“Do you mind?” Li-Sen asked quietly, looking over at her companion.

Lando glanced up and tapped the ash off the end of his cigar. “No,” he replied, and took another drag. He waited for her to begin her story.

Li-Sen sighed, but made the diplomatic decision not to argue with him. It wouldn’t have been very intelligent to fight with the man who was responsible for saving both their lives. She leaned back, more to get away from the cigar smoke than anything else, and thought about how she’d gotten there.

It had all started with a simple game of cards. Li-Sen Kenobi, the daughter of a senator and heiress to billions, had just gotten through her sixteen years of formal education and was returning to the estate where she and her wealthy mother lived. While at school, she had taken up the hobby of playing sabacc, a semi-easy card game. Upon arriving home, Li-Sen had convinced her mother, Lady Tae-Kai Genera, to allow her to invite the galaxy-famous gambler, Lando Calrissian to play. “To test the phenomenal luck he’s reputed to have,” her daughter claimed. Li-Sen had heard about Calrissian from her friends, the same ones who had taught her how to play sabacc. One of them even claimed to have played with him before. Lady Genera, having catered to her daughter’s every whim since she had been born, could not have possibly turned this request down.

So, with minimal begging from her daughter, an amused Lady Genera had agreed and an invitation was sent to Captain Calrissian.

Two days later, a battered freighter landed in the private spaceport in the Genera Estate.

Li-Sen was there to meet Lando Calrissian, pilot of the Millennium Falcon, a tall, dark man a few years older than her. He looked-

Handsome, Li-Sen thought.

-Sure of himself in the royal blue semi-formal ship-suit he wore. “I’m glad you could join me, Captain Calrissian,” she said, extending her hand to him.

A smile spread across Calrissian’s face and he took the proffered hand, placing a kiss on the back. “Thank you for inviting me, Miss Kenobi. And please, call me Lando. Captain Calrissian sounds so formal.”

She returned his smile. “Well, then, Lando, welcome to the Genera Estate. We’ll be playing in the back garden.”

She led him around the side of the expansive mansion, to a large landscaped, probably equally expensive lawn. “I’ve heard much about your abilities at sabacc from my friends. I can’t wait to test them myself.”

They sat down at a white table with two chairs. Li-Sen picked up the deck of cards lying there, waiting for someone to do just that, and offered them to Lando.

“ If you would, Captain.”

Yes, indeed, it had all started out with a simple card game…that was, if you could call sabacc simple. The game was based around a deck of seventy-eight cards in four different suits; Sabers, Coins, Flasks and Staves, all from Aces (valued at one) to Masters (valued at fourteen), plus an extra suit of twenty-two cards, all with negative values. The goal was to get twenty-three points, but to go above, to get exactly zero, or a negative twenty-three or below would cause one to lose automatically. There was only one thing that could not be relied upon; the cards were actually computer chips. At random, the faces changed, transmuted into a card of a completely different value or suit. Unless placed facedown on the electromagnetic field of the tablemat, a winning hand could change instantly to a losing one, or vice versa. Fives were wild.

In essence, it was simple, once you got the hand of it, of course. And while Li-Sen had thought she had a good grasp on the game, her quickly dwindling pile of winnings said otherwise. A good grasp on the game was apparently nothing compared to Lando’s luck, which was as good as, if not better, than had been rumored at her school.

Li-Sen threw her card-chips down in disgust. Another losing hand. Was it humanly possible for someone to lose this much? She shook her head in disbelief. “Mind if we take a break, Lando? I don’t think I can stand much more of this awful luck of mine without something to drink.”

Lando chuckled and stood up to stretch. “We can stop if you like,” he offered, obviously happy with his own luck.

“ Yes, that would agree with you, wouldn’t it?” Li-Sen replied dryly, although her smile betrayed that she wasn’t really upset. “I already owe you enough to purchase a small planet.”

“ You’re right about that one,” the professional gambler agreed, grinning. It was actually Lando’s habit to lose purposely on small bets and then rake in winnings on the big ones. People got less suspicious that way, even though he had never cheated before and wasn’t about to start now. He was trying to do that now; win on big, lose on small bets, but despite all attempts to lose, Li-Sen always seemed to beat him to it. She didn’t seem upset, however, and that agreed just fine with him.

Li-Sen shook her pretty head again, this time to stop herself from bursting into laughter. “Would you like another drink?” She signaled to a silvery 'droid at Lando’s nod. It hurried over immediately.

“ May I get you something, Miss Li-Sen?” asked the automated, effeminate voice.

“ I’d like a soda and Lando would like a…” She trailed off, glancing at him for an answer.

“ The same,” he prompted.

The 'droid nodded “Yes, Miss Li-Sen. I’ll be right back with your drinks,” and went off.

Li-Sen sank back into her chair and watched in disapproving silence as Lando took a cigar out of his breast pocket and lit it with a lighter taken from the same place.

“ Want one?” he asked, not noticing-or perhaps ignoring the look of disdain on her face.

“ No, thank you, I don’t-Ah!” She let out a scream as an explosion rocked the estate. Lando fell out of his chair in surprise, dropping the cigar, which rolled away into the grass.

He scrambled to his feet, finding it hard as a series of slightly smaller, but more rapid eruptions followed. Across the table, Li-Sen had fallen as well, but was shakily making her way up and yelling for help. Her yells were cut short by her second scream, however, when the east wing of the mansion collapsed. “Mother!”

Realizing the seriousness of the situation, Lando grabbed her arm. “Come on! This place is going to be destroyed,” he guessed (and rightly). “And us with it if we don’t get out!” With that said, he began pulling her towards the spaceport. “We can get out on the Falcon!”

Li-Sen didn’t protest at first, then, as if it was suddenly dawning on her-which it was-she pulled her wrist away and put both hands around her mouth. “Doxie!” she yelled. “Doxerith!”

