The stench was appalling.

Tendrils of black smoke curled along the low ceilings of the fallen field hospital. An antiseptic scent hung in the air with the rank odor of scorched flesh. Carbon scoring from a fierce blaster fight scarred the walls as Inquisitor Jaalib Brandl made his way into the complex.

"Lord Brandl," a stormtrooper said, straightening to attention. "All Imperial personnel are accounted for: 68 dead."

"Rebels?"

"Whatever wounded or dead they had were evacuated before we arrived, sir. Except—" His voice grew tremulous with fear.

"Out with it," Jaalib said. "Or you'll be added to the casualty list."

"One Rebel was found on the bottom level."

"One Rebel fought his way to the most secure, the most defensible floor of an Imperial field hospital?" Jaalib lashed out, invisible hands grasping the soldier by the throat. "Why isn't he here groveling at my feet?"

"She killed three men—before we even get a shot—"

"And she had a lightsaber," Bane Werth said. Tossing a rishi honeystick in his mouth, he grinned at Jaalib and held out the weapon.

Commander Bane Werth was the only Imperial officer who dared to serve under him. Having come up through the military channels at Jaalib's side, his qualifying traits were a keen sniper's eye, unwavering loyalty, and a wicked sense of wit and humor. The plain gray uniform was a sharp contrast to his brown skin. Though the rank and insignia suggested domestication under the Emperor's yoke, there was a feral glint in the Socorran's eyes.

Releasing the stormtrooper through a loss of concentration, Jaalib stared at the familiar lightsaber. "She's here?" he mumbled, dumbfounded.

"She's here."

Shackled and surrounded by a dozen stormtroopers, Captain Fable Astin was brought to the central atrium beneath the clear transparisteel ceiling. Fiery red hair fell across her shoulders, undulating like uncontrolled flames. She had lost weight on the run with the Alliance. The brown flight jacket she wore was too big, but the matching brown pants with the Corellian bloodstripe down one side hugged her firm thighs and waist. She defiantly stared at him, and he stared back. Only the clatter of armor could be heard as the stormtroopers grew restless in the silence.

"ST-119 and KL-849," Bane said, "the Inquisitor requires privacy."

"Get out!" ST-119 snapped at the other stormtroopers.

"You heard the Commander, get out now!" KL-849 shouted.

The pair nodded in deference to Werth, looked at each other, and stepped into the corridor to secure the blast doors.

"Captain Astin, should I anticipate your pilot companion suddenly appearing in his beloved YT-1300 to blast my ships and my men?" Jaalib stared at Fable's small hands locked in the shackles.

"You never know with Socorrans," she replied, casting her eyes at Bane. "No offense."

"None taken," he said. "We do tend to be unpredictable. It's one of our endearing qualities."

"Where is Deke?" Jaalib asked, running his thumb over the polished hilt of her lightsaber.

"I needed someone to transport my people off this rock."

"It's a field hospital, Fable, why not keep them here?"

"To stabilize them for the Empire to later torture, interrogate, and then put them to death? No thanks." She shook her head. "As soon as the proximity alert went off, I sent Deke and the Prodigal away."

"So why stay behind and risk capture?"

"Somebody had to take out those guns." Fable glanced over her shoulder at the profile of the surface-to-air batteries on all four corners of the field hospital.

"Thoughtful of you." Shaking a container of rishi honeystix, Bane pursed his lips and nodded. "They are big guns."

Fable rattled the restraints. "So what now? You turn me in to Palpatine as a consolation prize?"

"I saved you from such a fate long ago. At great cost," Jaalib replied, resenting her tone.

Tears welling in her eyes, she glared at him. "I didn't ask you to do that for me."

"You didn't have to ask, Fable. I was willing to take your place."

"Your father—"

"My father betrayed both of us." Jaalib longed to touch her, to wipe the tears from her cheek, but he knew that without invitation or acquiescence, violence would ensue. Unable to help himself, he stood over her, staring into her face, inching closer until he could feel the warmth of her skin. As his lips brushed hers, she turned away from him, as if defeated, and stared at the floor. "What are you hiding?"

"I'm pregnant," she whispered.

As if struck in the chest, Jaalib stumbled back a step.

Bane signed heavily. "That certainly complicated things."

"What does that mean?" Fable asked.

Jaalib waved a finger over the shackles, which fell with a clatter to the metal-gridded deck. "We didn't come here to retake the field hospital for the Empire. We came to secure for ourselves."

"You're betraying the Emperor?" Fable asked. She flashed a hopeful smile. "The Alliance could—"

"Like Palpatine, the Alliance has too many rules. I'm making my own rules now. Bane, make the call."

"We're hoisting the colors now?" Bane asked, a wry grin on his face.

"We're severing our ties with the Empire a little ahead of schedule."

Accessing the control panel, Bane punched in a security code and established the uplink. "Attention, Protectorate Vanguard loyalists, this is not a drill. The colors have been hoisted. I repeat: the colors have been hoisted."

A planetary grid came up with a score of red transponder beacons. Fable carefully scrutinized the holographic array. "What's happening?"

"The Protectorate has spent months infiltrating the Empire with personnel loyal to the cause," Jaalib said. "When that signal is received, the bases will go dark. Only Protectorate access codes will bring them back online, and by then, our people will have taken matters into their own hands. If this plays out right, we'll have control of this entire sector of space within the hour."

The field hospital's lights went out. Even the transparisteel glass darkened above them, leaving the atrium in complete darkness. There was silence as every system in the facility shut down. Seconds later, only the illuminated grid of planetary winked back on, its scattered array of crimson lights casting sinister phantasms in the darkness.

One by one the pinpoints of red flashed and shifted to white. Bane flicked the single, remaining red light. "Seems we have a hold out."

"Where?" Jaalib asked.

"Another field hospital about forty clicks north. Someone didn't get the memo. Looks like we're going to get our hands bloody after all."

"The Emperor is never going to let you get away with this," Fable said. "He'll send an entire armada to retake these bases and slaughter you."

"Protectorate ships across the galaxy are breaking formation in a declaration of mutiny," Jaalib replied. "Those who are not loyal to the vanguard are experiencing technical difficulties."

"Such as?"

"Complete life support failure," Bane said with a chuckle. "Fusion reactor reflux. Radiation shield malfunctions. Projected fatalities should exceed 20%."

Fable desperately took Jaalib arm. "Darkness cannot defeat darkness," she pleaded.

"In order for the stars to shine, there must be a measure of darkness." Kissing her tenderly on the lips, Jaalib pressed his hand against her stomach. "It's a girl," he whispered in her ear.

The main blast door was manually forced open by armored hands. ST-119 and KL-849 stepped into the room with glowrods attached to their blast rifles. "Sir, Field Hospital 991 is requesting immediate assistance."

"Jam them," Bane said. "ST-119, summon your Marauders back to the transports. Struts up in thirty. KL-849, your Raiders will remain here. System controls will return in a moment. Get those guns back online. We're going to need them." Bane turned to Fable, spinning a heavy blaster on his index finger like a gunfighter. "Party favor?" he asked, offering the grip to her. "Or are you two going to stay here and play house?"

"Perhaps she'd prefer this party favor instead," Jaalib said. He put the lightsaber in her hand and closed her fingers over it. "Today, the enemy of my enemy is my friend."

"And tomorrow?" she asked.

"The mother of my child." Jaalib followed Bane and the stormtroopers into the corridor, but hesitated in the shadows beyond the door. "Where do your loyalties lie?"

Fable clipped the lightsaber to her gun belt and took his hand. "I'm with you."