointed up at one of the administrative building’s second story windows and called out, “There’s someone up there!”

A series of bolts from a long-range blaster rifle flew from the window Joker had pinpointed. A nearby window was shattered by repeating blaster fire from a turret that had been set up right behind it. Six stormtroopers and a helmeted lieutenant advanced out from the administrative building’s main door and charged towards the Phantoms while their rebel allies were focused elsewhere.

Joker and company rushed forward, looking for any good places to take cover. Crimson blaster bolts scorched the ground all around them and traced through the air just above their heads. Noir aimed her rocket launcher up at the windows the storm of enemy fire was coming from and dumb-fired a missile.

Noir’s rocket landed right between the two windows and detonated, eliminating the threat of the Imperial sniper and repeating blaster in one well-placed shot. Joker and his followers soon found cover and held their positions. They focused on trading blaster fire with the incoming troopers and their leader.

Joker considered igniting his lightsaber and trying to draw the enemy’s attention. However, he through better of it for now. Instead, he dropped a hostile trooper with his DC-17 and stayed behind cover.

Skull tossed a small detonator from behind some reinforced supply crates. The explosive beaned an enemy trooper and exploded, lethally removing him from the fight. Fox sniped the Imperial officer right through his chest plate, leaving the surviving troopers leaderless.

Finally seeing some degree of reason, the remaining stormtroopers fell back towards the administrative building. However, combined fire from the Phantoms, and scattered incoming rebel soldiers finished them off before they could complete their retreat.

Soon enough, the mining camp’s barracks and administrative building were cleared of Imperial soldiers and officers. The rebel soldiers sent to the vehicle pool reported that they had seized the camp’s other Marauder transport and three smaller Imperial landspeeders. The camp’s turbolaser tower was now under rebel control as well. Scrapper and his troops began to break into the slave quarters while a small team of four was sent down into the main mineshaft. They were to eliminate any Imperial guards left there and free any slaves currently working in the mine.

The Phantoms patrolled the camp while the rebel soldiers helped exhausted, and severely worn-down looking members of various nonhuman species out of their quarters and towards the speeders. In the end, there was no way the rebels could hold the camp and the mine she had been built around. The Empire would reclaim it in short order. What mattered to the rebels in this operation was freeing slaves and destroying or capturing whatever Imperial war material that they could.

Ann looked both disgusted and relieved upon seeing the Empire’s slaves being helped over to the rebel speeders. Thankfully, the former forced laborers put up no resistance to their human liberators. They all looked truly grateful that their ordeals at the hands of the Imperials would soon be over.

When the liberation was almost complete and the rebel speeders were almost fully loaded with freed slaves, Joker was struck with a fresh sense of discomfort and glanced around, suddenly as alert as ever.

Before Joker could say anything to his comrades, Fox called out, “We have an AT-AT walker on the way! There’s a squad of troopers advancing ahead of her on the ground!”

Joker quickly realized that Fox was right. A single Imperial AT-AT heavy assault walker was closing in on the camp and would soon be in firing range. Thankfully, she was coming in from the opposite direction that the rebels had arrived from. The rebels here had little chance of destroying such a heavily armored war machine. They would need to clear out before she blasted, or trampled, their forces to dust.

Right before Scrapper could give his soldiers fresh orders, Joker grimaced when he saw three Imperial aircraft darting down through the rift in the clouds that he had made a mental note of earlier. Two of them were lightly armed Imperial Gunships, the sort of air vehicles often used for police operations in occupied territory. What gave him real pause was the TIE Reaper at the center of the enemy air formation. This could very well be the same vehicle that had deployed The Crow into battle during the forest ambush the Phantoms had narrowly escaped from.

The enemy aircraft strafed in towards the rebel infantry, aiming to land near the administrative building, closer to the incoming walker. The commandeered turbolaser turret had started firing on the AT-AT, allowing the trio of Imperial aircraft to evade its fire.

Scrapper ordered, “We’ll need to destroy their aircraft and hold off their ground troops! After that, we’ll head back to base at top speed before that walker breaches the camp! Protect the civilians and our speeders at all costs!”

Joker led his Phantoms forward to meet the enemy infantry when they deployed from their gunships. Noir shouted, “I’m locked on, but this is my last rocket!” And fired a missile that crashed into the side of an Imperial Gunship, destroying her wholesale in a brilliant fireball before she could deploy any troopers. However, the other gunship landed and stormtroopers poured out of her open deployment doors.

With blaster fire flying from all directions and the AT-AT’s accompanying troopers closing in on the camp, Joker’s comrades took cover once again. The fresh wave of stormtroopers did the same. Instead of charging ahead, they took cover wherever they could, awaiting their heavy walker’s arrival.

The TIE Reaper hovered just above the ground in front of the administrative building and opened up her deployment door. Joker clenched his fists and gritted his teeth when he saw The Crow charge down the ramp, flanked by two death troopers.

While The Crow surveyed the situation, blaster pistol drawn, his death troopers moved to link up with the stormtroopers already in the fight. However, Scrapper poured a stream of blaster fire into one of them with his Z-6. While one Imperial elite crumpled, his comrade took cover nearby two stormtroopers and began suppressing some rebel soldiers with his enhanced blaster rifle.  

            The Crow’s TIE Reaper began to pull back up into the sky, firing ionized bolts into the rebel-controlled turbolaser turret. Her pilot probably wanted to protect the incoming AT-AT. However, the heavy artillery emplacement remained operational enough to target the reaper and unload a series of well-aimed shots into her.

The Imperial dropship’s shields failed quickly under heavy fire, following which her cockpit and engines were wracked by the barrage of emerald energy bolts. The TIE Reaper spun out of control and crashed into the administrative building, tearing through most of what remained of the structure.

Joker smiled while The Crow rapidly advanced on the rebel positions, evading blaster fire with preternatural grace. He held his blaster in one hand and his lightsaber in the other and told his crew, “Keep me covered! I’m gonna take Shido’s enforcer out of the fight today! This is my chance to show both Shido and Yoshida what a true separatist can do!”

With that, Joker charged out from cover and rushed at The Crow. There would be no dissuading him now. Shido’s masked assassin had to pay and there was no time for justice like the present.

Chapter Text

The Imperial Mining Camp:

            Rebel and Imperial troopers exchanged blaster fire all around Joker. Another wave of stormtroopers would soon arrive alongside their towering AT-AT. It did not look like the mining camp’s commandeered turbolaser cannon would be able to destroy the heavily armored walker, which would soon enter firing range. Further Imperial reinforcements were on their way for all that the rebels knew.  

            Despite the rebels needing to pull out of the ransacked Imperial mining camp as soon as practical, Joker had one goal in mind. The force sensitive enforcer known only as The Crow had appeared on the battlefield once again. This time, he had been deployed in response to a major rebel action, not as part of a trap set for a small resistance cell. Joker was determined to take Governor Shido’s masked enforcer out of the fight for Toruun. This time, he had the weapon of a Jedi in hand. He was as ready as ever to face Shido’s enigmatic agent and come out on top.

            Determined to get his foe’s attention, Joker called out, “For independence!” Not slowing down for a second.

            The Crow turned to face Joker, crimson plasma bolts tracing past him from all sides. He aimed his own enhanced blaster pistol at Joker and responded, “So, the report was true. The Ryo Separatists have shown themselves so far from the capital. …The rebels here have lowered themselves even deeper by working with the likes of you!”

            Joker did not offer a retort until The Crow leveled his blaster and fired two shots right at him. Trusting in the force, Joker ignited his lightsaber and deflected the first shot into the ground. He fared better with the second, which he sent careening into a stormtrooper close to his target.

            The Crow staggered back, refraining from firing again. He stammered, “How? …A Separatist Jedi? That’s not possible!”

            Joker gritted his teeth while closing in on The Crow and responded, “You’re not the only one on Toruun with such power! I’ll use every tool at my disposal to liberate my home from occupation!”

            The Crow backed up a couple steps, shouting back, “Toruun needs order and justice not ‘independence!’...”

            Before The Crow could continue his statement, Joker leapt at him and shouted, “INCORRECT!” The young separatist swung his lightsaber downwards at his foe’s masked head with all of his might and precision.

            The Crow dodged away from Joker’s saber swing as fast as he could, given how deeply shocked he was. He was not fast enough, though. The humming green plasma blade sliced into his armored mask, taking out about a third of it and revealing an eye, a portion of a young Toruunian man’s face and just enough light brown dyed hair.

            While The Crow had avoided physical injury, he staggered back and covered his face with the hand holding his blaster.

            Despite how vulnerable he had left his opponent, Joker staggered back too. He had seen just enough to put things together. The Crow was none other than Captain Goro Akechi! That explained the dark pangs that he had felt when he first encountered Akechi and very possibly Chihaya’s words about a dark presence on Toruun. Shido’s favorite up and coming officer and his secretive enforcer were one and the same! Akechi being a force wielder explained why he had looked back at Joker during their initial encounter at Leblanc, along with his impressive piloting skills.

            Before Joker could name Akechi out loud, still masked and hooded himself, the Imperial enforcer, screamed with sudden rage and extended his free hand. Joker raised his lightsaber for another strike, but Akechi acted first. A powerful wave of invisible energy sent Joker flying backwards towards his fellow Phantoms. He hit the ground on his back and struggled to stand up.

            Keeping his armed hand over his face, his voice still modulated by what remained of his mask, Akechi called out, “I must report to Governor Shido! Hold this position until the heavy walker arrives!”

            Akechi darted for the landed Imperial Gunship, soon joined, and covered by the surviving death trooper who had arrived with him. The two black armored soldiers were covered by the stormtroopers on the ground. Worryingly for the rebels, a few of the troopers who had been deployed from the incoming AT-AT had already breached the camp on foot. The Imperial reinforcements charged ahead to link up with their comrades.

            Joker was covered by Skull and Noir, who advanced out to protect him. Their support gave Joker the chance to stand up and refocus himself. He gritted his teeth when he saw Akechi and his death trooper rapidly board the Imperial Gunship, which took off without delay.

            Fox shouted, “The enemy walker is almost upon us! I believe it’s time for us to retreat.”

            Joker looked up and saw the mining camp’s turbolaser emplacement explode. The incoming, yet damaged, AT-AT had just eliminated the rebels’ one possible means of destroying her.

            Scrapper ordered, “It’s time to fall back! Everyone, back to the speeders, pack in fast! We’ve got to return to base before more enemy air support arrives!”

            Joker aimed and repeatedly fired his blaster pistol up at the retreating Imperial Gunship. However, the gunship was able to clear the mining camp’s airspace quickly without having to deal with any hostile turbolaser fire. His shots that connected did little to the hostile vehicle. The Imperial aircraft started making a beeline for Ryo before it disappeared from view.

            Panther told Joker and her other comrades, “I’m not sure what just happened, but we’ve gotta get outta here! We need to get back to Yoshida’s base with the ex-slaves, not to mention us!”

            Joker grimaced and ordered, “I’ll tell you guys what I saw on the way back. Panther, you’re right. Phantoms, back to the speeder! We’re pulling out!”

            Joker led his team back towards their speeder after they put down one last curtain of covering fire for their rebel allies. Stormtroopers were advancing into the camp in force now. Their AT-AT covered them with the two repeating blasters on the sides of its head, standing directly behind the smoking ruins of the administrative building. However, it was undeniable that the Empire had taken significant losses in the day’s action.

            With the newly freed slaves loaded up into the rebel speeders and recently stolen Imperial vehicles as quickly as possible, the convoy of repulsorcraft sped out of the destroyed main gate. The speeders made their way towards the Yoshida Cell’s base of operations at full speed. A few more Imperial troopers fell trying to prevent the rebels from escaping. Scrapper’s soldiers made short work of any hostiles who got too close to their repulsorcraft during the rapid evacuation.

            The Phantom Cell’s landspeeder brought up the rear of the rebel convoy, ensuring that the victorious insurgents were not followed. Once they had left the open highland plains behind, and were speeding through narrower mountain passes on their way back to the hidden rebel base, Joker told his team from behind their speeder’s controls, “Guys…Akechi’s The Crow….”

            Skull clenched his fists and responded, “So, you saw Akechi’s face when you sliced into that stupid mask? …I trust ya like always, Joker. …That effing, rotten bastard! He acts like he’s the local garrison’s golden boy, but he’s doin dirty work on the side! That’s gotta be why he’s Shido’s favorite!”

            Noir asked aloud, “When Joker encountered him in Leblanc, his girlfriend was there with him. …Sumire Yoshizawa, I think. Do you think she knows what he’s doing for Shido?”

            Joker admitted, “I’ve got no idea. Yoshizawa seemed pretty innocent, but she’s also a strong supporter of the Empire. She might think that Shido employing a secret enforcer for black ops is acceptable if it hurts the rebels she hates so much.”

            Fox added, “We will need to inform Oracle of this development when we return home. I also highly recommend telling Representative Yoshida, or one of his subordinates, the truth about Akechi before we return to Ryo.”

            While Panther nodded in agreement with Fox, Sophie beeped affirmatively. Skull turned to Joker and asked him, “I guess it wouldn’t hurt ta let Yoshida know Akechi’s The Crow?”

            Joker sighed, while continuing to follow the narrow mountain road, and explained, “Yeah, I guess so. …We saw how effective Yoshida and Scrapper’s soldiers are today. They only lost four or five troopers at most with a couple wounded. The Empire took far more losses than they did, in addition to losing a bunch of slaves, and a functioning mine. …I can’t help but be worried that the pro-republic rebels on Toruun are better organized and more effective than us. …We carried the day today and gained a key piece of intel about our enemy. However, you all know what my goal is. If the Rebel Alliance gains a real foothold on Toruun, that wouldn’t give this world what it needs. The Republic that neglected the rim and exploited its natural resources could end up having the last laugh, even if the Empire falls….”

            Skull looked genuinely concerned. However, the rest of the cell seemed more interested in celebrating their latest victory and trying to find out what to do with their new intelligence.

            Joker continued to stew in his fear of a New Republic claiming Toruun in the event of the Empire collapsing. Even uncovering the true identity of The Crow and actually frightening Goro Akechi did not please him enough to make the day a net positive. At least most of Joker’s comrades were in better spirits. He would do his best to be happy for them and focus on the upsides of the day’s victory, as difficult as it would be.

            A couple of speeders from the rebel convoy soon returned to the pass where they had left Dr. Maruki and their two wounded fighters and picked the three of them up. After that, the full convoy made a beeline for the Yoshida Cell’s base of operations. They arrived by nightfall and work was immediately begun on finding ways to house the cell’s new guests within their base.

            Toranosuke Yoshida himself welcomed the freed slaves to his cell’s headquarters. He also praised Scrapper for leading the successful operation with minimal friendly casualties. Joker was too burnt out to tell Yoshida about Akechi being The Crow, and instead simply informed the former member of the Toruun Diet that he and his team would depart for Ryo the following morning. Yusuke and Ann assured Yoshida that they needed to return to Toruun’s capital as soon as possible. Nothing else was said about the matter.

            Joker and company rested the night in their guest quarters after the exhausted Joker informed Chihaya that Yu Narukami’s lightsaber had been put to good use against the Empire for what would hopefully be far from the last time.

---

The Next Morning: Just Outside of the Rebel Base’s Speeder Hangar:

             Joker and his crew had finished loading up their speeder for the return trip to Toruun’s capital. They had been reprovisioned for the journey home by their temporary allies. They were going to depart any moment now and return to Ryo as quickly as possible. They all had lives to return to outside of their activities as resistance fighters and people waiting for them back home.

            Looking over his team, Joker sighed and told them, “I informed Futaba that we’re about to return home over commlink earlier. We should hopefully arrive tomorrow evening. We’ll take the usual tunnel to get back to the hideout. She was happy to hear that the mission was a success… and that we figured out that Akechi and The Crow are the same person.”

            Yusuke folded his arms and asked his cell’s leader, “I think something else is bothering you…”

            Joker kicked the ground and admitted, “Yeah… We won yesterday. We freed the camp’s slaves, We took down a bunch of imps and stole or destroyed plenty of their material. Hell, we even learned who The Crow really is! …What I’m worried about is the cause. …I had a chance to try and talk with a few of the slaves we freed yesterday earlier this morning. When I told them that I was a separatist fighting for the rim’s independence, I didn’t get any positive reactions. What I got was confusion, concern, and even fear! Once he realized what I’d said and saw my armband, a wookie with them looked like he was gonna try to rip my arms off! I made myself scarce after that. …Look, I’m not giving up on forcing the Empire off of Toruun, or on leading you guys. You’ve always been the best team I could’ve asked for, separatist or not! I’m just worried about the post-Imperial future we could be heading towards now.”

            Ryuji nodded slowly, looking like he shared his friend and leader’s concerns. Everyone else appeared more concerned about Joker’s personal morale than about Toruun’s post-occupation allegiance.  

            Joker suddenly noticed three rebels walking out of their cavernous base towards the Phantoms and their speeder. Yoshida was at the center of the trio, flanked by Chihaya and Scrapper.

            When the three rebels reached the assembled Phantoms, Yoshida began, “I thought it would be appropriate to see you all off. Regardless of our movements’ conflicting allegiances, your team was of great help in luring the Imperials into the pass and assisting with the operation from there.”

            Scrapper added, “You pulled your part off yesterday with no casualties. Despite everything, you’ve proven to me that your cell is not to be trifled with.”

            Chihaya turned to Joker and told him, “I hope that you continue to wield Yu Narukami’s blade in service to Toruun and the Will of the Force. I also hope that our paths cross again someday.”

            Joker nodded slowly and then remembered something critical. He told the three rebels, “I doubt we’ll end up working together again, considering our vastly different goals. However, it was good to stick it to the Empire…You should also know that Shido’s current favorite, Captain Akechi, is secretly The Crow, his secret force sensitive enforcer. I saw as much right after I sliced the bastard’s helmet open! Do with that intel what you can. We’re heading back to Ryo now.”

            Chihaya replied, “So, Captain Akechi is the dark presence I’ve sensed on Toruun? If you face him again, I hope that you emerge victorious. However, your fate remains shrouded for the time being.”

            Joker was unsure what Chihaya meant about his fate. However, he led his crew into their landspeeder. Yusuke, Ann, and Haru all said their goodbyes. However, Ryuji refrained from opening his mouth this time. Sophie had already boarded the Phantom’s Speeder and gotten settled into her astromech socket. While the three rebels headed back to their base, some of Joker’s followers waved to them.

            Once everyone was settled in, Joker accelerated his speeder down the mountain roads beneath the cloudy sky. Following the reverse of the route that had taken them close to the rebel base around a week ago, the Phantoms made their way out of the mountains. They wanted to be back in Ryo by the end of the following day. There, they would check in on their slicer, their droids, and their prisoner and determine their next course of action.

Chapter Text

The Following Evening: The Tunnels Leading to the Phantom Cell’s Hideout:

            The Phantoms managed to return to the outskirts of Toruun’s capital city in the expected timeframe. They focused on evading the occasional Imperial patrol while progressing towards Ryo as fast as possible. Their black and red speeder shot past the usual waterfall and found itself speeding through the tunnel leading to the cell’s underground hideout.

            Joker and company breathed a series of sighs of relief, considering themselves in the clear now that they were below Ryo and out of the open. They could finally lower their hoods and remove their masks without fear of being spotted by Imperials. Joker ordered, “I’ll contact Futaba and let her know that we’ve made it back to the tunnels. She should be able to open the door to let us in. You guys should head back home immediately once we’re back at the hideout. I know that Ann wants to see Mona again, and the rest of us all have people to get back to. Just remember your excuses for being out of town and feign ignorance of rebel activity like always. I’m not sure how much Shido’s holonet has publicized the latest raid, but I’m sure we’ll find out soon enough.”

            Yusuke responded, “I’ve been checking the reports on our way back. The local holonet has acknowledged a rebel strike in the mountains backed by the ‘Ryo Separatists.’ However, Shido’s propaganda machine has not shared many details about the target and casualties incurred with the public.”

            Haru wondered aloud, “Could that have to do with The Crow getting involved?”

            Ann mentioned, “The local holonet doesn’t talk about Imperial slave camps very often. That might also be why they haven’t been very specific.”

            Ryuji nodded and added, “I bet any troopers who saw The Crow use the force were sworn to secrecy about it. I don’t think any of them would’ve realized he’s really Akechi either. If they did, they prolly know to keep their mouths shut about it. If Shido’s whole command knew the truth about his favorite ‘prodigy,’ someone would tattle on him to the higher ups.”

            Joker nodded sharply and responded, “Like I’ve said before, we’re better off with Shido than with some offworlder in charge. We don’t want him to implode too early and just have to deal with a more openly brutal imp governor sent in to replace him. We want the imps to lose their broader control over Toruun before we take Shido down. Oppression may breed rebellion, but I still don’t want our homeworld to suffer any more than she already has.”

            Ryuji groaned slightly, knowing that Joker was right. With that, Joker activated his commlink while he kept a hand firmly on his speeder’s controls. Reaching out to Futaba, he said, “Oracle, come in. We’re in the tunnels heading for the hideout. Get the door open, and we’ll see you soon.”

            Much to Joker’s surprise, there was no response from the other end for a brief moment. However, he soon heard the distinct voice of a B1 Battle Droid asking, “Hello, who is this?”

            While his comrades looked a bit concerned and confused, Joker asked the droid, “This is Joker. We’re in the tunnels, closing in on the hideout. Where’s Oracle? Is she ok?”

            The droid quickly responded, “Oh, it’s you, commander! …Yes, she’s at her long-range communications uplink. I think she said she was going to take an incoming transmission from someone named Hifumi when she left her commlink down here. She asked me to answer if anyone reached out.”

            Joker rolled his eyes and responded, “Alright, is Niijima still secure?”

            The B1 answered, “Yessir! One of our commando droids is watching her right now.”

            Joker breathed a slight sigh of relief and ordered, “Get the main door open and await our return in that case. If Oracle comes back down before we arrive, let her know that we’re on our way.”

            The battle droid quickly responded, “Orders received, commander. We’ll be ready for your triumphant return shortly!”

            Joker terminated the transmission and sighed loudly. He exasperatedly told the rest of the Phantoms aboard the speeder, “I guess we’re gonna have to hear about the alliance’s main force again once we’re back at the hideout. Still, everyone else should head home right after we check in with Futaba.”

            Ryuji groaned, but admitted, “At least I’ll be able to see my mom again. She’ll have been worried sick about me, like always.”

            Joker just nodded and accelerated his landspeeder towards his cell’s hideout. Thankfully, when they arrived at the main door, it was wide open for them. Joker slowed his speeder down and parked her just inside of the hideout right next to the cell’s old battle droid carrier.

            As soon as Joker and company had disembarked from their speeder and were retrieving their supplies and weapons from the craft, Sophie rolled over to shut the main door.

            Looking around, Joker saw Futaba standing right next to the hideout’s main table. A wide, cheerful, smile marked the young slicer’s face. The still-cuffed Makoto Niijima sat on a crate guarded by a commando droid, a deeply skeptical look on her face.

            Right after Joker retrieved his equipment and set in down on a smaller supply crate, Futaba walked right up to him and told him, “…Sorry I couldn’t take your call earlier….” Still grinning more broadly than Joker had even seen her.

            Joker nodded and reluctantly asked, “It’s fine, I guess. We all made it back in one piece, not to mention learned that Akechi’s been The Crow this whole time. …What’d Togo tell you?”

            Futaba smirked and replied, “…Oh, nothing, just that the rebel fleet won at Endor!”

            Ryuji asked, “Endor? …Where’s that?”

            Futaba replied, “It used to be nowhere important, until the imps started assembling a second Death Star above the forest moon there…”

            Ann quickly asked, “Wait, they tried to build another one? …If the rebels won the battle, they stopped the construction, right...”

            With all eyes on Futaba, the slicer exclaimed, “Better than that! They not only survived the trap the Empire had set for them there and destroyed the station’s reactor, Palpatine was onboard when it blew! It’s just been confirmed, he and Darth Vader are dead!”

            Joker blinked repeatedly, and slowly stammered, “…The Emperor and his chief enforcer are…dead? …The Rebel Alliance is responsible for…” He was not sure if he wanted to believe it, despite how excited Futaba was, and how critical this development could be for the greater galaxy.

            Makoto interjected, “I doubt you care for my opinion, but it sounds highly unlikely to me that a ragtag rebel fleet could have survived such an ambush. I’ll need a lot more evidence before I consider the possibility that the report is anything more than a misleading alliance fabrication.”

            Joker nodded slowly and told his team while Futaba folded her arms, “I think Niijima might be onto something, this time. We should wait, see if the news reaches Toruun, and then go from there. For now, everyone who went with me on the expedition is dismissed. Get home, check in with whoever you need to and get some rest, guys. We’ll reconvene here when we have any new leads.”

            Futaba groaned and told Joker, “I can’t believe you right now! I can’t blame Niijima for being skeptical, but I have a firsthand source saying that the Empire’s taken its biggest loss ever, even bigger than Yavin! The Empire’s lost her supreme leader and founder, Joker! This could be what finally breaks the enemy’s chain of command and winds this war down!”

            Yusuke, Haru, and Ann all nodded in agreement with Futaba. Sophie finished shutting the door and beeped excitedly. Ryuji admitted, “I’m glad if the imps took a serious loss and their rotten tyrant of a boss got what was comin to him, but I don’t think it’ll help our cause here very much. …I bet Yoshida’s gonna be really happy when he hears it, though.”

            Joker nodded. Taking charge as best as he could, he ordered, “We can discuss this development and what it means for us once we get more complete confirmation about what happened at Endor. For now, I think we all need some rest. Goodnight, guys.”

            With that Joker headed upstairs via the hideout’s lift while Futaba briefly fumed and then declared that she was going to tell her adoptive father about the rebel victory. The rest of the Phantoms headed home soon after that.

            When Joker finally got back to his own bed for the first time in over a week, after confirming that his fellow Phantoms had all made it home safely, he stared up at the ceiling, having immense trouble falling asleep. He could not help but be afraid that his dream of a reborn CIS would soon slip away into complete impossibility. Not because of the Empire’s oppression, but instead alongside its fall.

---

The Next Day: Café Leblanc:

            It was late morning. Joker had just come down from his room above Café Leblanc with the intention of starting his first shift at the establishment since the Phantoms had departed for their joint operation with the Yoshida Cell. He had finally managed to fall asleep the previous night, even though he slept in much later than he had planned to. When he reached the counter and put his apron on, he saw Sojiro Sakura turn to him with his arms folded.

            Before Joker could say anything. Sojiro quickly checked to make sure they were alone behind his café’s counter. He told Joker, “Futaba told me about Endor this morning. Sounds like she’s convinced the Empire’s on the way out all of the sudden. She also said you weren’t convinced.”

            Joker nodded sharply up at Sojiro and explained, “She’s right, boss. I want to believe that the Empire took a massive blow and lost its leader, but if it was the alliance that killed the emperor, and saved the galaxy from another Death Star, that’ll seriously increase momentum towards building a new republic. …That’s not what we need out here! Our world and so many others were robbed of a real chance to be independent and free of the core! The CIS might not have been perfect, or done everything right all of the time, but not a day goes by that I don’t wish that the droid armies had repulsed the GAR and that I could’ve grown up with my family on a free planet!”

            While Joker took a series of deep breaths, Sojiro gave his young live-in employee the most sympathetic look Joker had seen from him in a while. The older man sighed deeply and responded, “You never saw what Toruun was like when the Old Republic was in charge. Things were undeniably better back then… I’d be lying if I said I didn’t agree with you about the war, though. A lot of rimworlds got it a lot worse than Toruun ever did from pirates, rogue systems, and corporate exploitation. We did alright out here, safe behind an organized defense force and with an effective planetary government running the show. I thought us joining the CIS was a solidarity move more than anything back in the day. In the end, it cost us immensely. …There are few things worse than knowing how right you are and still losing.”

            Joker punched an open palm with one of fists and admitted, “Futaba probably already told you about the rebels we fought alongside on our last mission. They’re more of them than us, and they’re better equipped and trained to boot. I don’t want to fight them if it comes down to it. Hell, a few of my own crew might switch sides if things got that bad. Still, even if the Empire falls, I don’t know if this planet’s big enough for all of us. …I’m not giving up on the cause, sir! I still know there’re other separatist fighters left on this world and that there has to be a way to rally them! …Now that we’re back in Ryo, maybe my cell just needs to pull of something big, really big…”

            Joker was surprised to see Sojiro smiling down at him. The owner of Leblanc responded, “Now you sound like yourself again, kid. …I still want you to lay low for a bit, and see if this Endor news reaches Toruun. Shido’s got a lotta control over the media here, but it’s not perfect. If Futaba’s right, then he might have to admit the truth sooner than later. Once you see how he reacts, maybe you’ll figure something out? …Just be careful and cover your tracks. This whole mess isn’t over, no matter how close it suddenly seems like the end might be.”

            Sojiro took a deep breath and then finished, “Anyway, it’s time for your shift to start, kid. Try to focus on your work. Don’t worry about the alliance for now. I’m headed back home for a bit.”

            Joker nodded and took his spot behind Leblanc’s counter. He did his best to perk up and get ready for work. He would reconvene his cell at their hideout when the opportunity presented itself. For the time being, he would have to focus on his work and try to learn what else he could about the rebel victory at Endor, along with how the civil war developed going forward. He would also have to do his best to avoid making Futaba furious with him again. Hifumi Togo was the Phantoms’ best way to gain intel on the wider war’s progression. Hopefully, Joker could use that information to his cause’s advantage without alienating any of his close comrades in the process. The future looked both bright and dim to Joker. Only time would tell the direction that the fight for Toruun would ultimately take in the days and weeks to come.

Chapter Text

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The Next Afternoon: Governor Shido’s Office:

            Captain Goro Akechi walked into Governor Masayoshi Shido’s office. He stood at attention in front of his father’s desk and saluted him. Shido himself stood directly behind his desk this time. His hands were placed on the desk, flanking a box marked with the cogwheel symbol of the Galactic Empire.

            Shido took a deep breath and slowly, pointedly, asked Goro, “Has the news reached you, Captain?”

            Akechi nodded slowly and responded, “Yes, sir. The trap our forces set for the main rebel fleet at Endor failed spectacularly….”

            While Goro trailed off, Shido informed his son, “Yes, that is…correct. Not only that, but the rebel leadership has already declared a New Republic. Nobody has stepped forward to take our slain emperor’s place. I believe that we will no longer be able to rely on outside reinforcements until the galactic situation stabilizes and an effective chain of command is reestablished.”

            Akechi took a heavy breath and admitted, “…I take it that without an effective central command structure and the accompanying supply chains, further uprisings will break out across Imperial territory. …Sir, I will do whatever I can to ensure our world does not slide any farther into chaos!”

            Shido nodded slowly and responded, “I would expect no less from you. As of now, I have ordered Yoshizawa to avoid broadcasting any news related to our loss at Endor. However, I have a feeling that news of this magnitude will reach Toruun given time. Rather than suppress it, I will have Yoshizawa’s team come up with a plan to inform the masses without spreading panic or dissent.”

            Akechi nodded in agreement with his father. However, he also asked, somewhat nervously, “Sir, might I ask about my latest report? It certainly appears that we have a significant problem right here at home.”

            Shido grimaced and responded, “Yes, I have. …I granted you permission to relieve the forces under attack at that mining camp once they reported that the Ryo Separatist Cell had shown up. I know how badly you want to see their scum cleansed from Toruun. However, I thought it best that you did so as The Crow, despite the number of troopers who accompanied you. In the end, the rebels still escaped. It appears that I was correct, having Captain Akechi there to lose that battle would have worsened your reputation.”

            Akechi winced, but quickly asked, “That’s only the tip of the iceberg, sir. …The apparent leader of the Ryo Cell may have tipped his hand as to why he’s been so successful against our forces….”

            Shido threw up his hands, his usual composure suddenly gone. The Governor of Toruun sneered, “Yes, I’m well aware! We finally know where the one Jedi lightsaber stored on Toruun ended up. …A Separatist Jedi? What’s next, Separatist clone troopers?”

            Akechi’s eyes narrowed while he admitted, “That particular wretch has been a thorn in our sides for far too long, sir. I WILL hunt him down and see him brought to justice! Not to mention the masked marauders who always accompany him.”