There was a loud, high-pitched bark and a small orange and white animal came running towards them.

Though inwardly annoyed, Lando waited until Li-Sen picked up the tiny ball of fur to drag her onwards. He looked back as they reached the Millennium Falcon and his heart wrenched at the tears streaming down the heiress’s face. He shook his head, however. Tears were not incapacitating. Death was. He’d comfort her when they were far away, preferably on a different planet, or even in a different star system. He pressed the button to open the hatch. Dragging them in, he closed the hatch, and then marched to the cockpit, leaving the sobbing girl and her animal in the corridor.

Lando, not knowing where else to go, had set the trajectory for the next planet in the K’ler System, the tiniest planet, farthest away from the old, red sun of the K’ler System.

It didn’t take them long to get to the tiny desert planet of Naího. Checking the computer’s databank, Lando read all there was about Naího, which wasn’t much. That made sense, he told himself. According to the computer, Naího had only been inhabited for a few galactic years, then been deserted because of the shallow atmosphere and constant dust storms.

Lando also reviewed one of the sub-articles. There had also been some reported trouble with creatures at one time…Monsters of some sort, but it was believed that they had all been destroyed. Shrugging, he switched the databank computer off and commenced landing.

Chapter Two

Li-Sen had noticed the engines idle and then die. She stood up, wiping tears from her eyes, and ventured out of the passenger’s lounge where she had been sitting, into the corridor. Doxie followed at a brisk trot, seemingly not at all affected by Li-Sen’s distress over her mother.

Doxie wasn’t, as Lando had assumed, Li-Sen’s pet. Far from it. He appeared to be a small mammal that resembled a cross between a cat and a dog. He had orange fur with white patches, could communicate telepathically, and was more of a...bodyguard, if an innattentive one.

“ Lando?” Li-Sen called apprehensively.

The gambler chose that moment to step out of the cockpit into the corridor. “Are you all right?” he said, walking towards her.

She nodded silently. “Shaken and upset, but physically, yes, I’m fine.” She paused, glancing out of a view port. “Where are we?’

“ We’re on Naího,” Lando informed her. “I didn’t really know where else to go, so…” He trailed off, shrugging.

“ Naího is perfect,” Li-Sen assured him. “No one will think of looking for us here. It’s been deserted because the climate is incredibly harsh,” she explained. She made an odd look for a moment, thinking that she sounded like one of her college professors, which reminded her of her mother. Her mother, who had insisted she attend the best-and most expensive-school the galaxy had to offer: Mogen School in the Antari System. At this thought, tears threatened to flow again, and finally did when she failed to hold them back.

Lando gave her an almost apologetic look. “Do you want to talk about it?” he offered. He wanted to know what the Core had gone on at the estate, but he was more worried about the girl’s well being.

As if reading his mind, Li-Sen hurriedly wiped away the tears and shook her head. “No, not about my mother, but thanks just the same. I should tell you about what happened back there, though.”

Lando didn’t answer, but followed her to the lounge. Li-Sen seated herself regally on a small chair, upright, as she had been taught since she was a child.

Lando lowered himself into another chair, adjusting to be as comfortable, and seem as cool and relaxed as he could. While waiting for Li-Sen to begin, he lit a cigar and leaned back, exhaling the smoke.

Li-Sen finally leaned back up, waving cigar smoke out of her face. “I suspect it was Uso-shi Jinn,” she stated matter-of-factly. “He wants to kill my mother and I.”

“ So this…Uso-shi guy…he blew up your estate to kill you?” Lando seemed skeptical. “Why?”

“ He hates me.”

“ What’d you do to him?”

Li-Sen shifted in her seat, looking uncomfortable before answering. “We used to be engaged. But, mother didn’t approve, so I broke it off with him. My sister, she…” Li-Sen paused, her voice breaking as the wave of tears washed over her again. She thought of her mother-the beautiful Lady Genera, now dead, buried under a pile of rubble created by Uso-shi. She thought of her sister, who had been the perfect one, older than Li-Sen by several minutes. When her sister-Kae, her name had been-had died, Li-Sen had nearly gone mad, striving to be everything for herself and her sister. To be enough to make her parents proud for both of them. To be everything to fill the void left by her lost half.

“ Uso-shi killed her two years ago,” Li-Sen explained, managing to keep her voice even through the tears. “Since I’m…the only one left anymore, he’s after me.”

Lando thought about this, absently chewing on the end of his cigar. This was a bit much to swallow. “Back up a parsec,” he said suddenly. “How can you be sure you’re the only one?”

“ I just…. know,” the now billionaire replied evasively. Unbeknownst to Lando, Li-Sen had been given Jedi training as a child, learned to sense the strange entity called the Force, to sense other things and people. Now, she had reached out with her mind to touch Uso-shi’s and her mothers’. Her mother gave no answer, meaning her death. She was careful as she searched the deep recesses of Uso-shi’s depraved brain, to see what his dark intentions about her were. She had trusted he would not shut his mind away from her. Uso-shi liked to play things fair, to give her a chance, however small, to fight back against him. He loved seeing her-or anyone, for that matter, try to resist his great and evil will.

The ship’s captain didn’t pry. “You say we should be safe on Naího for a while. How much constitutes ‘a while’?”

“ A week at the very most,” came the reply. “But I can assure you we’ll be fine for at least a few days.”

“ Right…” Lando snubbed out his cigar. “Well, then, we should use that time to our advantage and get out of here.”

Li-Sen blew a stray strand of strawberry blonde hair out of her face before leaning in over the table in the lounge.

"Tonight, you go out and make sure there isn’t anyone or anything who knows we’re here, while I make preparations on the Falcon. You know, make sure everything’s in working order, tune up…We won’t be able to waste any time getting to our-my,” she corrected herself, “Second estate in the Oseon. Once we get there, I’ll contact the authorities.”

