After thoroughly bullying Sain as part of his daily routine, Amir felt relaxed—so much so that he even helped Little Jay paint a few designs on his new speeder bike.
That night, without any electronics to entertain them, Amir and Rango ended up playing Dejarik at Veronica's place. The holographic board projected eight miniature monsters biting and clawing at each other.
Amir's K'lor'slug spewed a blast of purple venom, knocking out all four of Rango's wounded beasts.
"Hahaha! See? You should've deployed a Gekk Beast—it could've healed them."
Rango frowned and gritted his teeth. "One more round!"
"Nope. We've been at it all night. I'm bored," Amir said, flopping onto the couch with a stretch.
"I'll play! I'll play!" Little Jay immediately jumped in to face Rango.
"What are you reading?" Amir asked, noticing Veronica was absorbed in a digital screen.
"Something about mechanics," she replied curtly.
Amir leaned over and read the title: "Portable Anti-Vehicle Autocannons in Low-Energy Environments—A Conceptual Analysis Based on the Atgar Turret Series."
"You're not seriously thinking of installing an anti-vehicle laser cannon in your left arm, are you? That's nuts. These kinds of articles are total scams!" Amir exclaimed.
"Not necessarily. If I had a stable core-xium power supply…"
"You'd blow your own arm off," Amir replied flatly.
After a dull evening, Amir found himself itching to recreate the games from his past life. Fueled by nostalgia for that rich entertainment, he slowly drifted to sleep.
Meanwhile, on Coruscant…
In a dim hall, three red lightsabers flickered. Two of them attacked a lone figure.
"Your training is still inadequate. The Empire has no use for weak Inquisitors."
The deep, mechanical voice belonged to Darth Vader, who effortlessly deflected the double-bladed lightsabers of his two opponents. With only one blade, he controlled the flow of combat, even guiding their strikes back toward each other.
Seventh Sister lunged with a new saber.
This time, Vader didn't hold back. His crimson blade tapped the hilt's rear, breaking her stance. Then, with a spin against her grip, he nearly disarmed her.
Terror filled her mind.
Without pause, Vader stepped in and gently slashed upward.
"AAAAAHHH!!" Seventh Sister screamed as her right hand fell to the floor, severed clean at the wrist.
"Good. Fear, anger—use them. They are your source of power. Feel them."
Then Vader turned to Fifth Brother.
"I heard you encountered someone… interesting?"
Fifth Brother's towering figure trembled. "Yes, Lord Vader. Intelligence suggests he's affiliated with a resistance group."
The next morning, Amir downed a cup of rich milk tea and got to work repairing a busted toaster.
The shop door opened.
"Welcome," Pierre called out. "Oh, it's you—Miss Witch."
Amir looked up and saw the cloaked girl.
"Mr. Amir, please—I beg you, help us!" Gulgina bowed deeply, her raspy voice full of urgency.
"What's wrong?" Amir paused his work.
"I couldn't stop worrying about Mr. Huck and the others, so I called on the Forest Spirit for a vision…"
"I saw them—all of them—swallowed by darkness…" Gulgina clutched her head in pain.
"Stop. Don't force it," Amir said, helping her to the couch. "Where are they now?"
She whispered, "They already left. I heard they were going to a repurposed factory in Sector 34 of the industrial district on Level One."
"I'll go check it out."
He stepped into the warehouse and grabbed his gear: simple bracers, a switchless lightsaber, a clone trooper helmet, and his blaster.
As he exited, he found Gulgina waiting by the door.
"I'm troubling you again… I don't have much, but please accept this." She removed her hood, revealing golden hair, and lifted a necklace from around her neck.
It was a thumb-sized pendant—a green crystal wrapped in delicate threads.
"My mother gave me this. She said it's a token of the Forest Spirit," she said, offering it to him. "Please take it. I believe it was meant for you. I was selfish not to say so earlier."
Amir took the crystal. For a moment, he saw a faint glow pulsing inside it—like a heartbeat.
"A kyber crystal."
The core of every lightsaber, kyber crystals channeled power into a focused blade. Legends said they also amplified the Force.
Amir had found lightsabers before, but none of their crystals had ever glowed like this.
He accepted the gift. Gulgina looked relieved.
"I'm heading out."
"Be safe."
As Amir crossed the workshop, Pierre gave him an encouraging look.
Then he saw Veronica waiting by the door, arms crossed, red hair tied with a band.
"I'm coming too," she said.
Amir knew better than to argue. "Gulgina—lend her your cloak."
The witch helped Veronica into the oversized cloak. Its hood covered her completely.
Amir mounted Kola. Veronica jumped onto her own speeder. Together they ascended toward the upper levels, wind tugging at their cloaks.
Amir slipped the kyber crystal around his neck.
Through it… he thought he could hear blaster fire.
.
.
.
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