            Shido nodded sharply and told Goro, “There can be no more excuses or failures, Captain. Jedi led or not, these resistance fighters must be crushed before they can inspire others. There are already enough rebel and separatist groups across the countryside, and they will surely soon be emboldened by the news from Endor. … You know that if Toruun falls into rebel hands, it’s not only my leadership that will be usurped.”

            Akechi responded, “I still have every intention of following in your footsteps, father. We will weather this storm together, even without any support from command! As soon as the Ryo Cell rears its ugly head again, I will see it decapitated, if not destroyed outright!”

            Shido smiled briefly. He then reached down to open the box that sat on his desk. He informed Akechi, “Very good. Be merciless when dealing with this cell, they clearly present a unique threat, and are willing to work with other rebels in order to humiliate and weaken us. Any of their active members, and anyone who knowingly associated with them will be considered guilty of high treason and be punished accordingly! Do I make myself clear?”

            Akechi nodded sharply while Shido opened the box and produced some kind of tool that looked like a two-ended black tube with a metallic ring around it. He carefully handed the device to Akechi who took it, feeling something within the tube resonating with him, wrong as it felt for inexplicable reasons.

            Shido informed his son, “In case you didn’t recognize it, that is a lightsaber. The type of weapon your separatist nemesis now wields. It was extremely difficult to procure. This old inquisitor model was the only weapon of its type even I could acquire. I planned to procure it for The Crow’s use before your most recent skirmish. However, it’s clear that you have met a foe who can challenge you directly now. Take this, be careful with it, and begin training with it in private starting tomorrow. Carry it with you as The Crow and be ready to wield it when the Ryo Cell shows itself again. Understood?”

            Akechi saluted Shido and responded, “Thank you for this gift, sir. I will begin my training with the weapon as soon as possible. …I won’t let you or Toruun down. The Ryo Cell will not get away with their crimes. They cannot run and hide forever!”

            Shido sat down at his desk and finished, “Very well, Captain. …One more thing, I intend to schedule a grand military parade through Ryo’s streets to shore up public support for the Empire. It will take place within the next two months. Captain Akechi will give a speech from balcony of this very building right after myself at the event. Make sure to have a speech ready for the parade. You are dismissed.”

            Goro saluted his father one last time and then left his office. Once he was clear of the office and the two death troopers guarding the door, he made a beeline for his private quarters. He intended to store his new lightsaber somewhere where it would be very difficult for anyone else to accidently find it.

            Something else was eating at Goro Akechi, other than the recent Imperial defeat at Endor and the recent rebel victory on Toruun. In the aftermath of the skirmish, he had returned to investigate the partially ruined mining camp as Captain Akechi. Some of the things he had seen there had been difficult for him to justify, or even explain.

            After storing his new weapon, Goro finished up all of his remaining work for the day. That evening, he headed out for the upscale apartment building the Yoshizawa Family lived in. The only think he could think of to improve his mood right now was to see the girl he loved again.

---

That Evening: The Apartment Building’s Rooftop:

            Goro and Sumire sat together where they had sat on the night when The Crow had eliminated Kunikazu Okumura. Akechi still wore his black Imperial military uniform, even though he had left his officer’s cap behind in his quarters at the garrison.

            Looking up at the sky above Ryo, hearing the persistent humming created by passing civilian airspeeders, and with an arm around Sumire, Akechi still had a lot on his mind. He still desperately wanted to lead the Toruunian people one day. He believed that he could surpass his father in more ways than one.

            Despite Akechi’s best efforts, his dream was suddenly slipping away from him. With the broader war between the so-called New Republic and the Galactic Empire rapidly escalating, Toruun was in real danger of slipping out of Imperial control. Akechi had sworn his loyalty to the Empire as one of her officers. However, he also considered himself a loyal son of Toruun, despite his late mother’s low station and his poor upbringing.

Akechi had always believed that whatever cosmic power had granted him his gift had a greater purpose waiting for him. He was destined for great power and responsibility, at least he had believed that he was ever since he had entered into his father’s service.

Goro was returned to reality by Sumire asking him, “…My dad told me that the rebels killed the emperor over some place called Endor. They’re calling themselves the New Republic now. He isn’t supposed to report it to the public until Governor Shido tells him. I’m not supposed to tell anyone, but …I have to ask, is that all true?”

Akechi turned to his girlfriend, holding onto her tightly with one arm. He sighed deeply and slowly confessed, “Sumire, it’s all true. …You’ll see it on the local holonet once Governor Shido gives the go-ahead.”

Sumire began to shake slightly while she asked her boyfriend, “What if this ‘New Republic’ comes here? We already have enough problems with the local separatists…”

Taking a deep breath, Akechi looked Sumire in the eyes and firmly told her, “I won’t let them take Toruun. They’ve already taken so much…. I won’t let any rebel, any separatist… anyone, hurt you, Sumire. I won’t allow the enemies of justice to win here, no matter who they are!”

Sumire nodded slowly, embracing her boyfriend in the process. She replied, clear emotion and affection in her voice, “I know you won’t. That’s one of the reasons I love you. …You don’t give up, even when those separatists keep escaping justice. You never stop fighting!”

Akechi nodded slowly, smiled as warmly as he could, and told Sumire, “I can’t let the governor down, I can’t let our people down, and I certainly can’t let you down.”

Sumire perked up a bit, and gave Goro her best smile in return. She asked him, “Are you working on a new plan to wipe out that one separatist cell? Dad told me they were seen in the mountains to the southwest recently. They apparently caused some real chaos out there, and they weren’t operating alone either.”

Goro winced, remembering how he had nearly been unmasked as The Crow in that battle. The separatist cell leader he once had held in his telekinetic grip had also revealed himself to be a fellow force wielder, and one carrying a lightsaber to boot, in that disastrous skirmish. Akechi remained bound and determined to defeat the young man who was undeniably his nemesis among the enemies of the Empire.

Looking down at the girl he loved, Akechi slowly responded, “…Not at the moment. …There’s some new secret, special training that I’ve been assigned by our governor, though. I’ll be at lot busier for a while after tonight, to be honest. I’ll still do my best to see you whenever I can. There’s also going to be a military parade in Ryo within the next two months. I would think you’ll be invited to watch from a balcony in the city center, along with your family. …”

Sumire nodded slowly, but blinked for a moment, and ultimately asked Akechi, “…Goro, I think there’s something else bothering you. Not the ‘New Republic’ or the local separatists. …What is it?”

Akechi sighed deeply, knowing that what was on his mind was not something that he had been directly prohibited from telling Sumire, unlike his being The Crow, force sensitive, or Masayoshi Shido’s son. Wasting no more time stalling, and trying to be as truthful as possible, he confessed, “The latest major rebel raid targeted a mining camp in the mountains. …I arrived in my interceptor the day after the battle and investigated the camp thoroughly. I didn’t find any clues related to the true identities of the Ryo Separatists. I was able to conclude that a rebel group long thought to be inactive, likely still led by a former colleague of the governor’s, had spearheaded the attack….”

Sumire waited patiently for Goro to continue. When he finally did, he explained, “Don’t tell anyone else what I’m about to say, but the camp’s mine had been primarily ‘staffed’ with nonhuman slaves taken from other Imperial worlds. We’ve both always been told that nonhumans are inferior and in need of human guidance…. Still, when I examined the slave quarters, there was overwhelming evidence of deplorable conditions, even without any laborers left to testify about their treatment. …I fear that the other camps on Toruun are not much different. I do not know why the Empire considers such cruelty necessary.”

Sumire looked seriously unsure how to reply until she finally asked Goro, “Is there anything you can do about the camps? You’re so close to the governor, after all.”

Akechi admitted, “I’m not sure if their presence here was ever Governor Shido’s decision to make. …Considering the changing nature of the overall galactic situation, we do not want to release any potential rebels from Imperial custody right now. …However, I believe there will come a day when I have the authority and influence within the Empire to rid the Toruun System of labor camps, and other blemishes. …When that day comes, I will want you right by my side, just like you are now.”

Sumire blushed brightly and smiled beautifully up at Akechi. She finished, “If anyone can do it, it’s you! I’ll stand by you no matter what!”

With that, the young couple shared a kiss and gazed into each other’s eyes for a while, enjoying the relative peace they had together at that moment. After that, they headed inside and downstairs to the Yoshizawa family’s apartment. Akechi had to head back to the garrison soon, unfortunately.

Akechi knew that he would begin training with his deadly new weapon the next day. He would have to come as close to mastering it as he could, without accidently removing any of his limbs before the Ryo Cell popped up again. Despite his faith in the Empire’s justness beginning to shake somewhat, the young officer had no intention of abandoning his post. He would keep Sumire safe. He would also defeat his separatist nemesis, no matter what he had to do to bring down his elusive archfoe.

Chapter Text

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One Month Later: The Phantom Cell’s Hideout:

            It had been far longer than usual since the entire membership of the Phantom Cell last met up in their hideout. Over the previous month, Joker had trained with his lightsaber as intensively as he could in the hideout while not working at Leblanc. He had trusted Futaba and Haru to go visit Iwai and tell him that their joint mission with the Yoshida Cell had been a success. They had also purchased new explosives from the arms dealer, rockets for Haru’s launcher in particular.

The captive Makoto Niijima had been told in no uncertain terms that Joker was not a Jedi, despite the weapon that he now wielded. While she remained indignant at best most of the time, it seemed like the fight was slowly ebbing out of the young woman. She had been held at the hideout for long enough that she was starting to see that active resistance to her captors was pointless. Also, she had to realized that the resistance fighters had no intention of torturing her by now. However, she had remained highly skeptical of any suggestions that resisting the Empire was justified and of the massive Imperial loss above Endor.

Now, The Phantoms were all gathered in their hideout, standing around the base’s main table and wearing their casual clothes. Their battle droids were split between keeping watch, performing menial tasks, and resting in low power mode to save energy and space.

While one of their commando droids kept watch over the seated Niijima, Joker looked over his team, sighed deeply, and told Futaba, “…Alright, turn on the projector…”

Futaba smiled, saluted Joker, and replied, “With pleasure!” She activated the holoprojector that once again sat atop the table. For once, a local Imperial holonet broadcast was displayed within the Phantoms’ hideout. Makoto sat up straight, taking notice of the easily recognizable cogwheel symbols and the faces of two of Shido’s loyal propagandists.  

With a deeply solemn look on his face, a male “newscaster” began, “Citizens of Toruun, today we must regrettably inform you of a great tragedy. Above the Forest Moon of Endor, Emperor Palpatine was assassinated by the Rebel Alliance and much of the Death Squadron Fleet was lost along with him. The rebels have now declared themselves to be the ‘New Republic’ and have begun waging a brutal campaign to retake the core worlds and other Imperial territories.”

The woman standing next to her fellow broadcaster continued, “Despite this undeniable tragedy, our illustrious Governor, native son of Toruun Masayoshi Shido, remains confident that our system will weather this storm of war. He has assured us that the Empire still has the strongest military and society that this galaxy has ever seen. Human High Culture will prevail over all degenerate rebels and separatists in the end!”

The male broadcaster took over again and added, “Our governor has decided to hold a grand military parade through the streets of Ryo in two weeks. He wants our proud citizens to know that they are safe behind the might of the Empire, and our cowardly enemies to know that they have not won and will not cow us. Citizens across the city are strongly encouraged to attend. More information about the parade will be forthcoming.”

With that, Joker nodded to Futaba, who turned off the holoprojector. Makoto could only stare in blank disbelief while Joker explained, “This broadcast was sent out across Toruun just yesterday. It looks like Shido wanted to get out ahead of the news eventually reaching Toruun from sources he doesn’t have control over. The military parade he’s planning was news to us. However, it’s not very surprising, considering that he wants to shore up his position with the public as much as possible in the wake of Endor.”

Futaba added, “A good number of imp personnel and vehicles have already been transferred out of the system, based on my slicing their recent records. The nearby sectors need reinforcements and are poaching off of whoever they can. Shido still has his small fleet patrolling the system’s border. They’re gonna be actively looking for New Republic warships now, but most of his ships will have to operate with skeleton crews. Not to mention how his forces will struggle to patrol most of rural Toruun now, letting insurgent groups gain ground.”

Joker could not help but notice how clearly excited Futaba was about the changing situation. He nodded slowly while Ryuji asked him, “What’re we gonna do about Shido’s parade? With all those imp troops in one place, we can do some real damage!”

Joker shook his head while Makoto glared at Ryuji. The leader of the Phantom Cell explained, “We don’t wanna play right into Shido’s hands by attacking his parade and endangering any civilians, loyalist or not. Also, even if we executed a near-perfect ambush, we would be hugely outnumbered with significant enemy backup close enough that we’d have a very low chance of escape.”

Makoto actually nodded slowly over at Joker, seemingly appreciating his concern for civilians, along with his tactical acumen. Joker then continued, “Here are my orders, we’ll attend the parade as unmasked civilians. I’ll be with Panther, Oracle, and Skull. Fox will probably be there with his mentor and Noir will have people connected to her family to attend with. We’re all gonna observe the parade and the accompanying speeches carefully to judge how powerful Shido’s remaining forces in Ryo look, and how put together and determined the speakers’ sound. It’s a very safe bet that both Shido and Akechi will have something to say that day. We’ll want to hear from both of them, even if their speeches sound hollow to us.”

While Joker took a quick breath and his comrades nodded along, Makoto interjected, “At least you aren’t planning another terrorist attack this time. …Even if I have to accept what happened above Endor, since I doubt you would have faked that whole broadcast just to convince me, I still find it seriously hard to believe that someone as well respected as Captain Goro Akechi is secretly a ‘Dark Jedi Enforcer’ working for the governor on covert operations.”

Haru simply walked over towards where Makoto sat and politely said, “Excuse me, but I need to borrow this.” To the Commando Droid guarding her. She took the droid’s blaster, and set it to stun.

Before Niijima could protest, Haru gently told her, “I’m sorry.” And rapidly stunned her with two blue blasts. Once the prisoner was unconscious, Haru gave the droid his blaster back, gave him a polite bow and turned to her comrades.

With a serious look on her face, Haru explained, “I haven’t forgotten why I joined this cell and risked my life for you all, not to mention taking plenty of lives in the process. I’ll follow Joker’s orders at the parade, like always, but after that, I want us to find out what happened to my father! If Shido had father killed, it will only make it easier to expose him as corrupt and a danger to his own people! If he didn’t, …then I’ve already thrown in with you and I won’t abandon the fight for freedom now!”

Everyone seemed just a bit taken aback by Haru’s declaration. Futaba spoke first, saying, “…You know, she’s got some good points. I think after the parade, we should start working on a plan to slice Shido’s seriously classified files!”

Yusuke added, “I admire Haru’s conviction. However, I can only hope that our people have resisted Shido’s brainwashing enough that if we expose his corruption, they will rise up and reclaim our homeworld’s honor.”

Unable to help himself, Joker chimed in, “As far as I’m concerned, reclaiming this world’s honor means asserting her independence. …Come to think of it, if we uncover Shido’s dirty laundry and find a way to broadcast it across Toruun, we can take the credit for his ‘fall from grace’ as separatists! It won’t be republic loyalists like Yoshida who expose Shido as a fraud to those he views as ignorant and foolish. It will be separatists fighting to reawaken the independent spirit of the Toruunian people who reveal the sins of the Empire’s puppet!”

Joker had gotten so excited about the prospect of exposing Shido that he inadvertently struck a dramatic pose with his fist in the air at the end of his statement. Ryuji loyally followed his friend and leader, striking the same pose with a slightly silly grin marking his face.  

Haru nodded slowly and asked, “So, does that mean we’re going to slice Shido’s secret files?”

Futaba quickly raised a hand and explained, “Well… much as I’d love to, those files are probably stored in one of the few imp databases on Toruun I can’t slice remotely. I’m pretty sure I’ve said this before, but they’d have to be stored locally in Shido’s actual residence. That’s the safest place to keep the data he only wants himself, and maybe a couple of his top cronies, ta have access to.”

Ann asked, “So, we’d have to infiltrate Shido’s mansion in person to get access to that data, there’s nowhere else we can go to find it?”

Futaba shook her head and asked, “Why would Shido keep anything compromising anywhere else, assuming he even records that data? He hasn’t stayed in power for so long by being stupid. If we wanna take him down a peg, we’ll have ta find a way into that mansion! At least the recent reduction in imps around here should work to our advantage.”

Joker took charge of the situation, ordering his crew, “Guys, for now we should focus on the military parade. We need to assess the strength of Shido’s remaining forces and public support for his rule. After that, we’ll start preparing an infiltration of his residence as best as we can. … I think that most of the guards would be patrolling the outer perimeter. We should be reasonably clear if we get past it. We’ll probably want to use our commando droids, Sophie’s jamming gear, and one of Futaba’s slicing tools, but leave our other droids at base. Being detected before we’re ready to leave would be particularly bad, so we don’t want to bloat our strike team too much….”

Joker realized that he had already accidentally gone into “mission planning mode” prematurely, and stopped himself. He took a deep breath and was about to apologize to the others for essentially disobeying his own order when Yusuke mentioned, “I believe that the biggest problem an infiltration of Shido’s residence will pose is simply reaching our target while in our disguises and armed. Not to mention returning to the hideout afterwards. Considering the recently increased sewer system surveillance, I do not know how we would accomplish that objective without alerting Imperial forces.”

Futaba sighed, but quickly replied, “He actually makes a pretty good point too. …We might have to go above ground, which probably means using our speeder. There’s an old, hidden, smugglers’ lift outside in the tunnel that can get her up to the surface without having to exit the city altogether. I used it to get her down here after buying her off of Sojiro. It’ll take time, but I’ll have to see if I can plot a route that avoids any and all Imperial checkpoints, tricky as that’ll be. We’ll definitely have to go at night, and ideally when Shido isn’t home.”

Everyone nodded while Haru looked encouraged. Ryuji mentioned, “If we manage ta get inside Shido’s place, we’ll need our slicer there to extract the data, right? I don’t have a clue about that kinda stuff. Also, do ya think we could set some sort of a trap for Shido while he’s out?”

Joker stroked his chin and responded, “That’s really not bad idea, Ryuji…I could maybe sneak an explosive charge equipped with a proximity sensor under his bed while the rest of the team finds the data mainframe. I’ll make sure to delay its activation, of course. That way, we’ll accomplish something big for sure. Even if Shido doesn’t have incriminating data we can copy in his home, we might be able to least take the man himself out of the picture!”

Ann helpfully chimed in, “Or maybe both?”

Joker smiled over at Ann and finished, “That would be ideal. …Futaba, jot down some notes about everything we’ve discussed here today. Once we attend the parade and see what we can learn there, we’ll do what we can to prepare for our next real mission. Even though we haven’t struck in over a month, the local imps still consider us a threat. Stay careful out there. We’ll reconvene here the day after the parade at the latest. We’ll see if we can finalize a plan to infiltrate Shido’s mansion then. You guys are dismissed.”

With that, the assembled Phantoms split up and most of them took the lift to exit the hideout. Soon enough, the only humans left in the cell’s base were Joker and Futaba.

Joker looked over at the unconscious Makoto Niijima, and wondered aloud, “What will it take to convince her to abandon the Empire? We’ve kept her here for so long. …I hope I didn’t make a mistake when I broke her out of that stockade against her will.”

Futaba shrugged her shoulders and replied, “I dunno. I hope she comes around someday. Still, I’m not exactly the great persuader here. …Anyway, I’m gonna get to work trying to find a route that’ll get us past all the imp checkpoints between this part of Ryo and Shido’s place. I better also check and see if I can slice into any helpful files about his upcoming schedule. You know, I wish we had a less-conspicuous speeder, but I don’t think we have the money left to buy one, or a nice scrapyard nearby to swipe an old junker from.”

Joker nodded and responded, “Yeah, I don’t want us trying to steal one either and possibly ending up on the imps’ radar again before we’re ready. We might have to repaint our old girl so it’s not immediately obvious who she belongs to. Someone’s gonna see us eventually if we’re speeding through the city, even in the middle of the night….”

After stopping for a moment and taking a deep breath, Joker confessed, “…I’ll admit that since the news about Endor made it here, the mood in this part of Ryo’s felt just a bit lighter, even with Shido’s holonet still blaring everywhere. That’s even though it’s only been about a day! Not to mention that the recent reassignments off of Toruun have left less troopers around. I guess that we have the alliance to thank for all of that …in a way. …I better go and check in with Boss.”

Thankfully for Joker, Futaba was already checking out a detailed holomap of Ryo at this point. The technological prodigy was focused on trying to plan a path that could stealthily get the Phantoms from the vicinity of Leblanc to Shido’s residence without the journey taking all night.

While Futaba settled even deeper into her work-trance, Joker checked on Niijima again briefly and then headed over to call the lift. He was not going to tell his boss about his cell’s new potential operation yet. However, he sincerely hoped that Sojiro Sakura would approve of any plan that could bring Masayoshi Shido low. What mattered for now was attending the traitorous governor’s military parade and seeing what sort of Imperial forces the Phantoms were still up against.

Chapter Text

Two Weeks Later: Along a Major Road in Southern Ryo:

            Dressed in casual clothes, unarmed, and unmasked, Joker, Ann, Ryuji, and Futaba stood nearby a basic barrier set up along the closest major road to Leblanc. None of them looked overtly skeptical or indignant about the Imperial troopers marching down the street in a close, orderly, formation.

            By now Shido’s parade had made it out of Central Ryo and looped through many of the city’s northern districts. After that, the Imperials headed south before their planned conclusion back where they had started. The head of the procession now approached the section of the street where the four Phantoms waited for them to pass by.

            The Phantom Cell’s droids, including Sophie, had been left at the hideout to guard Niijima and keep their secret base maintained. Yusuke had watched the parade’s initial departure in Central Ryo alongside his mentor Ichirisu Madarame, who was still in the active employ of Governor Shido. Haru was stationed further to the south, along with the managers of her late father’s estate, close to her palatial family home.

            That morning, Joker had made it abundantly clear to his comrades that they were going to observe the parade carefully, but do absolutely nothing defiant that might give away their true allegiances. Shido’s remaining forces would like nothing more than to apprehend even one member of the resistance group that had caused them so much trouble over the last few months. As Joker had believed for quite some time, even one member of his cell ending up in Imperial custody could lead to the exposure of the whole team.

            Joker was quietly pleased to see that the crowd around the four Phantoms was relatively sparse and not very enthused to see the occupying force’s soldiers heading their way. Ann discretely motioned to the approaching ranks of stormtroopers, and Joker quietly told his three comrades, “Remember, you don’t have to act like rabid loyalists, but keep it cool. No jeers, boos, or anything like that. At best, that’ll raise serious suspicion, at worst you’ll get hauled off, even if it disrupts the parade.”

            Ann and Futaba both nodded sharply while Ryuji groaned, but nodded at Joker. The leader of the Phantoms looked around for a moment to make sure nobody was too close to his team and then continued, “Shido’s speech over the vidscreens earlier didn’t impress me. I don’t even think it would’ve reassured me much if I held the exact opposite view of him.”

            Ann slowly nodded and quietly replied, “Yeah, it mostly sounded like his usual stuff about making Toruun ‘safe for our children’ and ‘uniting as a world’ to rise above ‘ignorant separatism.’ He threw out a couple of attacks on the New Republic, but his material still feels so repetitive. I don’t think it takes being a rebel or a separatist to see that.”

            Futaba chimed in, “Boss always says that Shido’s propaganda strategy’s pretty basic. Shido’s got such a low opinion of people that he thinks they’ll follow him as long as he drills the same nice-sounding ideas into their heads, over and over again.”

            Ryuji grumbled, “I guess we’ve just gotta hope it’s not working. Our people have gotta be better than Shido thinks they are.”

            Joker nodded firmly in agreement with Ryuji. Seeing that the front ranks of the marching stormtroopers had almost reached where he stood, he quickly yet quietly ordered, “Alright guys, cut the chatter. They’re almost here. Remember, just casually observe the imps, and make note of their numbers.”

            Ann, Futaba, and Ryuji all gave Joker one last, discreet, nod and then turned their focus to the approaching Imperials troopers. While the stormtroopers passed him and his friends, Joker glanced up at a vid screen and saw the face and chest of none other than Captain Goro Akechi framed at its center. He could make out Governor Shido and a couple of other Imperial officials behind Akechi.

            Akechi began his speech while the standard stormtroopers marching past Joker and company were followed by a few low-ranking field officers and specialist soldiers. Behind the foot soldiers were four AT-ST walkers, which clanked down the street two-by-two. A flight of two TIE Fighters, two TIE Interceptors, and an Imperial Sentinel-Class landing craft flew above the marchers and their accompanying vehicles. Two other similarly composed flights were visible in the distance.

            Joker’s focus was on Akechi now. He trusted his three comrades to keep their eyes on the marching Imperial troops, along with their vehicles on the ground and in the air. From a balcony in Central Ryo, Akechi declared, “My fellow citizens of the great Toruun System, this has indeed been a dark time for the galaxy. It must appear to you that the Empire is falling and that we have been left vulnerable to the capricious whims of fate. However, I am here to tell you that that is not the case! The Empire still stands and will weather this crisis! It does not matter whether we face foes as lowly as the scattered separatist remnants or as mighty as the self-proclaimed New Republic, we will prevail over the forces of chaos who defy justice! Rest assured that our governor and our military forces are still in control. Know that we will protect this world and her capital city against any aggressors who would challenge us and threaten our just peace!”

            Akechi continued on, doing his absolute best to appear both passionate and committed. Still, knowing what he now knew about Shido’s young favorite, Joker was unsure what was truly in Akechi’s heart. Was he a genuine, blindly loyal, supporter of the Empire who had foolishly placed in his faith in Shido, allowing the corrupt governor to exploit his force abilities through a masked secret identity? Or was Akechi’s pleasant exterior just an act that disguised the brutal enforcer he truly was?

How Shido had found Akechi and set up their mutually beneficial arrangement was also unclear to Joker. Regardless, it had certainly worked well enough for both Imperials. Shido gained access to a uniquely dangerous secret agent to work alongside his small team of death troopers. Akechi got Shido’s patronage and therefore had been fast-tracked through the local academy and into the rank of Captain in record time. Akechi had been allowed to take on the duties of both a TIE pilot and an army officer, thanks to Shido. That had allowed him to gain even more prestige than he could have while filling only one of those two roles.  

Joker was spaced out enough that it took Ann tapping him on the shoulder to snap him back to reality. He looked around rapidly while Ann told him, “Hey, I think the parade’s almost past us.”

Scanning the vicinity with renewed focus, Joker saw two AT-AT heavy assault walkers bringing up the rear of the parade flanked by a small unit of 74-Z speeder bikes ridden by scout troopers. He looked ahead and saw a pair of Marauder speeder transports and a smaller formation of stormtroopers right behind the four AT-STs he had seen before. Akechi was wrapping up his speech with one last promise to “protect Toruun from any and all threats she may face.”

Joker motioned for his comrades to back away from the wide road with him. They needed some privacy, not to mention be able to hear each other over the stomping of the heavy assault walkers’ immense feet. Once they had some degree of privacy, Joker looked at the two heavy assault walkers while the metal behemoths passed by and saw that there were no other Imperial land units marching behind them.

With his three comrades’ eyes on him, Joker quietly, rhetorically, asked, “That’s it, huh? Those are all of the units that Shido could spare from across Toruun, even for just one day? I’m surprised that we didn’t see a flyover from a light capital ship, like a Gozanti or Arquitens.”

Futaba pointed out, “Shido’s fleet only has two of each of those ships. He’s probably so paranoid about the New Republic now that he doesn’t want any of them withdrawn from their border patrol duties.”

Ryuji admitted, “I’m actually kinda disappointed. …Still, the less imps left around here the better. My old man won’t be avenged until we’re free of them.”

While the Imperial walkers and their escort speeder bikes disappeared from view, the noise of their thundering footsteps slowly fading, Joker smiled and told his comrades, “Ryuji’s right about there being less imps around here. I think this means that between losses taken during our operations, the operations conducted by other resistance cells, and transfers out of the system, Shido’s forces really are dwindling.”

Ann nodded and added, “It’s not surprising that he’s doing all he can to hide that fact. He wants to appear strong, despite everything. Otherwise, he’ll just keep losing his grip. Most people here probably don’t know enough to realize how bad it’s gotten for the Empire.”

Joker grinned and gave Ann a firm nod of agreement. Right after that, he motioned for his friends to follow him, having seen enough. While they headed back towards Leblanc, Joker ordered, “We’ll check in with Fox and Noir once we’re back at base. I want us to meet up at the hideout tomorrow to discuss the weakness our enemy has inadvertently exposed. …Futaba do you have a route planned out for the mission Noir requested?”

Futaba nodded enthusiastically and replied, “Yep! Thanks to a recent reduction in imp checkpoints across Southern Ryo, I think I have a route from our base to the mansion ready to go!”

Joker nodded back at Futaba and grinned while musing aloud, “So, Shido’s lost so many troopers that his officers have had to reduce their security coverage in areas they don’t consider critical. We haven’t struck any targets in Southern Ryo, so it kinda makes sense that they’d loosen their grip in this part of the city. His cronies are probably trying like mad to get more local loyalist recruits into their academy, but they won’t be able to replace the troopers and pilots they’ve lost all that quickly. …We need to strike hard and fast and press our advantage. I hate that it was the New Republic that gave us this opportunity, but we have to take advantage of it anyway. …I’ll contact Noir and let her know that I’m gonna approve her mission. Futaba, get another slicing tool whipped up! We’re gonna need one to infiltrate Shido’s mansion as soon as we find the best possible night!”

Ryuji grinned while Ann nodded, and Futaba saluted Joker. The four of them soon returned to Leblanc and got in touch with Yusuke and Haru.

Yusuke reported that he was also unimpressed with the military parade, even though he had no choice but to hold his tongue around Ichirisu Madarame and his pro-Imperial entourage. He indicated that he would be ready to meet the rest of the cell at the hideout whenever Joker gave the order.

When Joker contacted Haru, she reported that she had also noticed that there were far less Imperial foot soldiers and vehicles marching in the parade than she had expected beforehand. She was deeply pleased to hear that Joker had decided to approve the mission to infiltrate Shido’s residence, and that Futaba had prepared a route to the mansion from Leblanc. Haru also promised Joker that she would be at the hideout right away whenever he needed her. She was not going to miss the infiltration of Shido’s mansion, considering that it had essentially been her idea.

Over the next three days, Futaba finished preparing her latest computer virus-laden datastick. The malicious code in the new datastick was apparently even more complex and potent than its, already highly effective, predecessors. Joker reminded Futaba that her newest tool needed to avoid corrupting the mainframe that the Phantoms hoped to locate and slice within Shido’s residence, while having the same effect on the building’s security systems as its predecessors. She assured him that he had nothing to worry about in those regards and then got right back to her work.

In addition to researching what she could about Shido’s upcoming schedule, Futaba used her slicing skills to download schematics for Shido’s residence. It was an old, well-appointed house on the border between Southern and Central Ryo that Shido had claimed as his own when he assumed the governorship of Toruun. Futaba pinpointed the most likely location for a secret computer mainframe in the house’s basement through exacting analysis of the schematics.

The house sat separate from the other buildings in her district. Her previous owner had been a wealthy member of the now-dissolved Toruun Diet who had vocally supported secession from the Galactic Republic. He had disappeared from Toruun right before the world was conquered by the newly christened Empire. Wherever he had ended up, his separatist principles had not been strong enough to convince him to stay on his homeworld when Shido’s loyalists were about to be reinforced by Imperial warships. Now, his place of residence was sullied by someone guilty of worse dishonor towards his homeworld than running from a supposedly lost fight.

Soon enough, the date for the mission was arranged, based on Futaba’s research. It would be a total of ten days after the military parade. The Phantoms were told to assemble at their hideout in the early evening for the final briefing before what could be their most crucial infiltration. Their next mission could uncover evidence capable of bringing down Toruun’s Imperial governor, it could even result in his assassination via explosive device.

Joker knew that his team could not afford to fail in their next infiltration. Toruun was closer to freedom, and hopefully independence from the core worlds, than she had been since the reign of the Galactic Empire began. Soon, it would be time to bring Shido and his regime down for good.