Lando nodded. “Sounds good to me.” He stood. He was beginning to grow quite fond of her. By the Core, any girl who knew how to deal with a ship like his Falcon and was that cute was fine by him. “You sure you know what you’re doing, Li?” Lando had a habit of shortening people’s names-and Li-Sen wasn’t exactly the kindest to his tongue, although he heard worse. He chuckled inwardly at the thought of a certain Elder from a certain vacuum-breathing race he’d happened upon only a few years earlier. Li-Sen gave him a harsh look, but didn’t otherwise protest the sudden nickname.

She flipped her hair behind her shoulder haughtily. “I didn’t go to the best school in the galaxy for fourteen years for nothing, Lando,” she snapped. “Honestly, what do you think I am? Some kind of washout?”

Lando chuckled and tousled her perfectly styled hair, mussing it. He was beginning to enjoy ticking her off. She was cuter with that indignant look, anyways. Li-Sen scowled. “That remains yet to be seen, old aristocrat.”

She scowled even more at this. “Just leave, will you?”

Shaking his head, still laughing softly at her indignation, Captain Calrissian casually left the lounge.

Humming to herself, Li-Sen began to tinker around; checking to make sure everything in the Millennium Falcon was sound. Some people might not understand why she was humming, but she preferred not to dwell in the past, to get on with life. Now was no exception. No way was she going to dwell on her sorrow. Suddenly, she spotted something unusual with the circuitry. “Hullo…. what’s this?”

“Honey, I’m home!” Lando exclaimed jovially as he closed the hatch a few hours later.

Li-Sen’s head poked out of the doorway leading to the cockpit. “Bit presumptuous of you, isn’t that, Captain?”

“ Who said anything about you, old mechanic? I was talking to the cog!” Lando scooped Doxie up, grinning playfully at Li-Sen. Doxie barked and wagged his tail until it looked like it might fall off. He was never bothered by anything.

Li-Sen didn’t seem amused, nor did she seem annoyed. Odd, Lando thought, not that he minded, of course. If she wasn’t annoyed, it meant she was warming up to him. Girls were always easier to deal with if they trusted you.
“ I’m judging by your tone, my dear wishful thinker, that there’s nothing out there to be worried about.”

Lando nodded and set Doxie back on his furry feet. “So…what’s for dinner?”

“ Humph!” The girl snorted. “Why don’t you go cook it and then tell me?”

The gambler chuckled. “Haven’t yet met a girl willing to banter with me like that. Hungry?” He didn’t wait for an answer, but put his arm around her shoulders-which, even more mind boggling to Lando, she didn’t object to-and hauled her down the hall to the lounge. Doxie followed, yapping out the melody Li-Sen was so fond of humming.

A while later, the two were seated across from each other at the table where they had made their plans.

“ So you’re sure there’s nothing out there, Lan?” Li-Sen asked. Two could play at that game, she told herself as she pushed away her now empty meal container.

Lando nodded in answer, not seeming to care either way. Just like him, she said to herself, rolling her eyes as he lit a cigar. His third that day, she noted. “Not enough intelligent life-forms to fill the trunk of a skyhopper.” He took a drag of his cigar and exhaled the smoke, trying not to blow it in Li-Sen’s face. “How’d things go with the Falcon?”

“ Perfectly, to say the least. I tuned up a few instruments; everything’s running perfectly now,” she replied.

“ Great.” He nodded, tapping the ash from the end of his cigar into his own empty meal container. Li-Sen had by now stopped rolling her eyes at his habit, in the new light of ignoring it, instead. He stood and took both containers, dumping them into the small door that led to the trash container down under the deck of the Falcon. “Great,” he repeated as he sat back down.

“ Where are we supposed to sleep, anyway?” Li-Sen asked, as if she had been waiting all day for a chance to ask. In fact, she had noticed while looking around the freighter earlier, that there were no sleeping quarters, or anything of the sort. There only seemed to be lots and lots of cargo space.

Lando considered this. “There’s the table…and the chairs in the cockpit. That’s about it. But I only have one blanket.” He admitted the next bit a tad sheepishly. “Unfortunately, I kind of lost the other two when I was kidnapped in the Pahsten System.” He looked away, muttering about “the stupid Pahstenian law enforcement”.

“ Oh, wonderful…” The sarcasm in Li-Sen’s voice was unmistakable.

Chapter Three

"Give it!” Li-Sen hissed.

Lando glared over his shoulder at her. “You! You’ve got all of it! And besides, it’s freezing!”

“ I know! And I do not have all of it! I’m over here shivering!”

“ Well, so am I!”

The blanket was pulled back and forth as they exchanged harsh words, both refusing to surrender it. Lando gave one final yank, pulling the blanket out of Li-Sen’s hands…and her onto him.

They stared at each other in surprised silence for a moment before Li-Sen finally righted herself, blushing a deep red. She snatched the blanket off the floor where it had fallen, momentarily forgotten, and stomped to the door of the lounge.

“ I’m going to sleep in the cockpit and you can do whatever you damn well please!” she declared haughtily before stalking out.

Lando sat there on the table for a moment, stunned, before he finally shook himself out of it and jumped up, running down the corridor after her. “Li-Sen! I’m sorry! Really, I-Whoa!” He was thrown off his feet as the ship shuddered violently. “What the Core was that?”

His surprise was forgotten when he heard Li-Sen’s scream. “Lando! Get in here!” He did, running as fast as he could, and threw himself right into the captain’s chair.

“ Get off me, you buffoon!”

“ Hey!” He jumped up, glancing down at the bright red Li-Sen he had accidentally sat on. Sighing, he began to inspect the controls, which here going haywire. Lights everywhere were yellow and red and the cockpit was filled with the wail of numerous sirens and alarms. “What the Core is wrong with this hunk of junk?”

“ There’s some kind of creature out there!” Li-Sen exclaimed, obviously distressed…which was understandable. Lando glanced out the front view port.

“ Whoa!”

Outside, the orange sand was moving along with some creature. Lando reflected on the Naího report he’d read. Monsters. “Uh-oh.”

“ No, really?” Li-Sen snapped sarcastically. Lando glared in her general direction and she shut up.

“ Our only hope is to get out of here, then!” He began pressing buttons in the correct sequence, but the engines whined to life…and promptly died. “What the-” He turned an accusing glare at Li-Sen. “What did you do to my ship?”

“ I-I tuned it up! I told you! It started earlier!” she replied defensively.

“ Well, it’s not starting now!” he spat back. Flipping a few switches, Lando went to the door. “I’m going to check the circuitry. You keep an eye on things up here.” He exited and sat down in front of the panel he knew led to the innards of the Millennium Falcon and opened it. “By the Eternal! What a mistake I made in letting you touch her at all!” He sighed. He had his work cut out for him.

“ Well, sorry!” Li-Sen yelled from the cockpit. “But maybe if it weren't held together with paper clips and chewin-“

Both yelled as the ship shook again. The creatures were obviously very near them. The sick realization came upon Li-Sen suddenly. They’re trying to bury us! Abruptly, she yelped and Lando heard a muffled thud, as she was thrown aside from the door, out of sight.

“ Li!” He jumped up, racing to the cockpit, not noticing as Doxie whined and climbed into the cavity left with the paneling removed. He pushed several wires with his paw. Now was the time to put his mind to it’s full potential.

When Lando got to the cockpit, Li-Sen was getting, unsteadily, to her feet, holding one side of her head.

“ Li?” He hurried to support her, forgetting the ship and the plight they were in. He always helped his friends and Li-Sen could, by now, be considered that, despite what she’d done to his poor ship.

She looked up and smiled weakly, to convince him she was fine. “Don’t worry about me, you idiot! Fix the ship! Get us out of here!”

All the same, her helped her into the co-pilot’s seat, looking down as Doxie entered, yapping happily, before leaping into Li-Sen’s lap.

“ Try to start the ship,” Li-Sen directed, stroking the animal's head.

Lando raised an eyebrow at her and Doxerith, but did as she suggested and started the ship. The sound of the engines rose from an idle hum to a gentle roar. He gave Li-Sen a surprised, but approving look. She just smiled knowingly and put her head back, patting Doxie. Slowly, the ship rose into the atmosphere of Naího and sped away from the tiny planet, to the great relief of all.

Millions of kilometers away, among the wreckage of the estate that had been destroyed by Uso-shi Jinn, an obscure figure crouched to inspect the ground. The estate, originally one square kilometer of beautiful, cultivated landscaping, was now a plant graveyard.

Hundreds of trees, including a small throng called affectionately by Li-Sen and Lady Genera “the back woods”, lay scattered around the property, usually meters away from where they had once been upright. Bushes were piles of burned leaves and smoldering twigs. There were no flowers in sight, where before, they had been everywhere. Instead, the entire square kilometer was scattered with small flames that had not yet died.

And in the center of it all, the huge mansion, over a hundred professionally decorated rooms, was reduced to a pile of bricks, metal planks, and roof shingles. Occasionally, one could spot a protruding piece of furniture-maybe a couch, or the posts of Li-Sen’s bed. Dust filled the normally turquoise blue swimming pool, turning it a brownish mud.

Reaching out, the figure pressed one of its four fingers against a metal plank stained by some dark liquid, which was still slightly wet. The figure’s hand had three fingers, although there was a place where a fourth might have been, next to the thumb, but was not. The hand went back inside the cloak and rose toward what might have been a mouth, but was obscured by the hooded black robe.

“ Blood,” hissed the figure after a moment of indecisiveness. There was a derisive snort and the hand came out of the robe again, this time to lower the hood, since it knew there was no chance of being seen. Everything on the estate was dead and destroyed, from the smallest cleaning 'droid to the human butler.

The hood, when lowered, revealed the head of a man who appeared to be in his early thirties, maybe slightly younger. He was fair of skin, and hair, but his eyes were a deep dark brown. They flared for a fleeting moment, an ethereal blue.

He looked down at the plank, imagining that a body lay below it. “Good bye, Tae-Kai,” he said to the imagined body of his...ex’s mother. He stood. “And now off to find dear little Li…”

Chapter Four

The landscape was beautiful, but Li-Sen was too annoyed to enjoy it. She paid no heed to the sprawling green hills in the distance, to the blue lake sparkling in the light of the setting triple suns. Beyond the hills, the beauty of the majestic red mountains was lost on her.

Li-Sen was seeing red, however. So angry was she that she didn’t notice when the hatch to the Millennium Falcon opened and its captain entered.

They had been one system away from their destination, the Oseon, when it happened. The engine had hiccupped and a light near Li-Sen had flashed red. An alarm blared, but Li-Sen didn’t wake. She was exhausted from the problem with the creatures on Naího. Doxie was asleep as well, snoring in her lap. Lando was left to check the light on his own.

“ Damn!” The fuel was running low, they’d have to stop. He checked the targeting computer. Antari System was the closest. He’d stop there to refuel and on the way to the Oseon before Li-Sen even woke up.

All it would take was one simple stop...

Well, he had thought it would take one simple stop.

He was wrong.

Lando had taken one look at the fuel prices. It had only taken one look to tell him he didn’t have enough. And he wasn’t about to ask Li-Sen for money.