Chapter Text

The Night of the Mansion Infiltration: The Phantom Cell’s Hideout:

            Once again, the membership of the Phantom Cell had assembled in their hideout. This time, it was a couple of hours after night had fallen over Ryo. Despite her exasperated protests, Niijima had been stunned by one of the cell’s commando droids moments earlier. Joker and his team all had their combat gear, masks, and hoods ready. The large door that led outside of their hideout to the tunnel leading out of the city, and the concealed lift leading up to the surface, was open.

The Phantoms’ main landspeeder had been fully repaired since the joint mission with the Yoshida Cell. Most of her easily recognizable black and red exterior had been carefully covered with a layer of temporary, blue, paneling to conceal her true allegiance from casual observers. Joker had picked blue as the color for the paneling because that color had been associated with the CIS during the Clone Wars. Of course, there were no visible separatist symbols on the body of the heavily modified repulsorcraft now. Neither were any other insignia. They had been concealed for the purposes of the mission at hand.

Joker looked his infiltration team over. Every human member of their resistance group would go on this mission, including Futaba. Sophie would also ride along in her usual astromech socket. The cell’s two commando droids would sit folded up in the speeder’s farthest back seat right next to Sophie’s socket. They would be covered by a secured tarp until the cell arrived at their destination.

Ann told Joker, “I walked past Shido’s mansion a couple times over the last couple days, like you asked. There aren’t many other buildings nearby, but there’s a short wall with a guardhouse next to the main gate. It’s usually patrolled by a couple stormtroopers. There’re also streetlights, hedges, and fountains not far outside of the wall that we should be able to use for cover.”

Joker nodded firmly at Ann and explained, “Futaba’s research indicates that Shido has a series of long-distance meetings with other imp officers and governors tonight that will go very late. Late enough that he might even spend the night somewhere closer to his office in Central Ryo. Still, we can’t afford to waste too much time. While Shido’s out, his residence shouldn’t be that heavily guarded. I doubt he’ll have any of his few remaining death troopers there if he’s not present. Even if he keeps highly classified, potentially incriminating, files there, a heavy guard presence means more soldiers who could stumble upon his secrets. Not to mention a higher likelihood that someone will realize he has something there worth protecting even when he's not at home.”

Joker took a quick breath and continued, “Here’s the plan, with our speeder temporarily re-paneled, we’ll take her up the lift and onto Ryo’s streets. Futaba will drive this time while I assist with navigation. We’ll keep our masks and hoods off until we get to Shido’s mansion. The route Futaba planned for us should avoid every imp checkpoint on the way to our target. However, we’ll try to avoid getting too close to any enemy troopers and vehicles we might encounter on the way. We don’t want to get stopped, or even have anyone get suspicious of us. Since it’s already pretty dark, there should be less imp personnel out and about, but it’ll make anyone driving through the city look more suspicious.”

With his crew’s focus still on him, Joker concluded, “Once we reach the area around Shido’s residence, we’ll find a good spot to park the speeder and then head for the main gate. Like with the stockade breakout, our commando droids will handle the delivery of Futaba’s virus stick to the gatehouse’s control console. With any luck, that will open our way in and deactivate the security cameras while Sophie jams enemy comms. We’ll advance into the mansion’s courtyard, stealthily taking out any hostiles we encounter. From there, we’ll enter the main building. Everyone else except for me and one of our commando droids will escort Futaba to the basement, where there should be a hidden mainframe room. If you can find Shido’s secret data storage, start slicing into it immediately. I’ll head upstairs, covered by our other commando droid. We’ll take out any enemy troopers on the upper levels and then head for the master bedroom. We’ll plant an explosive charge under Shido’s bed in the hopes that it’ll take him out when he next tries to sleep in it. Even if another imp investigates that bedroom first once we’ve pulled out, it’ll at least give one of the bastards their last surprise. Once the mainframe is fully sliced, if it’s there at all, and I’ve gotten the charge planted, we’ll hightail it back to the speeder and return to the hideout using the same route to get back to base.”

While Ryuji looked a tad confused, everyone else nodded in understanding. Yusuke mentioned, “Shido’s home is an old Toruunian-style manor. With three floors and elegant, sloping roofs. I hope we do not damage the architecture too much during our infiltration. Still, it would be a small price to pay if it brings us one step closer to exposing Shido.”

Futaba added, “I’ve modified my datastick-delivered virus since the last one. This time, it shouldn’t automatically open all of the estate’s doors and gates. It’ll just treat them as unlocked. So, if anyone walks up to them, they’ll open automatically. That’ll make it harder for any troopers to realize something’s up until it’s too late!”

Ryuji grinned while Haru told her comrades, “After everything we’ve been through since I joined this cell, I almost want Shido to be responsible for my father’s death. …I know that I have no choice but to accept whatever we find once we slice his mainframe. …I’m ready to go now, Joker!”

Joker nodded and ordered, “Our less stealthy battle droids will stay here. They’ll hold down the fort and guard Niijima once she wakes up. Everyone else, into the speeder, we’ve got no time to waste!”

With that, Futaba got into the driver’s seat of her speeder with Joker riding in the seat right next to her. Behind them were Ann, Ryuji, Yusuke and Haru with their three droids in the back. The tarp was pulled over the two folded-up commando droids and secured.

The Phantom Cell’s repulsorcraft left the hideout and took a slight right turn in the tunnel just outside to reach an unassuming spot. There, Futaba pressed a button on the speeder’s dashboard which activated a well-concealed lift. The lift elevated the speeder out of the tunnel, the roof of which quietly slid open to boost the vehicle into a small vacant lot not far behind Leblanc.

Right after reaching the surface, Futaba piloted her speeder out into the mostly empty streets of Southern Ryo. She then began to follow the exact route that she had so meticulously planned for the night’s operation.

Joker was unsurprised to see that Futaba’s route worked like a charm. It did not always lead the team down the best-known streets and there were a couple of tight squeezes. However, they avoided getting into visual range of any of the remaining Imperial checkpoints in the city on their way to Shido’s residence. It took less than an hour for the Phantoms to reach their destination. Once they reached their target’s general vicinity, they quickly found a large, tall hedge to park their speeder behind not far from Shido’s mansion. Sophie was ordered to start jamming Imperial comms while nestled in her astromech socket.

The Phantoms and their two commando droids quickly disembarked from their landspeeder and took cover wherever they could not far from the mansion’s outer wall and main gate. Looking past the outer wall, they could see that the mansion featured multiple tiers of sloped roofing in the traditional Toruunian style.

Joker drew his macrobinoculars from his pack while hiding behind a large fountain and scanned the property ahead of him. Setting his binoculars to thermal scanning mode, he checked the area carefully and informed his team, “I’m picking up one heat signature in the gatehouse, two patrolling in the courtyard and three in the house proper. One on the main floor and two on the second floor.”

Futaba, quietly replied, “So, only six guards. Based on what data I could find, Shido relies on droid servants. They should be in low power mode at this hour. I don’t think he trusts any civilian staff to run this place.”

Yusuke added, “I don’t believe Shido advertises the location of his place of residence to the public. That likely helps keep security costs down. Also, having a large force of guards stationed here would make it obvious that this manor is particularly important to anyone who passes by.”

Joker nodded and ordered, “Masks on everyone. We’ll use codenames from here on out. Oracle, give your datastick to one of our commando droids. They got us into a far more secure place than this one before. So, one of them should be able to rapidly infiltrate the gatehouse, take out the trooper there and insert the virus. We’ll have the other droid guard Sophie and our speeder.”

Oracle nodded and donned her heavy goggles while the rest of the cell donned their usual masks and hoods. She then handed the commando droid crouching nearby her the computer virus-laden datastick. The agile combat automaton gave her one rapid nod and darted out of cover.

The commando droid easily evaded any and all light sources on the way to the manor’s outer wall. He vaulted over the short wall not far from the gatehouse and disappeared from the Phantoms’ view. His comrade stealthily returned to the Phantom Cell’s speeder to watch over Sophie and the parked vehicle.   

            Joker kept scanning the manor with his macrobinoculars. He smiled when he saw the heat signature patrolling in the courtyard close to the main gate stop suddenly and then collapse to the ground. Shortly afterwards, the heat signature in the gatehouse slumped over. The gate guard’s elimination was almost immediately followed by all of the lights in between the outer wall and the Phantoms’ positions suddenly going dark.

            Oracle informed her comrades, “That’s two guards down and the datastick is in. …Joker?”

            Joker nodded sharply and ordered, “Move in. We’ll secure the courtyard and breach the mansion.”

            With Oracle bringing up the rear protected by Noir, the Phantoms advanced across the way to the main gate, which slid open for them, revealing their waiting commando droid.

            Joker quickly ordered the BX droid, “Hunt down and take out the other trooper in the courtyard. Once that’s done, link up with me inside the building. We’re gonna take out the guards on the second floor and find Shido’s bedroom.”

            The droid saluted Joker and darted around the manor with the intent of dealing with the remaining stormtrooper in the courtyard.

            Keeping himself focused on his team’s mission, Joker ordered, “Let’s clear the main floor. Skull, Fox, you two lead the way. Once the trooper there’s down, I want you guys to head for the basement and see if you can find a mainframe. If you find one, don’t waste any time. Start slicing it and extract all the data you can as fast as you can!”

            Joker’s comrades all gave him rapid salutes. After that, they advanced across the well-manicured courtyard down the path that led right to the main door. Unlike the traditional, stately, majority of the main building, the doors in the manor looked like newer Imperial models. Fox found the juxtaposition quite disgusting. The look on his face below his mask said it all.

            The main door of the manor slid open for the Phantoms. They found a single stormtrooper in the front hall, in addition to multiple daruma statues and a lavish carpet. It looked like the trooper had been about to investigate something. However, he did not even time to shout or fire his E-11 blaster carbine before Fox and Skull leapt forward into the room and cut him down with well-aimed slices delivered from their heavy vibroblades.

            Joker smiled while his crew advanced into the front hall and took up defensive positions. Seeing neither of the upstairs guards coming down the nearby staircase to investigate, Joker quietly ordered, “Oracle, you’ve studied the layout of this place. Take the others to the basement and find that mainframe.”

            Oracle took a deep breath and then nodded over at Joker. She took the lead. Noir, Skull, Fox, and Panther all followed her deeper into the mansion. They were headed for the basement, and hopefully Shido’s dark secrets, with all deliberate speed.

            It only took a few minutes for the main door to open again, this time for the BX droid who told Joker, “The other guard has been silenced, commander.”

            Joker nodded firmly and then ordered, “We’re headed to the second floor. Once we neutralize the two guards up there, we’ll find the master bedroom and plant the charge.”

            The elite droid simply nodded, and then followed Joker to the nearby staircase. Man and machine both crept up the stairs, hoping to stay undetected until it was too late for their enemies.

            When Joker neared the top of the stairs, having not yet encountered any hostiles, his commlink lit up blue. He answered it and heard Fox quietly report, “Joker, we’ve found a data mainframe in a basement storage room. Oracle had to slice the door guarding it, despite her virus. She’s already downloading the data, having bypassed some rather extensive security protocols. However, she says that a couple of the files she found are heavily encrypted. They’ll take time to unlock, even for her. She is focusing on the files she can more easily retrieve at the moment.”

            Joker whispered back, “Excellent. Keep her protected and stay vigilant. We’re gonna try and plant the charge under Shido’s bed. We’re on our way upstairs now. Joker out.”

            Fox responded, “Understood, we will keep Oracle safe while she steals Shido’s secrets. Fox out.”

            Joker terminated the transmission. He then continued creeping up the staircase. Soon enough, he reached the second floor with his cell’s commando droid right behind him. Looking ahead down the hall, he saw two stormtroopers with their backs to him talking about something. One of them wore a Sergeant’s pauldron.

            Joker had a thought and whispered to the commando droid right behind him, “Cover me. I wanna try something out.”

            The elite droid nodded sharply and followed Joker ahead towards the two unsuspecting troopers at a distance.

            Joker stayed low and drew Yu Narukami’s lightsaber while he crept closer to the two conversing stormtroopers. While he closed in on them, he began to overhear their conversation. Predictably, it sounded like they were hoping to get transferred to a more active post. They believe that they could kill some of the “rebel scum” who were now popping up across Toruun with increased frequency if they were deployed to the countryside.

            As soon as Joker was almost to the two troopers, he ignited his lightsaber and leapt at them. The two Imperials rapidly turned and raised their blasters. However, they were both bisected in one emerald slash from the grinning separatist.

            The commando droid following Joker did not comment on his using a Jedi’s weapon to dispatch the two Imperial guards. It was impossible to tell if the elite automaton was impressed by Joker’s double kill or not.

            Joker ordered, “Alright, that should be every trooper in the mansion down. Let’s find the master bedroom and do what we came up here to do….” He paused for a brief moment, a faint ominous feeling crossing his mind. However, he did not focus on that for long, considering the urgency of his current mission.

            It took Joker and his droid companion a few minutes to locate the best decorated and furnished of the mansion’s few bedrooms. It was also the only one of those rooms that looked like it had been consistently occupied.

            Joker ordered his commando droid to keep watch while he headed towards the opulent bed on one side of the room. He noticed a large window on the opposite wall, along with a door leading to the adjacent refresher room. He was about to reach into his backpack and retrieve the special explosive charge he and Noir had prepared for this mission when he saw a glint out of the corner of his eye.

            Two blaster bolts were fired off from the commando droid’s blaster in rapid succession. Joker’s eyes widened and then rapidly narrowed when he heard the unmistakable sound of a lightsaber igniting and whirled around.

            The BX droid who had followed Joker upstairs was brutally sliced to smoldering metal ribbons. Standing over his burnt remains was none other than The Crow, wielding an Imperial Inquisitor’s lightsaber.

            Joker staggered back and quickly drew and ignited his lightsaber while The Crow advanced into the room and coldly said, “Hello there, separatist scum. As you can see, I was not about to let you outmaneuver me again. This time, you will see how my power exceeds yours…”

            Joker spat back, “There’s no use hiding under that mask anymore, Akechi!”

            Much to Joker’s surprise, Akechi complied without delay. He removed his repaired helmet without hesitation and dropped it to the floor. The Imperial officer admitted, “So, you figured it out at the mining camp. …You truly are a worthy opponent, despite the heinous nature of your chosen cause.”

            Joker grimaced and asked Akechi, “I could say the same about you, Captain. …Now, how did you find me? You didn’t show up and try to stop me earlier.”

            Akechi responded, “I’ve been honing my senses ever since I learned we share the same gift. Not only did my recent training allow me to conceal my presence until a moment ago, but my meditation also finally gave me the “hunch” that led me here tonight. I wish that I had arrived in time to save the troopers stationed here. However, as soon as I realized that they had been murdered by your cell, I called for backup as Captain Akechi. My reinforcements should be here soon enough. Governor Shido has been notified that he should stay in his office for his safety. And yes, I know your group must be using an advanced comms jammer by now. I’ve upgraded my personal commlink so its signals will pierce through your separatist static.”

            Joker grimaced, gripping his saber tightly. Akechi might very well have outmaneuvered his team this time, after failing to do so in all of their previous encounters. His Imperial rival advanced on him slowly and demanded, “Now, I’ve unmasked myself for you. Before we settle this once and for all, I want you to show me who you truly are. Remove your mask, separatist!”

            Joker glared at Akechi and angrily responded, “What the hell makes you think I’d do that!”

            Akechi glared directly back at Joker and shouted, “I should’ve expected as much from a cowardly terrorist! You’d never understand that I did all that I’ve done for Toruun’s future! Whether or not I agreed with the methods I was ordered to employ, I always followed my orders like a good soldier…”

            Knowing that his best way out was through Akechi, Joker let out a battle cry, lunged ahead, and locked blades with his archfoe. However, Akechi knew what he was doing with his new twin-bladed crimson saber. The Imperial agent almost immediately pressed the attack, forcing Joker to parry his rapid, yet precise, barrage of strikes.

            Joker did everything he could to hold Akechi off. He pulled on all of his training and strength in the force to block every one of Akechi’s increasingly vicious attacks. His enemy smiled, seeing that he had forced his separatist archrival onto the defensive.

            Now almost pushed back to the master bedroom’s window, Joker knew that he had to alert his team somehow before Akechi’s backup arrived in force. He leapt back away from Akechi, who held his weapon out ahead of him. Akechi menacingly spun his inquisitor saber’s twin blades in front of like a crimson plasma rotor, and implacably advanced on Joker.

            Right before Joker could try to execute a feinting maneuver and dart past Akechi and out of the room, Akechi ceased his saber’s spinning and made a single, lightning-fast downwards strike aimed directly at Joker’s face.

            Joker narrowly dodged backwards out of the way of Akechi’s potentially lethal swing. However, the blazing blade accomplished one critical task. It sliced into Joker’s mask just enough to cut it in twain and send what remained of it crashing to the floor.

            All Joker could do was blink in shock. He should have tried to parry Akechi’s well-aimed strike. He had made a true rookie mistake. However, he was brutally and suddenly knocked back into reality when Akechi squinted and exclaimed, “…Akira? …That explains so much from that day…”

            A cascade of horrific emotions shot through Joker like nothing he had ever felt before. He had never expected to be the first member of his cell to be unmasked. He was about to be far from the only one in grave danger.

Chapter Text

Seconds Later: Masayoshi Shido’s Master Bedroom:

            Now unmasked, but still armed, Joker stood before Captain Goro Akechi in the master bedroom of Governor Masayoshi Shido’s manor. Akechi knew who he was and where he worked now. The operation that could have assassinated the Imperial Governor, and could still expose his secret misdeeds, had just compromised the Phantom Cell.

            Akechi regained his composure and held his weapon in front of him. He spun his inquisitor saber like a blazing propellor of crimson plasma, blocking a series of emerald strikes from the desperate Joker. The young Imperial Captain grabbed his commlink from his belt with his free hand and ordered into it, “All available ground units in Southern Ryo, this is Captain Goro Akechi! Converge on Café Leblanc near the city outskirts and search the premises! I have reason to believe that location is associated with the local separatist cell!”

            Joker furiously shouted “NO!” Realizing that Sojiro Sakura would soon be in danger. He knew he had to escape from Akechi and return home. Even if he could somehow kill Akechi, that would not stop his forces from storming Leblanc.

            While Akechi was briefly distracted, Joker turned and delivered a lightsaber slash that shattered the window behind him. He then leapt out of the window and onto the sloped roof below it. From there, he jumped down to the ground floor, using the force to briefly slow his fall, and rolling to reduce the impact.

            Instead of trying to follow Joker on foot, Akechi ran to the window and drew his enhanced blaster pistol. He wasted no time in trying to gun his fleeing foe down. Joker evaded a brief volley of bolts and deflected one into a nearby wall with his saber before activating his own commlink.

            Akechi called down, “My soldiers will be here in force any minute, Akira! The show’s over for you vile separatists! Did you really think this was a fair fight you could win?”

            Joker darted out of sight of Akechi and kept running for his cell’s speeder. He activated his commlink to contact Fox. However, he heard Noir’s voice first, saying, “Joker, Oracle’s got most of Shido’s files extracted! Only the most heavily encrypted ones are left now. Shido really did have father killed and he used Akechi to do it!”

            Joker rapidly responded, “Akechi’s here and he’s got a red blade lightsaber! He sliced up my support droid! He’s gonna have backup on site any minute! Get back outside and head for the speeder NOW! Leave the other files! We need to get back to Leblanc ASAP!”

            Fox asked, “Understood! We will fall back immediately! Wait, why did you mention the café…”

            Joker exited the manor’s outer wall via the main gate and told his crew, “That bastard sliced off my mask! He knows who I am! He got off an order to search Leblanc before I disengaged! We’ve gotta get back to protect Boss and evacuate the hideout!”

            Joker heard the sounds of rapid footsteps over his commlink and Skull shouting back, “The eff! Can we try ta take out Akechi now?”

            Oracle’s voice came over the commlink angrily replying, “If Joker couldn’t stop him, how could we? We’ve gotta fall back! I’ll call Sojiro as soon as we’re in the speeder. …Speaking of bastards, Akechi’s Shido’s son, Joker! His mom was a prostitute Shido frequented. Somehow, Akechi found out and he came to Shido!”

            Joker rounded the hedge and reached the Phantom Cell’s parked speeder. He jumped into the driver’s seat and responded, “That figures… Just get out of there before he catches you! Hopefully, he’s changing into his officer’s uniform before he links up with his troops. That should give you guys an opening. I’ll be in the speeder right outside the main gate! Joker out.”

            With that, Joker motioned for his cell’s surviving commando droid to jump into the speeder. He then engaged the repulsorcraft’s engine and the vehicle shot out from behind the hedge and towards the manor’s main gate.

            Sophie beeped nervously while Joker told her, “Disengage jamming, Sophie! I don’t think it’ll work anymore.”

            The other Phantoms burst out from the mansion’s main door and ran for the main gate. Oracle clutched a datapad and the rest of them had their blasters out. However, Joker grimaced when he heard the telltale clanking of AT-ST walkers on the way.

            One Imperial scout walker was on the way towards Joker’s position from the east. Another approached from the west. Each of the two light walkers was supported by at least eight stormtroopers. The Phantoms were flanked, for now.

            Blaster fire shot out from one of the manor’s second story windows, narrowly missing Panther, and denting Skull’s armor. Despite having needed to change, Akechi was not letting his enemies escape so easily.

            Fox returned fire with his sniper rifle, suppressing Akechi for the time being with well-placed shots. That gave his comrades enough time to reach their landspeeder and pile in. None of them looked happy when they saw for themselves that Joker was no longer masked.

            With Fox bringing up the rear, everyone boarded the speeder and Joker turned the vehicle around as fast as he could. A web of Imperial crossfire blasted past the souped-up vehicle and her passengers right before she shot south at top speed.

            Sitting right next to Joker, Futaba activated her commlink and shouted into it, “Sojiro! Can you hear me! Wake up!”

            It took a couple of pulse-pounding moments, but the groggy, tired sounding voice of Sojiro Sakura responded, “Futaba, what’s going on? Where are you?”

            Futaba replied, “We’ve been compromised! The imps are gonna search Leblanc! We’re heading back as fast as we can!”

            After a brief moment, during which Joker wondered if Sojiro was thinking of a way to disavow the Phantoms and not get arrested by the Imperials, the older man’s voice ordered, “…Just stay alive and get back here in one piece! Boss out!”

            Joker blinked while Futaba’s transmission ended. He wondered aloud, “I don’t think he’s gonna try to turn us in, since Futaba’s with us. …Maybe I was right, and he really did care about the cause all along…”

            From behind Joker and Futaba, Ann asked, “If they’re gonna search Leblanc, they’ll find the hideout sooner or later, and Niijima with it. They might just blast her to avoid having to admit they lied about her being dead. What’s the plan, Joker?”

            Ryuji interjected, “I think we’re screwed one way or another. I’m gonna call my mom and tell her the truth. She needs to find a place to hide in case the imps figure out who we all are, I’m not gonna lose her to those bastards like I lost my dad!”

            Fox added, “We need to escape with the stolen files and find a way to transmit them across Toruun. Shido’s secret data was still recorded in the standard Imperial style according to Oracle. That makes the files very difficult to falsify. It proves that he was in league with the crime boss Kaneshiro, and used his force sensitive bastard son to remove other local political rivals even before the Okumura assassination. Shido must have only planned to show that data to other corrupt Imperials officers if the need somehow arose. It also might have been accessed by his personal guard from time to time.”

            Joker wondered aloud, “What the hell could be in Shido’s heavily encrypted files if all that damning crap was the less-encrypted material? …As for our plan, we have to hope that the imps Akechi ordered to converge on Leblanc will take some time to locate a little-known café like ours, and gather troopers to raid her. We’ll need to get back to the hideout via the hidden lift and then send our battle droids up to secure Leblanc and hold the line while we pack up what we can and pull out of Ryo. …There’s no point in bringing our old carrier, we’ll need to focus on speed over everything else!”

            Ann asked, “Do you think the imps will figure out who the rest of us are if they take Leblanc? …Maybe we can’t risk it…. We’ll all have to leave Ryo…. I’ll contact Mona’s usual sitter and ask her to take him, risky as it might be for her. …I guess I’ll just have to say something big came up. …What about Niijima?”

            Joker grimaced while driving as fast as he could through the mostly empty streets of Southern Ryo. He told Ann, “I’m leaving her fate in your hands. Someone will have to make that call. When we get back to the hideout, the rest of you will pack what supplies you can while I go secure the café and find Boss. If anyone wants to stay behind in Ryo, I won’t try to stop you. Just know that you’ll be taking an incredible risk. Once they search Leblanc and Boss’s place, the imps will question anyone they can remotely link to us as fast as they can. Just having been seen entering Leblanc more than once will probably be grounds for suspicion, especially for anyone from outside the district.”

            Futaba added, “Once we’ve evacuated, we’ll have to contact Takemi and Iwai. They need to know that we’ve been compromised. …Joker, I know the data we stole could make this all worth it. We just need a way to override Shido’s holonet and broadcast the truth about that monster across the planet!”

            Yusuke mentioned, “We’ll need to survive and escape Ryo with the stolen data first. Rest assured that I cannot stomach returning to Madarame now that I know what his patron Shido is truly responsible for. I will leave Ryo with Joker and Oracle. Toruun must be free of Shido, no matter the cost!”

            While Ryuji and Ann got to work attempting to contact the people they needed to reach, Haru added, “Shido would love to wipe my family out for good. I can’t give him that chance. If there’s even the smallest chance that I’ll be exposed as a Phantom, I’ll leave Ryo with you!”

            Sophie beeped affirmatively while Joker told Futaba, “We’ll reach out to Takemi and Iwai once we’re clear of the city. Hopefully, they’re both distant enough from our cell that the imps won’t trace anything to them anytime soon, even if the rest of us get exposed.”

            Futaba nodded slowly while Joker continued masterfully maneuvering his vehicle down the roads towards Leblanc. He did not care about looking suspicious now. All that mattered was speed, and evading any and all Imperial units.

The Phantom Cell soon closed in on Leblanc, heading for the hidden lift as fast as they could. Ryuji had managed to contact his mother and warn her to find a safe place to hide after confessing his involvement with the “Ryo Separatist Cell” to her. He told his mother that he had done everything he could to avenge his father and fight against the injustices being perpetrated on their homeworld by the Imperial occupiers. He also promised that he would see her again once Shido was exposed and Imperial forces finally withdrew from Toruun.

Ann had not been able to get in touch with her lothcat’s usual sitter, considering the late hour. However, she vowed to try again in the morning once the Phantoms had escaped from Ryo.

When the Phantoms had nearly reached the hidden lift, they heard the sounds of intense blaster fire being exchanged from the direction of Leblanc. When they got even closer, they heard the unmistakable rapport of a Droideka’s repeating blasters, along with the rapid-fire wrist blasters of a super battle droid. There were plenty of other blasters going off. However, those two noises could be barely discerned above the general cacophony.

Joker ordered, “Someone activated our droids? They must be holding the café! That means imp forces are already here! I’ll take the lift up with our commando droid and check things out once we’re back at the hideout…”

Futaba drew her heavily modified old CIS blaster pistol and interjected, “Joker, even if Akechi was the one who unmasked you, we’re still in this mess because he knows who you are now. …Sorry, my point is that I’m going with you to find Sojiro! I’ll stay low behind cover, but I can’t leave him behind!”

Joker sighed, but nodded in understanding. He then maneuvered his speeder through his home district until she was hovering directly over the hidden lift. He punched the button on his speeder’s dashboard that activated the lift. There did not appear to be any heavy Imperial vehicles on site yet. The Phantoms needed to evacuate their base and flee Ryo before that changed.

The Phantom Cell’s speeder was lowered into the tunnels and the roof closed back up above them. As soon as it was safe to do so, Joker sent his speeder careening through the hideout’s open door and then parked her facing the door and ready to dart back out as soon possible.

None of the cell’s droids were left in the hideout. However, Makoto Niijima sat on a short supply crate, her ankles and wrists still cuffed. When the Phantoms disembarked from their speeder, other than Sophie, she frustratedly asked, “What’s going on? Some old man came down the lift, and claimed to be a Toruun Defense Force officer. He got your droids running and sent them all up the lift…”

Futaba rapidly asked Niijima, “Where is he now?” Pointing her blaster pistol right at the prisoner.

Niijima replied, “He’s somewhere above us with your droids. …I think he said he’d come back down as soon as he was ready, but he hasn’t.”

Futaba darted for the lift with Joker and their commando droid right behind her. Joker ordered, “Ann, deal with Niijima as you see fit. Yusuke, Ryuji, Haru, pack up whatever supplies you can, focus on things we’ll need to survive outside of the city for a while!”

Makoto exclaimed, “You got compromised, didn’t you! There must be troopers on their way!”

Ann retorted, “Some of them might already be right above us. This isn’t gonna go the way you think it will, Makoto….”

Joker stopped listening to Ann and Makoto while he followed Futaba and their BX droid into the lift after calling it. The three of them rode up into Leblanc’s backroom where they heard the sounds of an intense blaster battle directly ahead of them.

The trio of separatists burst out of the backroom and into Leblanc proper. Joker knew that he would have no time to recover anything from his room above the café. What mattered now was finding Sojiro and escaping Ryo.

Looking ahead of him, Joker saw three B1 battle droids taking cover behind Leblanc’s wall. They were firing out of the broken windows at a number of Imperial stormtroopers, officers, and light landspeeders. The Imperials were trying to set up a cordon around the café. Another battle droid had already been shot in the head by an Imperial soldier and had crumpled into a heap near the café’s door.

More Imperials kept appearing outside of the café. It looked like the initial squad of investigators had called for backup once they realized that Leblanc would actually be a hard target to crack.

The Phantom Cell’s Droideka stood blocking the café’s doorway with its shield still active, but taking heavy fire. Their super battle droid stood just outside of the café. He was laying down impressive suppressing fire with his wrist-mounted repeating blaster. However, the automaton was already badly damaged. He would certainly give out after taking a few more solid hits.

Without needing orders, the Phantoms’ commando droid leapt into action and took command of the flagging defenders. Still, Joker knew that the droids would not last long if something like an AT-ST or an Imperial gunship showed up. A couple heavy assault troopers, or rocket-launcher troopers, might also be able to finally break the separatist defensive line. The droids were holding out admirably, but they could not last forever. All they could do now was buy the Phantoms time to escape.

Futaba took cover behind Leblanc’s counter while Joker looked around and suddenly gasped. He saw Sojiro Sakura slumped on the floor behind the counter, bleeding heavily from two blaster wounds to the gut. The owner of the besieged café looked up at Joker and Futaba and slowly told them, “…Good, you kids made it back…”

Joker rushed to Sojiro’s side; his DC-17 held in one hand. Futaba did the same, tearing off her goggles, tears filling her eyes. The older man blinked a couple of times and stammered, “A damn scout trooper got me before I could get back to the old smugglers den… the droids got him back, though… Joker, tell me whatever the hell you did to get yourself exposed is gonna be worth it….”

Joker cried freely while he told Sojiro, “I knew you would never betray us, sir! I knew you cared about the cause; I always knew it! …We’re gonna expose Shido, dammit! We’ve got the data to do it downstairs now! He and his bastard son Akechi are gonna pay for their lies and their tyranny!”

Sojiro placed one hand on both Futaba and Joker’s arms and wheezed. He told them, “…Good. I always knew you kids were special, both of you… Joker, protect Futaba and your friends with your life, you hear me! You started this mess, now you have to finish it… Do it for the old cause, and do it for Toruun. …Futaba told me you met with old Yoshida in the mountains before, he might be your only hope now. … Futaba, I’m so sorry I couldn’t get away in…”

With that, Sojiro Sakura wheezed one last time and slumped over completely, no longer able to cling to life. Joker balled up his free hand into a tightly clenched fist, tears still flowing freely from his eyes. Futaba screamed, “SOJIRO!”

Joker knew that he had been indirectly responsible for the death of the closest thing he had ever really had to a father. However, he would protect Futaba and the rest of his team with his life more than ever now. He would have to swallow his pride and take his cell to meet with Toranosuke Yoshida again. There was no possible way that he was going to ignore his commanding officer’s final orders.