For one, he was too much of a gentleman. No gentleman would ask the girl he was helping for money, not even if she was as well endowed with it as Li-Sen was. Nor was he willing to risk her wrath at his stupidity in not checking the fuel gauge until it was too late. He couldn’t stand traveling with angry woman. And women like Li-Sen, in Lando’s experience, didn’t just get angry. They got enraged. They fumed and wouldn’t listen to reason and, in fact, refused to speak to Lando at all, unless it was something less than civil.

More on the positive side, however, Lando could easily get money enough to refuel the ship playing sabacc. After all, he was a gambler. And one with amazing luck, at that.

So, he decided to leave a note for Li-Sen and go off to get the money he needed.

It didn’t take him long to find a healthy game. One thing he liked about the Antari-it, like the Oseon, was the rich man’s playground. Here was where all the people like Li-Sen, the children of million and billionaires, senators, governors and rulers, came to play. Lando grinned. Children like that were notoriously bad at games of chance. He smiled faintly. Li-Sen was a perfect example of that.

He didn’t intend to stay in the game long, just long enough to get money to cover refueling and any other emergencies they might have between there and their final destination on Oseon 4127.

However, his ambition forbid him from stopping when there were such large stakes. It took the beep of a transmission on his wrist communicator to make him realize what he was doing again.

Lando excused himself from the game, stuffing his winnings into one of the compartments on his cummerbund, and left in a hurry, ducking into an alley off the street outside to listen to the message.

“ Millennium Falcon to captain.” It was Li-Sen, as he had suspected. “Get your sorry butt back here at once, Calrissian, and explain yourself!”

He sighed. “Yeah, yeah, I hear you, Li,” he spoke into the comlink. “I’ll be back soon as I can. At the moment, there are more pressing things that deserve my attention. Over.”

“ Like what?! Why are we even here to begin with?!”

Lando shook his head. “Let me get back to you on that, Li. I’m kind of busy at the moment. Over and out.” He switched off the communicator. Boy, he’d be in for it when he got back.

“And then, I woke up to find us here,” Li-Sen paused. “It was…unnerving to say the least.”

Lando stopped outside the doorway to the cockpit. Is she talking to herself? No, she couldn’t be. He shook his head. She was probably just complaining to Doxie. He walked into the cockpit…and promptly stopped dead in his tracks from surprise.

“ V-Vuffi Raa?” he whispered in disbelief.

“ Hello, Lando!” answered the little robot seated in the co-pilot’s chair, previously talking to Li-Sen. It waved one of its five chromium-plated tentacles.

“ How did you…”

“ Get here, Master?” the 'droid prompted. “Well, as you know, I continued to explore the galaxy after our parting three years ago,” he began. “And-“

“ Don’t call me Master!” Lando broke in.

Vuffi Raa gave the five-armed, mechanical equivalent of a shrug. “Old habits die hard, Lando. I happened to be on this planet when I heard what I thought was your voice coming from an alleyway. When I saw it was, indeed, you, I thought I’d go back to the ship to surprise you when you returned."

Li-Sen nodded to confirm this and shifted in her seat. “Very interesting machine, Captain.”

“ Yeah, we had fun together.” Lando grinned and tapped the red, faceted “eye” in the center of Vuffi Raa’s five-sided torso. “Didn’t we, old can-opener?”

The robot’s optical sensor twinkled, as if he was smiling. “We certainly did, Lando.”

“ Er…Lando,” Li-Sen spoke up finally. “Don’t you think we’d better get going?”

“ Oh, right.” Lando shooed her out of the pilot’s seat-which she wasn’t too happy about-and sat down, then turned to Vuffi Raa. “We’re heading towards the Oseon. Care to join us?”

“ I’d like that,” the 'droid replied. “Thank you.”

“ Don’t worry about it, old automaton. We didn’t have near enough adventures together, if you ask me.” Lando began the sequence to take off, with Vuffi Raa’s help.

“ I thought you were going to settle down and be responsible.”

Lando snorted. “That attempt was short-lived.”

Chapter Five

"First we have to stop on Antari XVII, now we crash land on Tatooine!” Li-Sen fumed. “I don’t believe you didn’t check the computer! Can you do nothing right, Calrissian?!”

Lando did his best to ignore her. He knew she was wrong; he had checked the computer before taking off, but it had given no indication that they weren’t headed in the right direction. How the Core they had ended up on Tatooine, of all places, was beyond him. But Li-Sen didn’t seem to understand that. She was staring at him, irritated, a few feet away in the sand. Lando glared at her.

“ It wasn’t my fault!” he snapped. “Someone must have sabotaged it while you were asleep and I was gone!”

“ Oh? Like who? The 'droid?” Li-Sen asked coldly, waving in the direction of Vuffi Raa, who was doing his best to stay out of the way.

Lando snorted angrily. That was his best friend she was talking about! “Leave the robot out of this, Kenobi.”

“ Well, then, who do you think sabotaged it?” Li-Sen shot back. “Or maybe you decided to come here for some as of yet unknown, but most likely incredibly stupid reason!”

“ Oh, so now you’re saying this is my fault?”

“ Lando-”

“ Quiet, Vuffi Raa!” he spat, turning back to Li-Sen. This time, she’d gone too far.

“ Yes, Captain, that’s exactly what I’m implying!”

“ Lando, you should really-”

“ Shut up, Vuffi Raa!” Lando exclaimed again. He turned an enraged look on Li-Sen.

“ And as for you, Little Miss I-Can-Do-No-Wrong Li-Sen Kenobi, I did check the computer! It didn’t say anything about us being off course! Honestly, sometimes I think you should go take a fl-”

“ Lando!”

“ WHAT?!” The starship captain turned to the little 'bot, anger blazing in his usually calm, unreadable eyes.

“ We have company,” the 'droid squeaked. He pointed a trembling tentacle-all this yelling was hell on the delicate instruments on his inside-at a motley group of aliens approaching quickly. They all carried particularly dangerous looking blasters.