Chapter Text

The Besieged Café Leblanc:

            Sojiro Sakura had passed on. One of the Imperial scout troopers who had come to search Leblanc and found themselves engaged in a vicious gunfight had blasted him twice. The Phantom Cell’s six remaining battle droids continued giving everything to hold the line against the hostile troopers outside the café. However, Joker knew that would only be a matter of time until the enemy forced their way into Leblanc. It was time for the Phantom Cell to leave Ryo behind.

            Suddenly, Joker saw an Imperial Marauder landspeeder pull up in front of Leblanc. Her armor withstood a withering barrage of blaster fire from the Phantoms’ droids. A fresh squad of stormtroopers deployed from the speeder transport, weapons out.

            Futaba let out an anguished scream and pointed her heavily modified blaster pistol at the advancing troopers outside. She fired off a barrage of bolts that actually downed two Imperial infantrymen.

            The Marauder countered by firing her turret directly at the Droideka blocking Leblanc’s door. The barrage of plasma tore through the heavy droid’s shield and armor. The destroyer was destroyed in short order. A volley of bolts from the newly arrived stormtroopers finally finished off the B2 that had valiantly stood in front of Leblanc. Now, only three enhanced B1 droids and one commando droid remained to defend the crumbling café.

            Joker grabbed Futaba’s free arm and dragged her back towards the backroom, shouting, “We’re getting out of here now! …I’m not losing you too! If we die up here, our friends will be left leaderless and without a slicer!”

            Futaba turned to Joker, a look a pure rage and despair on her face. She stammered, “…You’re right. …I’m not gonna lose anyone else either! Just promise me that we’ll take Akechi and Shido down for this…”

            Joker nodded sharply while another B1 took a blaster bolt to the head and crumpled to the floor. He responded, “We’ll find the Yoshida Cell again and tell them every dirty, dark secret you sliced from that damn mainframe! In exchange, I’ll demand that they help us transmit our stolen data across Toruun, whatever it takes!”

            Futaba nodded sharply and then looked down at Sojiro’s bloody body one more time. She grimaced, and darted into the backroom.

Joker fired off a rapid spread of suppressing fire from his DC-17 and then followed Futaba closely. He ordered the few surviving combat droids, “Hold the line! Make them pay for every inch! It’s been an honor fighting alongside you all… I’m sorry!”

Futaba and Joker boarded the lift and rode it down to the hideout. On the way down, Joker retrieved a small detonator from his pack. As soon as he and Futaba exited the lift and made it a good distance away, he primed and tossed the grenade into the open door before it could close.

The resulting explosion destroyed the lift connecting the hideout to Leblanc’s backroom. That would hopefully hold off the Imperials about to storm Leblanc from breaching the hideout for at least few more minutes.

Joker looked ahead and saw Yusuke, Ryuji, and Haru finishing up loading their landspeeder with relevant supplies. He felt a sharp pang in the back of his head and realized that Akechi was close. He was probably about to join the battle for Leblanc alongside the soldiers he had ordered to converge on the café. This time, Shido’s secret agent and son was not concealing his presence in the force like he had back at his father’s manor. He would be in his public-facing guise for this operation.

As for Ann, she stood in front of Makoto Niijima, who had been released from her ankle restraints, but not her wrist binders. The pigtailed Phantom told the prisoner, “We’re not going to murder you in cold blood, but we’re leaving Ryo tonight, and you can’t stop us! If you stay here, the other Imperials might blast you. You’re already dead as far as they’re concerned. You can come with us if you want, but you don’t have much time to decide. The choice is yours, Makoto.”

Makoto looked around and slowly admitted, “…You lot haven’t acted like I expected you to ever since I was brought here… You never laid a hand of harm on me, other than all of those stunnings. …Fine, I’ll come with you, so I don’t risk getting blasted by my own comrades. Just promise me that you’ll find a way to let me tell my older sister that I’m alive as soon as possible!”

Ann gave Makoto the best smile she could, nodded in understanding, and then helped the cuffed young woman into the backseat of the speeder next to Sophie.

Joker ordered, “Everyone, the imps blasted Boss! Our surviving droids are buying us time, but we need to go now! I’ll take the controls, but we’re gonna have to drive through the night until we find a safe place to rest. Futaba, you’ll sit next to me and help navigate when you’re ready.”

Yusuke stammered, “Boss is dead… We will have to avenge him in due time. Joker, we should be nearly ready to depart, but where is our destination?”

Joker leapt into his speeder’s driver’s seat while Futaba got in next to him. While the rest of the Phantoms finished their loading and piled in, he responded, “We’re going where you’d probably suggest, Yusuke. We only know how to reach one other rebel cell on Toruun. We’re going to the mountains to throw ourselves on Yoshida’s mercy…”

Wasting no more time once everyone was inside the speeder and ready to go, Joker engaged his landspeeder’s engine and shot out of the hideout and down the tunnel leading out of the city. It was time to say goodbye to Ryo.

Ryuji asked, while the Phantoms’ speeder rocketed through the old smugglers’ tunnel, “I can’t believe the imps got boss…We better reach Dr. Takemi and Iwai and warn them first thing tomorrow. I don’t think I’m gonna risk contacting Mishima. He’ll probably find out what happened to us soon enough. …Still, Joker, are ya sure we have ta go see Yoshida again?”

Makoto interjected, “Are you talking about the former Toruunian loyalist representative Toranosuke Yoshida? Is he still alive and leading rebel forces somewhere?”

Joker quickly answered, “Yes, yes, and yes. We don’t have a better option for now, Ryuji. Also, Makoto might as well know now that Toranosuke Yoshida, one of Shido’s former colleagues, turned against the Empire over a decade ago. He has been leading a pro-alliance cell much larger than ours. You might get to meet him soon enough.”

Makoto nodded slowly and admitted, “…I see. …My older sister always spoke very highly of Representative Yoshida in private. She said he was a real man of the people, even though the separatists in Ryo hated him for siding with the ‘traitor’ Shido. She said he was far more honest than most politicians. Even when he’d make a serious mistake, he would come clean about it afterwards. I’d always wondered what happened to him after he reportedly disappeared.”

Yusuke added, “I can assure you that Representative Yoshida is alive and well, as of the last time we saw him. He has obtained the services of a former GAR clone trooper to lead his rebels into battle. Their fighters proved far more formidable than Imperial troopers.”

Makoto defensively replied, “Don’t be so quick to judge all troopers. I’ve been in quite a few scrapes myself and come out on top, I’ll have you know. Your leader knows I was able to take a stun blast and stay on my feet …once…. Still, a real clone trooper aiding rebels. If you’re not lying, then Yoshida might have a real war hero on his side…”

Yusuke looked somewhat offended at the suggestion that he would fabricate Scrapper’s existence. Joker was thankfully too focused on driving to remark about how the GAR’s troopers were anything but heroes as far as he was concerned.

Haru suggested, “We should monitor Shido’s holonet branch on our way to meet with Representative Yoshida. We don’t know how many of us they’re going to be able to expose once they search the hideout. They’ll probably announce any identities they can confirm and treat tonight like a big victory.”

Joker nodded, grimacing. He knew that Haru was on to something. However, right now his focus was on successfully leaving Ryo behind and getting his team as far away from the city as they could before the sun rose over Toruun.

Soon enough, the Phantom Cell’s speeder burst out of the tunnel and shot past the waterfall that concealed it. They had cleared the city, but they still had no time to waste. It was going to be a long, hard night of driving before the Phantoms would have any chance to rest. They were headed for the mountains and the Yoshida Cell’s base of operations. With any luck, they would arrive there within a couple of days at most, evading Imperial forces until then.

The Phantoms drove through the night and into the next day. They evaded biker scout patrols and the occasional TIE Fighter or landing craft patrolling the skies while putting distance between themselves and Toruun’s capital. Upon reaching a verdant, forested area to the southwest of Ryo decently far away from any known Imperial bases, they finally found a clearing to temporarily disembark and rest in. As far as they could tell, it was midafternoon now.

Joker leaned against a tree, doing his best to rest and clear his mind. He was going to need to have Futaba take over driving their speeder for the next leg of their journey. Ann kept watch over Makoto, who had been generally quiet, even though she now knew that Joker had been unmasked during a mission to recover secret, compromising data on Governor Shido.

Ann had secured Mona’s safety with his usual sitter earlier that morning. Futaba had headed off a short distance to try and contact Dr. Takemi and then the arms dealer Iwai. Haru was keeping watch for her, just to be safe. Ryuji had confirmed that his mother was safe for the time being. However, she would need a more permanent place to hide from the Imperials soon.

Joker had managed to keep his eyes closed for a few minutes when he heard Yusuke reporting, “…It appears that our foe Goro Akechi is an excellent detective, in addition to his other skills. Shido’s holonet has just credited him with exposing our identities… all of them. The holonet hosts claim that Akechi’s investigations at Leblanc and our former hideout led to a rapid round of questioning for local residents. That led to him piecing together our identities and reporting them to his superiors.”

Joker’s eyes slowly opened while Futaba and Haru returned to the clearing. Futaba reported, “I can’t reach Iwai no matter how hard I try. He’s gone dark. I was able to get a hold of Dr. Takemi, though. She says she’ll lie low and be careful… and told me to tell her ‘Guinea Pig’ to stay safe. She also let me know she’s willing to shelter one person for us at her place if there’s anyone we can think of, but only one…”

Ryuji immediately told Futaba, “Let’s get her in touch with my mom before we get outta here! I knew that doc was special… not just because she fixed up my leg that one time.”

While Futaba nodded, Ann admitted, “Akechi really is cunning and dangerous, with or without the force. Now, all of Toruun knows who we are… Yusuke, is it really true?”

Yusuke nodded slowly and added, “…Yes, he did not miss a member of our group and he did not name any others by accident. It was fortuitous that we all took the risk of leaving Ryo when we did. …It does get worse, however.” Yusuke took a heavy breath and continued, “In the same holonet broadcast, there was an interview with my former mentor Ichirisu Madarame… he told the interviewer that not only did he have no knowledge of my ‘subversive activities,’ he has already promised Shido that he will kill me himself if given the chance. He claims to have done so immediately after learning that I am a Phantom…. To think I once looked up to that man as a great artist, a wise teacher, and almost as my father…”

Futaba and Ryuji got to work getting Dr. Takemi in touch with Ms. Sakamoto, while Joker shook his head and responded, “…At least the man who was like a father to me died a hero…I still really wish he was with us right now. …He’d probably object to us keeping a ‘young lady’ like Niijima cuffed and watched closely for so long…”

Makoto actually blushed. However, she said nothing, simply observing for the moment. Ann admitted, “I’ll just have to hope that Mona remains beneath the imps’ notice. They’ll probably question his sitter and all of my other friends. Thankfully, I never told them anything about my resistance activities. I wanted to tell them how I really felt about the Empire, but I always knew how risky that was.”

Haru asked, “What about Iwai? Futaba said she couldn’t reach him no matter what she tried.”

Joker stretched out, yawned loudly and gruffly responded, “I hate to say this, but there’s nothing we can do for him right now. Hopefully, the imps haven’t arrested him, and he didn’t volunteer any information about us to Akechi and his goons if he was questioned. We always knew that our relationship was a transactional one. I just hope that if he gets caught, he doesn’t give them any info about the Yoshida Cell, since we’re on our way to meet with them now.”

Haru nodded slowly while Futaba and Ryuji finished up arranging for the latter’s mother to stay with Dr. Takemi for the time being. After around another half hour of resting, the Phantoms and Makoto piled back in to their landspeeder. Futaba took the controls while Joker sat in the passenger’s seat next to her and assisted with navigation as best as he could. They continued on their way towards the mountains as fast as possible.

Joker began to wonder if Makoto could be convinced to abandon the Empire again. The young prisoner was clearly softening on her captors, especially since she had decided to go with them. Based on Makoto’s high opinions of the rebel group’s leaders, it was possible that the Phantoms would deliver her to Yoshida’s cell as a new potential recruit. Still, what was more important was delivering the dirt on Masayoshi Shido to the larger rebel force.

Whether or not Shido now knew that a large portion of his private, secret data files had been decrypted and copied onto Futaba’s datapad, he would not want so many of his dark secrets to be shared with the people of Toruun. Despite the Imperial Governor’s obsessive control over the local media, his grip had always been imperfect. It had been seriously slipping since the Battle of Endor. With any luck, the exposure of the Phantom Cell would be Shido’s final victory before his regime fell.

Chapter Text

The Next Morning: A Mountain Road:

            After departing the clearing where they had taken a brief rest, the Phantoms drove southwest out of the forest and neared the mountains where the Yoshida Cell was based around nightfall. They drove through much of the night, only taking two quick rest breaks. When the sun rose above Toruun, they checked their surroundings and confirmed that they were closing in on the place where most of them had met with Dr. Maruki and his soldiers around two months ago.

            While the sun continued to rise in the Toruunian sky, Joker drove up the mountain road. He had returned to piloting the vehicle after Futaba had gotten exhausted during the night. With any luck, the Phantoms would reach Yoshida’s base soon and, if necessary, use their dirt on Shido as collateral to convince the pro-republic fighters to take them in.

            Based on a lack of Imperial reports he had looked at, both public and classified, relating to the Yoshida Cell after the labor camp raid, Joker believed that the rebel force was still active in the mountains. There was always the chance that they had moved their headquarters recently. However, Joker practically prayed that that was not the case. His team needed shelter and support, even though they had not seen an Imperial patrol of any kind for hours now.

            Joker was snapped out of his focus on the road by Yusuke. The young artist slowly yet loudly stammered, “… Oh, no…”

            Ann asked him, “What is it this time, did the imps catch Iwai?”

            Yusuke shook his head and reported, “…The local branch of the holonet just reported the arrest and hanging, without trial, of a ‘separatist spy.’ Captain Akechi was credited with leading the investigation. Apparently, the spy confessed quickly after being cornered and taken away, but remained defiant and ‘spat out a slew of lies’ about the Empire before his execution. …The name and picture are unmistakable. It was Yuuki Mishima…”

            Ryuji suddenly, furiously stammered, “…The Eff… He’s gone! …No, I should’ve contacted him! …Maybe that wouldn’t have saved him? …AKECHI!”

            Dread and rage welled up within Joker while the only consolation Yusuke could offer Ryuji was, “…Akechi cleared Mishima’s family of any ‘wrongdoing’ after he confessed to being a ‘separatist informant’ and serial anti-Imperial vandal. …It is possible that Mishima confessed to save his family from suffering his fate. He might not have known that he would be sentenced to death, considering he had never directly taken up arms against the Empire.”

            Ryuji could only sputter while Joker took a deep breath and found a good spot to stop the speeder. While Makoto looked deep in thought, visibly conflicted about something, Joker turned to his team, took a long, deep breath, and told them, “…This entire time, I thought that Mishima was a threat to our security. …In the end, it turned out to be the other way around… He was never a bad kid. …He just wanted the Empire to leave Toruun. …Ryuji, I know that he was a good friend of yours, and that I never treated him as nicely as I should have, especially when he stuck his neck out to resist the imps in little ways. …I wish that he was with us right now… He didn’t even get a damn trial! Those bastards didn’t want him to have any chances to tell Toruun the truth about them!”

            Ann looked around at her comrades and added, “We all knew there would be real risks when we formed our cell. If the imps had killed any of us and recovered the body, it could’ve been over then. Still, getting someone outside of the group who looked up to us killed… I never saw that coming…”

            Futaba groaned and slowly pointed out, “Not to mention Sojiro. …He really believed in the old cause the whole time. That’s why he let us form the Phantoms. I think he only ever really complained about our missions because he wanted us to be safe. I don’t think he ever gave up on Toruun’s freedom, he just had trouble admitting he was still holding onto hope.”

            Haru suddenly declared, “Rebellions are built on hope! Most of us have lost someone thanks to Shido and the Empire! We can’t dishonor our friends and loved ones’ memories by giving up now. We have the dirt that can bring Shido down, we just need a way to hijack his holonet signals and get the people to listen to us.”

            The Phantoms all nodded, agreeing with Haru, as low as many of them felt right now. However, Makoto cleared her throat loudly, getting her captors’ attention. When all eyes were on her, Makoto simply asked, “…This Yuuki Mishima, it sounds like some of you really cared about him… Was he the graffiti kid I caught and let go? …Please, just answer me honestly.”

            Ryuji looked back at Makoto and told her, “Yeah, he was. I really hope you aren’t gonna gloat about him being dead now. Cause, that’d be really bad for ya…”

            Makoto shook her head and replied, “No, if everything I just heard about his fate is true, he was put to death without any sort of trial. …I know that something like that can never be just, even for the cruelest offenders. …I’ve seen that you all are a lot more than mere terrorists. You clearly care about each other and your confidants. Also, you didn’t just execute me, or let me starve, once you realized I wasn’t going to join you, or give you any intel, after you abducted me.”

            With all eyes still on her, Makoto took a deep breath and continued, “If you still have any interest in proving your justice to me, then let me see these secret files you claim to have stolen from Governor Shido’s manor! I’ll never call myself a separatist, I know the chaos that movement bred across the galaxy. However, if Shido truly is the horrible man you claim he is, then Toruun needs to be free of him. I will do what I must and work with who I need to until he is deposed, even if that means fighting my former comrades!”

            The Phantoms turned to Joker who took a quick breath and ordered, “Let her see the datapad, Futaba. If it looks like she’s trying to tamper with anything, someone stun her immediately.”

            Futaba nodded slowly and retrieved her datapad containing the copied incriminating files from Masayoshi Shido’s secret mainframe. She then opened the relevant files and made sure that the datapad was passed back all the way to the still-cuffed Makoto.

            Makoto took the datapad, and held onto it as best as she could with her wrists bound in front of her back. It took a few tense minutes of her scanning through the files, an increasingly concerned look on her face, before she looked up at the Phantoms and took a long, deep, breath.

            Ryuji spoke first, asking Makoto, “So, what do ya think?”

            Makoto slowly answered, “Even if they were only meant for a very small, select, set of eyes, those files had all of the correct Imperial identifiers. They would’ve been extremely difficult to fabricate so exactly, even by a cell with a talented slicer on their side. …Ordering the secret assassination of anyone seen as a rival, having a secret enforcer with Jedi-like powers who was the Governor’s own bastard son, ensuring that same bastard son got fast tracked through the local academy system in exchange for his cooperation in covert actions… Not to mention having a mutual agreement with a well-hidden crime boss!”

Yusuke, Ann, and Haru began to smile hopefully while Makoto continued, “I was such an idiot to think Shido had Toruun’s best interests at heart! Whoever must have told you all Shido was so corrupt and self-serving in the first place was really onto something…. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but if the Empire lets men like Shido run entire systems, then maybe it’s for the best if there’s another regime change?”

Yusuke asked Makoto, “So, as per your earlier promise, you intend to assist in the overthrow of the local Imperial garrison and governor? I consider it likely that Representative Yoshida’s forces would welcome you into their ranks…”

Makoto shook her head and interjected, “I guess I do have a promise to keep now. Still, it was your cell that uncovered this critical data. You also have a promise to keep to me, we need to contact my sister and tell her that I’m still alive. I don’t think you’ll have seen the last of me anytime soon…”

Ann blinked repeatedly and asked Makoto, “Wait, you’re offering to join us? Really?”

Makoto nodded sharply and explained, “I know that not all of you are committed separatists by now. Either way, I think your unit needs all the help it can get if we’re going to save this system from Shido and his cronies. …If you’ll have me, you all can call me ‘Queen.’ I think that would be a fitting codename.”

Futaba laughed and reminded Makoto, “Sorry to burst your bubble, but our codenames are useless now. We’ve all been exposed. I guess you’re considered dead, Niijima, but I don’t think we want to only have a codename for one of us, other than Joker, I guess.”

Ryuji turned to Joker and asked him, “Are you gonna let her join us? Even if she’s really given up on Shido and the Empire, you heard what she just said about the cause…”

Joker turned to face Makoto as much as he could in his seat. He locked eyes with the former trooper and concentrated, doing all that he could to carefully reach into her mind and sense her true emotions.

Tough as Makoto Niijima was, she was not actively putting up mental resistance right now. She gave Joker a confused look while he sensed her genuine guilt, along with her newfound conviction.

Joker smiled and told his team, “I think we can trust her, guys. …It’s not like I ever made identifying as a separatist a requirement to become a Phantom. Otherwise, it might’ve only even been Ryuji, Futaba, and I. Welcome aboard, Makoto! Sophie, you can do the honors.”

Sophie beeped happily next to Makoto in her astromech socket and extended a clawed metal hand to salute Joker. She then extended another arm with a cutting tool at the end of it and removed Makoto’s binders efficiently and precisely.

Makoto handed the datapad back and rubbed her wrists, admitting, “It feels really good to finally be out of those binders. …When we get to the rebel base, I really need to bathe and get a change of clothes.”

With that, Joker got the speeder moving again. They soon sped through the narrow pass where most of them had first met Dr. Maruki and the two Toruunian rebel soldiers accompanying him. However, nobody was present to greet the Phantoms this time around.

It did not take long after speeding through the pass for the Phantoms to reach the rock formation that concealed the Yoshida Cell’s base. However, upon nearing the formation, they saw that nobody had emerged to greet them.

Looking around, Joker told his team, “I’m sure we’re in the right place. Still, I don’t see anyone, or any signs of combat. They never told us how to open the concealed entrances. …Someone, get my macrobinoculars out and scan for any heat signatures inside.”

While the Phantoms looked for Joker’s pack inside of the speeder, hoping to get the macrobinoculars inside out and try to ascertain if any rebels were left in the area, Sophie beeped loudly, and pointed to the top of another nearby rock formation with one of her metal claws.

Joker and company quickly looked up to the top of the nearby stone spire where they saw a couple of armed rebel soldiers looking down at them. Nearer to the ground, the voice of Dr. Takuto Maruki called out, “I didn’t expect to see you kids out here again. It looks like you brought two new faces this time. …I should’ve realized you might return here after your cell got exposed.”

Doctor Maruki walked out from behind a boulder, protected by another rebel soldier. Yusuke asked the rebel medic and his escorts, “I see that the news of our cell being compromised has truly been broadcasted across Toruun. Where is Representative Yoshida? We have something that he will be quite interested in.”

Maruki responded, “He’s not here anymore. This base has become more of a secondary outpost since we started seriously expanding our operation. The Empire’s lost control of these mountains since our joint mission. They just don’t have the troops to patrol this area since their mining camp was shut down. We’ve been busy incorporating other pro-alliance cells, and freed Imperial slaves into a united front.”

Haru quickly asked, “Where is your new base then? We need to meet with Representative Yoshida and would appreciate the shelter.”

Doctor Maruki nodded slowly while his soldiers atop the rocky spire climbed down, and his escort ducked behind the nearest boulder. He explained, “We’ve set up a major encampment around a valley deeper into the mountains. …We’d been scavenging that area for a while now. …It’s where the Munificent Class Frigate that once patrolled the system crashed relatively intact…”

Joker and Futaba’s eyes widened at the mention of a CIS Frigate. Joker exclaimed, “That has to be the ship that some TDF soldiers commandeered to try and stop the Empire from taking Toruun after the war ended! …She was reportedly loaded up with droid starfighters before being outflanked, knocked out of orbit, and falling through Toruun’s atmosphere…You never told us you found the crash site!”

Maruki sheepishly admitted, “…You never asked. …Still, we can take you there to meet with our leader. I’ll take responsibility if anything goes wrong. We’ve actually recovered some CIS starfighters from the wreckage, at least what’s left of them.” His escort soldier soon appeared, driving a tan and gray, four-seater landspeeder with a red rebel alliance insignia painted on her hood.

While Dr. Maruki and his two other soldiers boarded their light speeder, Futaba turned to Joker and told him, “This could be exactly what we need! Joker, the Munificent frigates were used as comms ships by the CIS! One of the comms arrays on a Munificent could transmit our messages and the truth about Shido across Toruun, even if it was operating at a small fraction of its original power!”

Despite his concern about the growing pro-republic presence on Toruun and their use of recovered CIS assets to aid their own cause, Joker knew that Futaba was on to something. The opportunity to expose Shido and Akechi in return could soon present itself. Knowing Futaba, Joker had no doubt that she could adequately repair the Munificent Frigate’s comms array if there was any trace of it left intact. Now, the Phantoms just needed to follow Maruki and his soldiers back to their new base and convince Toranosuke Yoshida to go along with their plan.

Chapter Text

Hours Later: The Edge of a Valley Deep in the Mountains:

            The newly expanded Phantom Cell followed the rebel medic Dr. Maruki and his comrades deeper into the Toruunian mountains situated southwest of the northern coastline and Ryo. It was now clear that Dr. Maruki and his soldiers had been checking out their former primary base and making a routine sweep of the area for Imperials when the Phantoms arrived.

            Eventually, after traveling under the cloudy mountain sky for a few hours, the two speeders exited the narrow path they had been following. The scenery opened up into a plateau that was only one of a series of level-topped rock formations surrounding a vast valley.

            Joker and company looked down into the valley and saw what appeared to be a series of small farms and makeshift buildings dotting the bottom. Also, a river ran through the valley. The largest open clearing at the bottom of the valley was bordered by defensive trenches outfitted with various light artillery pieces. Behind the trenches, a series of aging turbolaser turrets connected by power lines sat in various states of disrepair. Near the valley’s center sat what remained of a massive starship, the likely source of the partially rusted turbolaser cannons. Much of the capital ship’s upper hull remained somewhat intact. A heavily faded CIS insignia was visible on one portion of her armored outer hull. This was what remained of the Munificent-Class Frigate that had once defended Toruun.

            Looking around the plateaus that surrounded the valley, the Phantoms saw rows and rows of tents and other basic structures. On the other side of the valley, there was an expansive cave atop a plateau that the Phantoms could not see very far inside of from their current position.

            The light landspeeder piloted by one of Dr. Maruki’s soldiers drove past a few banks of tents and came to a stop at what appeared to be one of the new camp’s motor pools. There were well over a dozen speeders lined up there, including the captured Imperial Marauders and unarmored Imperial speeders from the labor camp raid. The speeders all had the distinct red insignia of the Rebel Alliance painted somewhere visible on their bodies, regardless of their origins. The Yoshida Cell had not updated their insignia for the New Republic, but Joker doubted that the basic design had changed all that much.

            Once the Phantoms found an empty space to park their landspeeder, they disembarked from the craft and stretched themselves out. Ryuji admitted, “Guys, I don’t think the doc was kidding when he said that Yoshida’s operation’s gotten a lot bigger. Look at the size of this place!”

            Yusuke added, “If the Empire has truly pulled out of the mountains, that must be how this base has stayed operational for so long. I have to assume that the farming operations in the valley helped feed the Yoshida Cell long before they relocated. Not to mention the drinkable water from that river.”

            Ann pointed out, “The slaves we helped free must be here too. A base this big needs more than just soldiers to keep it running.”

            Joker sighed, relieved that his team had reached shelter, but concerned for other reasons. He wondered aloud, “I wonder if there are any separatist bases like this on Toruun? I know there have to be other pro-independence fighters out there somewhere, I just wonder if any of them are based within a reasonable range of this place.”

            Ryuji clearly shared Joker’s interest in the topic of other separatist remnants on Toruun. However, Futaba just walked over towards the edge of the plateau to get a closer look at what remained of the crashed CIS frigate. She donned her goggles and activated their magnifying function to let her get a good look at the Munificent’s husk.

            Futaba reported, “They’ve got what’s left of some old droid starfighters lined up near the frigate! I see six vultures and two tri-fighters that might be salvageable. …I can’t tell from this angle, but the frigate herself looks to have had a lot of parts stripped since the crash. There’s a lot that’s still sort of intact for a ship that fell outta the sky over twenty years ago. I’m not sure about her comms array, though. It’s still covered up by armor plating.”

            Haru suggested, “We should meet with Representative Yoshida first. We need his permission to let Futaba repair the comms array; this is his cell’s base, after all.”

            Joker nodded, but gritted his teeth and pointed out, “Maybe so, but his people are scavenging a CIS warship to support the restoration of the Republic. I can’t say I love the idea, as much as it might be the key to ending Shido’s reign.”

            Makoto asked Ann and Yusuke, “Does he know that the Clone Wars are over? They were over before any of us were born.”

            Yusuke simply responded, “I learned a while ago that trying to explain that to our leader is a fool’s errand.”

            While Ann nodded, and Ryuji looked indignant, Dr. Maruki walked over to the Phantoms and told them, “I’ll take you kids to the command tent. Mr. Yoshida should be there with Scrapper. I’m sure Chihaya will be happy to hear that you’ve returned.”

            Joker nodded, remembering the mystic who gave him Yu Narukami’s lightsaber and helped him begin training with the ancient weapon. He wanted to meet with her again soon. Joker knew he would need all of the training he could get if he was going to stand a chance at defeating Goro Akechi. The son of Masayoshi Shido had proven himself to be a more than worthy opponent, especially at his tyrannical father’s mansion.

            The Phantoms followed Dr. Maruki across the plateau. A series of bridges and platforms connected the formations ringing the valley to each other, making traveling around the base on foot far easier than it otherwise would be. Sophie brought up the rear behind the human Phantoms after exiting her astromech socket.

            Makoto asked Dr. Maruki, “After we meet with your leader, could I request a bath and a change of clothes?”

            Maruki smiled gently and responded, “That can be arranged, I’d be surprised if you didn’t all need to get cleaned up after what you’ve been through. You must’ve escaped Ryo in a hurry!”

            Haru asked Dr. Maruki, “Sir, we recently lost contact with our supplier, Mr. Iwai, who you were once in touch with. Do you know what happened to him?”

            Dr. Maruki shook his head and explained, “No, I haven’t heard from him in a while. Knowing what little I do about the man; I think he must’ve gone dark as soon as he realized that your cell had been exposed.”

            Futaba admitted, “He always mentioned having an escape plan for himself if he had to leave the system. For all we know, he could be off planet right now…”

            Joker shrugged, knowing that there was nothing his cell could do about Iwai now. He was more concerned about Dr. Takemi and Ryuji’s mother back in Ryo. He also could not help but be afraid for Ann’s Lothcat Mona, who could find himself in the crosshairs of some particularly vindictive Imperial. There was nothing left that could be done for Sojiro Sakura and Yuuki Mishima now. However, there remained the matter of avenging them and protecting the living who remained invested in the struggle for Toruun.

            Dr. Maruki led the Phantoms through the rebel base past a number of fighters and civilians. It was clear to Joker and his crew that a combination of liberated slaves and other pro-alliance fighters had swelled the size of Yoshida’s forces immensely. This armed movement was arguably too big to call a “cell” now. If they got some of the old CIS droid fighters that they had salvaged operational again, Yoshida’s rebels would even have a small starfighter corps on their side.

            Looking around at the encampment, Joker noticed a scant few active B1 and B2 battle droids. However, they all looked heavily rusted and moved more slowly than one would expect. None of the B1 units were armed. The super battle droids did not even appear to have functional wrist blasters anymore. These droids were being used for basic labor, not as frontline or support soldiers. Joker could not help but find the whole situation depressing, even though seeing the Empire using CIS military hardware would have been absolutely heartbreaking for the teenage separatist.

            Soon enough, Dr. Maruki led the Phantoms to the largest tent they had yet seen in the encampment. Four well-armed rebel soldiers guarded the tent’s front flap.

            Before Dr. Maruki could say anything to the rebels guarding the command tent, Scrapper emerged from within it and realized who had just arrived. The old clone trooper folded his arms, glanced over at Dr. Maruki and then at the assembled, tired, Phantoms. He admitted, “So, the kid playing separatist survived being outed by the imps and brought his band back here? Can’t say I’m not impressed that you kids escaped Ryo as Shido’s most wanted. That city’s where the bastard still has the strongest grip.”

            Before Joker could offer any sort of retort to Scrapper, Makoto stepped forward and gave the clone a brief bow. She asked him, “So, you’re Scrapper? It’s an honor to meet a soldier of the GAR in person. …If I may, I see that the armor plates on your uniform indicate service in the 501^st Legion, General Skywalker’s unit?”