“ Good, just what we need,” Lando said irritably. He looked pointedly at Li-Sen. Sure, she was pissing him the Edge off, but he still cared. “You, Vuffi Raa and the cog inside,” he told her. “If anything goes wrong, the 'droid can get you out of here.” Li-Sen was indignant, but he didn’t give her the chance to argue. “In,” he insisted, giving her a pointed nudge in the right direction.

She scowled, but went, muttering unpleasant things all the way.

“That cocky idiot,” Li-Sen whispered, mostly to herself. She was looking out the main view port in the cockpit, watching Lando try to negotiate with the weapon-wielding aliens. He didn’t seem to be doing too well. Suddenly, she gasped, and began regretting insulting him.

Next to her, Vuffi Raa seemed likewise appalled at the sight of Lando being struck on the head with the end of one of the guns. He went down and one of the group, a large dog-faced character with sickening yellow fur, hoisted him onto one shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Three other aliens, one large and purple with three eyes and an equal number of arms and legs, another humanoid, but with black spots on electric blue skin, and one who was small, but dangerous looking, with rows upon rows of sharp, shining white teeth, began to board the ship.

“ Damn it!” Li-Sen began a frantic scramble to find some kind of weapon, but Lando had taken both of his small, five-shot stingbeams, and the large two-handed blaster he only carried under special circumstances. Li-Sen glanced out the window. Yes, there it was, lying in the sand, where Lando had dropped it. She looked at Vuffi Raa. “Take off!”

Vuffi Raa hesitated only a few seconds before beginning to take-off, but two things stopped him. The first being that a light flashed, telling him he could not take off with the boarding ramp down, and the second being that the three aliens burst through from the corridor at that exact moment.

Vuffi Raa was shot immediately; Li-Sen shrieked at the sound and sudden flash of light. He curled up, all five tentacles curled inward, creating a ball of sorts.

The humanoid and the three-legged creature grabbed Li-Sen, one on either side. She fought to be let go, but the fangy creature gave her the same treatment Lando had received.

Li-Sen’s body went slack.

Doxerith whined as he climbed out from where he had been hiding under the control panel of the Falcon. Normally, nothing upset the cog enough to make his furry tail stop wagging, but right now it was dead still.

Li-Sen Kenobi was the only person Doxie cared about and staying with her was the one thing in the galaxy he wanted. And now, all that was dashed to pieces.

Doxie braced his small, furry body and leaped up to the chair where Vuffi Raa was, still curled up. Fixing the little 'droid was probably his only chance, but he knew it would be impossible to do in his current form; the lack of opposable thumbs was too much to overcome for such a delicate operation.

He jumped down off the chair and his form blurred. It turned a bluish color and grew upwards. Then, the image sharpened and there stood a humanoid where the cog had been.

Damion Kenobi picked up a wrench, twirled it, and went to work.

Li-Sen groaned. Her head hurt like someone had hit her with a sledgehammer. Well, a rifle butt wasn’t too different from that, she realized as she began to remember what had happened. Her head was throbbing.

Where was she?

She groaned again as she rolled over. And promptly fell off some kind of platform. Well, that did away with the dream that she was in a nice, soft bed, at home in the estate.

“ Ow…” She opened her eyes, but immediately closed them again when she realized how much it made her head hurt more. “Ow,” she repeated, louder this time.

“ Watch that fall,” said a dry voice to her left.

“ Lando.” It was a statement, not a question. “Where are we?”

“ Well, there’s metal walls…bars…a distinct lack of windows…guards…” She could just see him, sitting on a platform across the way, cool as ever. “Looks like a dungeon to me.”

Li-Sen sighed and tried to open her eyes again. Her head didn’t hurt as much now. She sat up and looked around.
The room was dark; the only light came from outside, where there was a single uncovered bulb. The walls were dingy metal, with rust here and there, and there were two sheets jutting out, serving as beds-the platforms, one of which she’d fallen off of and was sitting next to, the other Lando was perched on, just as she’d imagined. There was a bruise on his head where they’d hit him, which had turned a rather nasty shade of purple. She shivered and wrapped her arms around herself. Odd…she hadn’t been wearing short sleeves. She looked over at Lando.

“ Quit staring at me,” she said as she pulled herself to her feet.

“ Try looking down, Li,” he replied, turning to look out through the bars on one side.

Li-Sen glanced down. And shrieked.

Lando rolled his eyes. “Big deal. So we can see your curves.”

Li-Sen scowled. “I’ve worn undergarments more substantial than this.” She looked down again. She wasn’t sure whether or not what she was wearing could be considered clothing. It was skimpy, to say the least, and she looked away quickly, before she got a headache trying to think of who would be sick enough to make her wear it.

“ It looks nice on you, just the same,” Lando offered, shrugging.

Li-Sen glared at him. “Thanks, Lando,” she replied dryly.

“ Quite welcome,” he said, impudent as ever.

Li-Sen rolled her eyes and stared out through the bars, anywhere but at her outfit, or Lando, the sick realization coming upon her that someone had had to change her clothes in order to put her in this outfit.

“ Did they get Doxie or Vuffi Raa?” Lando questioned finally.

“ I don’t think so,” Li-Sen said quietly. “They-they shot at Vuffi Raa, but I don’t know where Doxie was.”

“ Then they’re safe, at least.”

She shrugged. “As far as we know. They could have gone back.”

Both were silent for a while, hoping that their friends had not been captured and that they’d get out alive-and trying to think of how they would do so. Both of them snapped to attention, however, when there was the sound of low voices and boots-coming towards them.

“ What’s that?” Li-Sen whispered worriedly.