            Scrapper nodded slowly and stroked his chin. He admitted, “I like this one, she clearly knows a thing or two…”

            Futaba pointed out, “Ya should know that she was an imp stormtrooper and a Sergeant at that.”

            Scrapper looked to Makoto who blushed, but nodded in affirmation, unwilling to deny the accuracy of Futaba’s claim. However, the old trooper just gave a quick nod and responded, “Well, as long as she’s not one anymore, I think we’ll get along just fine.”

            Makoto gave Scrapper a quick yet firm salute while Ryuji looked legitimately disgusted. Taking the initiative, Yusuke informed Scrapper, “Sir, we need to speak with Representative Yoshida about a critical matter. Our slicer has obtained incriminating data on the deeply dishonorable activities of Masayoshi Shido, which we wish to broadcast across Toruun.”

            Futaba nodded and added, “If there’s any of that old frigate’s comms array left intact, I should be able to use it override Shido’s holonet and show everyone how corrupt and self-serving he really is!”

            Joker told Scrapper, “Stealing these files cost the life of one of our most loyal and valued informants… and the man who basically saved my life. We won’t allow their sacrifices to be in vain!”

            Scrapper stroked his chin again and stepped aside. He told the Phantoms, “I’ll let you pass to see the boss, but you’ll have to see what he says. He’ll probably want to see the ‘incriminating data’ for himself.”

            Futaba replied, “That can be arranged. I don’t know how much of it’ll surprise him, though.”

            While the Phantoms were entering the tent, Yusuke informed Scrapper, “We have uncovered that, in addition to being The Crow, Captain Akechi is Shido’s bastard son.”

            Scrapper admitted, “Huh, I guess there really is something dark under that kid’s bright exterior from the holonet broadcasts after all. Anyway, I’ll let Mifune know that you’ve shown up again.”

            With that, the Phantoms entered into the valley camp’s command tent with Sophie bringing up the rear. They saw Toranosuke Yoshida looking over a holomap of his new base’s vicinity. Three other rebels stood inside of the command tent. Two of them appeared to be communications officers while the third was an armed guard.

            Yoshida himself turned to see Joker and his team entering the command tent. He smiled slightly and, once all of the Phantoms and their astromech were inside, told them, “I didn’t expect to see you back in these mountains. I take it this has something to do with the revelation of your identities in Ryo.”

            Joker nodded sharply and stepped forward. Wasting no time, he responded, “Yes, we evacuated our base and fled to the mountains in anticipation of our identities being exposed by Goro Akechi and his allies. We were smart to do so, as we learned on our journey here. …During the infiltration that led to our being compromised, our slicer copied a significant amount of confidential data from a secret mainframe in Shido’s manor. Despite losing our benefactor and an important informant, we have come to you with private files that could destroy Shido’s precious public image. We believe you might have the means to hijack enemy holonet broadcasts and transmit the truth across Toruun, thanks to the crashed frigate your people have been scavenging.”

            Yoshida stroked his chin and admitted, “I see… I will have to examine these data files myself, with your permission, before approving any plan to reactivate the old frigate’s communications array. We have hunkered down here since soon after our joint operation. My focus has been on building up our makeshift settlement, keeping it operational, and convincing other rebels to join with us lately. However, I am well aware that Shido’s forces have been losing ground across Toruun. We are aware of other remnant separatists fighting the Empire, including some who use restored CIS military hardware in small quantities. However, they have proven difficult to communicate with.”

            Yusuke stepped forward and bowed to Yoshida. He told the older man, “Representative Yoshida, I assure you that you should see what we have uncovered about Governor Shido and his illicit activities. I am well aware that broadcasting those files from the crashed frigate will bring Imperial forces down on your position once they track the signal’s origin. However, I believe that the time to liberate Toruun is nigh. Shido’s small fleet remains on patrol at the system’s border, leaving his remaining ground forces vulnerable.”

            Yoshida stroked his chin again and responded, “You are certainly right that we would have to prepare for a counterattack in the event that we hijack Shido’s signals. …I will have to meet with Scrapper and some of our other key personnel after reviewing your discoveries. You kids certainly like to take the initiative. That is undeniably an admirable trait. I am sorry that you lost two people close to your movement. I’ve always hated seeing the cost of war, even from relative safety.”

            Joker folded his arms, feeling hesitant about asking Yoshida if his cell could stay at the rebel encampment for the time being. However, Haru thankfully asked, “Sir, may we stay at your base for now? We’ll try not to impose too much.”

            Yoshida nodded and told the Phantoms, “I believe that can be arranged. I’ll have someone help you to some available tents shortly. They should be able to get you all bathed and fed as well.”

            While the rest of his comrades looked relieved, and Sophie beeped happily, Joker just gave Yoshida a basic nod and a slight smile. He was still nervous about the growing pro-republic presence so close to Ryo. He was also unhappy that he and his team had to rely on their generosity to survive for the moment. He did his best to console himself by focusing on how he was following Sojiro Sakura’s final orders. Not to mention keeping his team alive and far away from the Imperial forces concentrated in Ryo.   

            After having one of his subordinates head off to fetch someone who could get the Phantoms settled into their new lodgings, Yoshida finished, “I know that Chihaya will be happy to see you back here. …You also might have some interest in some of the new hardware we’ve obtained. These machines will certainly be critical if the Empire finds us, and your astromech might be able to interface with one of them.”

            Futaba could not help but perk up, while Makoto bowed to Yoshida and told him, “I’m sure that we all appreciate your generosity, sir. I’ve actually heard quite a lot about your record as a respected politician in Ryo going back before the Clone Wars. It must have been so difficult to go against the grain and stand up to the separatist majority that ruled in our capital city at the time, even though the loyalist faction’s leader turned out to be deeply ruthless and immoral in the end.”

            Ryuji face-palmed while Yoshida blinked a couple of times, but then smiled at Makoto and admitted, “I see that this cell is anything but monolithic. Yes, young lady, it can be immensely difficult to stand against the prevailing tide, but I believe that nothing is worth sacrificing one’s integrity for. That singular principle has held true for me throughout my career, and I have no intention of sacrificing it now!”

            Joker realized that he was starting to feel like Toranosuke Yoshida must have during both the rise of the CIS and the Galactic Empire. He was a separatist resisting the Empire when it felt like the dominant force doing the same just wanted the restoration of the Old Republic. Joker had always said that a cause was not dead as long as even one being fought for it. That was starting to look more and more like his reality. As much as the Empire was crumbling, he would much rather be surrounded by his fellow separatists when the enemy finally withdrew from Toruun.  

            Knowing that what he and his comrades needed now was rest, Joker held his tongue. He waited for some of Yoshida’s support personnel to arrive and lead his crew to their new lodgings in relative silence. The Phantoms needed to rest, bathe, and eat before showing Yoshida the data that they had stolen from Shido’s private mainframe.

Showing the rebel leader the incriminating files would likely have to wait until the following day. Hopefully, Joker and company could see the Yoshida Cell’s new hardware then as well. There was also the matter of reuniting with Chihaya Mifune. Joker’s force and lightsaber training would need to resume with fresh intensity if he was to ever face Goro Akechi again.

Chapter Text

The Next Morning: Joker’s Tent:

            The Phantoms spent most of the rest of the day resting and getting settled into their new lodgings at the Yoshida Cell’s sprawling encampment. Makoto met with Scrapper again after bathing and obtaining a change of clothes. She had asked him for help getting outfitted with new weaponry and other combat gear. Ryuji once again expressed concern about the Phantoms throwing themselves on the mercy of the openly pro-Republic Toranosuke Yoshida.

Joker did his best to reassure his old friend that working with Yoshida and his forces was their best course of action for the time being. The Yoshida Cell had claimed the Phantoms’ best way of hijacking the local holonet and transmitting their stolen data to the public. There was no feasible way of repairing the old frigate’s comms array and starting the broadcast without Yoshida knowing about it. Also, Joker had no intention of bringing the Empire down on the hidden rebel base via an unauthorized signal hijacking before everyone there was fully ready for such an attack. Joker would still take Yoshida over his former colleague Shido any day, however reluctantly.

The other Phantoms were glad to be alive, despite the deaths of their host and informant, the destruction of their battle droids, and the unknown fate of Munehisa Iwai. They had escaped Ryo in one piece and gained a new member. Now, they needed to force the Empire onto the defensive so that they could return to the Toruunian capital without facing summary execution.

Now, Joker sat on the bed in the tent he had been granted. The tent was set up on one of plateaus ringing the valley where the old TDF frigate had crashed. He had told himself that he would gather his team any moment and try to find either the Yoshida Cell’s new hardware, or Chihaya Mifune. However, sitting on his new bed, wearing light, casual clothes, he could not help but wallow in his guilt over the death of the man he had viewed as his second father. Not to mention the executed Mishima. Joker had been so brutally firm with the young man who had just wanted to help fight against injustice.

A few dark thoughts shot through Joker’s mind. He wanted to make Akechi pay in blood for his key part in the Phantoms’ recent losses. Still, Joker did what he could to remind himself that he could really stick it to the bastard son of the Imperial Governor by exposing all of the self-righteous Captain’s dirty secrets. He wanted little more right now than to defeat Shido and Akechi in their favored arena, the court of public opinion. Hopefully, direct and appropriate consequences for Joker’s enemies would follow once the corrupt Imperials were thoroughly exposed, just like the Phantoms had been.

Right when Joker was finally about to stand up, he heard the voice of Makoto Niijima coming from just outside of his tent. She asked, “Are you up?”

Joker stood up and responded, “Yeah, I’m up. Everything ok?”

Makoto stepped just inside of the tent and Joker saw that she now wore a basic white shirt and rugged black pants. He blinked a couple of times when he noticed that she now had her own DC-17 blaster pistol holstered at her belt.

Before Joker could ask, Makoto told him, “Scrapper gave me the blaster. He’s gonna start training me on a model of repeating blaster New Republic shocktroopers use later today.”

Joker nodded and admitted, “The DC-17’s a really reliable model with some serious stopping power, I’ll admit that. …I’ve gotta ask, did you discuss the CIS with him?”

Makoto nodded sharply, but gave Joker a slightly guilty look and admitted, “Yes, we did. He reinforced what I’d learned in school about separatist atrocities on planets like Ryloth and Kiros. …But he also told me what he’s learned about Imperial atrocities that I was never told about. Plenty of Republic Loyalist worlds have suffered more under Imperial rule than Toruun ever has. Ann wasn’t lying about how most nonhumans have fared since the regime change. When I see my sister again, I’m going to have a lot to tell her.”

Joker could not help but smile over at Makoto. He responded, “I take it you’re probably not gonna be very receptive to the idea that the Republic and Empire are practically one and the same. Still, I’m just glad that you’ve finally seen the light about the imps.”

Makoto gave Joker another sharp nod, but told him, “I think it’s best that we minimize conversation about your cause. I’m acutely aware of how much the idea of independence means to you and your friend Sakamoto. However, I can’t agree with bringing back the CIS and I believe that working with Representative Yoshida’s forces is our best course of action. …I’ll admit that I’m grateful to you for getting me away from the Empire, despite my violent resistance. Not to mention trusting me once I realized what sort of man Shido really is.”

Joker smiled as warmly as he could and asked Makoto, “Well, thanks for having some confidence in me, even if we can’t agree on our homeworld’s political endgame. …Where’s the rest of the cell?”

Makoto rapidly replied, “Yes, of course. I think Ann’s trying to console Sakamoto about his friend’s death and our current course of action. If I got their names right, Yusuke and Haru are making sure that our blasters and explosive ordinance are restocked with the appropriate power packs and ammunition. Futaba and Sophie went to check out the ‘new hardware’ that Representative Yoshida mentioned yesterday.”

Joker nodded and saluted Makoto. He told her, “I better go check in with Futaba. She’s probably got the datapad with the files we need Yoshida to see. There’s also someone working for Yoshida who I need to meet with again. I don’t know if Shido’s found out what Futaba copied from his mainframe yet. Either way, we don’t want to wait too long to try and transmit that data.”

Makoto got out of Joker’s way and finished, “Understood. In the likely event that Shido knows you stole his secret data; I just hope he assumes that we don’t have any way to broadcast it and that the theft was for naught. Men like him tend to get overconfident, and that ends up being their biggest weakness.”

Joker gave Makoto one more nod. He then headed out across the plateau towards the area covered by a rocky overhang. He could just barely make out Toruun’s sun shining through the thick cloud cover that blanketed this region of the world. That made it a brighter than usual day in the mountains southwest of Ryo.

Soon enough, Joker found himself in the part of the new rebel encampment where Futaba and Sophie had reportedly headed off to. Now standing underneath the rocky overhang, his jaw dropped when he realized what the new hardware actually was.

Futaba stood next to a large blue and white spacecraft fitted with four engines and two cannons in front of and just below her cockpit. She was running a hand over the door to the vehicle’s troop compartment. There was another light gunship of the same model sitting nearby, along with a trio of gray, single seater, starfighters. These vehicles sported long noses, four long engines, and two pairs of stacked wings each.

Sophie saw Joker walking over and gently prodded Futaba with one of her metal arms. Futaba turned around and told Joker, “There you are! Somehow, Yoshida’s crew managed to get their hands on these babies! Their biggest problem with these fighters is that they need a couple more pilots right now.”

Joker smiled at Futaba and asked her, “I take it you’ve volunteered to learn to fly that gunship. …I certainly recognize the three one-man fighters as X-Wings. One of Red Squadron’s T-65s blew up the first Death Star, after all. …Didn’t you tell me a while ago that Togo told you the rebel pilot flying ‘Red 5’ had the last name Skywalker… same as Scrapper’s old Jedi General come to think of it?”

Futaba nodded excitedly and explained, “This beauty’s a UT-60D, or U-Wing for short. They’re built by Incom, the same fine folks behind the X-Wing, and the T-47 and T-16 Airspeeders! The U-Wing is a special forces-grade troop transport starfighter equipped with ion blasters, and s-foils that sweep out and back once the action starts!”

Joker nodded slowly and grumbled, “Cool as these ships look, if the New Republic approved letting even a handful of their starfighters reach Toruun and end up in Yoshida’s hands, I have a bad feeling about our home’s future affiliation.”

Futaba shrugged and told Joker, “I don’t think these were sent direct from the New Republic. They probably got here through various means, including smuggling, and maybe even lost shipments meant for other rebel units before Endor. Still, they’ve all got deflector shields, heavy weapons, and even hyperdrives! They’ll outclass Shido’s TIE Fighters with ease, you can bet on that!”

Joker nodded along, doing his best to follow what Futaba had just said. He added, “You’ll be pretty busy here, between repairing the comms array and learning to fly that U-Wing. I’m also hoping someone’ll get those old droid starfighters operational again. I don’t think standard TIE Fighters would stand much of a chance against them either.”

Futaba simply smirked and replied, “I’ll get around to the droid starfighters once I learn how to fly this beauty. We can probably fit the whole cell in her troop compartment, ya know. I’m sure Sophie will get to work repairing the old droid starfighters once Yoshida gives the go-ahead.”

Sophie beeped eagerly while Joker could not help but be relieved that Futaba was peppy again, despite her adoptive father’s recent demise. Before he could say anything else, he felt a soothing presence in the back of his mind and turned around to see Chihaya Mifune heading his way. Joker left Futaba to her U-Wing, and walked over to meet with Chihaya.

Chihaya gave Joker a brief bow and her best smile. She told him, “It appears that fate has brought us together again. I am truly glad to see you alive. Is Yu Narukami’s saber intact?”

Joker nodded sharply and responded, “It’s back in my tent. The old blade’s been really helpful, but it hasn’t let me defeat Goro Akechi yet. He’s got his hands on an old red blade lightsaber and he nearly killed me with it.”

Chihaya looked a bit concerned and mentioned, “Yes, the presence in the force you identified as Captain Akechi remains enigmatic and worrying. I still cannot predict how your rivalry with him will end, but I believe that your fates may be bound together.”

Joker could not help but give Chihaya a disgusted look. He firmly told her, “I’d much rather my fate be bound together with that of my own team, whether or not they all champion my cause. You know that I’m not fighting to become a Jedi. I just want to use my gift to help liberate my homeworld. I’ll see what comes next once Toruun is free for the first time in my life.”

Chihaya did not seem very offended by Joker’s latest statement. However, she asked him, “I take it you seek to continue your training? I will offer you what aid I can in your journey.”

Joker nodded and responded, “Yes, I might be a fast learner, but I still have a way to go. If I end up facing Akechi again. I can’t let him overpower me, like he did when we last fought! I’ve already suffered enough thanks to that defeat…”

Chihaya suddenly looked to have remembered something important. She told Joker, “I will help you to develop your gift and your lightsaber skills, as before. However, I spoke with our leader this morning. He has another type of training in store for you.”

Joker gave Chihaya a skeptical look. He seriously hoped that Yoshida did not plan on trying to reeducate him regarding the CIS and Republic in exchange for his team being sheltered and equipped at the rebel camp.

Thankfully, Chihaya rapidly explained, “Fear not. You see, based on what I have told him of your gift and what he knows of your skills, he believes that you could make an excellent pilot. Your cell even has an astromech droid to act as your navigator.”

Joker staggered back just a bit and asked, “…Wait, Yoshida wants me to fly one of his X-Wings? I guess you guys really do need more pilots if he trusts me with one of those…” Joker glanced back at the impressive trio of parked starfighters and admitted, “That’s a really hard offer to refuse, though. I guess it’ll give Yusuke a new canvas to paint and be the first separatist X-Wing!”

Chihaya smiled at Joker and told him, “Please follow me. We should retrieve your lightsaber and continue your training.”

Joker saluted Chihaya and called back to Futaba, hoping she was listening, “Make sure to get Yoshida or Scrapper that datapad by the end of the day! We need them to see the dirt we’ve got on Shido ASAP!”

Futaba just gave Joker a thumbs up while Sophie beeped in agreement. Joker knew that his cell’s astromech might soon be getting airborne, along with him. Knowing her, the loyal droid would do her absolute best as a starfighter navigator, despite the risks involved.

Joker followed Chihaya to her tent after grabbing Yu Narukami’s lightsaber from his own tent. He knew that he would have to tell Makoto about his gift sometime soon. As far as he knew, she was unaware of the rare power that he possessed. Joker then followed Chihaya to her new tent, which had been set up around another vaguely glowing meditation circle.

Once Chihaya retrieved her training remote, it was time for Joker’s lightsaber practice to begin anew. The beginning of his flight training would have to wait for a while. For now, his focus was on preparing to face Goro Akechi again as thoroughly as possible.

Chapter Text

One Month Later: The Cloudy Sky Above the Valley Encampment:

            The last month had been a busy one for the Phantoms, Joker and Futaba in particular. Since linking up with the Yoshida Cell at their new base of operations, Joker had resumed his training with the mystical Chihaya Mifune. She had done her best to continue his crash course in lightsaber combat, along with honing his use of the force across multiple powers. However, she had been consistently frustrated by Joker’s refusal to study any Jedi philosophy.

Joker made it clear that he had no interest in joining whatever was left of an order that had been steadfastly loyal to the corrupt Galactic Republic. Chihaya’s concern did not fully abate, though. She kept talking about the dangerous taint of the “Dark Side,” which as far as Joker was concerned meant Goro Akechi. However, Chihaya remained unconvinced that the Imperial Captain was fully “submerged” in what she considered to be the darkness.

            While the bulk of the cell kept their training up and did what they could to assist their hosts in all manner of tasks, Futaba was constantly busy with one thing or another. Between learning how to fly a U-Wing, making repairs on the series of Clone Wars-era droid starfighters the Yoshida Cell had salvaged, and restoring the crashed Munificent-Class Frigate’s communications array, she barely had a moment to rest. Thankfully, she clearly enjoyed having so much technology to work on. It least helped her avoid thinking about the recent death of her adoptive father.

            When Joker was not training with Chihaya, he had begun learning how to fly one of the T-65 X-Wing starfighters that the Yoshida Cell had obtained. Yusuke was more than happy to paint the fighter in black and red Phantom colors. Joker had wanted his X-Wing painted blue and white with CIS insignia on her wings to symbolize his personal allegiance. However, his team’s current hosts thought that crossed a line. Therefore, the colors of the Phantom Cell’s old calling cards and landspeeder were chosen instead.

            With Sophie installed in the Incom starfighter’s astromech socket, Joker successfully performed a series of practice flights. He had even nailed a few makeshift targets with his fighter’s laser cannons. Somewhat to his chagrin, they were made out of scavenged sheet metal from the downed CIS frigate. For the time being, Joker’s X-Wing had not been loaded with proton torpedoes, due to the Yoshida Cell’s limited supply of the powerful missiles. Each of their three X-Wings could only carry three pairs of proton torpedoes into battle at a time, anyway.

            Now, it was yet another cloudy day above the valley where the Yoshida Cell had set up their base. From the cockpit of his starfighter, Joker had quite the view of the valley below. He knew that he was not supposed to fly too far from the valley on his practice or patrol flights. For now, it was critical that the Empire not discover where so many of their enemies on Toruun had concentrated their forces.

            Joker practiced his maneuvers as diligently as always, trusting Sophie to let him know if the fighter’s scanners picked anything up. In order to simulate combat, however roughly, his X-Wing’s S-foils were locked in attack position right now. Joker truly wished that Sojiro Sakura could see him gracefully shooting through the sky. However, his old boss was what Chihaya called “one with the force” now.

            Once he decided that he had gotten enough flight time in for that day, Joker flew down closer to the wreck of the frigate that had once defended his homeworld. He saw six inactive, yet mostly repaired, vulture droids and two droid tri-fighters lined up nearby the frigate. They sat behind the valley’s defensive trenches and salvaged turbolaser batteries.

Soon enough, Joker hoped to lead the old separatist fighters into battle above Toruun. The droid starfighters would need new missiles, assuming any could even be procured. However, Joker believed the old droids would prove effective against the Empire’s TIE Fighters, even without heavy-duty ordinance.

Joker slowed his approached to the makeshift hangar beneath the rocky outcropping, where he saw the other four modern starfighters parked. He soon flew into the cave and hovered above an empty spot nearby a service ladder. Joker made sure to lock his starfighter’s S-foils in flight position. He then began his careful descent to the ground.

When he had almost landed his starfighter, Joker looked around and saw Futaba enter the pseudo-hangar. She was being followed closely by Toranosuke Yoshida and two of his rebel soldiers.

Joker landed his X-Wing. He raised and stepped out of his fighter’s cockpit, carefully hopping to the ground. He took off his flight helmet once he had stuck his landing on the cavern floor. Even though Joker had been granted use of one of their handful of starfighters, the Yoshida Cell did not have a flight suit that fit him. He had done his best to improvise, wearing a rebel flight helmet, and other necessary gear. Joker had insisted that Yusuke be allowed to paint his flight helmet in CIS colors with the appropriate insignia replacing the standard pseudo-avian symbol that had recently been modified by the New Republic.

While Joker was in the middle of removing his other flight gear, the rebel cavern-hangar’s small ground crew moved in to check his fighter and extract Sophie from her astromech socket. Soon enough, Futaba walked over to Joker and gave him a wide smile.

Joker asked his cell’s slicer, “What’s up? You seem pretty happy about something.”

Futaba nodded and replied, “Well, it’s been pretty awesome seeing you fly. Your skills are incredible for someone with only a month of Incom experience! My big girl’s not gonna let me pull off the kind of maneuvers you and Sophie can with troops in her hold.”

While Yoshida and his two soldiers walked up behind Futaba, Joker asked her, “Is there anything else?”

Futaba nodded and explained, “I’ve finally got the old frigate’s comms array fixed up! It took a lot longer than I wanted to, but we should be able to send signals across Toruun and beyond now!”

Yoshida stood not far behind Futaba and added, “Having reviewed the files on Shido that your team retrieved, I believe that they are both legitimate and quite damning, albeit not entirely surprising. The people of Toruun have a right to know the truth about the man who claims to be their champion!”

Futaba grinned and explained, “We’ve got a broadcasting station being set up near the frigate’s crash site. I’ve also prepared the comms array to hijack Shido’s holonet signals coming from Ryo… Altogether, I’m gonna call this setup my Futaba Cannon! It’ll blow Shido and his rotten goons away with the truth!”

Hearing Futaba’s excitement, Joker could not help but chuckle while Yoshida mentioned, “After speaking with Scrapper and my other officers, we’ve concluded that we can weather an Imperial counterattack here as long as they do not bring their Star Destroyer down on us. It will only be a matter of time until the Imperials track the anti-Shido signals to the valley once we begin broadcasting. However, I hope that other Toruunians resisting the Empire’s tyranny will do the same.”

Joker folded his arms and asked Yoshida, “You’re hoping that other resistance groups will pinpoint our location and flock to your banner once we send out proof of Shido’s crimes? What about the other Toruunian separatists?”

Yoshida sighed, looked Joker in the eyes and answered, “I believe that right now, Masayoshi Shido and the Imperial system that supported him is the greatest threat to our home. We must stand together, alliance and separatist, to drive the Empire out of this system! However, being publicly called ‘no good Tora’ and having to leave Ryo for my own safety did not cow me into supporting separatism before, and nothing like that will now. I have learned to never again put my trust in men like Shido and Palpatine who use incessant, vapid claims of an ideal society that promises security to hide their inner corruption. However, I also believe that Toruun has no reason to shrink away from the greater galaxy once the Empire collapses. Once we have what we all want, I hope that we can peacefully debate what the Toruun System’s future will look like.”

Joker kept his gaze locked with Yoshida’s, the young separatist asked the old republic loyalist, “Pooling our resources may be our best course of action. However, it was my cell that stole Shido’s files, at a real, bloody cost. Also, our slicer configured the means of transmission for the data. My team will help you stop whatever counterattack Shido sends your way, I can promise you that. Still, I have to ask, do you intend to acknowledge our sacrifices in your transmission?”

Yoshida nodded slowly and respectfully. He then told Joker, “I can acknowledge your sacrifices right now, young man. Mr. Kitagawa told me that you have devoted yourself wholeheartedly to Toruun’s liberation, even though you seek her independence from the Empire and the Republic alike. Your cause has become your driving motivation, and your comrades in arms are well aware of that. You have clearly not had a real chance to enjoy your youth, not to mention having recently suffered true losses on account of your fight. …Considering that you approved the mission responsible for the retrieval of Shido’s secret files, it is only fair that we allow you to make a statement to the Toruunian people as part of said files’ transmission across our homeworld.”

Joker was dumbfounded at first. However, a smile began to grow on his face. He actually wondered if he had given Toranosuke Yoshida too little credit until now, despite the old politician’s allegiance to the Republic and its deeply flawed version of democracy.

Futaba snapped Joker back into reality, Sophie now by her side, when she told him, “We’ll get to work finishing up the broadcast station. It should be ready by this evening…. Joker, please don’t say anything stupid about our hosts or the New Republic to the whole world. I know how much you care about independence more than anyone, except for maybe Ryuji. Still, don’t throw this chance away.”

Joker nodded slowly while Futaba headed off with Sophie close behind her. Yoshida and his two soldiers headed back towards their command tent. After putting away his helmet and other flight gear, Joker quickly headed back to his tent. He needed to seriously think about what he was going to say to the people of Toruun after all the years he had spent desperately wanting to reach out to them and inspire them.

One thing that Joker knew for sure was that he would not just talk about who he had personally lost. Shido had plenty more victims than just his parents, Yuuki Mishima, and Sojiro Sakura. The dead were not the only ones on Joker’s mind right now, there was also someone still among the living whose survival needed to be revealed. That was essentially what the Phantom Cell had promised Makoto Niijima, after all.

---

That Evening: The Makeshift Rebel Broadcast Station:

            Joker stood in front of the old CIS frigate’s wreck, looking up at what remained of the warship that had once been the defender of Toruun. A series of long wires ran from the crashed warship’s recently restored communications array to the cobbled-together broadcasting booth that was set up nearby the line of repaired, yet inactive droid starfighters. Futaba and Sophie were finishing up work on the booth and running some quick tests. Futaba’s datapad containing the stolen secret files was already wired into the communications system. Scrapper and three of his soldiers stood guard around the booth.

            The rest of the Phantoms stood not far behind Joker, dressed in casual clothes. Makoto stepped forward to ask Joker, “I hope you realize that Representative Yoshida has been very generous in allowing you to contribute to the broadcast. …You have a statement planned, right?”

            Joker nodded and quickly responded, “Yeah, I do. I’m gonna fulfill our promise to you, Makoto. I’ll let all of Toruun know that you’re still alive. Hopefully, I won’t endanger your older sister. I’m not gonna mention her name directly.”

            Makoto nodded sharply, giving Joker an unexpected smile. She then pointed out, “I wish that Futaba had sliced all of Shido’s files. Yusuke and Haru told me that there was something he was hiding in that mainframe protected by seriously heavy encryption. Whatever it is, it’s even more confidential to Shido than his criminal activity and the use of his own son as his personal assassin.”

            Ann added, “Not to mention that his bastard son has Jedi-like powers.”

            Joker nodded and responded, “Well, he’s not the only one on Toruun with that gift! I have that same power, and I won’t let Akechi take anyone else from us, guys!”

            While Futaba walked over, giving Joker a thumbs up, Makoto blinked repeatedly and slowly stammered, “That explains… some things, like how long this cell survived intact before being exposed, and that old lightsaber….”

            Joker walked over to the makeshift booth and sat down there. Behind him, Futaba told Makoto, “Oh yeah, we had a Phantom leave Toruun for the alliance before we captured you. She helped us get started, so it wasn’t all Joker, Ryuji, and I. I think you and Hifumi would’ve gotten along, Niijima. She always loved military strategy, even though she didn’t have a clue how ta fight.”

            Yusuke motioned for everyone to be quiet while Joker flipped the clearly labeled switch that started the process of slicing Shido’s holonet and broadcasting the stolen files. He was as confident in Futaba’s technological skills as ever.

            Once the displays in the booth indicated that the Toruun Imperial Holonet’s signals had been hijacked and that Shido’s dark secrets were being aired instead, Joker took a deep breath. Clearing his mind and thinking of his myriad responsibilities in this critical moment, he began, “Citizens of Toruun, my name is not important. However, my message is critical! Many of you know me as the leader of what was the ‘Ryo Separatist Cell.’ That’s because most of you have only heard Shido’s side of the story. Now, it’s high time that you hear my side of things.”

            While his team, Scrapper, and the nearby rebel soldiers looked on, Joker took a quick breath and continued, “I barely remember my parents, but I do know that they were murdered by Masayoshi Shido’s goons for never giving up faith in the separatist cause. Two close friends of mine lost a parent for similar reasons years ago. More recently, Masayoshi Shido’s forces murdered Sojiro Sakura, a former officer in the Toruun Defense Force who was like a second father to me. They also executed Yuuki Mishima, a brave, bold young man who simply wanted to see justice upheld on Toruun, without even giving him a trial. The local Imperials even falsely claimed that one of their own, Sergeant Makoto Niijima, was killed in battle. They declared her dead simply to save themselves the trouble of tracking down a soldier who had committed a minor breach of protocol in the name of common decency. I can assure all of you listening that she is alive and well.”

            While Makoto smiled warmly over at Joker and got a pat on the back from Ann, the young freedom fighter added, “Despite being exposed and treated as Toruun’s most wanted criminals, my team has survived and endured! While our motives vary, we all banded together to see Toruun free of the Empire, and we are resolute in our convictions! The files we are now sharing with the whole world prove that the governor the Empire installed on Toruun is not the man of genuine conviction he so fervently claims to be! Shido has deep connections to what remains of Toruun’s criminal underworld. He has also ordered a series of extralegal assassinations, primarily via a secret agent gifted with powers akin to a Jedi or Inquisitor. This agent is none other than the governor’s own bastard son, Captain Goro Akechi! Shido did not support his garrison’s new ‘golden boy’ because he genuinely believed in Akechi’s potential to serve Toruun justly and honorably. No, Shido backed Akechi because of his rare power and their secret familial connection! In exchange, Akechi donned the mask of The Crow and eliminated Shido’s political enemies from the shadows.”

            After taking one more deep breath, Joker concluded, “Shido never cared about Toruun, all he cares about is himself and his public image! He has been lying to you for years to make you forget that you have been living under an occupation enforced by a hostile power! No matter what we think of the Old Republic, or the Confederacy that Toruun once joined, we must come together to restore this system’s freedom and win the right to decide our own future! Shido is the true traitor to Toruun. I am not a traitor, not me! Neither is anyone who wants to see the Empire fall and is willing to act towards that noble goal! The time for our liberation is coming! All that I can humbly ask of my fellow citizens is that you refuse to believe Shido’s lies any longer, if you ever did, and prepare to fight for our shared future! …As some good people I met recently would say, may the force be with us all!”

            With that, Joker concluded his message and signed off. While his team clapped for him and even Scrapper gave him an approving nod, Joker gave everyone a cocky grin. The gauntlet had been thrown down. Now, it would be Shido’s move.

Chapter Text

---

One Week Later: The Imperial Garrison in Ryo:

            Captain Goro Akechi paced back and forth in his personal quarters, wearing his usual black uniform. He knew that he should be addressing his troops and handing out assignments right now. However, a litany of problems haunted his mind, diverting his focus from where it should be. Even after suffering their first legitimate defeat and losing their hideout, the former Ryo Separatist Cell had endured and struck back. Their holonet slicing attack did vastly more damage to the Empire than any of their previous raids had.

            Akechi and his allies had been foolish to believe that simply exposing the identities of the separatist group’s membership and executing one of their informants would be enough to end the threat they posed. Akechi had informed Governor Shido that the cell had sliced into a mainframe kept hidden in his manor’s basement. However, Shido insisted that only he and his few remaining death troopers be allowed to investigate the data breach. Akechi had received assurances that if any encrypted data had been copied, the enemy had no means by which to transmit it to the masses.

            Goro had been blissfully unaware of what secrets his father’s mainframe truly contained until his nemesis, the leader of the Ryo Cell, had suddenly hijacked Toruun’s holonet one week ago and revealed everything. All of the secrets about himself that Akechi had kept from even the girl he loved were now public knowledge. There was also the manner of Shido reportedly collaborating with the elusive crime boss Junya Kaneshiro. Not to mention the claim that many of the missions undertaken by The Crow had been nothing more than the assassinations of Shido’s highly placed political enemies.

            Since the local holonet was sliced, even the best Imperial technicians left on Toruun could not restore the regular feed. All that they could do was trace the new signal to its source. It was clear that the former Ryo Cell had significant help, and had acquired advanced communications technology. How else could they have pulled off such a stunt?

            Ever since Shido’s secrets had replaced his propaganda, the governor had drastically reduced his meeting schedule. Even Shido’s “favorite” could not get a private meeting with his father now. Orders had been relayed to Captain Akechi that he was in charge of keeping Ryo as orderly as possible until further notice. Also, a death trooper had informed him that he was to destroy his armored Crow mask, and the rest of the accompanying uniform, immediately.

Trying to keep Ryo civil and orderly had become increasingly difficult. It was unclear how much Akechi’s own troops trusted him now, based on all of the supported allegations leveled at him over the hijacked holonet. However, he had been ordered not to address those allegations with anyone for the time being.

Akechi had not even had the time to check in with Sumire Yoshizawa and reassure her that everything he did had been for her safety. He desperately wanted to tell her that his previous secrecy had been due to Governor Shido’s direct orders. He had always wanted to tell her that he was the governor’s son and heir apparent, not to mention force sensitive. However, he been under strict orders to not reveal those truths to anyone until informed otherwise.

The people of Toruun had reacted to the recent revelations with concerning swiftness and defiance. Unrest was brewing in Ryo and across Toruun. It now sounded like the average Toruunian had gotten sick of Shido’s incessant propaganda a long time ago, rather than consistently embracing it as the truth. Most of them had just been too scared to admit it in public. Reports came in daily of Imperial troops being driven out of rural towns and small cities by local citizens. Sometimes, those citizens were aided by openly rebel or separatist aligned armed militias. Guerrilla fighters of either allegiance who had long eked out an existence in Toruun’s wilds now advanced into settlements. There, they were hailed as liberators.

The latest insult that Akechi had to endure was that he had been ordered to stay in Ryo and continue his previous work while other Imperials Shido had deemed loyal enough were sent to attack the newly pinpointed rebel base. Governor Shido’s staff had found a day in the forecast when the mountainous region’s clouds were supposed to part for once. That day was today.

The assault force was to consist of four Sentinel-Class landing shuttles, a small squadron of TIE Fighters, Shido’s six remaining TIE Bombers, the Gozanti-Class Carrier Medjed carrying two AT-AT heavy assault walkers, and finally the Arquitens-Class Light Cruiser Ooe. The assault force was to destroy the most likely source of the rebel broadcast at all costs and then seize the territory around it. It was believed that the assault force would find far more than a handful of rebels in the mountains. That was why Shido had recalled two of his flagship’s support vessels to assist in the airborne offensive.

Despite Akechi’s insistence to whoever he could speak with that he should lead the assault force in his custom TIE Interceptor, his pleas fell on deaf ears. The assault force’s ships had just taken off from Ryo’s spaceport and began their atmospheric flight southwest. It seemed like after Akechi’s failure to completely stamp out the former Ryo Cell, and the ensuing rebel broadcast, Shido’s trust in his son had slipped. It was also possible that Shido wanted to distance himself from Akechi for the time being until he could make a serious attempt to regain control of the media narrative. Hopefully, the latter was closer to the truth.

Still pacing, knowing that he needed to depart his quarters before someone came looking for him, Akechi clenched his fists. Grimacing, he thought about how the bright future he had imagined for himself as the second Imperial Governor of Toruun was rapidly slipping away. It was also entirely possible that his own father was far from the man he had claimed to be.

Akechi was briefly calmed by thoughts of Sumire, the girl he loved and had always wanted by his side when he led their people. No matter what came next, he would never betray her. He had sincerely promised that he would protect her. He would never break that promise.

Finally preparing to leave his quarters, Akechi straightened his officer’s cap and remembered one more critical thing. Even if his father had been a deeply corrupt bastard the whole time, Akechi could have been securely in line to succeed him without controversy. He would still have a chance to prove himself a far better leader than Shido if it were not for his nemesis, the youth whose voice he had heard as part of the rebel broadcast. The young man he had first met face-to-face in Café Leblanc.

Right as he left his quarters, Akechi swore an oath to himself and himself alone. He swore that if the crafty separatist cell and their cunning leader survived the day’s battle in the mountains, he would kill them all himself, no matter the cost.

---

That Afternoon: The Valley Camp’s Makeshift Hangar:

            For the last week, reports had come in from across Toruun about the impressive impact the recent rebel holonet hijacking had delivered. Smaller communities across the remote world were being liberated from the Empire by citizen uprisings and attacks from longstanding guerilla groups alike. Shido and Akechi had been exposed now and were suffering the consequences. Their control over Toruun was dwindling by the day. Ryo herself was reportedly experiencing the greatest degree of civil unrest she had seen since her initial Imperial occupation.

            However, fresh intelligence reports had just come in indicating that Shido’s remaining subordinates had finally located the origin point of the rebel signal. That morning, an airborne response force had been deployed from Ryo. It was a rare day in the mountains with minimal cloud cover, which made it a good day for an airborne assault.

            Now, the rebels and noncombatants in Toranosuke Yoshida’s encampment scrambled to either reach their battle stations, or find the safest possible places to shelter. Scrapper’s soldiers were already taking up positions in their trenches in front of the easiest portion of the valley to land troopers in. Gunners got to work manning restored separatist turbolaser cannons. The heavy weapons had been salvaged from the downed Munificent Frigate whose comms array had proven critical to the slicing of Shido’s precious holonet.

            As for Joker and the Phantoms, they were in the makeshift hangar, preparing to board their starfighters. Futaba’s new U-Wing would carry the majority of the cell into battle. Where they would be deployed was another question that would depend on how the fighting developed.

            While Joker was about to board his X-Wing, Sophie already installed in her socket, Futaba called out from the ground, “Joker, guys, based on our latest reports, Akechi’s still in command of the imps in Ryo. Looks like Shido isn’t sending him to try and finish us off.”

            Joker nodded and responded, “I’d honestly prefer not to face that custom interceptor of his in a dogfight, anyway. It’s possible that Shido doesn’t trust Akechi to finish us off after he failed to prevent our escape from Ryo. Hopefully, we’re done with that Crow charade as well. …Futaba, what’re we dealing with in terms of the imps on their way?”

            Futaba nodded sharply while rebels scrambled to their ships around her. She replied, “Shido’s sent in half of his flagship’s support fleet. We’ll have to deal with a Gozanti Carrier, and an Arquitens Light Command Cruiser. Intel also says they’ve got about ten TIE Fighters, about half as many TIE Bombers and a few Sentinel-Class landing shuttles.”

            Joker admitted, “Shido probably thinks that’ll be overkill. He’s not taking any risks, whether or not he knows our real strength. Still, we’ve finally got some starfighters of our own now, including eight restored CIS models! We’ll wipe out Shido’s assault force! That’ll humiliate him again and accelerate his downfall!”

            Futaba nodded and saluted joker. Before jumping into her U-Wing, she finished, “With the ion cannons on our U-Wings, I’m hoping we can neutralize the Gozanti before she drops whatever ground units she’s carrying. Once she’s ionized, she’ll be ripe for boarding!”

            Joker saluted Futaba back and responded, “Got it! We’ll keep you covered! For now, let’s get into the sky and prepare to engage the enemy!”

            With that, Joker boarded his X-Wing’s cockpit and lowered the canopy. He rapidly completed the necessary pre-flight checks and told Sophie, “Hang on old girl, it’s time to get airborne! They’ll never see our fighters coming until it’s too late!”

            Sophie beeped excitedly in response while Joker launched his black and red X-Wing out of the makeshift hangar. His starfighter was rapidly followed by two other X-Wings and the pair of U-Wings, both loaded up with infantry. The five rebel starfighters were soon joined by six dark blue vulture droids and two droid tri fighters, all in various states of repair. None of the droid fighters had missiles. However, Joker was confident that their laser cannons would rip through TIE Fighters, and even bombers, with ease.

            Joker and his flight soon spotted the incoming Imperial flotilla. Roughly ten TIE Fighters escorted four white landing shuttles and six TIE Bombers at the head of the formation. The landing shuttles looked like extended versions of the luxurious Lambda-Class ships that Imperial officials used as personal transports and status symbols. However, these were combat-ready landing craft not meant for VIP use.

            Futaba’s voice came over Joker’s comms, saying, “I see their Gozanti right behind their fighters and shuttles. She’s carrying two AT-AT walkers! We need to ionize her before she can find a spot to land those behemoths!”

            Joker responded, “Copy that! It looks like their light cruiser is at the rear of the formation. Her captain’s probably probing our defenses, thinking this’ll be easy. We’ll hit them hard and fast before they can realize that we’ve evened the playing field! …All ships that can, lock S-foils in attack position! Transfer power to your forward deflectors and get ready to clear a path to that carrier! Droid fighters, focus on keeping their starfighters off of us! We’ll have to hope our ground defenses can hold off their light cruiser for now.”

            The five manned rebel starfighters all locked their S-foils in attack position in rapid succession. The rebuilt turbolaser cannons and light artillery on the ground began firing up at the incoming Imperial forces, focusing on the light cruiser flying at the rear of the formation.

            The Imperial fighters and bombers surged ahead in the air, opening fire on the rebel’s improvised fighter squadron. One old vulture droid was sent careening out of the sky. However, the other restored CIS fighters proved more than able to evade enemy fire, and began targeting the TIE craft without mercy or hesitation.

            Joker’s shields took a couple of glancing shots from an incoming TIE Fighter. He soon located the craft that had targeted him and rolled out of the enemy’s firing line. Right before the Imperial starfighter could shoot past him, Joker aimed his fighter directly at the TIE Fighter and held down his main trigger as soon as the smaller craft was in his sights.

            A volley of red energy bolts flew from the black and red X-Wing’s four wingtip laser cannons. The bolts impacted the TIE Fighter’s cockpit and wing struts. She was near-instantly consumed by a violent fireball.

            Joker grinned and flew just under the fireball. He looked around and saw a tri-fighter unrelentingly unloading energy bolts into an Imperial bomber, blowing her out of the sky. However, what caught his eye immediately after that was the four Imperial landing craft quickly diving below the dogfighting towards the valley. They intended to land right in front of Scrapper’s trenches and deploy infantry to assault the rebel ground positions.

            Seeing the restored vulture droids dogfighting with the surviving TIE fighters, and one of the other X-Wings blow a second TIE Bomber from the sky before she could bombard rebel positions, Joker whipped his fighter around. He dived for the ground, following the descending landing craft.

            One landing craft strayed too close to the rebuilt turbolaser battery and was quickly obliterated by a portion of the barrage holding the Imperial Arquitens at bay. However, her three fellows remained on course to deploy their ground troops.

            Joker bombarded an enemy landing craft with his X-Wing’s cannons, but the sentinel shuttle withstood the rapid volley of energy blasts and kept diving towards the ground. Her shields were heavily depleted, but she remained intact. Remembering that he had another, more powerful, option at his disposal, Joker readied his proton torpedoes.

            Sophie beeped nervously and Joker responded, “I’m only using one pair, Sophie. After I shoot this landing craft down, we’ll head back up and make sure Futaba’s boarding plan works!   

            An enemy TIE Fighter darted past Joker’s X-Wing, but was thankfully too busy trying to shake a pursuing droid tri-fighter to try and stop his attack run. The separatist pilot initiated his target lock sequence, keeping the damaged landing craft in his sights.

            As soon as the target lock indicator lit up, Joker fired the pair of high-yield missiles. They shot out of the X-Wing’s launchers positioned just behind and below her nose, and violently collided with the hostile landing craft’s engines.

            Joker pulled his fighter up in short order while the Imperial landing shuttle spun out of control, her back half practically nonexistent now. If she had possessed any anti-missile countermeasures, there had been no time to deploy them before Joker’s torpedoes connected.

            While the remains of Joker’s target slammed into the valley’s floor and exploded, her two fellows reached the ground intact and opened their deployment doors, not wasting any time trying to clear the rebel trenches with their own mounted weapons while under such active fire. Scrapper and his troops would have to defend their artillery against troopers and the landed shuttles’ weapons.

            Joker flew back up into the fray where the droid starfighters and rebel pilots were holding their own. The other X-Wings focused on destroying the remaining TIE Bombers while the droid starfighters kept the surviving TIE Fighters off of them. The Arquitens in the distance closed in, taking ground fire and shooting back as best as she could.

            A vulture droid got too close to the incoming light cruiser while chasing a TIE Fighter, and was blown out of the sky by one of her top-mounted turbolasers. However, none of the other rebel ships made the same mistake. More concerningly, the enemy’s Gozanti began her descent towards the rebel trench lines. Her captain was clearly planning to deploy his two walkers right behind the landed shuttles.

            Joker ordered, “We can’t let that carrier drop off her AT-ATs! They’ll march right over our trenches and take out our heavy artillery!”

            Futaba replied, “We’re on it, Joker! Time to shut her down!”

            Joker flew into position with the two U-Wings right behind his fighter. He unloaded a brutal salvo of crimson bolts into the descending Gozanti to weaken her shields, evading her cannons’ glistening emerald blasts as he did so.

            With the Imperial fighters and bombers occupied for now, the two U-Wings unloaded their twin ion cannons into the Imperial Gozanti. Their barrage of azure bolts fried her shields, leaving her hull open to attack.

            The U-Wing’s shields held against the Gozanti’s cannon fire. They both slowed their approach to maximize the number of ion bolts they could land on the Imperial vessel. Blue sparks arced around the rapidly slowing carrier. The U-Wings flew in close to one of the Gozanti’s outer hatches located above her wings. They opened their troop holds’ doors, revealing rapid-fire ion blasters.

            With Ryuji manning the rapid-fire ion blaster on Futaba’s U-Wing, and a rebel soldier manning the other U-Wing’s equivalent weapon, the Gozanti was mercilessly bombarded with ion bolts until she finally froze in the sky. Her cannons ceased firing, disabled by the barrage of azure energy. The two walkers below the carrier suffered the same fate, crippled and sparking with arcs of energy for the moment.

            Futaba’s voice crackled over Joker’s comms, “We got her! She’s probably using all of the power she can muster just to stay airborne now! Time to deploy the boarding parties!”

            Joker quickly responded, “If we can seize the walkers, they’ll really come in handy in taking Ryo! I’ll keep you covered!”

            The Phantoms, led by Makoto and Ryuji, hopped out of their U-Wing, and boarded the Gozanti, accompanied by a small, veteran squad of Toruunian rebels. Makoto had donned her old black body glove after washing it thoroughly. However, she had added a series of black-painted armor plates to her new “uniform.” Even though Makoto made her ongoing opposition to Joker’s personal cause clear, she was at least willing to honor the Phantom Cell’s rough aesthetic.

            While Haru planted charges to blow the Gozanti’s hatch open, Joker rejoined the dogfight around the carrier with the two U-Wings right behind him. He ordered Futaba, “Fly down towards the ground battle and see if you can ionize their shuttles! We don’t want them blasting Scrapper’s troops into submission!”

            Futaba replied, “On it!” The two U-Wings rapidly dived down towards the rebel trenches while Joker covered them.

            Joker reoriented himself, watching rebel and Imperial fighters chasing each other through the sky. Despite losing two of their number, the old CIS droid fighters Futaba had led the effort to repair and reprogram were more than holding their own. They were far more heavily armored, and more maneuverable than standard TIE Fighters. The two Toruunian rebel X-Wings were still in the fight. They made sure to avoid the advancing Imperial light cruiser for the moment.

            Seeing that the TIE Bombers’ numbers had been reduced to two, and that the survivors were headed right for the crashed frigate, Joker shot off after them. He ordered Sophie, “Redirect power to our engines! We’re taking those bombers down!”

            Sophie beeped affirmatively, seeing the two TIE Bombers dropping proton bombs on the rebels’ turbolaser batteries on their way to the wrecked frigate and her communications array.

            A few of the Yoshida Cell’s restored turbolasers went up in flames. However, the rest kept firing on the Imperial light cruiser, keeping her at bay. Joker’s X-Wing shot over the valley and closed in on the two bombers. He slowed his approach to steady his aim and unleashed a barrage of crimson bolts into the rear of one of the two enemy spacecraft.

            The Imperial bomber exploded in a mammoth fireball, which Joker evaded as best as he could. He overshot the final TIE Bomber, and ordered Sophie, “I’ll come back around before she can get a missile lock on us! Keep your eye on her!”

            Sophie let out a series of affirmative beeps while Joker tried to get the enemy bomber back in his sights. Soon he heard Futaba’s voice saying over his comms, “Joker, we’ve ionized one of the shuttles. Scrapper’s troops are holding the line for now. Still, we need to take out their cruiser if we’re gonna survive this! She might fire on the Gozanti once she’s out of imp control!”

            Joker replied, “I’ll head back over there and see what I can do! Keep the Gozanti protected if you need to!”

            Suddenly, Joker heard a violently explosive noise from behind him, and heard Sophie beeping excitedly. He soon saw the remains of the final TIE Bomber crashing out of the sky, skidding to a stop nearby the crashed frigate’s husk.

            Joker began flying back towards the main dogfight when he heard Yoshida’s voice over his comms saying, “A small, unidentified force has just appeared on the valley’s northwestern ridge! They destroyed the last enemy bomber…”

            Joker flew towards the valley’s Northwestern Ridge and saw three heavily modified civilian landspeeders coming to a stop atop it. He grinned and pumped a fist into the air when he saw that the landspeeders were being escorted by two old, rusted, but still fully operational blue and gray AAT hovertanks. Their old CIS insignia had been repainted, brighter than ever. One of the aging separatist vehicles had shot down the TIE bomber chasing him with her main cannon.

            The two old CIS tanks turned to fire on the Imperial light cruiser from their elevated position. The infantry fighters who had just disembarked from their landspeeders fired blaster bolts and rockets alike down at the Imperial infantry and shuttles on the ground.

            By the time that Joker reached the main air battle, there were only two TIE Fighters left. Both of them were falling back towards their cruiser. Before he could give any new orders, he heard Yusuke report over his fighter’s comms, “Joker, we’ve taken the bridge! Our rebel allies are working quickly to get the Medjed running again and start firing on the enemy light cruiser!”

            Joker grinned while he heard Ryuji add, “Dude, I’m really glad Niijima’s on our side now! She took out three imps with her repeating blaster, and one with her DC-17! She’s leading Ann and Haru to clear the rest of the ship now.”

            Joker responded, “Excellent! It looks like some of our fellow separatists have showed up to lend us a hand! Now, we’ve just gotta shoot down the imp’s cruiser before she can take our new carrier down, or retreat!... All fighters, on me! We’re downing that Arquitens now!”

            Yusuke responded over comms, “We’ll attempt to get our new ship’s cannons firing again. Just keep us covered.”

            Two X-Wings, two U-Wings, two tri-fighters and four vulture droids formed up around and behind Joker’s X-Wing in short order. They fell upon the enemy light cruiser, only opposed by two TIE Fighters. Futaba rapidly ordered the tri-fighters to intercept the enemy fighters, preventing them from interfering with the massed attack run.

            Joker and one of the other X-Wings each dumb-fired a pair of proton torpedoes to take out the light cruiser’s main top-mounted turbolaser cannons. The U-Wings sprayed the Arquitens with ion bolts, chewing through her shields. Sprays of laser cannon fire followed, slicing into the Imperial ship’s armor.

            It did not take long for the Medjed’s cannons to begin firing on the light cruiser while the two heavy assault walkers hung helplessly from their carrier.

Still taking heavy ground fire, the Imperial Arquitens began to turn around. However, Joker and his flight of fighters unleashed a barrage of laser cannon blasts and proton torpedoes into her engines.

Finally, the enemy command ship gave out. She fell from the sky and crashed just beyond the valley. The two TIE Fighters that had escorted her were quickly destroyed by a tri-fighter, and a lucky shot from an AAT cannon.

The operational Sentinel-Class shuttle on the ground took back off, barely bothering to let a few stormtroopers reboard her. She began flying north towards Ryo at top speed. However, she was swarmed by Toruunian starfighters and made short work of. Unlike the Phantom Cell’s previous engagements, there was no retreat for the anti-Imperial forces this time. Finally, they held the upper hand on Toruun.

Yusuke reported in over comms, “We have full control of the Medjed now. We will secure her two assault walkers as soon as possible.”

Futaba replied, “Medjed, I think that’s from an old Toruunian legend about some defenders of justice. …I say we keep the name! I’ll stand by with the other U-Wing to re-ionize the walkers once you drop them.”

Joker breathed a sigh of relief and finished, “Great job, everyone! As long as Shido doesn’t pull his destroyer back to Toruun, we have a clear shot at Ryo and the weapons to liberate her now! All fighters except for the U-Wings, let’s get landed and debrief! …I think we also have some new friends to welcome. Our broadcast attracted some allies, after all.”

With that, Joker and most of his fighter wing headed back to base. There would be plenty of damage to assess after the battle. Still, it had been a clear victory. Soon, a force made up on rebels, separatists, and quite a bit of liberated Imperial hardware would make a beeline for Ryo. Their intent was to finally overthrow Masayoshi Shido and free their planet from the tyranny of the Galactic Empire.

Chapter Text

Ten Days Later: The Southern Outskirts of Ryo:

            Following the rebel victory over Governor Shido’s assault force, the two AT-AT walkers carried by the Gozanti Carrier Medjed were cleared of their Imperial crews. The heavy armored vehicles were then seized by rebel soldiers. Shido had underestimated the rebel forces based in the mountains. His assault force had been wiped out, leaving his position even shakier.

Shido’s flagship, the ISD Yaldabaoth still reportedly patrolled the borders of the Toruun system, along with his remaining Gozanti Carrier and Arquitens Light Cruiser. However, all of those warships operated on skeleton crews now due to the post-Endor lack of solid Imperial supply lines. Many of their crew members had been reassigned to bolster forces operating under more influential governors and admirals.

In the days following the rebel victory, Toranosuke Yoshida, Scrapper, Joker and others had met with the small band of armed separatists who had found their way to the valley base just in time to participate in its defense. It was agreed that they would assist Yoshida’s forces in their upcoming push to Ryo. For now, everyone understood that politics had to be put aside for the sake of overthrowing the traitorous, corrupt, and self-serving Masayoshi Shido.

Whether or not Toruun would ultimately join the New Republic, or seek her independence and push other rimworlds in the same direction, remained to be seen. However, Joker and his Phantoms all knew they owed the Yoshida Cell a lot. Makoto had proven herself in the successful boarding of the Medjed. Now, it was time for her to return to her older sister in Ryo.

The rest of the cell’s members were more than ready for their triumphant homecoming. Ryuji had his mother to return to. Ann had Mona to see again, assuming that he was alright. Yusuke had his mentor to confront, and Haru would do her best to reclaim her slain father’s estate and put it to good use. Joker, Sophie, and Futaba did not have much of a home to return to, even though Sojiro Sakura’s residence nearby Leblanc still reportedly stood. However, the Empire has searched it thoroughly, and probably looted, it in their hunt for incriminating evidence on the Phantoms.

Reports were coming in that most of the Imperial bases on Toruun outside of Ryo had been forcefully captured, or voluntarily surrendered. Native-born Toruunian Imperial soldiers had rampantly deserted, or defected following the revelation of Shido’s significant body of wrongdoing. Many of the steadfast Imperial loyalists stationed on Toruun had seen the writing on the wall. Those that could had taken the first hyperspace-capable ships they could find and, if necessary, commandeer out of the system when the locals began rising up en-masse. They would presumably attempt to link up with larger Imperial forces in more secure territory after fleeing Toruun.

Most importantly, the rebels had determined that Ryo herself had turned into a dangerous place for Imperial soldiers and officials outside of the city center. With Shido’s holonet still sliced thanks to the recent rebel victory, his remaining loyal supporters were afraid to leave the wealthiest districts of Ryo. In some cases, they were afraid to even venture outside of their homes. With a popular uprising likely on the horizon, the time for the armed rebels to take decisive action was now.

It did not take long for Yoshida to decide that there was no going back for Toruun at this stage. He gave the order for all forces loyal to him to march forth from the valley and advance on Ryo. Joker and the other separatists were formally asked to join the rebels on their march, which they agreed to. Only a small rear guard was left behind to protect the encampment’s noncombatants. Chihaya was placed in charge of the rear guard, never having been one for city life by her own admission. Before the main forces departed the valley base, Chihaya told Joker that his fate would soon be decided, much to his confusion. However, she also told him that she had faith in him. She believed that he would make the best choices he could with options fate handed him in the end.

Yoshida took personal command of the Medjed, while Scrapper took command of one of the commandeered heavy assault walkers, for the liberation of Ryo. Futaba flew her U-Wing carrying the Phantom Cell. They were part of the air units covering the ground forces. Joker flew his X-Wing at the head of the Toruunian air wing. The airborne units did their part in obliterating each and every small pocket of Imperial resistance the advancing forces encountered on their way to Toruun’s planetary capital.

On the way, the rebels and their separatist allies transmitted signals asking for other freedom fighters to bolster their ranks in their march to Ryo. They also told the citizens of their world’s capital that the time to rise up was now. They were finally on their way to end the Imperial occupation.

When the Toruunian forces closed in on the outskirts of Southern Ryo, the Medjed deployed her two AT-AT walkers to take the lead on the ground. Two AATs, two commandeered Marauders, and a multitude of smaller landspeeders formed up around the heavy walkers with their infantry on foot behind them. The AT-ATs now had red alliance insignia painted on their sides, displaying their change in allegiance for all to see.

The Medjed flew proudly above the ground forces accompanied by a flight consisting of three X-Wings, two U-Wings, four vulture droids and two droid tri-fighters. She had also been painted with alliance symbols to reflect her new status as the Toruunian rebel flagship. It was fitting that a ship of her class be commandeered by rebels. Gozantis were quite widespread. Variants of the ship had been used by the CIS, the Galactic Republic, various criminal organizations, and even the Rebel Alliance, in addition to the Galactic Empire.

Most of Ryo’s Imperial garrison had entrenched itself just outside of the city. Four AT-ST scout walkers, a handful of scout troopers on 74-Z speeder bikes, and two Marauder landspeeders supported dozens of stormtroopers and their officers in the trenches. Six TIE Fighters circled above the defensive line. However, it was clear that the Imperials were demoralized. This was all that the once-proud Ryo Garrison could muster to hold the rebelling city.

Flying his X-Wing above the fray, Joker ordered, “Alright, lock S-foils in attack position! Remember the plan, everyone! Droid starfighters will deal with the TIEs and cover our carrier and U-Wings. X-Wings will strafe the imp ground forces and help take out their heavier units. Once we’ve done enough damage here, our U-Wings and Gozanti will head for Ryo’s spaceport and deploy elite troops into the city center to take the administrative buildings. If Shido’s still in Ryo, we’ll capture him alive!”

Futaba’s voice replied over comms, “We’ll need to find and deal with Akechi too! He’s still gotta be a threat! Also, Makoto thinks we should revisit Shido’s manor and finish slicing the mainframe if he gets away. I think she’s got a point; we need to find out what’s in his super-secret files!”

Joker responded, “Copy that. First, let’s deal with these defenders and secure the land route into the city. Intel says that most of Ryo has finally rejected the imps, other than some stubborn holdouts in the city center. These troopers probably had a lot of trouble just walking from their garrison to their positions out here.”

The restored droid starfighters shot into action, forcing the Imperial fighters into dogfighting with them, and keeping the TIEs off of the rebel transports.

Joker led the two other X-Wing fighters down towards the Imperial lines. He strafed an enemy trench, followed by the two other fighters. Their barrages of laser cannon fire cut a fiery swath of destruction through the Imperial ground defenses.

While the trio of X-Wings pulled up and away from the trenches, the commandeered AT-AT walkers opened fire with their heavy chin-mounted blasters, taking down an AT-ST, and a Marauder landspeeder in short order.

While the Imperial land vehicles advanced into battle, a second AT-ST was felled by a pair of high-powered shells fired from an AAT’s concealed launchers. The explosive rounds slammed directly into her head. Rebel landspeeders rushed into action towards the trenches, preparing to deliver the infantry fighters riding them into battle. Dr. Maruki drove the Phantom Cell’s old landspeeder, which had been loaned to the Yoshida Cell. The loan was a way of repaying the rebels for giving the Phantoms new means of transportation.

While the Imperial forces on the ground faltered, their trenches and vehicles taking heavy fire, the X-Wings joined the air battle. They helped the six droid starfighters tear through the small squadron of TIE Fighters in short order.

After blasting one of the last few TIE fighters into oblivion with his X-Wing’s laser cannons, Joker heard Makoto’s voice over comms saying, “Everyone, looking out from our U-Wing, it’s pretty clear that these Imperial forces were sent out here to die… Assuming Shido has any idea of how strong we’ve gotten, he would have known these forces wouldn’t be close to enough to stop our advance into Ryo.”

Joker asked, “So, why was such a small force left out here? Maybe this was all that the garrison could muster after their recent losses?”

Makoto replied, “I think this is a just delaying action to buy time. I doubt these soldiers were told that’s all they were positioned here to do.”

Yoshida’s voice came over comms this time, saying, “I believe that Miss Niijima is correct! We’ll leave mopping up the remaining Imperials here to our ground forces. It’s time to head directly for the spaceport! If Shido is attempting to escape, we need to give it our all to catch him!”

One of the Medjed’s cannons blasted a TIE Fighter out of the sky while the carrier surged ahead, escorted by the two Toruunian U-Wings. Joker and the two other X-Wing pilots formed up ahead of the transports while their droid fighters eliminated the last couple TIE Fighters and then descended on the ground battle to help finish the Empire’s crumbling defenses.

Joker knew that he could soon face Goro Akechi again, one way or another. However, what mattered the most to him now was ending the Imperial occupation of Toruun. Not to mention neutralizing Masayoshi Shido. Looking down out of his X-Wing’s cockpit from above Southern Ryo, Joker saw citizens crowding the streets, waving up at the rebel ships speeding towards Central Ryo’s spaceport.