Lando put his finger to his lips to silence her as the voices and boots (apparently owned by three looming figures) stopped outside the cell. Because of the lighting-or lack thereof-neither could see the faces of the figures. Instead, they were shrouded in shadow, which added to Li-Sen’s nervousness, and Lando’s anticipation that they were looking at their deaths.

“ You.” A large hand pointed at-

“ Me?” Li-Sen squeaked.

The frontal figure, the one who had spoken, snorted and spoke again. “No, the rancor in the next cell over. Of course you!” it snarled. “Come here!”

Li-Sen inched towards the front of the cell, but didn’t go past where Lando was sitting. She hoped they couldn’t make her go farther. She shot Lando a swift look, but he was occupied, looking up at the ceiling and muttering curses under his breath.

“ Closer,” the front figure commanded menacingly.

Li-Sen bit her lip, squeezed her eyes shut and let her feet do the rest. She would regret it.

Chapter Six

"Hey, what're you-LET GO! How dare y-ack! Hey! Hey, don’t pull that, you imbeciles!”

Li-Sen struggled to her feet after the armed escorts threw her down. She hurriedly pulled the strap of her outfit up to where it’d been before. She might have to wear this utterly tasteless ensemble, but she was determined not to let them see anything they shouldn’t.

She looked around, wrapping her arms around herself as tightly as she could. She gasped as her eyes wandered to what was in front of her.

The…being, if indeed, it could be called that, was a huge, slug-like thing, with pudgy little arms and beady eyes set in its equally pudgy head. It was a Hutt.

And his name was Jabba.

Li-Sen let out a gasp of horror.

Jabba looked her up and down. "Exotic," he said. "You've done well." Li-Sen was instantly glad she was very good with languages. Her teachers in school had suggested she learned as many as she could, and thankfully, Huttese was one of them, even though it wasn't that common a language except in the outer regions of the galaxy. It happened to be the one Jabba was speaking now, and though with a bit of difficulty, she could understand him.

She didn't, however, feel the need to speak back to him in said language. He probably wouldn't be able to understand her dialect, anyways, so she settled for the much safer Basic nearly everyone spoke. "What are you talking about?

Jabba ignored the question, and instead yanked a chain the guards had fastened around her neck right after dragging her in. "Dance!" he commanded, again in Huttese. A chorus of alien cat-calls agreed.

"You're...kidding, right?" Li-Sen was thoroughly appalled by the suggestion. "No way am I dancing for you, especially not in this ridiculous excuse for an outfit!"

"DANCE!" Jabba repeated, all patience lost. He yanked her chain, pulling her closer to the throne his massive body was seated upon. "NOW!!!"

Li-Sen stood defiantly from where she'd been knocked from the pull. "I WILL NOT!" she shrieked. She was forced to jump out of the way when a laser bolt came too close to her feet for comfort, though. An obscenely ugly creature across the way laughed and grinned at her.

Jabba let out an awful laugh, as well.

"Let me go!" Li-Sen cried, mad as a nest full of hornets that had been disturbed. "I'm not dancing!" Another laser found itself forcing her to move back.

"Dance!" Jabba insisted. "Now, or we kill your companion!" He seemed to find this extremely funny, although Li-Sen failed to see the humor.

She gasped at his new incentive. "You wouldn't!"

As if to prove her wrong, though, two guards, much like the ones who had dragged her in, came pulling Lando along with them. He apparently didn't like being paraded for the enjoyment of others anymore than Li-Sen did, for the instant they entered the room he began to fight to be let go. "Li!" The guard on his left swung a fist at him, which made him sink to his knees, biting his lip to hold back a cry of pain. "Don't lower yourself on my behalf," he said, looking her right in the eyes. But, she pried her eyes away from sheer embarrassment and he glared up at Jabba. "Go ahead, kill me, you big ugly slug! Just let the lady go!"

Li-Sen's eyes widened, and she jumped up before Jabba had a chance to reply to Lando's proposal. "No, let him go. He's only here because of me. Let him go and I'll do whatever you want."

The Hutt gave another loud laugh. "Deal!" he agreed, and pulled her closer by the chain around her neck.

"No!" Lando exclaimed, struggling against the guards.

"Shut up!" the one on his right snapped.

“Exactly! Shut up!” Li-Sen repeated. “I’m handling this!”

He tried to jump up, but the guard swung at his head again, though he ducked in just enough time to make the guard miss.

"You said you'd let him go," Li-Sen said calmly, looking up at Jabba, not frightened.

"Release him," Jabba told the guards, raising one tiny arm almost lazily.

The guards did, and Lando took his chance, running at the huge alien. "LET HER GO!"

"Lando, you idiot!" Li-Sen yelled, grabbing him just before he reached Jabba. She leaned in close to whisper in his ear what little hope they had left. "They let you go. Don't lose that chance. Get out, get to the Falcon, then come back for me. Da-Doxie will be able to get you in."

Lando looked up, saw that she was positive about what she was telling him. "I'll be back," he whispered, nodding. "I promise!" He stood, pulled her to her feet and turned to leave, sending only one look back at her, to show that he meant what he said.

Li-Sen watched the entrance as long as she could before Jabba pulled sharply at the chain again. "Now dance!" She bit her lip, and began to dance.

Damion looked up as the Falcon's hatch opened. Ah, Lando Calrissian, just the guy he'd been waiting for. He stood up after glancing down at Vuffi Raa, who had finished checking himself over hours before and had long been planning with Damion a way to infiltrate Jabba's palace and recover Li-Sen and Lando. Damion’s violet eyes twinkled as he stepped into the corridor to greet Lando.

Lando promptly balked at the sight of him. I do look slightly odd, Damion mused. Yes, it was perfectly reasonable that Lando have such a reaction, what with his not-quite-human appearance. Damion’s ears were furry and blue, shaped like a cat's nestled among his dark blonde hair. He had whiskers, three of them on either side of his face, and a blue fury tail, which was twitching, agitated at not knowing about Li-Sen for so long. This was all, of course, excusing the fact that Lando had never seen him before, didn't know who he was, and could very well think he was someone Jabba had sent to look over the ship.

"Who are you?" Lando asked coldly before Damion had a chance to say anything.

He didn't, however, find answering this to be very important. "Where's Li?"

Lando gave him a dirty look, didn't seem to know what to make of him. He could be a friend...but then, he could be faking. This could all be an elaborate trap set up by Jabba to get him back, probably to use as leverage to get Li-Sen to do whatever he wanted for longer, or just for the sick pleasure of torturing him to the point of death. No, it was better knowing who was on your side than just jumping head first into something. "Who are you?" he repeated, louder.

Damion answered calmly, but he was obviously annoyed. "My name is Damion Kenobi. Li-Sen is my caretaker. Where is she, Lando?"

The gambler still wasn't sure, and came upon a solution to finding out if this "Damion" was really on his side. "Where are Doxie and Vuffi Raa?"

The droid peeked into the hall. "I'm here, Lando," he said.

It wasn't as reassuring as Lando expected it to be, though. They could have easily reprogrammed him to say that.

Damion was obviously getting angrier as Lando ignored his insistent question, but Damion was doing the same to him, so they were even. "Where is Li-Sen?" he asked again.

"Jabba got her," Lando replied grudgingly. "Tell me where Doxie is."

"WHAT?" Damion’s eyes became large as he gasped. "Where? Which way?" He grabbed Lando, pulling him into the cockpit, shoving him into the captain's seat. "Take me there!"

The panic seemed sincere, and that was enough to convince Lando. But, one thing was still bothering him. "Where's Doxie?"

Damion rolled his eyes. "I'm Doxie, you idiot!" He placed Lando's hands over the controls. "Now, do you mind, Li-Sen is in trouble!"

Li-Sen winced as the giant ugly slug on her right tugged at her chain, trying to pull her closer. She resisted, though, and he gave up after only a few moments.

“Hurry up, Lan,” she whispered. She was depending on him.

No sooner than as the thought passed through her mind did Jabba’s Twi’lek second-in-command, Bib Fortuna fall in the doorway, out cold.

“Hey, you big slug!”

A figure stomped in, one Li-Sen recognized immediately. “Damion!”

“Get him!” yelled Jabba, and all the court members spread around the room scrambled to get to the cat-boy. They didn’t notice as one snuck towards Li-Sen, shooting the chain and breaking it.

She knew instantly who it was and jumped at Lando, hugging him happily. There wasn’t much time, though. Damion had floated to far above the crowd, levitated for an instant, but obviously couldn’t hold it much longer. Jabba was shouting orders at everyone, not noticing, it seemed, as Lando and Li-Sen ran-or, rather, he dragged her-to the exit.

Lando whistled sharply once before ducking outside. Li-Sen only had time to see Damion disappear and everyone look around in surprise before Lando pulled her away completely.

It was a mad dash across the sand to the Millennium Falcon. Li-Sen and Lando jumped inside the hatch, Lando pounded on the button to close it, and they took off. Damion was already inside and barreled down the hall at Li-Sen.

“Oof!” she grunted as he hit her.

"Momma Li!” he exclaimed, burying his head in her stomach.

“Damion, honey, I missed you, too, but you need to let go, please,” she murmured, trying to pry his hands loose. He did so and she kissed the top of his head. “Go help Vuffi Raa, okay? I need to talk to Lando.”

Damion looked down. “Yes, ma’am,” he sighed, and went to the cockpit.

Li-Sen turned to Lando. They looked at each other and it seemed inevitable.

There was only a minute or two of indecision, and then their lips met.

“Thank you,” Li-Sen whispered when they broke apart.

“Anytime,” he whispered back, kissing her again.

They stood for a few minutes, silent, in each other’s arms, until Lando spoke up at last.

“You know, Li…”

“Hm?”

“You should really put something else on…”

She turned red and looked at him with that indignant look he loved so much. She would have said something, but he cut her off with another kiss.

Chapter Seven

It had been a long three weeks. They’d gotten back to the Oseon Estate in a day and a half, and contacted the authorities immediately. Uso-shi had been caught the following week.

Lando had stayed on at the estate at Li-Sen’s request, but Vuffi Raa had set out to continue his own universe exploration. Lando didn’t last much longer, though. He decided to leave.

“So…I guess this is it…” Li-Sen whispered, the tears crowding her voice too much to speak any louder.

“What’re you talking about?” Lando said in disbelief. “The authorities got Uso two weeks ago! You’ve got no reason to stay here and no one to stay for! You have to come with me!”

Li-Sen sadly shook her head. “I have Damion to stay for.”

“He can come with us! We can travel the galaxy together, the three of us!”

She shook her head again. “No, we can’t, Lando. I have obligations here and the month we were gone was bad enough.”

Lando sighed, conceding defeat. “I…guess we’ll just pretend this never happened, then…” He stroked her cheek, gave her one last kiss, and turned to leave.

As she watched his retreating back, the words of a wise woman, her mother, played inside Li-Sen’s head. “Trust in yourself,” she whispered. And then, she realized what she had to do. “Lando! Wait!” She ran after him and he stopped to wait for her. “I think maybe we will come with you after all.” She kissed him. “But only for a little while.”

Lando grinned. “That’s all I ask.”

Meanwhile, millions of kilometers away, a furious man hurled his metal bowl at the metal bars keeping him in this jail cell.

“You will pay for what you’ve done to me, Li-Sen Kenobi,” Uso-shi Jinn hissed. “You will pay for ruining me with your pitiful life!”

He burst into mad laughter.

“YOU WILL DIE!”

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