Joker still planned to advocate for Toruun’s future independence and for the revival of the CIS. However, he had to admit to himself that he was really struggling to keep seeing the New Republic as enemies that were just a shade less gray than the Empire. He still doubted that Mon Mothma’s followers cared much for a world like Toruun. However, at least their intentions were substantially different from those of the Imperials. That much, Joker had to reluctantly grant them.

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Around the Same Time: Outside of An Apartment Building in Central Ryo:

            The situation was growing increasingly dire for the loyal Imperials on Toruun. Only a few small, scattered pockets of Imperial troopers and sympathizers remained in Ryo. They were concentrated in the city center. The general consensus in the capital was that the system would be far better off with the Empire gone, never to return.

            The flotilla sent to destroy the rebel base in the mountains had failed spectacularly, and now most of Toruun was out of Imperial hands. Earlier that morning, reports had come in that a massive rebel force led by the commandeered Gozanti Carrier Medjed was nearly at Ryo’s southern outskirts. Most of the city’s populace was ready to welcome the rebels with open arms.

Masayoshi Shido’s efforts to bombard his people with propaganda had backfired. He had exhausted and frustrated them, rather than inspiring them. He had delivered empty platitudes without real, positive, results and was now paying the price for his failures. The people had their excuse to rise up with the local holonet sliced and their governor’s misdeeds publicly aired.

Now, Captain Goro Akechi had just landed his custom TIE Interceptor in front of Sumire Yoshizawa’s apartment building. He needed to see his beloved one more time. However, time was short. As of the last report he had received, rebel forces were overwhelming the Imperial units Shido had ordered to hold Ryo. The rebels would soon be inside of the city. Their airborne units would likely soon capture Ryo’s spaceport and government buildings, assuming they were smart. With two AT-ATs now under rebel control, the Imperial defenders had never stood a chance.

Akechi had not been ordered to stand and die with those poor, foolish soldiers. He had been ordered to rendezvous with his father at his flagship. Akechi would not refuse that order. However, his reasons for doing so no longer came from loyalty to the Galactic Empire.

Having disembarked from his interceptor, Akechi walked towards the building’s main entrance. There was no one else around outside the structure. The district’s Imperial loyalists were all staying inside, along with the few remaining troopers they had convinced to try to protect them. As Imperial control of Ryo crumbled, plenty of non-native officers had taken whoever they could and commandeered shuttles to flee Toruun. They no longer cared about following Shido’s orders and Akechi could no longer blame them.

The door to the apartment building opened and Sumire Yoshizawa ran out of it, and into Akechi’s arms. The two lovers had not seen each other since soon before the holonet slicing. When the young couple had last been together, they had celebrated the unmasking of the Ryo Cell. Now, Akechi’s enemies seemed so close to victory, having unmasked him in return. However, despite all of that, he would not allow Toruun to restart the corrupt and kleptocratic CIS. He was sure that many of Toruun’s rebels agreed with him on that point. He was counting on it, with the Empire’s grip on his homeworld fading fast.

Sumire looked up into Goro’s eyes and asked him, “I haven’t seen you since… I heard the rebels are almost inside the city! …Is anything they said about you and the governor true? It can’t be, right?”

Akechi took one long, deep breath, and slowly shook his head. He told Sumire, “It’s all true, Sumire. …Shido is my father. My mother was a prostitute he frequented years ago. He conspired with a crime boss behind even my back. He used me and my gift, which I was ordered to keep hidden from even you, to assassinate his political rivals. He convinced me that all of those missions were for the good of Toruun. I was motivated by the promise that he’d make me his successor when he retired. …Shido’s Lambda shuttle has already taken off, headed for his flagship.”

Sumire blinked and slowly, stammered, “…The governor’s abandoning us? …He used you to kill his rivals. …”

Akechi nodded and explained, “I never lied to you when I told you why I fought the rebels and the separatists alike. I did it for justice, for Toruun, and for you. I was just fooled into believing that Shido was an agent of justice who loved Toruun. …I was naïve and that took me down a dark path. Even when I fought against separatist agents of chaos, I wasn’t doing it for the right reasons.”

Sumire blinked and held Goro even tighter. She asked him, “Even though you lied to me for Shido, I still love you! You were still there for me so many times. Even if Shido’s abandoning us, you’ll stay with me here, right?”

Akechi teared up, his whole body suddenly shaking. All he could do was slowly shake his head. He knew what he had to do, and that was not stay with the girl he loved. He responded, “Shido has asked me to join him on his flagship, Sumire. I believe that I must comply, so that if it comes down to it, I can protect you. I don’t know what his intentions are with that Star Destroyer and her support ships. …Also, there’s the matter of the cunning, resourceful separatist terrorists who have brought us to this moment. I won’t let my father, or those separatist bastards hurt you, or our homeworld, anymore!”

Sumire blinked, tears flowing freely from her eyes. She slowly let go of her lover and asked him, “Are you sure? Is there any way…”

Shaking violently, Akechi told Sumire, “I swore that I would protect you, and kill those damn separatists, especially their False Jedi leader! I’ll do both, no matter the cost! …Sumire, I love you… and I have to ask you to tell your father to surrender to some rebel officer unaffiliated with the separatists and beg them for leniency. Shido refused to take Madarame, or any of his other high-ranking cronies, with him. He reportedly did so for the sake of time. I believe that your best chance of safety is to have pro-republic fighters accept your family’s surrender. To my understanding, they have a sense of honor, unlike separatist scum. Even if your father suffers for supporting Shido, you should be safe. Your safety means everything to me…but… Goodbye, Sumire…”

Before Sumire could say anything else to Akechi, he turned around and returned to his landed interceptor. He left the only girl he had ever loved standing in front of her apartment building, sobbing. So much of Goro Akechi wanted to stay in Ryo with Sumire, or find a way to flee Toruun that could fit both of them and start a new life with her somewhere else. However, he was not going to flee from his responsibilities. He wanted answers from his father and for justice to be served to his enemies. If everything worked out, he would achieve his goals and protect his beloved Sumire at the same time. As long as those objectives were achieved, nothing else mattered.

Chapter Text

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That Late Afternoon: The Command Center of Ryo’s Spaceport:

            The Toruunians had functionally retaken their world’s capital city. Allied forces had advanced into Southern Ryo where they were greeted with enthusiasm. The Medjed and her starfighter escorts landed at the city’s spaceport. After that, they immediately deployed ground troops to seize Ryo’s government buildings. Anti-Imperial soldiers and speeders now hunted down the last few enemy troopers, along with notable Shido sympathizers, inside of the city.  

Toranosuke Yoshida had directed operations from the spaceport’s command center for the last few hours. Upon landing, he had been informed that Masayoshi Shido had fled Toruun in his personal Lambda-Class shuttle escorted by four TIE Fighters. Captain Goro Akechi’s custom TIE Interceptor had been spotted fleeing Ryo, heading for Toruun’s upper atmosphere, soon afterwards.

Yoshida also granted Yusuke a detachment of three soldiers to locate and arrest Ichirisu Madarame. Ann confirmed that Mona was alive and being returned to her family’s apartment by his usual sitter. Ryuji confirmed that Dr. Takemi had kept his mother safe at her place until the rebel march into Southern Ryo. Overall, it looked like a great day to be a Toruunian.

Knowing that Shido and Akechi had both fled Toruun, Joker ordered Makoto, Sophie, and Futaba to take their U-Wing and return to Shido’s manor.  They were to check if the secret mainframe was still there. If it remained, they would slice it until every file was decrypted and extracted. As of their last report, they had broken in and located the mainframe, still in the mansion’s basement. They would return to the spaceport as soon as the data was fully extracted and report their findings. Makoto had already gotten in touch with her older sister. The two of them planned to meet up at their apartment as soon as Shido’s mainframe revealed the last of its secrets.

Now, Joker stood around the command center’s main holoprojector. He was accompanied by Scrapper, Yoshida, three rebel comms officers, and Haru. The valley camp had already been informed of Ryo’s liberation. Chihaya still sounded convinced that something major was fast approaching in Joker’s future, despite being generally pleased to hear of the victory. Ann and Ryuji stood guard flanking the room’s main door.

Yusuke’s upper body appeared on the holoprojector. The sniper and artist informed everyone in the room, “I just had the dubious pleasure of arresting my former mentor for treason against Toruun. Thankfully, I had discerned the location of his secret second residence some time ago. He and his mistress were more than surprised to see me alive and in command of armed soldiers. I shall return to the spaceport unless you have new orders.”

Yoshida nodded and responded, “Good work as always, Kitagawa. You can return when ready. Command out.”

After Yusuke gave a salute and then vanished from the projector, Scrapper reported, “My subordinates have taken the main government buildings with only token resistance. Scattered allied fighters have arrived at the docks on watercraft to cut off that angle of escape for the enemy. Still, there are bound to still be a few imp troopers, support personnel, and Shido stooges left in the city.”

While Yoshida and Joker both nodded, the holoprojector flared to life again. This time, it depicted Dr. Maruki, who reported, “My team spotted an Old Republic Z-95 Headhunter launch from somewhere in the southern districts less than an hour ago. She reportedly strafed a convoy of non-Imperial landspeeders driving east out of Ryo, destroying all of them. It wasn’t one of our convoys.”

Remembering something he had been told a while ago, Joker asked, “Is the Headhunter heading back this way? …I might know who’s flying her.”

Maruki responded, “She’s headed for the spaceport now. I’ll see if I can send someone to investigate the wreckage of the landspeeders the Z-95 destroyed. I don’t know who in Ryo would have their own private starfighter… or do I?”

Haru asked Joker, “Do you think it could be…”

Joker smiled and nodded, responding, “Iwai always said he had a way off of Toruun that could only fit him. If he avoided being busted by Akechi, I think that was probably him. He got his hands on old GAR blasters before. So, it’s not crazy to think he’d have one of their fighters stashed away somewhere. The real question is who was in that speeder convoy and why he strafed it into oblivion.”

Maruki mentioned, “From what I know of Iwai, he considered the crime boss Junya Kaneshiro his biggest enemy, even though Kaneshiro didn’t really notice him. …Kaneshiro was an associate of Shido’s who the governor protected. So, it could’ve been him trying to flee Ryo with his goons after Shido abandoned Toruun?”

Haru added, “I guess Iwai took his opportunity. Still, if Kaneshiro was an ally of Shido’s, I think we’re better off without him. We’ll find out one way or another when the Headhunter lands.”

With that, Yoshida told Maruki, “You’re dismissed, Doctor. Keep treating anyone who needs it and make sure our squads round up Shido’s remaining loyalists. Our people really have risen to the occasion today, civilian and soldier alike!”

Almost immediately after Dr. Maruki’s upper body disappeared from the holoprojector, Futaba’s appeared in his place. Joker stood up straight seeing the panicked look on the slicer’s face.

Futaba wasted no time in reporting, “Joker, everyone! We’re on our way back now… I sliced Shido’s super-secret data and it’s bad, really bad!”

Joker immediately asked Futaba, “What could be worse that what we already found on that bastard?”

Futaba replied, “His ‘Ultimate Contingency!’ The heavily encrypted files say that if Shido completely loses control on Toruun, he’ll recall whatever’s left of his fleet … and conduct an orbital bombardment of our planet’s settlements, starting with Ryo!”

Everyone in the command center blinked repeatedly in shock until Ryuji exclaimed, “That’s so effing Imperial!”

Futaba continued, “Even if their stuck with skeleton crews, Shido’s still got his flagship, the ISD Yaldabaoth and one more Gozanti and Arquitens! Not to mention whatever fighters and interceptors they’re carrying!”

Joker slammed a fist onto the holoprojector table and responded, “Dammit! If Shido can’t control Toruun with his stupid propaganda, he’s gonna just destroy his own homeworld’s settlements outright?”

Ann asked, “What the hell’s the point of bombarding Toruun now? He’s already lost here! He’ll kill everyone who still supports him and the Empire in the process!”

Futaba replied, “The files answer that…It’s to prove his loyalty to the remaining imp brass. If he destroys our cities and towns, it’ll stop Toruun from aiding the enemies of the Empire. Shido thinks that’ll show that the Empire matters more to him than his own homeworld to the other imps!”

Taking charge, Yoshida ordered, “As bleak as this looks, Shido’s reason for abandoning Ryo and leaving his own soldiers to die is clear now! We must rally our small fleet and attempt to stop Shido’s ships from getting into position and carrying out their bombardment! …We need someone to send a message to the nearest New Republic forces and tell them what the Empire is trying to do here…”

Joker interjected, “I really doubt they’ll send anyone. We’re on our own and we’ve got no time to waste! …I think out best bet is to board Shido’s flagship and take her bridge. If her crew has seriously shrunk since before Endor, maybe a small, elite force stands a chance at capturing the Yaldabaoth?”

Futaba told Joker, “Actually, I already contacted Hifumi. I routed the signal from Shido’s manor through the downed Frigate’s comms array… I sent it right before boarding my U-Wing. I told her what Shido’s planning to do, and she said she would do everything she could to save Toruun!”

Joker shook his head and quickly responded, “I’m sure Togo doesn’t want Toruun to burn, but we need to get airborne fast! Futaba, get back here as fast as you can! We’ll load up our ships and make a beeline for Shido’s destroyer. We think we’ve finally located Iwai! He might be on his way here in a Z-95 Headhunter. If it’s really him, we’ll have to ask for his help.”

Futaba saluted Joker and finished, “Copy that. We’ll be back ASAP! I really hope Iwai’s willing to help out his old customers one last time! Makoto says that she’s really glad she joined us after seeing Shido’s emergency plan. Over and out.”

As soon as Futaba ended her transmission, Yoshida ordered, “Scrapper, take command down here! I’m going to command the Medjed. We’ll load her up with whatever soldiers we can, assuming we can reach Shido’s flagship’s hangar intact. We’ll need to scramble our X-Wings and droid starfighters without much delay! As soon as our second U-Wing returns, and we verify the identity of the Headhunter’s pilot, we’ll launch into space immediately! We only have one shot to save our world, outnumbered as we’ll be!”

Everyone scrambled to begin carrying out Yoshida’s orders. As soon as Sophie was back at the spaceport, Joker planned to board his X-Wing. When the incoming Z-95 landed, the Toruunian forces would quickly question her pilot. They would also attempt to enlist the rogue flyer’s aid for the desperate fight that was almost upon them.

Joker knew that this could be what Chihaya had spoken about regarding fate. However, he knew that she had specifically referred to him in her proclamations. Only time would tell what awaited Joker and his comrades above Toruun. However, they would not go down and lose their home without a fight.

            By the time that Yusuke returned to the spaceport and was informed of the dire new situation, the mysterious Z-95 Headhunter was coming in for a landing. She had been given permission to land at an unoccupied pad. It sat nearby the pads that the landed Toruunian starfighters, both droid and manned, currently occupied.

            While Toruunian soldiers and support personnel scrambled to prepare all available spacecraft to launch into battle again, Joker walked over to the pad where the Z-95 came to rest. The old starfighter was still painted in red and white Republic Navy colors, faded as they were now.

            Joker glanced upwards, seeing Futaba’s U-Wing coming in for a landing at the fastest possible safe speed. He had already given the order for every human Phantom except for him to get inside the transport for the planned boarding of the Yaldabaoth as soon as she landed. Sophie would get back in Joker’s black and red X-Wing for the desperate attack on Shido’s flotilla. This would be the Phantom Cell’s most difficult battle. There would be no retreating from the might of Shido’s remaining forces. One way or another, it would be the Phantoms’ final fight.

            When the Headhunter’s cockpit slid open, Joker was unsurprised to see Munehisa Iwai stick his head and an arm out. Joker told Iwai, “It’s good to see you again. We’d wondered what’d happened to you after we were exposed.”

            Iwai simply nodded and explained, “I just stayed in the city, refusing to answer any of your calls. I knew that if I closed up shop and tried to leave Ryo, it’d just make me more suspicious to the imps. I caught wind that Kaneshiro was trying to skip town with his entourage earlier, and thought I’d finally rid myself of the bastard while your makeshift army took the city.”

            Joker nodded, realizing that the previously voiced suspicions about the strafing attack has ultimately been spot on. However, he wasted no time in telling Iwai, “My entire team is about to head back into battle. …We’ve determined that Shido’s gonna use his flagship and her support vessels to bombard Toruun’s settlements to rubble, since he’s lost the fight on the ground! We have to try to save our world, there’s nobody else who can!”

            Iwai appeared clearly startled for a quick second. Joker had never seen such a look on the arms dealer’s face before. Iwai groaned and admitted, “…So, Shido’s not going to let Toruun live on without him in charge. …This should be the part where I thank you for the tip, wish you luck, and jump to the nearest inhabited system…”

            While Futaba’s U-Wing came to a rest on a nearby pad, and Makoto opened one of the transport’s deployment doors, Joker told Iwai, “We could use every starfighter we can muster. …I know it sounds like a suicide attack, but there won’t be enough time to evacuate if the enemy’s already on their way! We don’t have another choice!”

            Iwai nodded slowly and admitted, “I’d hate to lose all the merchandise in my shop to old Shido’s turbolasers. …I guess I’m going with you this time, kid.”

            Joker smiled and saluted Iwai, who began preparing his Z-95 to take back off. Toruunian pilots, mechanics, and soldiers continued scrambling to prepare the world’s few combat-ready spacecraft for takeoff. While the Phantoms rapidly boarded Futaba’s U-Wing, all armed and ready for action, Sophie quickly rolled over to Joker.

            Looking down at his cell’s loyal astromech droid, Joker told Sophie, “We’re headed up one more time, Sophie. Once you’re in the socket, we’ll take off with the other fighters. …Thanks for everything, old girl. I really don’t know if we’re gonna come back alive this time, but we’ve gotta put up a fight!”

            Sophie was silent for once, but she saluted Joker with a metal claw and rolled over to his landed X-Wing to get lifted into the fighter’s astromech socket. Joker followed her after seeing Futaba’s U-Wing finish loading up with Phantoms. He rapidly climbed up into his X-Wing’s cockpit. After that, he checked to make sure that he had his DC-17, vibroblade, and lightsaber all secured to his belt, in case he made it into the Yaldabaoth’s hangar alive.

Myriad spacecraft lifted off into the early evening sky above Ryo. The Medjed would act as the Toruunian fleet’s de-facto flagship in this battle. There would truly be no retreat this time. All of Toruun, even the surviving Imperial sympathizers still living in the planet’s settlements, depended on small fleet for their survival. No matter how it concluded, this would be the final battle against Shido and Akechi.

Chapter Text

That Evening: Toruun’s Upper Atmosphere:

            The odds were stacked against the small Toruunian fleet on its way up and out of their world’s atmosphere. The fleet’s largest ship was the captured Gozanti-Class Carrier Medjed. She was only accompanied by 12 starfighters, including two troop transports.

            Joker’s X-Wing had taken the head of the Medjed’s fighter escorts. His fighter was flanked by two other X-Wings, with the two U-Wings right behind them. Four vulture droids, two droid tri-fighters, and one Z-95 Headhunter piloted by Munehisa Iwai covered the Medjed from the rear.

            Having soared above the clouds some time ago, the Toruunian forces soon exited the highest layers of their planet’s atmosphere. For the first time in his life Joker was in space. However, there was no time to celebrate the accomplishment. It was time to locate the Imperial flotilla on its way to bombard Ryo.

            It took little time for Joker to spot the massive Imperial Class Star Destroyer Yaldabaoth menacingly moving towards an optimal firing position. She was closely followed by an Arquitens Class Light Cruiser and a Gozanti Class Carrier below her.

            Yoshida’s voice came in over Joker’s comms, “All ships, prepare for battle! We need to get under that destroyer and stay there! Do not let her bring her top-mounted turbolasers to bear on us!”

            Futaba’s voice concurred, “Copy that! This won’t be easy, though. My scanners just picked up a swarm of TIEs flying below Shido’s flagship. We’ve got more enemy fighters launching from the imp support cruisers too!”

            Joker ordered, “Lock S-foils in attack position! We need our droid fighters to try and keep those TIEs off of us. I’ll escort the U-Wings into the destroyer’s hangar with the other X-Wings. Iwai, can you keep the TIEs off of our carrier? Hopefully, she’ll draw fire from Shido’s support cruisers.”

            Iwai’s voice responded, “Got it, kid. You’ve got more experience in real fights than I do by now, anyway.”

            Yoshida added, “If we can maneuver the Medjed into the destroyer’s docking bay, we’ll deploy all of our troops to capture her! Shido’s capital ships are operating at a fraction of their full crew capacity now, we must hope that it is a small fraction. Our boarding teams will be outnumbered one way or another.”

            With his X-Wing’s S-foils locked in attack position and the fighters behind him following suit, Joker ordered, “Here we go! Get out of the Yaldabaoth’s heavy turbolasers’ firing arcs before she gets into range!”

            The Toruunian fighters surged ahead of the Medjed and changed their attack vector to dive beneath the bow of the incoming Yaldabaoth. The collection of agile starfighters and transports evaded a volley of turbolaser fire from Shido’s star destroyer. They then dove further below the Yaldabaoth to minimize the chance of being in her primary weapons’ firing range. The Medjed followed the fighters and transports as closely as she could, firing on the two Imperial escort ships in the distance.

            As soon as the Toruunian spacecraft had made it a solid distance below the Yaldabaoth, they radically altered their vectors and flew straight up towards the underbelly of the enemy flagship. The two Imperial escort ships focused their fire on the Medjed for now, slowly approaching the Toruunian fighters and transports.

The Toruunian fighters had no choice but to treat the smaller Imperial capital ships as a secondary concern. Shido’s flagship had to be disabled or captured first and foremost. Without the protection of the Yaldabaoth, her two escort ships would likely retreat from the system.

Joker heard Futaba’s voice over his comms shouting, “Here they come!” He looked directly ahead while Sophie beeped loudly. A swarm of at least twenty-five Imperial starfighters, including both TIE Fighters and TIE Interceptors, sped towards the Toruunian fleet. If the Yaldabaoth was stocked at full capacity, she would probably have launched around three times as many fighters.

Joker did not see Akechi’s custom interceptor among the Imperial fighters. If he was among them, he would likely be at the head of the incoming formation. Joker could feel Akechi’s presence somewhere ahead of him. His nemesis was not hiding it this time. However, it seemed most likely that Shido’s son was aboard the Yaldabaoth. That could be bad for the forces seeking to board the star destroyer.

Green, red, and blue energy bolts flew from all directions as the two forces of starfighters closed in on each other. Scattered fire from the light cannons mounted on the Yaldabaoth’s underside also flew down towards the rebel ships. The flagship’s barrage was far lighter than expected, possibly due to the lack of available gunnery staff, and possibly to avoid hitting any of the incoming TIEs.

TIE craft exploded into smithereens left and right as the Imperial swarm flew head on at the Toruunian fighters and transports, firing their laser cannons with abandon. However, Joker’s makeshift squadron remained outnumbered.

Joker blew an Imperial interceptor to shreds and ordered, “Keep making for the hangar! Let the droids draw the TIEs away from us! We can’t let the Yaldabaoth get into position above Ryo!”

The five Incom craft sped up their approach, while enemy fighters shot past them. Behind them, their droid fighters focused on drawing the Imperial swarm’s attention.

Joker’s flight continued their charge upwards towards the enemy flagship’s open hangar bay. However, it was clear that their droid fighters were taking losses from the superior enemy numbers. A vulture droid and a tri fighter were quickly blown away by Imperial interceptors. The Medjed exchanged fire with the Yaldabaoth’s two escort ships. She held her own for the moment, but was losing shield integrity fast.

Three TIE Fighters flew towards the Medjed. They were engaged by Iwai’s Z-95, which rapidly obliterated one of the trio. However, the other two strafed the carrier, heavily weakening her shields, before turning to Iwai’s aging starfighter. The pair of TIEs chased him away from his charge, leaving the Medjed even more open to fire from the two Imperial escort ships.

The turbolaser fire coming from the Yaldabaoth’s underside intensified now that the five Incom craft were mostly clear of the TIE swarm. However, Joker knew that the Empire’s fighters could eliminate the remaining droid starfighters and begin chasing them down any moment.

            The five manned Toruunian ships returned fire on the Yaldabaoth’s point-defense guns, knocking a few of them out with targeted blasts from their laser and ion cannons.

            Futaba voice came in over Joker’s comms, announcing, “We’ve lost half of our droid fighters! The Medjed’s shields are down now, even after my upgrades! We’ve got some TIEs flying back up to engage us too!”

            Joker grimaced and ordered the other two X-Wing pilots, “We need you two to break off and stop those TIEs from taking out our U-Wings! We’ll keep pushing ahead to the hangar!”

            The two other X-Wings broke off without complaint. They knew they had to distract the Imperial fighters behind Joker and the U-Wings. However, an intense barrage of fire from two TIE Fighters soon tore through one of the Incom starfighter’s shields and armor, sending her spinning out of control until she exploded violently.

            While the surviving X-Wing rapidly destroyed a TIE fighter in retaliation, and led as many intact Imperial starfighters as possible away from the boarding party, it was clear that the Toruunian forces were severely outnumbered.

            Futaba nervously reported, “That’s another vulture droid down! Shido’s escort ships are closing in on the Medjed too!”

            Joker frustratedly responded, “We’re almost there, Futaba! The enemy flagship’s trying to pull up and put more distance between us and her hangar, but we’re faster than she is!”

            After destroying another point-defense cannon, Joker heard Iwai report over comms, “Kid, I’m hit! I’ve got two TIEs on me! Hyperdrive can’t engage, even if I wanted it to… Get in that damn hangar...”

            Joker glanced behind him and saw Iwai’s Z-95 streaking towards the Imperial Gozanti Carrier with one engine aflame. Two TIE Fighters followed her closely, laser cannons blazing, but failing to hit Iwai’s damaged starfighter again.

            Iwai’s Headhunter slammed into the Imperial Gozanti’s bridge at full speed, followed by a TIE Fighter. The resulting explosions crippled the Imperial Carrier, her front section reduced to a smoking husk. The second TIE Fighter that had pursued Iwai pulled up, narrowly evading the carnage. She wasted no time, flying back towards the Medjed.

            Before Joker or Futaba could process what had just happened, a barrage of blistering green turbolaser bolts tore into the shields on the U-Wing carrying the other boarding party. The Imperial Arquitens had just maneuvered into position to fire on the would-be boarders.

            The U-Wing across from Futaba’s attempted to evade the barrage of Imperial turbolaser fire to no avail. She was consumed in a fiery explosion, wiping out half of the Toruunian force intended to board the Yaldabaoth.

            Joker grimaced, tears in his eyes, as he and Futaba’s craft neared the open hangar of Shido’s flagship. He could not give up now! Ryo needed to be saved! Shido and his bastard son still had to pay! This could not be over, not yet.

            Before Joker could say anything to Futaba, he heard her voice slowly saying over comms, “Joker… Our carrier is taking heavy fire. We’ve only got one other X-Wing, one vulture and one tri-fighter left and they’re badly outnumbered. …I don’t think we can pull this off….”

            Joker firmly responded, “Even if we knew where to jump to, we’re not escaping into hyperspace! We can’t abandon our home…”

            Futaba’s voice suddenly perked up while she replied, “…Speaking of hyperspace …we’ve got fifteen signatures coming in hot in front of the Yaldabaoth!”

            Joker wondered if Shido had somehow requested Imperial backup he was ultimately not going to need. What he saw instead was an elongated, armored warship covered by bulges, and sporting an underslung bridge emerging from hyperspace. She was closely accompanied by two slender escort vessels. The trio of warships were supported by six red and white wedge-shaped interceptors, and six yellow and white light bombers equipped with two elongated engines each. The bombers each sported a double-barreled cannon turret mounted above their cockpits.

            A bizarre combination of deep relief and utter terror filled Joker. These were no Imperial ships. In fact, the Imperial vessels were immediately distracted by their arrival, giving the remaining Toruunian forces some room to breathe.

            Yoshida’s voice came in over comms, sounding immensely relieved, and not remotely smug, “The New Republic has arrived! The Yaldabaoth isn’t even firing her main cannons yet. …All remaining Toruunian forces, the Medjed has sustained severe damage. We must fall back to Ryo and land before she falls apart. All I can ask of you now is to prevent the enemy flagship from escaping and ensure the removal of the remaining Imperial presence from the system. With reinforcements having arrived, our sacrifices this day will be vindicated! Toruun shall be free!”

            Futaba ordered over comms, clearly taking charge now, “Alright, we’ve got six A-Wings and Y-Wings moving in to engage the enemy. Not to mention one MC-75 Cruiser and two Nebulon-B Frigates! Our fighters will join them in wiping out Shido’s support ships and fighters! We’ll board Shido’s flagship with his crew distracted by our reinforcements and make sure he can’t get away, right Joker?”

            Joker slowly nodded and responded, “…Yeah, I guess I second those orders. …If Togo’s on one of those New Republic ships, I guess we owe her bigtime for this…”

            A voice Joker had not heard in months came in over his comms, saying, “This is Lieutenant Hifumi Togo of the New Republic Fleet. We have arrived to stop the Empire from destroying another world… my home this time. …Futaba, are you out there?”

            Futaba quickly replied, “In the U-Wing, Hifumi! Joker’s in the X-Wing next to me. See if your buddies can clear out the imp cruiser and fighters, while we board the destroyer and neutralize Shido!”

            Joker blushed and said nothing while Hifumi replied, “Understood. I’m sorry that we didn’t arrive earlier. I’m just glad I was able to speak with my cruiser’s captain and have these ships diverted here on such short notice. We will have a lot of catching up to do once this is over.”

            The New Republic A-Wings dove into action at breakneck speed, using their laser cannons and swarms of missiles to tear into Shido’s remaining TIEs alongside the three surviving Toruunian starfighters. The Y-Wings dove straight for the Imperial Arquitens. Their ion cannons shorted out her shields, allowing for a devastating follow up bombardment composed of proton torpedoes and bombs.

            The three New Republic capital ships unloaded turbolaser fire and missiles into the Yaldabaoth’s cannons and front mounted systems. For some unknown reason, the destroyer only returned fire at only a small fraction of the expected rate for a ship of her class. It was more of a deficiency than could be easily attributed to a lack of crew. Still, Joker barely noticed that while his X-Wing and Futaba’s U-Wing finally made it past the ISD’s point defense cannons and entered her hangar.

            Flying slowly into the hangar, power diverted to their forward deflectors, the two Toruunian craft were confronted by a parked TIE Interceptor and Lamba Class Shuttle, along with dozens of stormtroopers and Imperial Navy troopers carrying all manner of weapons.

            Joker knew the parked interceptor had to be Akechi’s and the shuttle was Shido’s. He dumb-fired a pair of proton torpedoes into the landed shuttle, blowing her away and eliminating at least eight enemy troopers who had taken up positions around her.

            Futaba bravely flew her U-Wing into the hangar past its atmospheric shied, firing ion blasts into the troopers spread out around the hangar’s floor. She quickly landed her spacecraft, whose door opened for the Phantoms to deploy.

Ryuji covered his comrades with a withering barrage of fire from the U-Wing’s door mounted repeating ion blaster cannon. He was soon joined by Makoto who employed her portable repeating blaster.

While trooper after trooper fell to the Phantoms, Joker flew his X-Wing past the atmospheric shield and unloaded a rapid-fire barrage of laser cannons bolts into Akechi’s landed interceptor. The fighter that had almost ended the Phantom Cell months ago was consumed in an impressive fireball, along with her supply of missiles, sending flaming debris shooting across the hangar.

Joker strafed the stormtroopers standing near the doors leading deeper into the Yaldabaoth from her hangar bay with his X-Wing’s laser cannons. Their blasters failed to penetrate his fighter’s shields, and any attempt to lock onto his X-Wing with a rocket launcher was met with the offending trooper being blasted into oblivion before they could steady their aim.

Between Joker’s merciless strafing, and the barrage of fire coming from his comrades at their U-Wing, all other Imperial vehicles parked in the hangar were destroyed in short order. The remaining Imperial troopers in the area soon fell back, likely planning to regroup and mount a counterattack on the now-captured hangar.

Joker landed his X-Wing close to the hangar bays’ atmospheric shield and disembarked. He closed his eyes for a brief moment, opened them with a deeply resolute look on his face, looked around at his team and told them, “Guys, I sense Akechi above and behind us! He’s probably on the bridge. I wouldn’t be surprised if Shido’s with him. …I need you guys to hold this hangar and protect Sophie and our rides out of here, just in case. Take cover, draw the imp troopers in and wipe them out! …I’m afraid that Akechi would just kill all of you without much trouble. I won’t let that happen! We’re ending this today!”

Futaba opened up her U-Wing’s cockpit and told Joker, “Is this your last-ditch attempt to convince Toruunians to support independence. …Because I don’t think it’ll work after what just happened…”

Joker clenched his fists and admitted, “Even though we had someone among their ranks to advocate for Toruun, a New Republic fleet, however small, showed up to save Ryo when they were under no obligation to do so. …I could never have seen something like that coming… All I know now is that Toruun won’t be safe until Shido and Akechi are dealt with! …Republic or Separatist, Toruun needs to be rid of her greatest traitors! I believe I’m uniquely suited to mete out that justice!”

Slowly but surely, the Phantoms all nodded. Taking charge, Makoto ordered, “We’ll set up a defensive perimeter and hold off any and all enemy counterattacks here. We have to protect our ships no matter what! Joker, I recommend avoiding any Imperials you detect until you reach the bridge. Good luck… and may the force be with you.”

Joker saluted his team and finished, “I’m not gonna waste any time. Futaba, slice the ship’s schematics from a terminal to help guide me, just don’t get too far from the others, ok?”

Futaba saluted Joker and made a beeline for the nearest terminal in the hangar, covered by Yusuke. While his comrades prepared for the inevitable Imperial counterattack, Joker found the closest elevator and rode it up. It could not take him right to the bridge. However, with Futaba’s help, he would get there as fast as he could and finish the fight for Toruun.

Guided by Futaba over commlink, Joker evaded Imperial guards and crew members. He navigated through the Yaldabaoth towards her bridge as fast as he could. By the time that he reached the lift that would take him to the hallway leading to the bridge, he had only had to eliminate four Imperials. Based on the reports Futaba had funneled to him, it sounded like the New Republic flotilla had nearly wiped out Shido’s entire support fleet. The Yaldabaoth would soon stand alone, and she had already lost many of her defensive emplacements.

When Joker exited the final elevator, now nearly at the bridge and sensing Akechi not far ahead of him, he saw two of Shido’s death troopers guarding a blast door. The two elite hostiles actually looked quite uneasy and impatient, from what Joker could tell. The black-armored soldiers were all that stood between Joker and the Yaldabaoth’s bridge.

Holding his DC-17 in one hand and his ignited lightsaber in the other, Joker charged down the hall. The two troopers in front of him leveled their blaster rifles. However, Joker gunned one of them down with a barrage from his high-powered pistol in short order.

The second death trooper opened fire on Joker, who rapidly deflected two of his bolts into the corridor’s walls. The hostile elite trooper refocused his aim while Joker leveled his own blaster again. The death trooper fired two more shots, one of which narrowly streaked past Joker. The other collided with Joker’s blaster pistol, sending it careening out of his hand, seriously damaged.

Joker grimaced, but refused to slow his advance. He fell upon the surviving Imperial elite and buried his lightsaber in the man’s armored chest. The second death trooper’s body went limp, and Joker deactivated his saber, allowing the slain enemy soldier to collapse to the floor.

Now that Joker stood directly in front of the blast door leading to the Yaldabaoth’s bridge, he contacted Futaba and told her, “I’m about to enter the bridge. I know Akechi’s in there, but I don’t know why he hasn’t moved in to engage you at the hangar. How’re you holding up?”

With the persistent sounds of blaster fire echoing in the background, Futaba replied, “I don’t know why Akechi’s still up there either, but someone’s sent a bunch more imps to try and dislodge us! They’re throwing everyone they can at us now! Be careful, but try to be quick too! We need to get outta here ASAP once Shido and Akechi are neutralized!”

Joker nodded, wishing he had not let his DC-17 get blasted a moment ago. However, he took a deep breath and replied, “I’m finishing this today for Toruun! Everything else comes second. Stay safe down there and protect our rides, Futaba.”

Futaba finished, “Got it. At least we’ve drawn their attention. …May the force be with you, Joker! Over and out!”

With that, Futaba terminated the transmission, and Joker turned to the door in front of him. He stretched out his free hand and willed the thick, reinforced door to open for just long enough to let him step through to the bridge.

What Joker found on the other side of the blast door was beyond anything he could have ever expected. The bodies of Imperial Navy officers, most of them marked by blaster burns, littered the crew pits. On the main walkway, Joker saw the corpse of none other than Masayoshi Shido in his Imperial uniform. A smoking hole had been burned right through his chest. Nearby Shido’s corpse, a badly damaged Imperial blaster pistol had landed on the walkway. Like Joker’s old DC-17, it looked like it had been shot out of its wielder’s hand, and ruined in the process.

Standing right behind Shido’s corpse was none other than Goro Akechi, still wearing his Imperial uniform but without his officer’s cap. There was a new look in the young man’s eyes. Akechi’s expression was filled with both profound pain and twisted resolve. Joker recoiled slightly upon locking eyes with his nemesis.

Akechi held one hand behind his back. However, his main hand gripped his Inquisitor saber in front of him. Akechi ignited both red blades upon seeing Joker, a demented smile covering his face. Akechi simply told Joker, cold conviction and just a small amount of pleasure in his voice, “Akira… You’ve finally arrived…. Good, I’ve been waiting for you.”

Chapter Text

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Earlier That Evening: The Bridge of the ISD Yaldabaoth:

            Goro Akechi walked onto the bridge of his father’s flagship, his inquisitor lightsaber secured to the back of his belt. The two death troopers guarding the Yaldabaoth’s command center allowed him to pass without question. They must not have known the nature of Akechi’s most recent orders. Before returning to the bridge, Akechi had cornered and spoken with one of the star destroyer’s gunnery commanders. The Imperial officer had obliviously confirmed Akechi’s worst suspicions, and ended up quietly eliminated for his trouble.

            Having quickly checked over the bridge crew in their pits, operating as effectively as they could with the numbers they had, Akechi quickly realized that Masayoshi Shido was alone on the bridge’s upper walkway. The man’s gaze was focused straight ahead of him.  

            One of the Yaldabaoth’s senior bridge officers reported up to Shido, “Sir, the rebel and separatist forces that engaged us are faltering. We’ve taken some losses, but I’m confident we will wipe them out shortly. Even if some of their ships reach our main hangar, I’ve ordered a large detachment of troopers to wait there, ready for action. More are on standby if need be.”

            Still looking ahead, Shido responded, “Very good. Once the enemy vessels are eliminated, this ignorant planet will suffer the consequences of crossing the Empire. Do not delay once the hostile fleet is vanquished. You have my permission to open fire on Ryo as soon as we are in range.”

            Akechi walked up right behind Shido, cleared his throat, and said, his conviction clear, “I highly recommend belaying that order. Have you forgotten our remaining loyalists in Ryo? Not to mention that Toruun is your own homeworld, governor.”

            Shido whirled around, undeniably surprised, but quickly asked his son, “…Captain Akechi, you were ordered to lead our fighter squadrons against the enemy… Why are you…”

            Akechi’s eyes narrowed while he responded, “I had a strong hunch that I should stay here. I know that I made the correct decision now. I am afraid that I must object to any bombardment of Ryo, even if she has fallen into enemy hands and most of her populace has turned against the Empire.”

            Shido’s eyes narrowed in return, and he shot back, trying to remain outwardly calm, “Captain, I am well aware that we did not evacuate the Yoshizawa family from Ryo in the interest of time. However, this drastic action is necessary to prevent Toruun from aiding enemies of the Empire. You need to stand down.”

            Akechi’s face remained cold, despite the raging emotions boiling within him. He took a quick breath and asked, “Tell me, Shido, when I first came to you after my mother’s passing, you were planning to have me killed before I confided in you and told you about gift my, weren’t you? Did you ever actually intend to recommend me as your successor to your Imperial masters?”

            Shido recoiled back in surprise and stammered, “Of course I was going to recommend you as my successor! I always intended to retire and enjoy the fruits of my labor one day! Who better to govern Toruun after me and secure my legacy than my only son!”

            It was plain as day that Shido was trying to evade Akechi’s first question, even if the answer he had given was honest. However, Akechi pressed him, “Even had I succeeded you, there were things you did that you never wanted me to know. Until the separatist cell exposed them for all to see, that is….” Akechi’s finally emotions boiled over and he exclaimed, “You fed me lies about ‘Imperial Justice’ and played on my youth and naivety to convince me that your rule was just and necessary! You used me to kill anyone you feared could have exposed you, or become a rival for your office! You failed to control Toruun with trite propaganda and military displays, so now you want to burn her cities and towns to the ground? …The worst of it is that I don’t even think those crimes are remotely unique among Imperials, are they?”

            Shido’s eyes narrowed even further, and he admitted, “…Clearly, I failed to instruct you properly, my son…. I don’t want to destroy the city I called home for so long, but the other Imperials must see that we still possess resolve and loyalty. That is how we survive! Sheev Palpatine did not build an Empire through sentimentality towards anyone, even though he knew how to fake such emotions when the need arose! Ryo must burn because she is a piece on the board of this galaxy and this war that now must be sacrificed for…”

            Akechi screamed, “For your own advancement and protection!” Rapidly calming himself, he finished, “I see that there is only one way to save Toruun now. …I thank you, father, for confirming what I had already begun to suspect. Now, your monster has come for you!”

            In one swift, brutal, series of motions, Akechi drew his lightsaber from his belt, pressed it against Shido’s chest and ignited both blades.

            One of Akechi’s crimson plasma blades penetrated Shido’s heart. Even despite the heat of their argument, Shido had been wholly unprepared for the possibility that his son would attack him on his own flagship’s bridge. The dying tyrant sputtered, “Damned brat…You are my greatest… mistake…”  

            Akechi deactivated his lightsaber, allowing Shido’s now lifeless body to hit the floor. The Imperial bridge crew were forced to focus on Akechi now. They cried out in shock, and many of them drew blasters.

            Akechi reignited his lightsaber and drew his blaster pistol, saying nothing, but daring the slain Shido’s loyalists to attack him with a furious glare.

            The bridge crew opened fire on Akechi, but he was more than ready for them. Raw emotion coursing through him, he deflected bolt after bolt into the Imperials. He opened fire with his own enhanced blaster pistol in return, mowing down any bridge crew members who found themselves in his sights. The death troopers standing outside of the bridge apparently none the wiser due to the heavy blast doors.

            Seconds after he gunned down the penultimate Imperial, Akechi was briefly, painfully, distracted. The last man standing managed to blast Akechi’s pistol out of his hand and onto the walkway. It landed right next to Shido’s corpse.

            Akechi used his spinning double saber to deflect three of the final hostile’s bolts into the ceiling and floor. He gritted his teeth and raised his now free hand to violently choke the man with the force. Within seconds, he outright snapped the neck of the last Imperial crewman on the bridge.

            Breathing heavily, Akechi knew that Ryo was not yet truly safe the way the battle outside was going. There was also his other objective. He knew what he had to do, no matter the cost.

            Suddenly, a series of sensors across the bridge went wild. Akechi looked out of the bridge’s reinforced viewports and saw three New Republic capital ships and twelve starfighters exiting hyperspace, ready for action. Despite everything Akechi could not help but smile. The true saviors of Toruun had finally arrived.

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The Present Moment: The Bridge of the ISD Yaldabaoth:

            Joker ignited his lightsaber while Goro Akechi stood before him, his own plasma sword lit. The young separatist asked his nemesis, “What happened here…?”

            Akechi’s unsettling expression calmed for a brief moment, one hand still behind his back. He responded, conviction obvious in his voice, “I did what I had to for the sake of Toruun. I learned what I needed to and gave my father one last chance to refrain from destroying Ryo. However, he revealed his true self to me and his crew. You might have already determined this, but he used me as his personal assassin by playing on my youthful ignorance. In the end, his justice was nonexistent. …I struck him down, and his foolishly loyal crew saved me some trouble by opening fire in response.”

            Wondering what Akechi was holding behind his back, Joker cautiously stepped forward and asked him, “So, even you finally realized the scumbag Shido truly was?” He took a deep breath, groaned, and reluctantly offered, “…The New Republic’s showed up, and this battle’s almost over, Akechi. …You might as well surrender the ship and end this now. I don’t know what’ll happen to you next, but you still have a girlfriend back in Ryo last time I checked.”

            Much to Joker’s concern, Akechi began laughing like a madman. The deep pain in his eyes and voice were unmistakable. The former Imperial assassin viciously responded, “That’s almost cute, coming from you. …No, much as I wish I could return to Sumire and hold her in my arms again, I will settle for her safety and our home’s survival. …I cannot forgive myself for what I did on Shido’s behalf, Akira. I do not deserve to live, and neither do you and your band of terrorists!”

            Joker blinked, but continued carefully advancing on Akechi, his eyes narrow. The young warrior asked the laughing Akechi, “You ordered more troopers to converge on the hangar after we took out the initial wave, didn’t you? Why won’t you just surrender and let Toruun be free?”

            Akechi glared at Joker and responded, rising madness infecting his voice, “Toruun WILL be free, Akira! She will be free of the Empire’s disgusting hypocrisy, and free of your cell at the same time! The New Republic will certainly be flawed, like the old one was. However, you know as well as I do that their arrival in Toruun’s hour of need will convince most of our people to support joining the new galactic government. …But I know you… No, you’re the type of fanatic who will never accept defeat! You’re a pathetic living ghost unable to move on from a past you never even lived! You’ll do whatever it takes to try and revive your deplorable lost cause! That means you, and all who follow you must die here today!”

            Joker did not even have a good response this time. He readied his saber while Akechi produced a small black device featuring a single red button from behind his back. Before Joker could say or do anything else, Akechi closed his eyes and pressed the button. He then dropped the device to the floor.

            Akechi gripped his lightsaber with both hands and began spinning its crimson blades. Joker furiously asked him, “What did you do?”

            Akechi rushed into battle and responded, “I activated this infernal ship’s self-destruct sequence! The destruction of this destroyer will cleanse the Imperial filth from Toruun, myself included! …Yes, I ordered the troopers to engage your little band. The fools thought I was still loyal to the Empire, so they complied. I also made sure to lock down every escape pod before you arrived! None of us will survive this day!”

            Trying to process the full magnitude of what Akechi had just started, Joker gripped his own saber and shouted back, “You really hate yourself, and me that much? You’ve doomed yourself just to kill my team!”

            Right before their final clash truly began, Akechi contorted his face into a mad grimace and told Joker, “I swore that I would kill all of your terrorists, Akira! I won’t give you the chance to order a retreat! …Now, please allow me to die alone in peace.”

            Joker and Akechi locked blades while the young separatist screamed, “I’ll kill you to save my team if I have to! Is this really how you think you can redeem yourself? Nobody else had to die here!”

            Ignoring Joker’s statements while viciously battering away at his defenses, Akechi declared, “This is how our rivalry ends! Two ideologies that cannot be reconciled, Republic versus Separatist! We’ll go down with this ship and Toruun will flourish without the taints we have spread!”

            Joker realized that despite the activation of Yaldabaoth’s self-destruct sequence, no alarms were going off on her bridge. Akechi must have disabled them along with the ship’s escape pods while awaiting “Akira’s” arrival. He could have disabled the alarms across the entirety of the Yaldabaoth using the controls on her bridge. That way, the other Phantoms and the Imperial troopers fighting them would die in the hangar when the ship’s reactor finally melted down. They would not realize what was going on until it was too late. It was possible that Futaba would uncover the impending meltdown via slicing. Still, that was far from guaranteed, especially if Akechi had been truly thorough in preparing his lethal trap.

            The madness that now drove Goro Akechi was strong enough to propel his strikes with more fury than ever. Joker held his own, but could not find an opening to attack. Even if he could somehow kill Akechi, or even deal a single crippling blow, Joker had very little chance of being able to reach the hangar before the Yaldabaoth self-destructed. This would be the end of him, one way or another.

            While he did all that he could to hold Akechi back, Joker’s mind flashed through memories of his comrades. They had stood by him no matter what for so long, whether or not they agreed with his hardline support for independence. They all fought for Toruun for their own reasons, but they were loyal companions, even Makoto, who he and the others had held prisoner for so long. He could not let them die! Akechi’s victory could not be complete! A free Toruun no longer meant much to Joker if his Phantoms were not alive to enjoy it. So many had already died in the struggle, he had to save his friends!

            It was clear to Joker that Akechi was right about the New Republic being viewed as Toruun’s saviors after the day’s decisive battle. Yoshida had been vindicated by their flotilla’s timely arrival, even if the ex-Phantom Hifumi Togo was the one responsible for carrying the message up the chain of command and pleading for Toruun’s salvation to her superiors. For once in Joker’s short life, independence was not on his mind. That dream was finally dead, but he would not allow his friends to join it in the past! One of Sojiro Sakura’s final orders also rang through his mind. Joker had been told to protect his friends with his life and that was exactly what he would do.

            Joker held his lightsaber in one hand and reached out to the force. He summoned a burst of power and leapt backwards towards the sealed blast door, while activating his commlink using a finger on his saber-holding hand.

            Futaba’s voice came over the commlink, “Joker? I’m back at the U-Wing now. We’re all still up, but taking heavy fire! Where are you?”

            Joker rapidly responded, “Get everyone and get off of the ship NOW! Akechi’s started her self-destruct! She’s gonna blow any minute!”

            Futaba simply replied, “WHAT?”

            Joker saw Akechi charging right at him, screaming with pure rage. He ordered, “Futaba, gather the team and get off the Yaldabaoth ASAP! It’s too late for me! Have Sophie fly my X-Wing! Don’t waste a second you don’t have to!”

            Futaba took a second to before she replied, “…No…Joker… Guys, back to the U-Wing, NOW!”

            Joker heard rapid footsteps and blaster fire over his commlink. He told Futaba, “Make sure all ships get as far away from the Yaldabaoth…GAAAH!” He suddenly cried out in terrible pain and recoiled back, barely able to stay focused and standing. Akechi had closed the gap and sliced off Joker’s saber hand in one dramatic, hateful strike.

            Akechi shouted over Joker’s commlink, “If you terrorists can hear me, accept your deaths! There will be no room for filth like you in the new Toruun! The republic will be restored atop all of our corpses!”

            Joker was flooded with a burst of clarity and purpose. Nobody talked to his friends like that! He stretched out his remaining hand and launched a series of powerful telekinetic waves that pushed Akechi back away from him and kept him at bay.

            While Akechi desperately tried to push through the waves of power and finish Joker off, Joker told his friends, “Guys, you all matter! Don’t let this maniac tell you that you don’t! …Here’s my last order! Escape, live your lives as best as you can, and never forget why we all fought the Empire together!”

            A chorus of voices responded over Joker’s commlink. The sounds of blaster fire dulled while Yusuke reported, “We’ve all boarded the transport, Joker! …We’re about to leave the Yaldabaoth behind. Sophie’s launching your X-Wing out of the hanger. Futaba’s contacting Hifumi to ensure the New Republic ships keep their distance.”

            Joker was unable to respond immediately because Akechi finally broke through his waves of telekinetic power and charged him again. Joker used his intact hand to force pull his lightsaber off of the walkway floor and into his free hand.

            Akechi reached Joker, and the two warriors locked blades one final time. The two young men furiously pressed their sabers against each other. However, Joker soon made out two shapes appearing from under the bow of the Yaldabaoth from out of the bridge’s windows and smiled. They were his X-Wing and Futaba’s U-Wing alright. The two Incom ships were making a beeline for the New Republic flotilla, joined by the three surviving starfighters from the original force sent up to engage Shido’s fleet. The New Republic ships were already pulling away from the badly damaged Yaldabaoth. They had received the report that she was about to self-destruct.

            Seeing Joker smile, Akechi glanced behind him and saw the two ships he had hoped would be destroyed in the hangar retreating towards safety.

            Akechi leapt back away from Joker. He exclaimed, “NO! I won’t let your band hold back Toruun’s future!” He tried to dive for one of the remote gunnery stations on the bridge. There were still a few intact turbolasers on the Yaldabaoth’s hull. Joker knew he had to prevent Akechi from activating one of those cannons and using it to prevent his friends from retreating to safety.

            Despite the searing pain still wracking his body, Joker gritted his teeth, surged forward, and leapt at Akechi. He closed the gap before his nemesis could leap down off of the walkway. Joker swung his lightsaber and severed one of Akechi’s legs, forcing the former Imperial Captain to collapse onto his stomach on the edge of the walkway. In the process, Joker lost his balance and fell to one knee, looming over his toppled archfoe.

            The maimed Akechi quickly rolled onto his back and screamed up at Joker, “Damn you! You’re nothing more than a terrorist who fought for an immoral cause that died years before we were even born!”

            Exhausted and in terrible pain, Joker was reminded of everything Chihaya had said to him regarding fate. This had to be what she had meant. Still, considering the dire situation he had found himself in, Joker was sure that he had made the best choice he could have. He had saved his friends’ lives.

            The Yaldabaoth shook violently. The warship’s core was so close to melting down that it could be felt on her bridge. That meant Joker, Akechi, and everyone else on board had only about a minute to live at most.

            Joker knew that Akechi’s suicidal plan to kill himself and the Phantoms had arisen from guilt and misunderstanding. Deciding that he would at least try to give his nemesis peace before the inevitable happened, Joker asked Akechi, “Would a mere terrorist have focused on saving his friends, rather than vainly trying to save his own skin?” He then dropped his lightsaber to the walkway floor and turned to his wrist-mounted commlink.

            Akechi blinked up at Joker and dropped his own lightsaber. Looking up at the ceiling, he grimaced and admitted, “Your crew was lucky to have been led by someone so unlike Shido.” Seeing that Joker’s commlink was still active, Akechi finished, “…I can’t stop whatever you might plot now… but please spare Sumire Yoshizawa arrest and take care of her as best as you can. She’s innocent of any crimes, and was as naïve about the Empire as I was. Please…”

            Before any of Joker’s friends could respond, Joker fell fully to his knees from exhaustion and ordered, “That request has my approval. Please carry it out. …Enjoy your freedom, guys. …You’ve earned it!” He could not help but tear up and smile while the Yaldabaoth shook even more violently.

            While Joker’s friends’ voices cried out to him over the commlink, he told them, “Don’t worry about me guys… What the hell was someone like me gonna do without a revolution to fight, anyway? Just keep the new government honest for me…the force will be with all of you, always…”

            The Yaldabaoth’s reactor exploded right as Joker finished his goodbye. He and Akechi looked to each other right before the roaring flames consumed them both. Two archrivals motivated by love for the same world met their ends together, and became one with the force.

Chapter Text

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Following the Destruction of the ISD Yaldabaoth:

            The Battle of Toruun was a complete loss for the Galactic Empire. Their entire flotilla was destroyed, thanks in major part to timely New Republic intervention. The survivors of the small Toruunian fleet returned to Ryo’s spaceport where they met up with Toranosuke Yoshida, Scrapper, and Dr. Maruki. The Medjed had successfully landed at the spaceport, despite having been severely damaged by Imperial fire.

            Hifumi Togo soon landed at Ryo’s spaceport in a New Republic U-Wing to reunite with her former comrades in the Phantom Cell, and meet Haru and Makoto for the first time. Everyone was deeply saddened by Joker’s death. However, he had saved his team from becoming further casualties of Goro Akechi’s guilt-driven madness.

            While Hifumi could not stay for long, it was clear to everyone that the New Republic’s timely arrival had secured the majority of Toruunians’ interest in joining the fledgling democracy. Many Toruunian separatists were swayed to some degree. They did not want to fight another war, this time undeniably against their own people. The New Republic flotilla departed Toruun’s orbit within a week of Shido’s demise, but their actions would not be easily forgotten. The New Republic also promised to handle ferrying nonhuman former slaves who wished to leave the system off of Toruun and back to their respective homeworlds in due time.

            The few remaining Imperial personnel on Toruun were either captured, killed, or fled the system within weeks of Governor Shido’s death. Native Toruunian former Imperials who made their sincere repentance clear were granted official pardons, including Makoto Niijima.

            Elections for the reconstituted Toruun Diet were underway within a month of the world’s liberation. There were very few objections to Toranosuke Yoshida being placed in charge of the proceedings. The man who had once been run out of Ryo as “No Good Tora” was elected Prime Minister of Toruun by the new Diet. He signed the New Republic’s charter soon after he took office. However, in his corresponding address, he promised to honor the concerns of Toruunian separatists, knowing well that they all shared and cherished the same world. He asked Scrapper to take the position of Head Instructor at the training academy for the restored Toruun Defense Force. The old clone accepted, never having been the type for retirement.

            While the Empire continued losing ground across the galaxy, the people of Ryo built a monument to those lost due to the Imperial occupation at the center of the city’s largest square. The names of Yuuki Mishima, Sojiro Sakura, and Munehisa Iwai were engraved in the monument, along with many others.

            Chihaya Mifune continued to practice her mystical lifestyle in the mountains. She clearly regretted being unable to truly foresee Joker’s demise and the loss of Yu Narukami’s lightsaber with him. She was consoled by the fact that he had died a hero, saving his friends from Akechi’s trap.

            Dr. Maruki moved into Ryo and began counseling Toruunians with post-traumatic stress developed due to the Imperial occupation and the ensuing fight to topple it. He even met with Sumire Yoshizawa on multiple occasions to help her through the grief of losing her lover after having already lost her sister.

            Sumire Yoshizawa’s father surrendered to pro-republic forces soon after the destruction of Shido’s flagship. He made a public apology for serving as one of Shido’s main cronies. He claimed to have realized the error of his ways when he learned that Shido had intended to destroy Ryo after losing control of the city. While he was officially pardoned and spared prison time, he was prevented from holding another communications-related job by the new government due to public pressure.

            Ichirisu Madarame proved too proud to beg for a pardon publicly, like Yoshizawa had. He was given a hefty jail sentence by a Toruunian tribunal. Yusuke Kitagawa testified against his former mentor at the tribunal. He testified on Madarame’s craven sacrifice of his artistic integrity to satisfy Shido’s continuous demand for propaganda pieces.

            Sumire Yoshizawa repeatedly resisted contact with the Phantoms until Makoto Niijima finally convinced her to speak with them. She was informed that her late lover had helped save Ryo from orbital bombardment and that he died for what he believed in in his own way. It would clearly take the girl a long time to recover, but she began to slowly warm to the people she had once seen as worthless terrorists.

Dr. Tae Takemi returned to Ryo’s most prestigious hospital after the liberation of Toruun and began practicing medicine there again. She made sure to treat those with injuries and infections caused on account of the Empire as carefully, effectively, and compassionately as possible.  

            Ryuji Sakamoto returned to his mother in Southern Ryo. While it was hard for him to accept that the cause he and Joker had fought so long for was fading away, he was relieved that his mother and most of his friends had survived the conflict. Still, he made it clear to everyone that he was going to keep an eye on the new government. Ryuji knew that he owed Joker and Yuuki Mishima alike his continued vigilance.

            Ann Takamaki finally reunited with Mona, and later her parents, after the Imperial retreat from the Toruun System. Ann’s parents were shocked to hear what she had been up to in their long absence. However, they were deeply relieved that their daughter was alive, despite having to reckon with the revelation of Governor Shido’s true depravity and Toruun’s change of allegiance. Ann’s mother told her husband that she had always known Shido was up to no good, which he was reluctantly forced to accept.

            Haru Okumura returned to her family’s estate and took full charge of it. She intended to put the Okumura family’s fortune to the best uses she could find for it in the new postwar environment. She carried great pride in herself for having requested the mission which had led to Shido being exposed. As far as she was concerned, her father had been avenged.  

            Futaba Sakura and Sophie returned to Southern Ryo and sold the parcel of land Leblanc had once stood on. After that, they took over Untouchable and transform it into a general-purpose technology emporium and repair shop. Futaba hired other staff members to help with the actual sales. The store’s part-time staff came to include Ryuji Sakamoto. The other Phantoms made sure to check in on Futaba and Sophie from time to time, considering Futaba’s lack of living family.

            Makoto Niijima finally made it home and back to her older sister Sae right after returning to Ryo’s spaceport. She told Sae everything she had learned about the Empire’s treachery right after the two sisters were finally reunited. She also made her older sister promise not to hold a grudge against the Phantoms for abducting her. She planned to join the reconstituted local police in Ryo while Toruunian society and government pulled itself back together. Makoto was more relieved than anything that she had ended up fighting for Toruun’s freedom and future in the end.

            Yusuke Kitagawa was able to secure public and private funding to build a new Academy of Toruunian Art in Central Ryo. He recruited a variety of artists from across his homeworld who were willing to teach their techniques to the next generation. Yusuke wanted to make sure that the sort of artwork his former mentor had once created would never die, honoring the man that he believed Madarame had once been.

            Despite his body, and Goro Akechi’s, never having been recovered, Joker was given a full military burial in absentia in Ryo’s largest cemetery, known as “Central Cemetery,” by locals. His gravestone immortalized the separatist revolutionary as a brave and gifted warrior who gave his youth, and ultimately his life for his homeworld and his comrades. His grave was frequently visited in the months following Toruun’s liberation.

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One Week After the Surrender of the Galactic Empire: Ryo’s Central Cemetery:

            The Galactic Civil War was officially over. Rumors persisted of Imperial Remnants hiding out in the far corners of the Outer Rim and biding their time. However, Toruun’s newly rebuilt defense force and status as a New Republic member state calmed citizen concerns about a possible Imperial return to their system.

The former members of the Phantom Cell had agreed to meet up at Joker’s grave that day, dressed in their nicest clothes. Sophie was with them, having insisted on coming with Futaba.

Yusuke Kitagawa watched while Ryuji stepped forward towards the gravestone and awkwardly said, “…Hey man, I know you’re not really down there… but we effing miss you for real. We want ya to know that the imps surrendered. The war’s finally over…I hope you can rest in peace now, buddy. …We’re all still here because of you….”

While Ryuji trailed off, Ann and Haru both teared up. Sophie beeped sadly while Futaba declared, “If the imps, or anyone like them, ever come back here, we’ll give them all kinds of hell for ya, Joker!” She quieted down and tearfully admitted, “…You were my brother… Despite all the fuss you made about the alliance, and the stupid, insensitive, things you’d say sometimes…I loved you….”

Yusuke nodded slowly while everyone heard a female voice saying, “…I really was wrong about Akira. He was so nice to me that day in Leblanc, after all. …No matter what terrible things Goro did, I still loved him. …I know he loved me and wanted to protect me more than anything. …He wanted me to live, and so I will. …I’m just glad that Goro died beside someone with principles in the end…”

Everyone turned to look at Sumire Yoshizawa, who stood a little bit apart from the former Phantoms. The red-haired girl was looking down at Joker’s gravestone, tears in her eyes. However, they all knew that she was thinking of Goro Akechi more than anyone else right now.

Makoto stepped over to Sumire, put a hand on the younger girl’s shoulder and admitted, “I invited her. Sorry I didn’t tell you all beforehand.” She then continued, “As much harm as Goro Akechi did on his twisted father’s behalf, he loved Toruun in his own way. Shido only wanted the power, wealth, and glory that came with his office. Akechi wanted to serve his people, which he believed he was doing, even when his mind was consumed by grief and self-hatred.”

Sumire nodded slowly, doing her best to restrain her crying in front of her former enemies. Everyone was silent for a few minutes after that.

Yusuke broke the silence by finishing, “We have one simple responsibility to Joker’s memory, and the memory of everyone else Toruun has lost. We must do all that we can to make a better future for ourselves and our home! That is how we must honor their memories. We are lucky to be here today, and we must never squander that good fortune!”

Everyone nodded, including Sumire. Sophie beeped affirmatively and saluted Yusuke with a metal arm. After another few minutes of silent contemplation, the assembled youth shared the best, most resolute, smiles they could muster and parted ways. Yusuke had meant everything he had said and everyone else knew it. Living their best lives and ensuring that the liberated Toruun had a bright future was all they could do for the ones they had lost now. They would never accept failure, and they knew that they would be far from alone, no matter what challenges they faced.  

STAR WARS: Phantoms of Independence THE END